CSC301: Syllabus

You must subscribe to the course discussion forum on google groups. Do it as soon as possible.

http://groups.google.com/group/csc301winter2018

• Don't troll.
• If your reply is intended for one person, please use Reply rather than Reply All.
• Please don't send thank you messages to the group.

The discussion forum is an extension our time in class. This is particularly great for students that miss the live lecture. If you are watching the class online, you should write down any questions that arise, including the time from the recording for reference. Then send the list of questions to me, and I will post a reply to the group.

I will also use Teamviewer for communication. With teamviewer, you can show me your computer screen while we talk over the phone.

This is the second course in a two-course sequence on data structures using Java. The course focuses mainly on the following data structures, their analysis, and their applications: trees (search trees, balanced search trees), heaps, associative arrays, hash tables, and data structures for representing graphs. The implementation of the basic operations on each data structure are discussed and analyzed in terms of their efficiency. The applications discussed highlight and exploit the unique characteristics of the different data structures, and emphasize problem solving and recursive thinking.

From Wired Magazine: Code is far from a utilitarian means to an end. Like painting or sculpting, it's a medium with which you can create something. And as such, code can take many forms: beautiful or ugly, elegant or clunky.

• Basic OO programming techniques
• Use of debuggers
• Use of testing
• Understanding correctness of programming
• Understanding performance characteristics of programs
• Competence with iterative and recursive solutions to problems

Plus

• Understanding of trees.
• Understanding of hash tables.
• Understanding of graphs.
• Understanding of string algorithms.

The following lecture plan is tentative and subject to change as the course progresses.

• Class 1: [2017/01/03-08] Trees, iteration and recursion (3.2)
• Class 2: [2017/01/10-15] Binary Search Trees (3.2)
• Class 3: [2017/01/17-22] Symbol Tables (3.1, 3.5)
• Class 4: [2017/01/24-29] Balanced Search Trees (3.3)
• Class 5: [2017/01/31-05] Hash Tables (3.4)
• Class 6: [2017/02/07-12] Midterm
• Class 7: [2017/02/14-19] Undirected Graphs (4.1)
• Class 8: [2017/02/21-26] Directed Graphs (4.2)
• Class 9: [2017/02/28-05] String sorts (5.1) and Tries (5.2)
• Class 10: [2017/03/07-12] Data Compression (5.5)
• Class 11: [2017/03/16] Final exam

Lecture slides will be available after each lecture. They will not normally be available before the lecture.

CSC300/402 C- or better.

If you are delayed in getting the texts, you can view them online via Safari.

Required Books

Core Java SE 9 for the Impatient, 2nd Edition [Amazon, Indiebound] by Cay Horstmann (Addison-Wesley, 2017) Available as Ebook Available online via Safari Companion site. Older edition is fine.

Algorithms 4e [Amazon, Indiebound] by Robert Sedgewick and Kevin Wayne (Addison-Wesley, 2011) Available as Ebook Available online via Safari Companion site. Do not get an older edition. They are completely different books.

Recommended Books

Schaum's Outline of Data Structures with Java 2e [Amazon, Indiebound] by John Hubbard (Schuams, 2009) This book is a good source of example problems with solutions. Available as Ebook

More books

Algorithms 4e (with videos) [Amazon, Indiebound] by Robert Sedgewick and Kevin Wayne (Addison-Wesley, 2011) Available as Ebook

How to Think Like a Computer Scientist by Allen B. Downey. Free! An good introduction to Java. Skip the GridWorld chapters, which are intended to help with the AP exam in CS. See also these lecture notes from MIT. The first three lectures are particularly useful.

Java for Python Programmers by Brad Miller. Free! See also here.

Introduction to Programming in Java (Chapter 1) by Robert Sedgewick and Kevin Wayne Free! This is the first chapter of the introductory text written by the authors of our primary textbook. It presents the same material as section 1.1 of the primary text, but at a slower pace.

Effective Java 2e [Amazon, Indiebound] by Joshua Bloch (Addison-Wesley, 2008) Available as Ebook Available online via Safari

The algorithms text describes all of the Java that is required for the class. The discussion is terse, making it an excellent reference. If you would like a longer discussion of Java, you might want a supplementary text. In this case, you might consider one of the following.

• Kathy Sierra and Bert Bates's "Head First Java" (on Safari)
• Bruce Eckel's "Thinking in Java" (3e available for free for download online and fine for our purposes)
• David Flanagan's "Java in a Nutshell" (on Safari)
• Cay Horstman's "Core Java I" (on Safari)
• Cay Horstman's "Big Java" (on Safari)

We will discuss concepts in class.

You will have weekly programming assignments.

• You do not have to do it alone, but you must be self-motivated.
• You can ask me and other members of the class.
• You must start assignments early.

Getting the homework correct is not enough. The first time you solve something it could take days, and may require help. Once you get a solution, you are not done.

• First, try to make your code as simple as possible. It should be self-explantory to an average programmer, and include no unnecessary conditionals or extra lines of code.
• Then, create a copy of the homework and erase your solutions.
• Upon waking the next day, attempt to redo the problems. Do not look at your previous solution. Do not ask for help, either from friends or from the internet.
• Repeat this process until you can write each single function correctly in five minutes or less. Only then have you internalized the problem.
• Try to invent a variant of the problem that is easy to solve once you know how to solve this one.

From the Chronicle of Higher Education: People often mistake familiarity for understanding. They open the textbook after getting home from a lecture, and they recognize the material. They think: I get this. Then they take a test -- and bomb it.

I do not give out solutions to homework problems.

• I will show every solution during lecture.
• What I suggest is that while watching you lecture, you pause on any code you'd like the solution for, and type it in.
• I firmly believe that you will learn something in the process, that you will not learn by simply looking at my solution.

How to succeed:

• Be present.
• Articulate your intention.
• Ask for help.
• Forgive yourself.

You must attend class!

• Incomplete Grades

  An incomplete grade is defined in the Student Handbook as follows (note that the policy in the undergraduate student handbook applies to both undergraduate and graduate students): A temporary grade indicating that the student has a satisfactory record in work completed, but for unusual or unforeseeable circumstances not encountered by other students in the class and acceptable to the instructor is prevented from completing the course requirements by the end of the term. Please see http://www.cdm.depaul.edu/Current%20Students/Pages/Grading-Policies.aspx for additional information.

• Retro-Active Withdrawal

  CDM understands certain extenuating circumstances can hinder one's ability for academic success and completion of course work. Please see http://www.cdm.depaul.edu/Current%20Students/Pages/Enrollment-Policies.aspx for additional information.

• Absence Notifications

  In order to petition for an excused absence, students who miss class due to illness or significant personal circumstances should complete the Absence Notification process through the Dean of Students office. The form can be accessed at http://studentaffairs.depaul.edu/dos/forms.html. Students must submit supporting documentation alongside the form. The professor reserves the sole right whether to offer an excused absence and/or academic accommodations for an excused absence.

Grades will be determined as follows.

• 3% Participation (In-class students)
• 20% Online quizzes
• 25% Programming assignments
• 52% Exams

You must pass the final exam in order to pass the course.

DePaul's academic integrity policy

For in class students: Participation will consist of me calling on students in class. If you are not here or don't hear, then you will lose participation credit.