CSC 210 Data Structures & Algorithms

Spring 2006 term

The syllabus is the most important thing at the beginning... then it'll be the homework listing... and please enjoy my useful links, or I believe the idiom is, favorites.
That's a wrap...June 6, 2006

I have entered your grades into Merlin, so they should be available (soon?).

Guys, thanks for your participation in class.

good luck... yow, bill
WEEK 10: Jun 3, 2006

Final exam will be Saturday at 9:00 am:

  •  Worth 40% of your final grade
  •  2 hours long
  •  You can bring 1 side of 1 page of notes
  •  Comprehensive exam with an emphasis on 2nd half material like:
    • Ch 11 Balanced Trees
    • Ch 2 Exceptions
    • Ch 2 Efficiency
    • Ch 9 Sets, Maps, Hashing
    • Ch 12 Graphs
    • Ch 5 Stacks
    • Ch 6 Queues
    • Ch 10 Sorting

Quote for the Final:

  "I've got blisters on me fingers"
  - John Lennon
WEEK 9: May 27, 2006

Lucky week #9... we'll have "office hours" at our regular Saturday morning meeting time/place:

  •  DUE: Program #5
  •  DUE: Read/notes on Chapter 10 Sorting
  •  LECTURE: Review last week's stuff: Stacks & Queues
  •  LECTURE: Chapter 10 Sorting
  •  LECTURE: Final exam preview!
  •  LAB: Program #5 questions/issues

Read my favorites update, eh.

thanks... yow, bill
WEEK 8: May 20, 2006

Lucky week #8...

  •  DUE: Read/notes on Chapters 5 Stacks & Chapter 6 Queues
  •  LECTURE: Review last week's stuff: Graphs
  •  LECTURE: Chapter 5, 6 Stacks, Queues
  •  LAB: Program #5 questions/issues

thanks... yow, bill
WEEK 7: May 13, 2006

Lucky week #7...

  •  DUE: Program #4
  •  DUE: Read/notes on Chapter 12 Graphs
  •  ASSIGNED: Program #5... Shortcut!
  •  LECTURE: Review last week's hash table extravaganza (sets, maps, efficiency, and exceptions too)
  •  LECTURE: Chapter 12 Graphs
  •  LAB: I'll help on Program #4/#5 questions

thanks... yow, bill
WEEK 6: May 6, 2006

QOD:

"My feeling is that when we prepare a program, the experience can be just like composing poetry or music; as Andrei Ershov has said, programming can give us both intellectual and emotional satisfaction, because it is a real achievement to master complexity and to establish a system of consistent rules."

- D Knuth

Week 6 already? Yikes:

  •  DUE: Program #3
  •  DUE: Read/notes on Chapter 9. Pay special attention to "hash tables", the focus of our Program #4.
  •  ASSIGNED: Program #4... coming soon!
  •  LECTURE: Review balanced trees from last week
  •  LECTURE: Chapter 9 Sets and Maps and Hash Tables and such
  •  LECTURE: Chapter 2 Exceptions and Efficiency
  •  LAB: We'll head up to the lab at the end of lecture, and I'll take your Program #3/#4 questions
WEEK 5: Apr 29, 2006

I have graded your Program #2... mine is on the k: drive. Email/see me for more. yup... yow, bill

Midterm exam this Saturday!

  •  Worth 30% of your final grade
  •  2 hours long from 10:00 to noon
  •  Covers: Appendix A Java, Appendix B UML, Chapter 1 Introduction, Chapter 3 OOP/ADTs, Chapter 4 Lists & generics, Chapter 7 Recursion, Chapter 8 Trees
  •  You can bring 1 side of 1 page of notes

I'll blather for 2 hours before the exam:

  •  I'll take your midterm and Program #3 questions
  •  I'll probably do a little cleanup on Chapter 8 Trees
  •  Chapter 11 Balanced Trees
  •  Chapter 2 Exceptions... if we have time

Quote of the Day:

"If it were easy, everyone would be doing it"

- P Wildman
WEEK 4: Apr 22, 2006

First, a postscript on last week's office hours... I have updated the list examples in the common areas. I eliminated a couple little critters that snuck into my code because I couldn't compile it. It's all compile-able now, and we'll review this stuff in week 4.

