Epic Skills Assessment Algorithmic Problem Solving Questions and Answers 2

Question 1

What is the time complexity of binary search on a sorted array of n elements?

Accepted Answer

O(log n)

Answer

Binary search halves the search space each step, giving O(log n) complexity.

Question 2

Which data structure operates on a Last-In-First-Out (LIFO) principle?

Accepted Answer

Stack

Answer

A stack uses LIFO: the last element pushed is the first one popped.

Question 3

A recursive function calls itself with n-1 until n=0. If n starts at 5, how many total calls are made?

Accepted Answer

6

Answer

Calls: f(5)→f(4)→f(3)→f(2)→f(1)→f(0). That is 6 total calls including the base case.

Question 4

Which sorting algorithm has the best average-case time complexity?

Accepted Answer

Quicksort

Answer

Quicksort has O(n log n) average-case complexity, better than the O(n²) of bubble, selection, and insertion sort.

Question 5

In pseudocode: x=10; WHILE x>0: x=x-3; PRINT x; — how many times is PRINT executed?

Accepted Answer

4

Answer

x: 10→7→4→1→-2. PRINT fires when x=7, x=4, x=1, x=-2 (after loop exits? No — print is inside loop). x goes 10→7(print)→4(print)→1(print)→-2: loop ends as x=-2 which is not >0 but the print happens after x=x-3. So prints: x=7,4,1,-2 = 4 times.

Epic Skills Assessment Practice Test

Epic Skills Assessment Practice Test

Epic Skills Assessment Algorithmic Problem Solving Questions and Answers 2