Section 12.10 Decks and subdecks
Looking at the interface to
findBisect
int findBisect(const Card& card, const vector<Card>& deck,
int low, int high) {
it might make sense to treat three of the parameters,
deck,
low and
high, as a single parameter that specifies a
subdeck.
This kind of thing is quite common, and I sometimes think of it as an
abstract parameter. What I mean by
abstract, is something that is not literally part of the program text, but which describes the function of the program at a higher level.
For example, when you call a function and pass a vector and the bounds
low and
high, there is nothing that prevents the called function from accessing parts of the vector that are out of bounds. So you are not literally sending a subset of the deck; you are really sending the whole deck. But as long as the recipient plays by the rules, it makes sense to think of it, abstractly, as a subdeck.
There is one other example of this kind of abstraction that you might have noticed in
Section 9.3, when I referred to an “empty” data structure. The reason I put “empty” in quotation marks was to suggest that it is not literally accurate. All variables have values all the time. When you create them, they are given default values. So there is no such thing as an empty object.
But if the program guarantees that the current value of a variable is never read before it is written, then the current value is irrelevant. Abstractly, it makes sense to think of such a variable as “empty.”
This kind of thinking, in which a program comes to take on meaning beyond what is literally encoded, is a very important part of thinking like a computer scientist. Sometimes, the word “abstract” gets used so often and in so many contexts that it is hard to interpret. Nevertheless, abstraction is a central idea in computer science (as well as many other fields).
A more general definition of “abstraction” is “The process of modeling a complex system with a simplified description in order to suppress unnecessary details while capturing relevant behavior.”
Checkpoint 12.10.1.
Which is false about the
findBisect() funtion?
It uses binary search to locate the card in the deck.
This is true. Binary search is very efficient.
If the program user plays by the rules, we can think of deck, low, and high abstractly as a subdeck.
This is true. If the user doesn’t follow the rules, we might be in trouble.
It can only access the part of the deck that is between the bounds high and low.
This is false! findBisect() can access the entire deck, even when you pass high and low parameters.
There is no such thing as an empty object.
This is true. When you create an object, it is given default values.
Checkpoint 12.10.2.
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