Speaking of week 4:

  •  DUE: Program #2
  •  DUE: Read Chapter 8 Trees... I'll peek at your notes for 1 point
  •  ASSIGNED: Program #3
  •  LECTURE: Review lists and generics from last week's office hours
  •  LECTURE: Preview the midterm exam, which will be next Saturday in week 5
  •  LECTURE: Chapter 8 Trees
  •  LECTURE: Chapter 11 Balanced Trees... if we have time

Matt and Kim, please see/email me early next week so that I can chat with you about Program #1. It will probably impact your implementation of Program #2, so don't delay too much.

thanks... yow, bill
WEEK 3: Apr 15, 2006

Quote of the Day... after grading program #1:

Hey you!

Don't tell me there's no hope at all

- Roger Waters

No class on Saturday, but I will have extended office hours from 8:00 till noon. We can chat about:

  •  Program #1 - I have graded your #1, and mine is available on the k: drive. I have a handout for you explaining some of my choices in #1, so that your Java/programming style can improve.
  •  Program #2 - Let's talk... I am expecting large leaps of improvement over #1
  •  I'll take questions on any "old" material... chapters 3, 7, appendices A, B, C
  •  Chapter 4 - I'll take any list questions
  •  Chapter 1 - I'll take and Intro to S/W questions
  •  We'll also definitely have lab time
  •  I'll take any tax return questions, as well... NOT!

thanks... yow, bill
WEEK 2: Apr 8, 2006

Apr 5... Hey, go to Program #1 and jump to the bottom for a one-line errata correction. Email me if you have questions... wtkrieger@noctrl.edu

This QOD is long but poignant... and particularly appropriate in the context of program #1:

What were the lessons I learned from so many years of intensive work on the practical problem of setting type by computer? One of the most important lessons, perhaps, is the fact that SOFTWARE IS HARD.

From now on I shall have significantly greater respect for every successful software tool that I encounter. During the past decade I was surprised to learn that the writing of programs for TeX and Metafont proved to be much more difficult than all the other things I had done (like proving theorems or writing books).

The creation of good software demands a significantly higher standard of accuracy than those other things do, and it requires a longer attention span than other intellectual tasks.

- Donald Knuth, again... spacing and emphasis are mine... and amen, brother!

Well, good first class. Thank you for your attention in the specter of Saturday, 8 in the morning, 4 hours of prattling, etc.

Due next time:

  •  Program #1 is due at the end of the day
  •  Please read and show me your notes on Chapter 3 "Inheritance and Class Hierarchies" and Chapter 4 "Lists and the Collection Interface". This will be your 1 point "class work" grade for week #2. Bring your questions!

Don't leave Program #1 till the last minute, but you already know this... veterans of the 160/161 programming battles. My office hours are Monday, Wednesday, and Friday nights, or whenever by email appointment.

I will cover Chapter 1 in lecture next time as well and do some Chapter 7 clean-up, but we're off to a good start.

thanks... yow, bill

PS - Program #2 is up in the Homework page. See you in 10 hours.
Apr 1, 2006

Quote of the Day (QOD):

People think that computer science is the art of geniuses but the actual reality is the opposite, just many people doing things that build on each other, like a wall of mini stones.

- Donald Knuth

Jeez, what will we do at 8:00 on a Saturday morning:

  1. Have a cuppa joe
  2. Introduction to the course, each other
  3. Lecture: "Appendix A Java review"
  4. Lecture: "Chapter 1 Introduction to Software Design"
  5. Lecture: "Chapter 7 Recursion"
  6. Chitchat about Program #1, your first assignment
  7. Head up to the lab and try some of this stuff
  8. Due next time:
    •  Program #1
    •  Read Chapter 3 Inheritance and Class Hierarchies
    •  Read Chapter 4 Lists and the Collection Interface
    •  I'll check your notes of this reading to determine your "class work" grade for week 2
    •  Also, watch this web page for any changes or announcements

Piece of cake. No April fool.

race you there... yow, bill

PS - BTW, my office hours are MWF 6:30-9:00 pm
Feb 28, 2006

Started this page early... just trying to get ahead of the game.

Our first class is Saturday April 1, 2006 at 8:00 am (yawn).

The syllabus is up, but I reserve the right to tweak it until we get started.

thanks... yow, bill