Problem Solving Techniques

• Query

  Clarify the task by asking questions - especially about inputs, outputs, constraints etc

  
  

• Look for Things That are Familiar

  Don't reinvent the wheel. Plug in solutions that already exist for similar problems

  
  

• Solve by Analogy

  A broader application of the previous strategy. The focus is on identifying a starting point for the solution even if the analogy does not exactly describe the given problem

  
  

• Means-Ends Analysis

  Identify the beginning and end states of the solution. Proceed to identify the intermediate steps

  
  

• Decomposition

  Break up the problem into a manageable set of simpler sub-problems

  
  

• The Building Block Approach

  Combine existing solutions to sub-problems to develop new hybrid solutions for the given problem

  
  

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