CS231 - Data Structures and Algorithms

Randolph M. Jones

Colby College, Fall Semester, 2003

Instructor: Randolph M. Jones

Time

10:00 AM - 10:50 AM, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday

Location

Lovejoy 344
Some Friday meetings will be in Olin 323

Textbook

Goodrich, M. T., & Tamassia, R. (2001). Data structures and algorithms in Java. Second Edition. New York: John Wiley.

Online course materials

http://www.cs.colby.edu/courses/cs231/
(includes lecture notes)

Course content

This is a "second course" in structured computer programming and problem solving. The course projects will be in the Java programming language, so you will learn some advanced features of that language. However, the general concepts in the course are more important than the specific programming language. By the end of this course, you should be a competent programmer who is comfortable with some of the advanced tools and methods that computer scientists and programmers use. My intent is for you to learn the following:

With these skills it should not only be possible for you to write advanced programs by yourself, it should also be a relatively superficial matter for you to learn new programming languages. Perhaps most importantly, you will have a new set of analytical skills for tearing apart and conquering sophisticated problems.

I hope to cover (at least) the following general topics during the course:

Evaluation

The course will include a variety of homework assignments, quizzes, exams, and projects.

Homework and small labs

This will be assigned occasionally, based on contents of the textbook and lectures. Some will be written responses to questions or problems. Others will be small programming projects.

Quizzes

Each quiz will take up only a portion of class time. You will have a quiz or exam every few weeks.

Exams

There will be two midterm exams, each taking an entire class period. The midterms will be on Friday, October 10, and Wednesday, November 12.

There will also be a final exam during the scheduled final examination period for this class.

Projects

There will be a handful (probably 5 or 6) of larger programming projects, which will serve as the primary way for you to practice the techniques introduced in class, and to hone your problem solving and programming skills. You can expect to have from 1 to 3 weeks to complete each project.

Grading

I will compute final grades for the course using the following proportions as guidelines. I reserve the right to alter these proportions as I deem appropriate, and to include subjective evaluations into your final grades. But the final grades will be computed approximately along these lines:

Each score you receive will be normalized to a 100 point scale. These will not map directly to letter grades until everything is tallied at the end of the semester. However, as a rough guide, I generally consider 90 points or more to be ``A'' work, 80 points or more to be ``B'' work, 70 points or more to be ``C'' work, and 60 points or more to be ``D'' work. It is important to not, however, that such a scale is not guaranteed, especially across assignments. For example, a 95 on a midterm may not mean the same thing as a 95 on a project. However, I will try to keep the scales as uniform as is practical.

Your grade for individual assignments will also sometimes include an "extra effort" category of roughly 10% of the total points, where you can earn extra points for particularly creative, industrious, or otherwise impressive approaches to the assignment. You are not compelled to invest time in these extra effort points, but you should keep in mind that I tend to use these points to distinguish the A-minus students from the A students in the final grading. Also keep in mind that you should complete the assignment's instructions as written before trying to get creative, and that it is often a good idea to clear your creative ideas with me before pursuing them. I am jealous with A grades, and you are more likely to receive one if you have used the extra effort points to demonstrate a mastery of the subject material.

Late assignments

It is very inconvenient for me to accept work past the deadline, because it complicates my grading. Except in unusual situations, late assignments will receive a penalty of 25% of the total points for each calendar day late (so you will receive 0 for anything more than 3 days late).

Your daily duties

To prepare for each class, I expect you to do the following:

Show up

I expect you to attend class. As a class member, your regular attendance is an individual and a collective obligation. In-class discussion and questions are an essential feature of this course that only you can provide. Your absence can disrupt the continuity of the class, my effectiveness in presenting the ideas I want to cover, and the group's responsiveness to those ideas. In addition, if you miss subjects covered in class, it will use up extra amounts of your time and mine to make sure you understand what was covered. Therefore, unexcused absences will adversely affect your course grade. Excessive absenteeism will result in your failing the course (and it doesn't take much to count as excessive). You are responsible for knowing all the information presented in class, whether or not you are there.

Be prepared

Before each class, you must review the material from the previous lecture. You should write down and bring to class any questions you have on the material, as well as questions on the current laboratory assignment. We will devote a portion of each class to answering those questions. Also, before each class, you should read (but not necessarily completely understand) the portion of the textbook pertaining to that day's material. In addition to helping you learn the course subject matter, this should help you develop general skills for reading and understanding written materials. Discussion should be an important part of each class, and you will not be able to participate effectively if you have not prepared. During discussions, I do not expect you always to have the "right answers", but I do expect you to have thoughtful contributions, and to try to give reasonable justifications for your answers.

Appropriate academic behavior

Students often have some confusion about what might or might not be considered "cheating" in a computer programming class. Although you will mostly be working on individual assignments (as opposed to group projects), I want you generally to take advantage of your instructors, teaching assistants, and fellow students in working out solutions to assignments. I encourage you to use outside sources, papers, fellow class members, and others to help you complete your assignments, because this is similar to the situation you will find yourself in out in "the real world". Taking advantage of other people's help does not constitute cheating.

However, presenting the results of other people's efforts as your own does constitute cheating. Thus, you must credit the contributions of other sources in the presentation of your work. This is similar to what you would do if you were writing a paper for and English or History class. If you have questions about how to use and cite references, please ask your instructor. Additionally, although you can use assistance, the final work you turn in my be substantially a product of your own, and not anybody else's. As a rule of thumb, if you find yourself turning in work that looks substantially like the work of someone else, you should seriously examine whether you have crossed the line. If you have any doubts, talk to your instructor before turning in the assignment.

Be an active learner

This is the first of many times that I will ask you to come see your instructor any time you have questions. Whether you are aware of it or not, one of the reasons you came to Colby is because we have relatively small classes, and we have faculty who are willing to take the time to help you learn when you ask. It frustrates us when we miss opportunities to pull students out of confusion.

This is particularly important in this course. Many of the concepts we will cover build on each other. If you find yourself stuck trying to understand something, it will only make catching up later that much worse.

So take advantage of your instructor (and your fellow students and your teaching assistants). Ask questions in and out of class. I'll try to make the material as easy to digest as possible, but I'll need help identifying the things that are confusing you. But also note that you also won't know what you are confused about unless you keep up with the assigned work.

Randolph M. Jones (rjones@colby.edu)
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