About the Course

This course is an expansion on CS211, with further study of data structures and algorithms, and a significantly more difficult set of programming assignments. Topics may include: graph structures, various advanced tree data type types, searching, sorting, disjoint sets, hashing, heaps, and extensible arrays, among other structures and topics.

Course Information

Data, homework, lecture notes, etc. for the course will be posted at the CS310/003 Home Page at http://cs.gmu.edu/~sean/cs310/ (when it is assembled).

Required Textbooks

The required text is Data Structures and Algorithms in Java, Second Edition, by Adam Drozdek.

Grading Policies

This course will consist of homework and projects, and two exams. The breakdown will be approximately:

Homework and Projects	40% with higher weight given to harder projects
Exams	30% Each

There will be no make-up tests for missed examinations. Late homework will be accepted but at a loss of 20% per day (homework later than 4 days, or as of the first reading day, is worth nothing).

Plagiarism and Cheating Policy

All programming assignments are to be done by yourself, with no assistance in any way from other students or other individuals. You may discuss topics with other students, but only to the extent that you would when studying with them about those topics for an exam. You may not in any way provide programming assistance, hints, or code to other students working on projects, nor receive the same from anyone.

Each year I commonly catch several students plagarizing. The penalties for plagarism are severe: offenders will be sent to the Honor Court with a recommended penalty of one full letter reduction in course grade (for minor offenses) up to course failure (for major offenses). The Honor Court has never been softer than (and often harder than) my recommendation. In more than one case, the result has been a student not graduating that year. The combination of severity plus the fact that students are regularly caught should be a red flag: this isn't the class to be cheating in.

What is plagarism? Plagarism is soliciting help, or providing help, in course assignments, or discussing approaches to doing them. Help includes, but is not limited to, any discussion about the assignment or any code. In general, you should not even discuss (let alone trade code) any assignment until at least the deadline plus four days. Solicitation also includes requesting help from external sources like web pages.