CS 272 Fall 2012

Introduction to Data Structures

Instructor

Inna Pivkina, Associate Professor, SH 172, phone 646-6237
Office Hours: Tue Thu 11am - 12pm and by appointment.
Email: ipivkina@cs.nmsu.edu
Web: http://www.cs.nmsu.edu/~ipivkina/

Teaching Assistants

Ahmad Al-Jarrah, SH 133
Office Hours: Wed 10am – 11am and by appointment
Email: jarrah@nmsu.edu

Ben Wright, SH 135, phone 646-6244
Office Hours: Mon 2:30pm – 3:30pm and by appointment
Email: bwright@cs.nmsu.edu

Where and when

(Lecture) Room: SH118B; Time: Tue Thu 2:35pm - 3:50pm
(Lab) Room: SH118; Time: Mon 12:30pm - 2:20pm

Course webpage

Information about this course (syllabus, assignments, grades, additional material, useful links, etc.) will be available online on Canvas. More information will be posted as the course progresses.

Textbook

Data Structures and Other Objects Using Java (4th edition) by Michael Main, ISBN 0132576244. In addition to the bookstore, you may also be able to find new or used copies online at sites such as www.valorebooks.com, www.amazon.com, etc. You can compare prices from several textbook sites by going to www.isbn.nu. Always communicate with the seller before you buy the book to make sure that it is the right edition.

Course Description

We will learn advanced programming concepts and major data structures that are needed in computer programming. The goal of the course is to become proficient in computer programming using Java language and well known data structures, such as lists, stacks, queues, and trees.

Topics

Topics covered will include the following:

• The Phases of Software Development
• Running Time Analysis
• Java Classes and Information Hiding
• Linked Lists
• Generic Programming
• Stacks
• Queues
• Recursion
• Trees, Binary Trees, Binary Search Trees
• Balanced Trees (AVL trees)
• Searching and Sorting

This corresponds mostly to chapters 1-9 from the textbook. Material on AVL trees will be provided separately as they are not covered in the book.

Course Outcomes

At completion of this course the successful student will be able to:

• Take a problem statement from a "user" and convert it into a Java program that fulfills the user's needs
• Create object oriented classes that effectively separate and hide implementation details from client applications
• Be able to implement and use the basic data structures:
  •  lists,
  • stacks,
  • queues, and
  •  trees.
• Perform running time analysis of basic algorithms
• Be able to solve problems recursively.

Prerequisites

CS 172 (Computer Science I) is a prerequisite of this course. Knowledge of the basic concepts of programming and basics of Java programming language is assumed in this course.

Lab Assignments

To do the assignments you need to know your CS user id and password. If you have not had a CS user id before, ask the instructor or the TAs for your user id and initial password. If have forgotten your password, then contact Mike Kmetz from COG (room SH138).

We will be using Java and Eclipse Integrated Development Environment (IDE) for developing Java code.

There will be approximately 10 lab assignments in the course. You should expect to have a lab assignment every week. Each lab assignment will consist of one or more programs that you have to write, plus additional tasks.

Pair Programming

For some assignments we will use pair programming. Pair programming is an effective way to learn the material. Researchers have shown that students perform better in the class in which they use pair programming than without, and also they perform better in subsequent classes with or without it.

Lab Attendance

Lab attendance is required. We will take attendance. There will be no attendance credit for a missed lab unless there is a good documented reason for missing it. Practice shows that students who attend labs perform much better than students who do not attend. Also, pair programming is only possible when both parties show up. TAs will be available to assist you with programming assignments during labs.

Late Policy

Every assignment will have a due date and time. Every school day the assignment is late, the penalty is 5 percent of the possible points off. Each student has two late days that they can use during the semester with no penalty. Late assignments will not be accepted once solutions have been discussed in class or the graded work has been returned to the class!

Exams

There will be two midterm exams and one final exam. Dates for midterm exams are September 27 and November 1. There will not be any make-up exams unless there is a very good documented reason to have them. If you do have a very good documented reason, make-up exam will be given during the finals week and it will be a comprehensive exam.

Final exam will be on Thursday, December 13, 3:30pm - 5:30pm.

Assessment

Lab assignments (45%)
2 Midterm exams (14% each)
Final exam (17%)
Lab attendance (7%)
Class participation (3%)

Grades

A (>= 90)
B (>= 80 but < 90)
C (>= 70 but < 80)
D (>= 60 but < 70)
F (< 60)

Withdrawals and Incompletes:

You have the primary responsibility for withdrawing from the course. The last day to drop with a “W” is Tuesday, October 16.
The grade of I (incomplete) may be given only if you are unable to complete the course due to documented circumstances beyond your control that develop after the last day to withdraw from the course. Appropriate circumstances include illness and death or crisis in your immediate family. Consult the university catalog for regulations regarding the I grade. In no case will an I grade be assigned to avoid a grade of D or F in the course.
If you elect to be graded under the S/U option, you must declare your intention when registering for the course. All work in the class will be graded in a manner identical to that for students choosing the letter grade option. At the end of the semester, your final letter grade in the course will be used to assign either a S or an U. You must achieve a minimum grade of C in order to receive a grade of S.

Class Policy

Plagiarism is using another person's work without acknowledgment, making it appear to be one's own. Intentional and unintentional instances of plagiarism are considered instances of academic misconduct and are subject to disciplinary action such as failure on the assignment, failure of the course or dismissal from the university. The NMSU Library has more information and help on how to avoid plagiarism at http://lib.nmsu.edu/plagiarism/
It is expected that students follow the code of conduct stated in the Student Code of Conduct available at http://deanofstudents.nmsu.edu/student-handbook/.
Unless explicitly stated by the instructor, you are assumed to perform the assigned work by yourself, without any external collaboration. Cheating in all forms is prohibited. Note that a person copying an assignment is guilty of a violation of academic conduct, as is the person from whom the assignment was copied.as copied.

Some obvious Don'ts:

• Don't give a printed, handwritten, or electronic copy of your work to another person.
• Don't get a printed, handwritten, or electronic copy of another person's work.
• Don't allow someone else (a friend, a tutor, lab assistant, etc.) to help you so much that you can't understand and explain the finished work.

ADA:

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) covers issues relating to disability and accommodations. If a student has questions or needs an accommodation in the classroom (all medical information is treated confidentially), contact:

Trudy Luken, Director
Student Accessibility Services (SAS)
Corbett Center, Rm. 244
Phone: (575) 646-6840
E-mail:sas@nmsu.edu
Website: www.nmsu.edu/~ssd/

NMSU policy prohibits discrimination on the basis of age, ancestry, color, disability, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, race, religion, retaliation, serious medical condition, sex, sexual orientation, spousal affiliation and protected veterans status.

Furthermore, Title IX prohibits sex discrimination to include sexual misconduct, sexual violence, sexual harassment and retaliation.
For more information on discrimination issues, Title IX or NMSU's complaint process contact:

Gerard Nevarez, Executive Director or Agustin Diaz, Associate Director
Office of Institutional Equity (OIE)
O'Loughlin House
Phone: (575) 646-3635
E-mail:equity@nmsu.edu
Website: http://www.nmsu.edu/~eeo/