CMSC 341, Fall 1999, Section 0101
Course Description
Textbooks
Required:
Data Structures & Algorithm Analysis in C++ (second edition)
by Mark Allen Weiss, Addison Wesley Publishing (1999)
Recommended: C++ with Object-Oriented Programming by
Paul S. Wang, PWS Publishing.
You may wish to consult other texts. Here are some suggestions:
- The Practice of Programming by Brian Kernighan and Rob Pike,
Addison-Wessley, 1999. This is not a data structures text, although one
chapter is dedicated to data structures and algorithms which will be presented
in this class. This book covers the topics of programming
style, design and implementation, testing, debugging, interfaces, and
portability. Topics are presented using C, C++ and Java examples.
- Data Structures and Algorithm Analysis in C++ by Mark Allen
Weiss, Addison-Wesley, 1994. This is a very good text with excellent
coverage of many basic and advanced data structures. The methodology
used in not always the same as in this course.
- Data Structures and Algorithm Analysis by Clifford Shaffer,
Prentice-Hall, 1996. This book has good coverage of data structures
and algorithm analysis in C++. It has excellent descriptions of a
number of data structures.
- Data Structures, Algorithms, and Applications in C++ by
Sartaj Sahni, McGraw-Hill, 1998. Covers some material not covered by
the Heileman text.
- Data Structures and Algorithms by Alfred Aho, John Hopcroft,
and Jeffrey Ullman, Addison-Wesley, 1983. This is one of the all-time
classics, written in Pascal.
- Fundamentals of Data Structures Ellis Horowitz, Sartaj
Sahni, and Dinesh Mehta, 1995. Another classic. In C++.
- Abstract Data Types by Nell Dale and Henry Walker,
D.C. Heath and Company, 1996. A high-level view of data structures
and algorithms, with no programming language specified. A very
worthwhile and modern text with an alternative viewpoint.
Prerequisites
We will assume that you have mastered the material from
CMSC 201
and
CMSC 202
including mastery of the C++ language
and
CMSC 203 including proof by induction
This course will not review material that has been covered in
CMSC 201 or CMSC 202 or CMSC 203. It does cover a few of the data
structures from CMSC 202, but from a deeper point-of-view.
A few advanced C++ topics will be reviewed.
Objectives
Data Structures are the paramount concern of this course. The
principle objective of the course is to help you learn how to design
and analyze a wide range of data structures.
The course covers data structures and associated algorithms.
Relationships among data structures, their utility in various
situations, and factors affecting their performance in algorithms will
be considered. You will learn to analyze the demands of algorithms,
how to choose appropriate data structures, and how to integrate
data structures into algorithms.
Grading
Your grade for this course will be based upon 4-5 projects, 2 exams
and the final exam. The projects are worth 40% of your grade, each
project weighted equally. Each exam is worth 20 percentage points.
Note that the due dates for the projects and the dates of the exams
are already set (q.v., the syllabus and project policy
handout). Please plan your schedules accordingly. Makeup exams will
be given only under the most dire circumstances (almost never).
Your final letter grade is based on the standard formula:
0 <= F < 60, 60 <= D < 70, 70 <= C < 80,
80 <= B < 90, 90 <= A <= 100
These levels may be adjusted slightly in your favor, but grades will
not be ``curved'' in the conventional sense.
Your grade is given for timely work done during the semester;
incomplete grades will only be given for medical illness or other such
dire circumstances.
Attendance and Readings
You are expected to attend all lectures. You are responsible for all
material covered in the lecture, even if it is not in the textbook. You
should keep up with the assigned readings during the semester. Some
reading material will distributed through the course web page. You are
responsible for the material in the readings, even if it is not
covered during lecture.
You must study to do well in this course. It will not be enough to
attend lectures and do the homework. As advanced undergraduates, you
will be responsible for learning material that is not necessarily
covered in lectures. A prime learning requirement is that you
contribute to class discussions and raise questions about the course
material.
Contacting Me or the TA
Please feel free to visit me or the TA during our office hours. If you
can't make it during the regular hours, please ask for an appointment. We
will do everything we can to be available to provide help with this course.
Office hours, phone numbers and other
contact information is available
on-line.
If you need to contact any of the course staff outside of lecture and office
hours, email is much better than the telephone. You should, however, observe the
following etiquette:
- Please do not email program code. If you want me or the TA
to help you debug your code (and you have already tried the
Help Center) submit the
code in the usual way, and then send
email about the problem. We will look at the submitted code.
Please, do NOT mail code to me or to the TA!
- Please use your real name. Email from "Crazy Ape" does not get
the attention you may want it to. Besides, when you get that
great-paying job because you know data structures so well, will
you want to send mail to your boss from "Crazy Ape?" Your mail
will look much more professional if you use your real name.
Start using it now and give up the kid stuff.
- Include a meaningful subject line, something like "CMSC 341
Project 2 question."
- Send course-related email to me only at the email address
frey@cs.umbc.edu.
Please don't send course-related mail to me at any other
address. I read this mail account before any other mail
account, so you'll get better service from this account. Moreover,
it's a real pain for me to get course-related mail at other accounts
and I'll probably just bounce it back to you.
- If you ask a good question by email, I may send your question and
the reply to the entire class as well. If you do not want your question
repeated to the entire class, please state so clearly in your message.
Academic Integrity
Cheating in any form will not be tolerated. Instances of
cheating will be reported to the UMBC Academic Conduct Committee.
These reports are filed by the Committee and can be used for
disciplinary action such as a permanent record on your transcript.
Academic honesty is absolutely required of you.
You are expected to be honest yourself and to report any cases of
dishonesty you see among other students in this class. Reports of
dishonest behavior will be kept anonymous.
Further details on honesty in doing projects for this course are
on-line at the
Project Policy link.
Students are welcome and encouraged to study together for
exams, but examinations are to be your own work -- not your neighbor's
and not your notes. All exams are closed-book, closed-notes. Only
pencils (or pens) and erasers are permitted in the exam room unless
otherwise indicated. Scratch paper is provided to you, as needed.
Having any other materials in your possession during an exam will be
taken as evidence of cheating and dealt with accordingly.