CSI 3334: Data structures, Fall 2005

Announcements

Sat Nov 5 07:27:05 CST 2005
There has been a small time extension on project 3, please see the announcement on the project web page for full details.
Wed Oct 5 21:52:35 CDT 2005
There has been an extension on project 2, please see the announcement on the project web page for full details.
Mon Oct 3 10:27:05 CDT 2005
Please see the announcement on project 2, I hope it is helpful for you.
Wed Sep 21 18:30:55 CDT 2005
Since classes have been cancelled for Friday, September 23, homework 2 will be due on Monday, September 26. For project 2, continue to follow the milestones as given.
Wed Sep 14 07:41:53 CDT 2005
The second project has been posted! Go to it!

Please see also the older announcements.

Objectives

This is a course in data structures, which are at the heart of computer science. Data structures and the algorithms that operate on them are the keys to making efficient software. They are also very interesting. This course will allow you to practice your problem solving skills using the material learned in the class. These are the skills you will need to be a successful scientist or engineer.

This course covers:

This is a difficult course. Be prepared to invest the time necessary to understand the concepts, and to do the programming projects. My best advice is to attend the lectures, ask questions, and start projects early.

Practical information

Lectures are from 11:00 AM to 11:50 AM in Rogers 104 on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. For this course you can use the lab in Rogers 112, though there is no lab component of the course.

My office is in the Rogers Engineering and Computer Science building. My office hours are listed on my home page. I am glad to talk to students during and outside of office hours.

The TA for this course is Josh Johnston.

Schedule

Here is a schedule of the material we will cover:

Week Dates New topics Reading Lecture notes Monday Wednesday Friday
1 Aug 22-26 Overview, C++, ADTs 1.1-1.6 Notes Project 0 assigned Quiz #1, Project 1 assigned, Project 0 due
2 Aug 29-Sep 2 Intro to analysis, stacks 2.1-2.2, 3.1, 3.3 Notes Homework 1 assigned Quiz #2
3 Sep 5-9 Lists, Queues 3.2, 3.4 Notes Homework 1 due Quiz #3, Project 1 due
4 Sep 12-16 Analysis 2 Notes Homework 2 assigned Project 2 assigned Drop deadline
5 Sep 19-23 Trees 4 Quiz #4
6 Sep 26-30 Trees Notes Homework 2 due Quiz #5
7 Oct 3-7 Trees Notes Project 2 due Quiz #6
8 Oct 10-14 Heaps 6 Notes Project 3 assigned
9 Oct 17-21 Review, midterm Notes Midterm review Midterm exam Fall break
10 Oct 24-28 Hashing 5 Notes Homework 3 assigned Quiz #7
11 Oct 31-Nov 4 Sorting 7 Notes Homework 3 due Quiz #8, Project 3 due
12 Nov 7-11 Sorting Project 4 assigned
13 Nov 14-18 Graphs 9 Notes Homework 4 assigned Quiz #9
14 Nov 21-25 Graphs Homework 4 due Thanksgiving break Thanksgiving break
15 Nov 28-Dec 2 Special topics 8, 10, 12 Notes Quiz #10 Project 4 due
16 Dec 5-9 Review Last lecture Study day Final exam (4:30 - 6:30 PM)

The final exam date will be Friday, December 9th between 4:30 and 6:30 PM. The latest university finals information is available here.

Textbooks & resources

Required text: we will be using Mark Weiss' textbook Data Structures and Algorithm Analysis in C++ (2nd Edition). You can purchase this book from the Baylor bookstore or amazon, among other places.

Optional text: I also highly recommend the book Introduction to algorithms, by Thomas Cormen, Charles Leiserson, Ronald Rivest, and Clifford Stein. This is in my opinion the best general-purpose book on algorithms, period. It is well worth buying and keeping. You can purchase it at many places, including amazon.

Further online resources:

Grading

Grades will be assigned based on this breakdown:

A: 90-100, B+: 88-89, B: 80-87, C+: 78-79, C: 70-77, D: 60-69, F: 0-59

Some homeworks and projects may be worth more than others. Exams and quizzes are closed-book. The final will be comprehensive.

There will be several homework assignments. Homeworks are due at the beginning of class on the due dates for full credit. Homeworks turned in after I have collected them but before the end of class will receive a 20% penalty. No homeworks will be accepted after class on the due date.

Project grading

There will be several programming projects. Due dates are firm; no late submissions are permitted. Please see the project submission guidelines for specific information on how to submit your projects.

You will submit your solutions electronically, and you may submit them as many times as you like until the deadline. Only the last submission you make will be graded. When you submit your solution, the submission system will test it on my hidden test cases, to which you will not have access. You will receive a response about whether your program's output matched the output of my solution on the hidden inputs. If your program does not produce identical output to my solution on the test cases (character for character), you will receive no credit for the project.

If your program is submitted by the deadline, and it compiles and produces identical output to my solution, then your grade will be based on two things:

  1. Implementation: you must use data structures in an appropriate manner for the project. In addition, your program should not leak any memory. I will test your code for leaks using valgrind.
  2. Style: adhering to the code style guidelines.

Because the programming projects will be difficult, it is imperative that you start working on them as soon as they are assigned.

Policies

Academic honesty

I take academic honesty very seriously.

Many studies, including one by Sheilah Maramark and Mindi Barth Maline have suggested that "some students cheat because of ignorance, uncertainty, or confusion regarding what behaviors constitute dishonesty" (Maramark and Maline, Issues in Education: Academic Dishonesty Among College Students, U.S. Department of Education, Office of Research, August 1993, page 5). In an effort to reduce misunderstandings in this course, a minimal list of activities that will be considered cheating have been listed below.


Copyright © 2005 Greg Hamerly, with some content taken from a syllabus by Jeff Donahoo.
Computer Science Department
Baylor University

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