Course Description

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.

Textbooks

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

Grading

All homework shall be submitted in hard copy in class of the due date.
No project or homework will be accepted past the due date resulting in zero points for that assignment.

Your semester average will be calculated according to the following formula

   Semester Average = 10 * (sum of your points on best 5 HW) / (total possible points of best 5 HW)
                 +    40 * (sum of your points on all projects ) / (total possible points on all projects)
		 +    50 * (sum of your points on all exams ) / (total possible points on all exams)

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

Note that the due dates for the projects and the dates of the exams are already set (q.v., the syllabus and project policy page). Please plan your schedules accordingly. Makeup exams will be given only under the most dire circumstances (almost never). Project regrade request must be submitted to the TA for your section within 1 week of a returned grade. In some unusual circumstances you may receive a low project score because of a single, simple error that results in many incorrect outputs or results in a compiler/linker error. The definition of "simple error" is determined by your TA. In such cases, your TA may (at his discretion) allow you to fix the simple mistake and have your project regraded. A 10 point deduction will be assessed during the regrade process. There will be NO regrades for homeworks.

Attendance and Readings

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 TAs

• 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, 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.
• Include a meaningful subject line, something like "CMSC 341 Project 2 question."

Academic Integrity

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

• Dates and topics are subject to change as required by class progress
• MAW = Weiss text "Data Structures & Algorithm Analysis in Java"

Course Web Page

www.cs.umbc.edu/courses/undergraduate/341/spring11/index.shtml