CS310: Data Structures (Fall 2019)

All Sections

1. Course Basics

1.1 Prerequisite:

1.2 Professor Information:

1.3 Textbook:

• Mark Allen Weiss, Data Structures & Problem Solving Using Java, 4th ed., Addison-Wesley, 2010. Errata
  
• It is assumed that students read the scheduled sections prior to each lecture.

1.4 Software & Programming Requirements

• You will need a computer for this class with some modern operating system capable of running a Java compiler. Remember that lab computers are also available on campus, see campus resources below.
• The prerequisite for this course is C or better in CS 211. We will assume that you have developed a significant degree of skill in programming (program organization, coding, documenting, testing and debugging) -- you will develop yet more this semester. We will also assume that you are acquainted with basic complexity analysis ("big O") and are able to build abstract data types using Java classes.
  

1.5 Discussion board: Piazza

• Course schedule, announcements, lecture slides, assignments, discussion. GTA/UTA contacts and office hours will be on Piazza too. Sign up yourself by following this link: https://piazza.com/gmu/fall2019/cs310
  
• The discussion board on Piazza is required reading for all projects. You MUST read the discussion board for clarifications and project updates.
• All instructors and TAs can view all material on Piazza.
• No sharing answers or code solutions to assignments on the discussion board. You can include code in private posts to the instructors (visible to all professors, GTAs, and UTAs). See Honor code section below for more details.
• Email course staff only for logistical issues such as meeting outside of office hours, missing lab/lecture, grading disputes, medical situations, etc. Email addresses are listed on Piazza.
• Do not e-mail course staff about programming problems; use the discussion board. Project help questions sent via email are of extremely low priority, as they were sent to the wrong place.

1.6 Blackboard

• Grades will be posted to Blackboard.
• Projects assignments will be submitted (per published deadlines) via Blackboard.

1.7 Office hours

• Office hours are listed for all staff on Piazza under (Resources/Staff). 
  
• Students must make significant, individual effort on all projects before coming to see a GTA/professor. Waiting until the last minute, in the expectations that the entire project will be explained in one office hours session, is not feasible.
• Office hours are often crowded - do not rely on them for last minute help, as we cannot guarantee that we will be able to spend significant time with every student. You can also use the discussion board for posting questions.

2. Course Description

2.2 Course topics:

  CS 310 continues the study of data structures from CS 211. Students will learn how to approach larger and more challenging programming problems than the projects in CS 211. Programming is a significant part of this course and students should expect to spend a good deal of time on the programming projects. The course also introduces a variety of data structures and illustrates the types of problems for which they are useful.

  Tentative topics to be covered include:

• Lists, Stacks, and Queues
• Hash Tables and Hashing
• Trees and Basic Tree Algorithms
• Graphs and Basic Graph Algorithms

2.2 Course Outcomes:

• Gain an ability to analyze the runtime efficiency of algorithms that create and manipulate data structures.
• Gain an ability to compare data structure trade-offs such that the student is able to choose appropriate implementations for a given data structure and appropriate data structures for a given application.
• Reinforce their knowledge of basic data structures (linked lists, dynamic array lists, stacks, and queues) and extend their knowledge to more sophisticated data structures, including hash tables, balanced trees, priority queues, and basic graphs.
• Implement and use learned data structures to solve real computing problems. This includes substantial reinforcement of language-specific techniques for abstract data types and design and debugging techniques.

3. Grading

3.1 Assessment

The following will be applied without rounding:

• A+ (>= 98.0%) A (>= 92.0%) A– (>= 90.0%)
• B+ (>= 88.0%) B (>= 82.0%) B– (>= 80.0%)
• C+ (>= 78.0%) C (>= 72.0%) C– (>= 70.0%)
• D (>= 60.0%)
• F (< 60.0%)

There will be no make-up or extra-credit assignments at the end of the semester; your grade should be a measure of your semester-long progress.

3.2 Programming assignments

Students will receive a number of programming projects during the semester. These programming projects will be a primary focus of your grade - each one should take multiple sessions of coding, with questions asked in between. Don't be surprised if you're spending 20+ hours on each one. All project grades will be averaged together evenly. Programming projects are INDIVIDUAL work.

• Submission

• All projects are to be submitted to Blackboard. You can submit your work an unlimited number of times to BlackBoard, and by default only the last version will be graded.
  
