CS 310

CS 310 Computer Science III
Spring 2010

Prof. Richard Carver
email: rcarver@gmu.edu
Office: 5318 Engineering Bldg.
Office Hours: Tuesday, Thursday before class and 1:00-1:30pm, and by appointment
Phone: (703) 993-1550
The course website is http://cs.gmu.edu/~rcarver/cs310

TAs and UTA

TA: Fei Qu, fqu@gmu.edu, Office hours R: 2pm to 4pm in Engineering Building room 4456.
TA: Wentao Chang, wchang7@gmu.edu, Office hours: Thursday 2:30-3:30pm in Engineering Building 4456.
UTA: Mary Greer, mgreer1@gmu.edu, Office hours: Wednesday 1:00-3:00pm in Engineering Building 4456.
gmail:greer.maryliz, Sundays from 8:00-10:00pm, and the night before assignments are due.

Textbook

Java Software Structures: Designing and using Structures by Lewis and Chase, 3^rd Ed. ISBN 978-0-13-607858-6 (paperback)

Prerequisite

The prerequisite for this course is C or better in CS 211. I 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. I will also assume that you are acquainted with basic complexity analysis ("big O") and are able to build abstract data types using Java classes.

Course Description

The purpose of the course is two-fold. We will continue the study of data structures from CS 211 and we will learn how to approach larger and more challenging programming projects than those you did in CS 211. Programming is a significant part of this course and you should expect to spend a good deal of time on the course projects.

Course Outcomes

Reinforce what they have learned about elementary data structures from CS 211

Extend their knowledge of data structures to more sophisticated data structures. This includes balanced binary search trees, B-trees and B+-trees, hashing, and basic graphs.

Use generic types in their data structures.

Do more demanding programming than they did in CS 211. All programming is done in Java. This involves more program design and debugging techniques.

Topics

Generic types

Linked lists

Stacks and queues

Binary trees

Balanced binary trees

Multi-way trees

B-trees and B+-trees

File organization

Set and Map representations

Hashing

This list is subject to change as interest evolves.

Programs

There will be several programming assignments. Programming assignments will be posted on the course website.

You can only turn in a program once. No revisions or additions can be made to your program after it has been submitted. Late programs will be accepted with a 10% per day late penalty. You are responsible for keeping backups of your work.

Honor Code

Read the CS Department honor code: http://cs.gmu.edu/wiki/pmwiki.php/HonorCode/CSHonorCodePolicies and the University honor code: http://honorcode.gmu.edu. You are bound by these honor codes. Any submitted work which shows too much commonality with others' work to be completely original, or any plagiarized work, will receive a grade of 0. Any code which is presented in class or provided to you as part of the project may be included in your programs.

Grading

There will be a midterm exam and a final. There will be no makeups on exams except under exceptional circumstances (as judged by me), and any such makeup must be arranged in advanced. Grades will computed from a weighted average computed with the following weights:

programs + homework: 40%

midterm exam: 30%

final exam: 30%

CS 310 Computer Science III Spring 2010