CS 256 Syllabus Fall 2011

Instructor

  • Ed Harcourt
  • Office: Bewkes 105-1
  • Phone: x5444
  • edharcourt@stlawu.edu
  • Office hours: Monday - Thursday 9AM - 10AM and Tuesday/Thursday 2PM-3PM. If these don't work please make an appointment. Also, if my door is open feel free to drop in. If my door is shut it means I am not in or can not be interrupted.

Course Info

CS256 - Data Structures

The Textbook is Data Structures: Abstraction and Design Using Java by Koffman and Wolfgang, Second Edition.


Software

We'll be using Eclipse and Java. Eclipse can be downloaded from here and Java can be downloaded from here. We'll be using Java 6 not Java 7.


Grading

Grades are based on a 100 point scale and are derived from the following.

It is imperative that you keep copies of your graded work. Mostly these will be useful for studying, but occasionally we'll need to reconcile a grading difference and I'll need to see your graded copy.

Calculating your grade

To determine your exam average add up the total number of points you have received on exams and quizzes and divide by the total number of possible exam points.

To determine your homework average add up the total number of points you have received on homework assignments and divide by the total number of possible homework points.

The 100 points above translate to the following GPA points.

Click here to toggle displaying the grade table.

Exams

There will be two mid-term exams and a final exam.

  1. Exam 1: Thursday September 22
  2. Exam 2: Thursday November 3
  3. Final exam: December 13, 8:30AM - 11:30AM.

There will also be a few short quizzes during the semester.

Homework

You will have about five-six programming assignments during the semester.

Attendance

Attendance is mandatory. However I fully understand that we may get ill or have a family emergency. It is your repsonsibility to let me know if you cannot attend class. It is also your responsibility to get notes from someone. Missing class is never an excuse for not turning in graded work (or turning it in late).


Academic Integrity

The St. Lawrence Academic Honor Code in your Student Handbook applies to this course. Any specific policies for this course are supplementary to the Honor Code. I expect you to abide by Article I (Student Responsibilities), and I intend to abide by Article II (Faculty Responsibilities).

For in class work you may work with a partner. Your homework assignments must be your own work entirely. Please use me and the QRC staff for help.

Topics

We'll be covering the following topics in this course.

  1. Java review, Abstraction, Object Oriented Programming. Appendix A and Chapter 1.
  2. Lists: Chapter 2
  3. Stacks: Chapter 3
  4. Queues: Chapter 4
  5. Recursion: Chapter 5
  6. Trees: Chapter 6
  7. Sets and Maps: Chapter 7
  8. Sorting: Chapter 8
  9. Balanced Trees: Chapter 9