HW2: FAQ

Search Engines:
11-442 / 11-642

Frequently Asked Questions

Question: If the software is using a field (e.g., title) for expansion, what should it do if the field is empty (has length 0)?
Answer: Skip the document.
Question: What are the time limits?
Answer: The time limit for HW2 is 5x the time required by Jamie's program. See the HW2 testing page for the time taken by Jamie's program for different test conditions.
Question: What is win:tie:loss?
Answer: This metric compares an experimental system with a baseline system.
- Win is the number of queries that are better in the experimental system than in the baseline system.
- Loss is the number of queries that are worse in the experimental system than in the baseline system.
- Tie is the number that have similar accuracy.
Usually a margin is used to make these decisions. For example, if the absolute value of the relative difference (|(experimental - original) / original|) is less than 2%, the difference is too small to be meaningful, so it is considered a tie; otherwise, it is a win or loss.

Win:tie:loss can be computed for any metric. MAP is most common.

If the FAQ hasn't answered your question, please search the Piazza forum to see if someone has already answered your question before you ask it.