CMSC 341 Data Structures Spring 2009
Section 0301 (Tue/Thu 5:30-6:45PM ACIV015)
Mr. Mitch Edelman
Office: ITE 218
Office hours: Tue/Thu 7:15 - 8:15 and by appointment
Some Dates to Remember
The last day to add a class is February 6.
The last day to drop a class is February 23.
Please make sure that you attend to adding or dropping classes by those
dates.
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.
In addition to these topics, you will be responsible for learning how
to prove theorems by induction,
Textbooks
Required: Data Structures and Algorithm Analysis in Java,
2rd Edition, by Mark Alan Weiss, Addison-Wesley, ISBN 0-321-37013-9
Recommended:
- Your favorite Java reference book -- here are some of mine
- Java in a Nutshell, 5th Edition by David Flanagan,
O'Reilly, 2005, ISBN 0-596-00773-6
- Thinking in Java, edition by Bruce Eckel, Prentice-Hall PTR, 2006, ISBN 0-131-87248-6. Available online at http://www.codeguru.com/java/tij/tij_c.shtml.
- Head First Java, Second Edition by Kathy Sierra and Bert Bates,
O'Reilly, 2005, ISBN 0-596-00920-8
- Data structures and algorithms with object-oriented design patterns in Java by Bruno Preiss, Wiley, 1999.
- 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 Java by
Sartaj Sahni, McGraw-Hill, 1998.
- 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 in C++ by Ellis Horowitz, Sartaj
Sahni, and Dinesh Mehta, 2006. Update of another classic.
- 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,
CMSC 202,
and CMSC 203.
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. We assume prior experience with Java, but will review Java
briefly in the first few lectures.
Grading
Your grade for this course will be based on
5 programming projects, 2 in-class exams and the final exam.
It is a very bad idea not to turn in all projects. Even
a poorly done project is much better than no project because:
- I will think much more highly of you at grading time
- Zeros on projects really hurt your grade
- But mostly, even if the project is a disaster, you will have
learned something from the work you do,
Each programming project is 8% of your grade, each exam is 20%
of your grade. Exams are not cumulative, in that they will stress
the materials not yet covered by an exam.
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 and
project extensions will be given only in event of an emergency.
An "emergency" is defined as "an unanticipated event requiring
immediate attention". For example, having 3 projects due on the same day
is not an emergency, since you (should) know that this convergence is occurring.
A reunion concert of the Grateful Dead, Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin,
Kurt Cobain, Jim Morrison, emceed by Heath Ledger and River Phoenix may be
completely unexpected, but it doesn't require you to miss a due date, so
it isn't an emergency, either.
I am very anal about these kinds of things,
so if you ask for an extension, your reason really better be good.
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
circumstances that rendered you incapable of completing classwork. Any
requests for incompletes must be accompanied by the reason for the
reauest and some proof of its having rendered you incapable. IOW, please
arrange to have your life work this semester.
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 be 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 may not be
covered in lectures. A prime learning requirement is that you
contribute to class discussions and raise questions about the course
material.
In most cases, the power point slides and readings I use in lecture
are available in advance on the course web site. I strongly
recommend that you familiarize yourself with these materials
before the lecture. It would be especially helpful for you to
print them before lecture and take your notes on them. That way, you
won't spend a lot of time copying notes that you already have, and you
will be able to listen to and interact with the lectures, which will
help you learn the materials more thoroughly.
Contacting Me or the TAs
Please feel free to visit me 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:
- Please do not email program code. If you want me or the TA to
help you debug your code, submit the code in the usual way (checking it in
via CVS), 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!
- Note that the Help Center does not offer help with code for this
course.
- Please use your your UMBC account to send mail. This will remove
any ambiguity about who you are (and avoid being eliminated
by my spam filter).
- Include a meaningful subject line, something like "CMSC 341
Project 2 question."
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.
Class Schedule
Class |
Date
|
Topic
|
Reading
|
1
| Tue Jan 27
| Introduction and Java
| MAW 1
|
2
| Thu Jan 29
| Java and OOP
| MAW 1; tutorial
|
| Fri Jan 30
| Project 1 Assigned
|
|
3
| Tue Feb 3
| Java and OOP
| MAW 1; tutorial
|
4
| Thu Feb 5
| Asymptotic Analysis
| MAW 2
|
5
| Tue Feb 10
| Asymptotic Analysis
| MAW 2
|
6
| Thu Feb 12
| List ADT and Implementations
| MAW 3
|
| Fri Feb 13
| Project 1 Due
|
|
7
| Tue Feb 17
| Stacks and Queues
| MAW 3
|
8
| Thu Feb 19
| Exam 1
| Classes 1 - 7
|
| Fri Feb 20
| Project 2 Assigned
|
|
9
| Tue Feb 24
| Introduction to Trees
| MAW 4.1 & 4.2
|
12
| Thu Feb 26
| Binary Search Trees
| MAW 4.3
|
13
| Tue Mar 3
| Binary Search Trees
| MAW 4.3
|
14
| Thu Mar 5
| Splay Trees
| MAW 4.5-6, 11.5
|
| Fri March 6
| Project 2 Due
|
|
15
| Tue Mar 10
| K-D Trees
| MAW 12.6
|
16
| Thu Mar 12
| Red-Black Trees
| MAW 12.2 + notes
|
| Fri Mar 13
| Project 3 Assigned
|
| Tue Mar 17
| Spring Break
| |
| Thu Mar 19
| Spring Break
|
|
17
| Tue Mar 24
| Red-Black Trees
| MAW 12.2 + notes
|
18
| Thu Mar 26
| B-Trees
| MAW 4.7
|
| Fri Mar 27
| Project 3 Due
|
|
19
| Tue Mar 31
| B-Trees
| MAW 4.7
|
20
| Thu Apr 2
| Hashing
| MAW 5
|
21
| Tue Apr 7
| Exam 2
| Classes 9 - 19
|
22
| Thu Apr 9
| Hashing
| MAW 5
|
| Fri Apr 10
| Project 4 Assigned
|
|
23
| Tue Apr 14
| Priority Queues and Heaps
| MAW 6
|
24
| Thu Apr 16
| Priority Queues and Heaps
| MAW 6
|
25
| Tue Apr 21
| Skip Lists
| MAW 10.4.2 + notes
|
26
| Thu Apr 23
| Disjoint Sets
| MAW 8
|
| Fri Apr 24
| Project 4 Due
|
|
27
| Tue Apr 28
| Graphs
| MAW 9.1, 9.3 + notes
|
| Wed Apr 29
| Project 5 Assigned
|
|
28
| Thu Apr 30
| Graphs
| MAW 9.1, 9.3 + notes
|
29
| Tue May 5
| Special Topics
|
|
29
| Thu May 7
| Special Topics
|
|
29
| Tue May 12
| Review
|
|
| Wed May 13
| Project 5 Due
|
|
| TBD
|
| Classes 20 - 29
|
- Dates and topics are subject to change as required by class
progress
- MAW = Weiss text "Data Structures & Algorithm Analysis
in Java"
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/spring09/index.shtml
Please check the web page frequently. Any changes to the page will be
mentioned in the "Latest News" link.
Last modified on Tuesday Jan 20, 2009 by Ryan Bergeron
email: rberge1 AT umbc.edu
Back up to Spring 2009 CMSC-341 Homepage