CMSC 341 Data Structures Spring 2007

Section 0301 Tuesday Thursday 5:30-6:45

ACIV 015

Mr. Mitch Edelman

Announcements

Course Description

We will discuss a number of topics essential to your growth as a computer science student. Data Structures are the primary topic. You will learn to design and analyze core data structures and algorithms that use them.

You will also study the relationships among data structures, their utility in various situations, and factors affecting their performance. You will learn to analyze the time complexity of algorithms, and how to choose appropriate data structures and algorithms.


Textbooks

Required: Data Structures and Algorithm Analysis in C++, 3rd Edition, by Mark Alan Weiss, Addison-Wesley, ISBN 0-321-37531-9

Recommended:


Prerequisites

We will assume that you have mastered the material from CMSC 201, CMSC 202, and CMSC 203, including mastery of the C++ language. We will not review material that has been covered in the prerequisite courses. We do cover a few of the concepts from CMSC 202, but from a deeper point-of-view. A few advanced C++ topics such as templates and exceptions will be reviewed. 

Grading

Your grade for this course will be based on 5 programming projects, 2 in-class exams and the final exam. Please note that your grade depends on all 5 projects and 3 exams. It is a very bad idea not to turn in all projects.

Each programming project is 8% of your grade, each exam is 20% of your grade. The exams focus on materials not yet tested. In other words, they are mostly non-cumulative.

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 not be given.

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.

The grade you earn is based on 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 lectures. NOTE: some lecture materials are not covered in the textbook. You should keep up with the assigned readings during the semester. Some reading material will be made available through the course web page. You are responsible for the material in the readings, even if it is not covered during lecture.

If you plan to do well in this course . . .

you will need to keep up with the materials. Falling behind is a certain recipe for transforming this course into a seriously painful and notably unsatisfying experience.

You should plan on doing some coding in addition to the assigned projects. Play around with the supplied code. Find out how it works. John Holt once said, "We learn something by doing it. There is no other way." That applies in full measure to writing code!

Participate in class discussions and ask questions. Your classmates will appreciate it.


Contacting Me or the TAs

Please feel free to visit me, the other professors, or the TAs 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:

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.

NOTE: having another student's code in your possession at any time is cheating. We have your code online, and we check all your work for evidence of copying code. In the event of 2 or more students submitting copied code, all involved parties will be subject to disciplinary action.

You are 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.


Class Schedule

Class
Date
Topic
Reading
1 Tue Jan 30 Introduction and C++ MAW 1
2
Thu Feb 1 C++ and OOP MAW 1

Mon Feb 5
Project 1 Assigned

3 Tue Feb 6 Asymptotic Analysis MAW 2
4 Thu Feb 8 Asymptotic Analysis MAW 3
5 Tue Feb 13 List ADT and Implementations MAW 3
6 Thu Feb 15 List Implementations MAW 3

Sun Feb 18
Project 1 Due

7 Tue Feb 20 Stacks, Queue, Deque ADT MAW 3
8 Thu Feb 22 Stacks, Queue, Deque ADT
7:10-9:40 Exam 1 Review ACIV 150
MAW 3
9 Tue Feb 27
Exam 1
Classes 1 - 8

Wed Feb 28
Project 2 Assigned

10 Thu Mar 1 Introduction to Trees MAW 4.1 & 4.2
11 Tue Mar 6 Introduction to Trees MAW 4.1 & 4.2
12
Thu Mar 8 Binary Search Trees MAW 4.3
13 Tue Mar 13 Binary Search Trees MAW 4.3

Tues Mar 13
Project 2 Due

14 Thu Mar 15 Splay Trees MAW 4.5

Tue Mar 20
Spring Break


Thu Mar 22
Spring Break


Mon Mar 26
Project 3 Assigned

15 Tue Mar 27 Red-Black Trees MAW 12.2 + notes
16 Thu Mar 29 Red-Black Trees MAW 12.2 + notes
17 Tue Apr 3 B-Trees MAW 4.7
18 Thu Apr 5 B-Trees MAW 4.7

Sun Apr 8
Project 3 Due

19 Tue Apr 10 Priority Queues and Heaps MAW 6
20 Thu Apr 12 Priority Queues and Heaps
7:10-9:40 Exam 1 Review ACIV 150
MAW 6
21 Tue Apr 17
Exam 2
Classes 10 - 20

Wed Apr 18
Project 4 Assigned

22 Thu Apr 19 Hashing MAW 5
23 Tue Apr 24 Hashing MAW 5
24 Thu Apr 26 Skip Lists MAW 10.4.2 + notes
25 Tue May 1 Disjoint Sets MAW 8

Tues May 1
Project 4 Due


Wed May 2
Project 5 Assigned

26 Thu May 3 Graphs MAW 9.1, 9.3 + notes
27 Tue May 8 Graphs MAW 9.1, 9.3 + notes
28 Thu May 10 Graphs MAW 9.1, 9.3 + notes
29 Tue May 15
Review

Tues May 15
Project 5 Due


Section 0301- May 17 -- 6:00-8:00PM
Final Exam
Classes 22 - 29

Course Web Page

A few handouts will be provided in paper form at the first class. After that, all handouts will be provided only on the web. The course web page URL is

www.cs.umbc.edu/courses/undergraduate/341/spring07/index.shtml
Please check the web page frequently. Any changes to the page will be mentioned in the "Latest News" link. 

email: edelman@cs.umbc.edu
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