• Turning in the wrong files will likely result in a zero. You can and should download your submitted attempts to verify that you turned in a working copy.
• Broken Code == Bad Scores. Any code turned in that does not compile, specifically on Java 1.8 is likely to receive a zero. If the grader is able to quickly fix your code, you might get some points back. If the grader cannot immediately spot and fix the issue, you'll be fortunate to get any points at all.
  

• Deadline

• Projects can be turned in at most 24 hours late, no exceptions.
  
• Submitting a project after the deadline lowers the maximum score by 25% (not quite the same as a 25% penalty). One minute late is the same as 23 hours and 59 minutes late.
  
• Each student gets two "Emergency Day" tokens, which are automatically used by late submissions to avoid the 25% penalty; you still must turn in work within 24 hours of the original deadline, even if you use tokens!
• Unused emergency-tokens will be worth 0.25% bonus to a student's overall grade at the semester's end.
  
• Blackboard being unavailable is not an excuse for turning in a late assignment; in the rare situation that the website is somehow unavailable or giving the student an error, the student MUST email their submission to their GTA before the deadline, otherwise it will be considered late.
• Catastrophic computer failure will not be cause for an extension. Use a backup service such as DropBox (or any cloud service), emailing yourself, storing to a USB drive, whatever it takes. Every semester multiple students' computers die, are stolen, or otherwise 'lose' projects. Don't be the student who forgot to (frequently) back up your work!

• Honor code

• Programming projects are considered individual efforts, therefore no sharing of code and/or discussion of problem solutions are allowed with anyone except the TAs or the professor. Student projects will be manually and automatically assessed for cheating.
  
• You may not use any Internet resources to create code or algorithms, besides the textbooks, the slides, and Piazza, unless otherwise specified. However, you are free to look up the syntax errors your encounter online, to gain an understanding of what the syntax error means. The projects we're doing this semester can be directly solved using techniques discussed in class, and no outside material is needed unless otherwise noted.
• It is your responsibility to lock your computers with a password, to not post your code to websites like Pastebin that are publicly accessible, to guard your USB drives and computers, to not upload your files to someone else's computer, etc. You will be liable for any access gained to your code.
  

3.4 Participation:

• 5% of semester total is based on participation activities determined by individual instructors. 
  

3.5 Exams

• Exams are closed book/notes unless specified otherwise by instructor. They will be entirely paper and pencil - no computers.
• All students must have their GMU identification available on testing days.
  
• The final exam is cumulative.
  
• Early or Late/Makeup Exams require exceptional circumstances (as judged by the instructors) and must be arranged in advance. Vacation plans are not exceptional circumstances.
• If you miss an exam due to a university-accepted excused absence (such as an illness or car accident the day and time of the exam), you must notify your professor within 24 hours of your absence to make arrangements for a makeup, and bring approved documentation with you when you take the make-up exam. Failure to follow either of these policies will result in a zero. We may also elect to allow the final exam to count the extra amount to give you a sort of do-over.

3.6 Contested Grades

• If you feel points have been incorrectly deducted, contact the grader. For projects, that is your GTA. For exams, that is your professor.
• Contesting of grades on any/all submissions must be requested within one week of receiving the grade (on BlackBoard). No grade changes will be considered subsequent to that deadline.

4. Honor Code

• All students are expected to abide by the GMU Honor Code. This policy is rigorously enforced. Cheating will be prosecuted and result in a notification of the Honor Committee as outlined in the GMU Honor Code. Sharing, collaboration, or looking at any code or algorithm for the programming projects that is not your own, including resources from Internet, is considered cheating.

• The computer science department has an CS Honor Code Policies that you are subject to particularly for our course. The document helps you to understand how GMU honor code applies to programming and CS, what constitutes cheating in the CS setting. It clarifies some scenarios that are unique to our sorts of assignments. Make sure you read and familiarize yourself with these rules.
  

• We take the honor code quite seriously. Any attempts at copying or sharing code, algorithms, or other violations of the honor code simply will not be tolerated. We use automated software to flag suspicious cases, and then review them to find the cases that must be submitted to the Office of Academic Integrity. The penalty for cheating will always be far worse than a zero grade, to ensure it's not worth taking the chance. Confirmed cases of cheating almost always translate into course failure.

5. Learning Disabilities

6. Campus Resources

• Computer Labs – there are several freely available computer labs on campus
• GMU Learning Services
• Office of Disability Services
• Counseling and Support Services
• English as a Second Language (ESL) Writing Support