==================================================================================================== Q: Is STL allowed? A: It is clearly mentioned in an earlier e-mail and also written in the assignment statement. ABSOLUTELY NO FEATURE OF STL IS ALLOWED. NO VECTORS, NO STACKS, ... ==================================================================================================== Q: Printing format. A: Already illustrated in the Sample I/O section. Follow that. ==================================================================================================== Q: 2-d array handling A: See http://cse.iitkgp.ac.in/~pds/notes/array.html#multidarray It may be risky to send variable dimensions like m,n to functions. I do not know whether it will work in all compiler versions. ==================================================================================================== Q: Multiple maximum squares/rectangles of the same dimension/size. A: Print any one of these. It need not match the sample. ==================================================================================================== Q: For square exhaustive search, I am getting the sub square of size 8, at index(0,0). Is that fine? A: See the picture to verify whether this is fine. ==================================================================================================== Q: What is memoization? A: If you do not know what it is, you do not have to learn now. Write ITERATIVE (not recursive) functions. ==================================================================================================== Q: Can I use cin and cout? A: Yes, you can, because this is algorithmically irrelevant. ==================================================================================================== Q: Can I use O(N^3) space in Part 4 (dprectangle)? A: You can manage using O(N^2) space only. If you use more than that, there may be a small penalty. However, if you use more than O(N^3) time, there will be large penalty. ==================================================================================================== Q: Clarification of the dprectangle algorithm. A: It is up to you to design it. We will not supply any hint. If you can design an O(N^3)-time (or even O(N^2)-time) algorithm with O(N^2) space requirement, do it. For poorer running time and/or space usage, there may be penalty on a case-by-case basis. ==================================================================================================== Q: Special compilation flags. A: We recommend your programs be compilable by gcc or g++ without any specific flag. However, if you have to use any such flag, write it clearly at the top of your code as a comment. ==================================================================================================== Q: Comments necessary? A: It is up to you to decide whether your code is readable by a third party. If you have doubts, add comments. ==================================================================================================== Q: Clarification of the sentence: "Do not maintain the dimensions k and l if the largest rectangle with top left corner at i, j is a k × l rectangle." A: You may maintain these, but this information is likely not going to help you. ====================================================================================================