Assignment Brief

BTEC Level 4-5 HNC/HND Diploma (QCF)

To be filled by the Learner

Name of the Learner : SOWMIYA SAKTHIVEL

Edexcel No : GR00915 Centre No : 93104 Batch: HND COM XVI

Date of Submission :

Unit Assessment Information

Qualification : Higher National Diploma in Computing and Systems Development

Unit Code & Title : H/601/1456– Unit 34 - Data Structures and Algorithms

Assessment Title & No’s : Understand and implement Data structures and Strings (No 1 of 1)

Learning outcomes and grading opportunities:

LO 01: Understand data structures and algorithms

Learning Outcomes LO1.1LO1.2LO 1.3
LO 02: Be able to implement data structures and algorithms
Learning Outcomes LO2.1LO2.2LO 2.3
LO 03: Understand how strings are structured and processed.
Learning Outcomes LO3.1 LO3.2

Merit and Distinction Descriptor

M1 M2 M3 D1 D2 D3

Assessor : MR.T.SURESH Internal Examiner (IE) :

Date Reviewed : Date of IE :

Date Issued : Date Due :

All rights reserved ©ESOFT Metro Campus, Sri Lanka Page 1 of 9

Statement of Originality and Student Declaration

I hereby, declare that I know what plagiarism entails, namely to use another’s work and to present it
as my own without attributing the sources in the correct way. I further understand what it means to
copy another’s work.

1. I know that plagiarism is a punishable offence because it constitutes theft.

2. I understand the plagiarism and copying policy of the Edexcel UK.
3. I know what the consequences will be if I plagiaries or copy another’s work in any of the
assignments for this program.
4. I declare therefore that all work presented by me for every aspects of my program, will be
my own, and where I have made use of another’s work, I will attribute the source in the
correct way.
5. I acknowledge that the attachment of this document signed or not, constitutes a binding
agreement between myself and Edexcel UK.
6. I understand that my assignment will not be considered as submitted if this document is not
attached to the attached.

Student’s Signature: …………………………… Date:.………………

All rights reserved ©ESOFT Metro Campus, Sri Lanka Page 2 of 9

Task 1

A palindrome is a phrase that reads the same forwards as it does backwards. For example, “a man, a
plan, a canal, Panama,” is a palindrome.

1.1. Write a program that figures out whether one string is a palindrome. The program
should ignore white space and punctuation. (LO3.2)(D3.4)

For example:

"a man, a plan, a canal, Panama" is a palindrome.

"Don’t nod" is a palindrome.

"Taco Cat!" is a palindrome.

1.2. Create an Example Stack class for this problem. Use LinkedList, ArrayList or an array to
implement the Stack.(LO 1.1)
1.3. Identify and implement opportunities for error handling and reporting. (LO 2.2)
1.4. Test the above application with a suitable test cases (LO 2.3)
1.5. Prepare a user manual for the developed solution to assist the users to work with it.(M3)

Task 2

London Met University provides apartments to undergraduate students. The housing system uses a
waiting list for apartment allocation. According to the university policy, when a possible match
between applicant and apartment is found, the applicant is contacted via email or phone call and
must decide whether to accept the apartment. If the applicant does not accept, he or she is placed
back of the waiting list, and must wait again.

We will simulate this process using a queue, and simplify the rules. Moreover, we will ignore the
realistic constraints of the applicants, and simply have each applicant store a quality threshold for
the apartment quality (a random number between 0 and 100). We will also assume that each
apartment, once accepted, will be occupied for a random number of school years between 1 and 3.

Assume k students apply for housing each school year. Each student node should contain an ID
number to keep track. Get k from the user via command line arguments.

Insert apartment details through the keyboard. Each apartment should have an ID number, quality
score (a random number between 0 and 100)

The assignment process should remove a student from the queue if the student “accepts” the
apartment (is the apartment’s quality value above the student’s threshold?). If the student accepts
then delete the student node. If the student rejects the apartment delete the student, insert him to
the back of the queue and compare next student and repeat. This process repeats until all students
are housed.

