Prof. Tom Yeh's new hand-solvable exercises demystify the context window
ProfTomYeh · x · 2026-09-09
Prof. Tom Yeh released a new chapter 'Context Problems,' following his Token Problems 120, using hand-solvable exercises to teach how LLM context windows work. The first five:
- Mark the context window as countable cells
- What fills the window: system prompt, user input, model reply
- Turn by turn: every turn is the same block, mostly reply
- Will it fit? Number a new message into remaining space and watch it overflow
- Turns until full: compute how many rounds before room runs out
His motivation: AI makes people (including himself) think less—you ask it a few questions and believe you understand. PDF available for download.
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