Chapter 15 · Core signals

Separate the signals

Read the body for DP direction, count rug stripes for difficulty, and read the environment for runtime.

Tya has an enormously enlarged head over a tiny narrow body and reaches toward a finished star above a jar; a cutter and untouched dough sit nearby, with no enlarged lower body.

Picture path

  1. Tya has an enormous head above a tiny body and reaches for a ready-made star beside unused dough. Which direction does her body mark?The enlarged head and the already finished object work together; no new answer is being built.
  2. Tya has a compact upper body above greatly enlarged legs and keeps two earlier values on a clipboard. What direction does that silhouette mark?Separate the lower-body direction cue from the clipboard that limits how many earlier values remain.
  3. One continuous border stripe surrounds this neutral rug. What can you conclude?Count complete border bands; a rug describes the catalog level, while the room describes runtime.
  4. Two separate border stripes surround an undyed rug. Which rating do they encode?The number of border bands is the signal; neither the neutral fabric nor any nearby color changes it.
  5. Three border stripes surround a neutral rug. Must the algorithm be slow?The rug reports a catalog rating; runtime is independently represented by the surrounding environment.
  6. The room has clear still air and an entirely unobstructed floor. Which recorded growth family does this signal?Read the environmental disturbance, not the rug, the character’s mood, or a stopwatch.
  7. A small draft lifts the curtain and stirs a little dust beside one opening. Which growth family is pictured?The disturbance is mild and local, without a continuous plant-covered route through the room.
  8. Green moss and foliage trace one continuous route through the room. Can a traversal bounded by O(V + E) use this family?Count total work over vertices plus edges; two different symbols do not by themselves mean a product.
  9. Repeated golden cross-gusts interrupt a continuous green route. Which growth family does the extra repeated work mark?Keep both visual ingredients: the continuous route and the repeated cross-gusts add different information.
  10. Orange heat shimmer and scattered embers cover a wide floor area, with safe steps between them. What does the room encode?This is pressure throughout the environment; the neutral rug’s border count has another job.
  11. Separate flame fronts multiply along the room edges while smoke narrows the exit. Which growth family does this signal?Look for multiplying fronts and shrinking exits; there is no volcano pressing toward the threshold.
  12. A volcano beyond an existing opening sends ash and lava glow toward the threatened threshold. Which growth family is this?The volcano and pressure at the threshold distinguish this scene from separate fires at the room edges.