The eight-step workflow

The eight-step FRQ workflow — run it identically on every question:

1. Read the WHOLE prompt including the example runs before writing anything. The examples at the bottom are executable specifications: they define edge cases the prose implied.
2. Circle the signature(s) and write them at the top of your answer space. Signatures are given; do not "improve" them.
3. Extract the obligations — one bullet per behavior, in order. ("adds", "returns -1 when", "does not modify").
4. Decompose: does this need a helper? Two loops? A seeded accumulator? Name the machines (Module 12's diagnosis, now under time pressure).
5. Write the simplest correct implementation. No cleverness; no streams; plain loops and ifs. The rubric rewards correctness and clarity, never style points.
6. Test against the examples by hand-tracing your own code — the trace table, one row per loop iteration.
7. Check the edge cases the prose hinted at: empty, single, absent, boundary values, the "otherwise" branch.
8. Review against the specification — reread every obligation bullet and confirm the code honors each. This 30-second pass is the highest-points-per-second activity on the entire exam.

Steps 5–8 are where points live; steps 1–4 are where points are saved.