This is a
tentative syllabus and schedule. Topics, reading
assignments, and due dates are subject to change.
All assignments and projects are due by 11:59:59pm on the day
listed; except for the last project, which is due by 2:40pm on
the last day of class.
Java readings are from Head First Java; if you are using a
different Java reference it is your responsibility to determine
the equivalent readings for the listed topics.
* Note that Prof. Eaton may be on travel for one or more days
during these weeks, subject to change.
When you e-mail me, make sure you put "CS206" at the start
of the subject line to ensure a quicker response.
E-mail is the best way to reach me, and I make a
concerted effort to respond to all e-mails within 24 hours
on weekdays and 48 hours on weekends (often, much less!).
Office Hours:
1-2pm Tuesday/Thursday and by
appointment in Park 249
Fridays 11am-1pm in Park Room 231 (Computer Science Lab).
Course Description:
This course will introduce fundamental algorithms and data
structures of computer science: sorting, searching, recursion,
backtracking search, lists, stacks, queues, trees, graphs, and
dictionaries. It will also introduce students to the
mathematical analysis of algorithms, and provide extensive
programming experience in the Java language. This is the
second core computer science course at Bryn Mawr.
Prerequisite:
Computer Science 205 or 110, or permission of instructor.
Text & Software
REQUIRED
Data Structures and Algorithms
in Java (2nd edition) by Robert Lafore, Sams, 2002.
Available at the Campus Bookstore.
ONE
OF THE FOLLOWING JAVA REFERENCES
Head First Java (2nd edition) by Sierra, Bates, and
Bates, O'Reilly, 2005. Available at the Campus
Bookstore.
Java in a Nutshell
(5th edition) by David Flanagan, O'Reilly, 2005. This
is an excellent reference, especially for the Java API, but
moves very quickly over the basics.
Thinking in Java
(4th edition) by Bruce Eckel, Prentice Hall. The first
part of the 4th edition and all of the 3rd edition are
available for free at http://www.mindview.net/Books/TIJ/.
I would strongly recommend that you use Head First Java as your
primary reference in this course, using the online version
of The Java Tutorial
as needed.
SOFTWARE
Java
SE
SDK
This software is already installed in the Computer Science
Lab, but you are welcome to install the SDK on your own
machines as well.
Emacs
This is already installed in the Computer Science lab, and
is available for free for your own computer.
Eclipse
We won't be using the Eclipse IDE until later in the
semester, but it too is available for free. If you
install it on your machine, I recommend the "Eclipse IDE for
Java Developers" version. Be sure to install the Java
SDK first, however.
Course Policies
Communication
Attendance and active participation are
expected in every class. Participation includes asking questions,
contributing answers, proposing ideas, and providing constructive
comments.
As you will discover, I am a proponent of two-way communication
and I welcome feedback during the semester about the course. I am
available to answer student questions, listen to concerns, and
talk about any course-related topic (or otherwise!). Come to
office hours! This helps me get to know you. You are welcome to
stop by and chat. There are many more exciting topics to talk
about that we won't have time to cover in-class.
Whenever you e-mail me, be sure to use a meaningful subject line
and include the phrase "CS206" at the beginning of that line. Your
e-mail will catch my attention and I will respond quicker if you
do this. I make an effort to respond to e-mails within 24 hours on
weekdays and 48 hours on weekends.
Although computer science work can be intense and solitary, please
stay in touch with me, particularly if you feel stuck on a topic
or project and can't figure out how to proceed. Often a quick
e-mail, phone call or face-to-face conference can reveal solutions
to problems and generate renewed creative and scholarly energy. It
is essential that you begin assignments and projects early, since
we will be covering a variety of challenging topics in this
course.
Grading
Your grade will be based upon two
homework assignments, a four-part project, and two exams.
Assignments must be submitted according to the Assignment
Submission instructions. You should pay careful attention to
the Code Formatting Standards
and Grading Policy when doing
your assignments. The grading structure for individual
assignments is broken down in the Grading Policy.
At the end of the semester, final grades will be calculated as a
weighted average of all grades according to the following weights:
Exam 1:
15%
Exam 2:
20%
Assignments:
20% (10% each)
Project:
45% (10% each part, plus 5%
for integration and delivery)
Total:
100%
Incomplete grades will be given only for verifiable medical
illness or other such dire circumstances.
All graded work will receive a percentage grade between 0% and
100%. Here is how the percentage grades will map to final
letter grades:
Rounded Percentage
Letter grade
Rounded Percentage
Letter grade
97% -100%
A+ (4.0)
77% - 79%
C+ (2.3)
93% - 96%
A (4.0)
73% - 76%
C (2.0)
90% - 92%
A- (3.7)
70% - 72%
C- (1.7)
87% - 89%
B+ (3.3)
67% - 69%
D+ (1.3)
83% - 86%
B (3.0)
60% - 66%
D (1.0)
80% - 82%
B- (2.7)
0% - 59%
F (0.0)
The instructor reserves the right to adjust the percentage ranges
for each letter grade upward in your favor.
Submission and Late Policy
All
work
must be turned in either in hard-copy or electronic submission,
depending on the instructions given in the assignment.
E-mailed submissions will not
be accepted. Extensions will be given only in the case of
verifiable medical excuses or other such dire circumstances, if
requested in advance.
Late submissions will receive a penalty of 10% for every 0-24 hours
it is past the due date and time (e.g., assignments turned in 25 hrs
late will receive a penalty of 20%). Submissions received more
than one week late will not be accepted. Project 4 and the
final project integration will not be accepted late.
Exams
There will be two exams in this course. The exams will be
closed-book and closed-notes. They will cover material from
lectures, homeworks, and assigned readings (including topics not
discussed in class). So, keep up with those readings!
Study Groups
I want to encourage you to discuss the material and work together
to understand it. Here are my thoughts on collaborating with other
students:
The readings and lecture topics are group work. Please
discuss the readings and associated topics with each other.
Work together to understand the material. I highly recommend
forming a reading group to discuss the material -- we will
explore many challenging ideas and it helps to have multiple
people working together to understand them.
It is fine to discuss the topics covered in the homeworks, to
discuss approaches to problems, and to sketch out general
solutions. However, you MUST write up the homework answers,
solutions, and programs individually. You are not permitted to
share specific solutions, mathematical results, program code,
knowledge representations, experimental results, etc. If you
made any notes or worked out something on a white board with
another person while you were discussing the homework, you
shouldn't use those notes while writing up your answer,
however tempted you may be to do so.
You are fully permitted to (and should!) discuss projects
with members of your team. I also encourage you to work
outside of your team to understand the other topics in the
course.
Under ABSOLUTELY NO circumstances should you share computer
code with another student outside of your project team.
Similarly, you are not permitted to use or consult code found on
the internet for any of your assignments.
Exams and papers, of course, must be your own individual
work.
If you have any questions as to what types of collaborations are
allowed and which are dishonest, please ask me before you
make a mistake.
Electronic Devices
I have no problem with you using computers or tablets to take
notes or consult reference materials during class. Tempting
though it may be, please do not check e-mail or visit websites
that are not relevant to the course during class. It is a
distraction, both for you and (more importantly) for your fellow
classmates. Please silence your phones and computers when
you enter class.
Reference Links
These references will be useful throughout the semester:
