Spring 2026 — Exam3 guide

Tentative plan as of 7-Jan-2026

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Where and When

• Test date: 20-April-2026
• Test time: 1:00pm-1:50pm EST (class time)
• Test location: Rice 130
• The exam is a paper-based exam. It will be administered in a classroom, in-person.

Conflicts

• All conflicts should have been reported and an alternative exam date must be arranged in advanced.

Make-up exam

Please refer to the Make-up exam section on the course Policies page.

SDAC accommodation

If you need accommodation, please submit proper documents to SDAC. We unfortunately cannot provide accommodation in class or during office hours. Please schedule to take the exam at SDAC.

Please visit https://www.studenthealth.virginia.edu/SDAC or use the direct link https://yukon.accessiblelearning.com/virginia/Default.aspx to schedule your exam.

What to bring

• Pens, pencils, erasers, writing utensils
• One cheat sheet (see detail in test specific) -- this is optional
• No calculators, scratch paper, backpacks, books, laptops, or anything else should be brought. These items will be left in the back/front of the room if you bring them.

Test specific

• Exam2 is closed book / notes / laptops / web / electronic devices / neighbors; paper-based, administered in class, no collaboration. No online version. No take-home version.
• The only exception is a single sheet of 8 1/2 x 11 paper with handwritten by the person taking the exam (may write on both sides of the sheet).
  • A cheat sheet must be in your handwriting.
  • Only handwriting on a single sheet of paper is allowed.
  • **NO** writing on electronic device(s) and print.
  • We must take away any sheet that violates this rule and/or assign a zero grade on the exam.
• Refer to the Coverage section below for the exam coverage.
• Only what has been introduced or discussed in Spring 2026 CS 4750 will be covered. We will not ask you for anything that has not been covered in this course this semester.
• The format of the exam will be similar to POTDs, activities, and homework assignments.
• You may expect different kinds of questions:
  • Short answer
  • Multiple choices (less likely but possible)
  • Matching (less likely but possible)
  • True/false (less likely but possible)
  • Problem-solving
  • Discussion
  • Design and diagram drawing
  • (RA) Code reading, writing, and fixing
  • Database-related questions that relate to your project
• Very minor syntax errors are acceptable. Major syntax errors result in point deductions.

Major things you can expect

• Some questions related to the material discussed in class
• Some questions related to POTDs, activities, examples, homework assignments
• Some questions related to project

Coverage

• Relational algebra, mapping between SQL and RA (meetings 26-27)
• Query cost estimation (meetings 29-30)
• Indexing (meetings 31-34)
• Transactions and concurrency control (meeting 35)
• Distributed database (meeting 36)
• NoSQL database (meeting 37)

Study guide

• Review the lectures / materials / slides / online resources
• Redo POTDs, activities, examples
• Review or redo homework assignments
• Practice writing RA expressions and RA trees
  • You are expected to remember the fundamental and syntax covered in class and be able to write RA queries with correct syntax.
  • A few very minor syntax errors is OK. But if you are really off we will take off points.
• Get a good night's sleep

A past exam will be available in Canvas/Files. Note: the emphasis of some content/materials may be different between semesters. The past exam does NOT represent the Spring 2026 exam. It is NOT a practice exam. It is provided for additional problem-solving practice only. Our exam will be based on what is introduced/discussed/emphasized in Spring 2026. The Spring 2026 exam will most likely be different from the past exam. Thus, please do NOT assume that our version of the exam will be the same as the past exam. 

A final note

Here is A Time-effective Strategy for Taking Exams by Professor Jeff Offutt.

Good luck !

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