computer science

Wish list

Wish list is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Wish list rather than just read about it. In short: A wish list, wishlist or want list is a list of goods or services that a person or organization desires. They have become more prevalent with the growth of online shopping.

Key takeaways

Wish list belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Wish list to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Wish list from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

A wish list, wishlist or want list is a list of goods or services that a person or organization desires. They have become more prevalent with the growth of online shopping. The author may distribute copies of their list to family, friends, and other stakeholders who are likely to purchase gifts for the would-be recipient or to offer some of the listed items for sale. The goal of a wish list is to facilitate communication between the gift receiver and the gift giver. Wish lists often contain items that a gift purchaser can obtain from a variety of retailers. Some wish lists are specialized for particular purposes or concentrated at individual retailers, such as gift registries (e.g., bridal registries).

Occasions In some cultures, people often exchange wish lists before major holidays that include gift-giving, such as Christmas and birthdays. Other common occasions for issuing wish lists include baby showers, housewarmings, weddings, and charity drives.

Types A gift registry is a type of wish list that contains only items that can be purchased at the store which manages the registry. An online wish list is a type of wish list that is hosted on the Internet. Online wish lists can be associated with a retailer or universal. A product wish list is similar to a list of functional requirements. The difference is mainly the importance of the requested functionality. Items that might be on the wish list at one time may be expected to be requirements later. A software user wishlist is a type of wish list that is created by the software manufacturer (such as the software development company or the website owner) or by user groups. A bucket list is a type of personal wish list consisting of things a person wishes to do before they die (i.e. "kick the bucket") or before they reach a life stage milestone (e.g., the end of childhood; the end of High School, etc.) The name was popularised in the 2007 film The Bucket List.

Online An online wish list typically allows a registered user to create a wish list, add wishes to it, and then spread a link to the wish list via email or social media. Visitors to the published wish list can in most cases comment wishes and reserve them. This adds a collaborative perspective among the viewers that would be much harder to achieve for analog wish lists. Online wish lists on retailer websites allow you to save items you prefer from that retailer's site for future reference. Universal online wish lists allow you to add items from multiple retailers and even non-retail ideas.

Software users Software user wish lists are a compilation of user suggestions for requested features. Many enterprise websites and software packages offer users the option to add a "wish" – a suggestion for improvement or change – and to vote on the importance of suggestions supplied by the publisher or author of the website or software, and they attempt to give a quick response to the suggestions. For example, Microsoft Visual Studio has a "community" menu, and Facebook has a "suggestions" section. In many cases, when a company fails to supply such a framework, users create their own lists, in Internet forums or in blogs. When such a list becomes popular, the company must respond to common requests. Having software user wish lists has become popular since 2007 when a football gaming community FIFPlay started collecting fans wishlist for Electronic Arts for pre-development of FIFA (video game series) and it has collected over 10,000 ideas and suggestions for FIFA 08.

See also 100 Things to Do Before High School – television series

References

External links

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Wish list

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Wish list claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Wish list before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Wish list ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Wish list

In research: Wish list appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Wish list in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Wish list is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Giving, Software features, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Wish list outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Wish list in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Wish list means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Wish list out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Wish list in simple terms?

A wish list, wishlist or want list is a list of goods or services that a person or organization desires. They have become more prevalent with the growth of online shopping.

Why does Wish list matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Wish list?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Wish list.