2.1. Write your own implementation of the queue by using a linked list for this problem with
all the queue operations (enque, deque,etc). (LO 1.1)
2.2. Test the above application with a suitable test cases (LO 2.3)

All rights reserved ©ESOFT Metro Campus, Sri Lanka Page 3 of 9

Task 3

3.1 Implement Binary search using recursive algorithm and non-recursive algorithm, and
compare the performance. (LO 1.2) (LO 1.3)
3.2. Sort the array given below with two different algorithms and compare the performance.
{10, 30, 20, 45, 85, 90, 75}
(LO 1.2)
3.3. Explain common string operations such as concatenation, substring, trim etc., also state
their practical applications.(LO 3.1)

All rights reserved ©ESOFT Metro Campus, Sri Lanka Page 4 of 9

 Assessment Criteria (Students are not authorized to modify or write anything on below)
Possible
Outcomes/Criteria for PASS Page Feedback
evidence
LO1 Understand data structures and algorithms
1.1 produce design specification for data structures Task 1.1, Task
explaining the valid operations that can be carried out 2.1
on the structures
1.2 explain the operation and performance of sorting Task 3.1, Task
and search algorithms 3.2
1.3 explain the operation of recursive algorithms and Task 3.2
identify situations when recursion is used

LO2 Be able to implement data structures and algorithms

2.1 implement data structures in an executable Task 1.2,Task
programming language in the context of well-defined 2.1
problems
2.2 implement opportunities for error handling and Task 1.3
Reporting

2.3 test results to enable comparison with expected Task 1.4,Task

results 2.2

LO3 Understand how strings are structured and processed.

3.1 explain common string operations and their Task 3.3
practical applications Task 1.1
3.2 demonstrate the outcome of string operations in Task 3.3
specified algorithms. Task 1.1

All rights reserved ©ESOFT Metro Campus, Sri Lanka Page 5 of 9

Grade Descriptor for MERIT Possible evidence Feedback
M1 Identify and apply strategies to find appropriate solutions Task 3.2
Task 3.3
M1.3 an effective approach to study and research has been
Applied Compare different algorithms for
searching and sorting
Search about different string
operations

M2 Select / design appropriate methods / techniques Task 3

Proper use of Harvard Referencing
M2.3 a range of sources of information has been used
Search about different string
operations

M3 Present and communicate appropriate findings Task 1.5

Documentation is well structured
M3.1 the appropriate structure and approach has been used. adhering to the formatting guidelines
with non-overlapping facts.
Data provided about the company are
accurate, reliable and consistent

All rights reserved ©ESOFT Metro Campus, Sri Lanka Page 6 of 9

Grade Descriptor for DISTINCTION Possible evidence Feedback
D1 Use critical reflection to evaluate own work and justify Report: shown in the self-reflection
valid conclusions section, good conclusion with
suggestions for further improvement
D1.1 conclusions have been arrived at through synthesis of ideas
and have been justified

D2 Take responsibility for managing and organizing activities

Undertaken Activities from 01 – 05 as
D2.3 Activities have been managed mentioned in the observation sheet

Submitted the work on time

D3 Demonstrate convergent / lateral / creative thinking

D3.4 problems have been solved. Task 1.1, Task 2.1, Task 3.1, Task 3.2

All rights reserved ©ESOFT Metro Campus, Sri Lanka Page 7 of 9

Strengths: Weaknesses:

Future Improvements & Assessor Comment:

Assessor: Signature: Date: ____/____/______

Internal Verifier’s Comments:

Internal Verifier: Signature: Date: ____/____/______

All rights reserved ©ESOFT Metro Campus, Sri Lanka Page 8 of 9

 Practical Observation Sheet

Module: Data Structures and Algorithms

Unit No: 34
Student Name: _________________________________

Activity Activity Learning Date Signature

No Outcome
(LO)
1 Provide evidence of coding, and explain a LO 2.1
piece of coding to the audience. LO 3.2
2 Run the solution LO 2.1
LO 3.2
3 Test the solution with random data LO 2.3
4 Prove the use of Error Controlling LO 2.2
Mechanism in the solution and Error
reporting structure
5 Compare the performance of different D2
algorithms

Comments:

Assessor Name :

Date :

Signature :

All rights reserved ©ESOFT Metro Campus, Sri Lanka Page 9 of 9