CS206: Data Structures, Bryn Mawr College
Douglas Blank
Spring 2009
Overview
This course provides an introduction to the fundamental algorithms and data structures of computer science: sorting, searching, recursion, backtrack search, lists, stacks, queues, trees, graphs, dictionaries. It also provides an introduction to the analysis of algorithms. Prerequisite: CMSC 205 or 110, or permission of instructor.
We will be especially interested in using data structures to solve problems that you are interested in. We will also have a social justice component if you would like to develop educational software on the One Laptop Per Child.
General Information
Course URL: cs.brynmawr.edu/Courses/cs206/spring2009Instructor: Douglas Blank, 248 Park Science Building, 526-6501
Email: dblank (at) cs (dot) brynmawr (dot) edu
Web: cs.brynmawr.edu/~dblank
Office hours: Monday and Wednesday, 1-2pm and by appointment
Course Meetings: Tues and Thursdays, 2:30-4:30am
Lab: Park Science Building, room 349 Lab Assistants: TBA
Texts
|
How to Think like a Computer Scientist by Jeffrey Elkner, Allen B. Downey and Chris Meyers |
Materials
|
For your final project, you may use a One Laptop Per Child. This would be especially appropriate if your final project was an educational project. |
Software
We will be using Python for this course. In addition, we will use some custom Python modules that will be available here for downloading.
Schedule (approximate, schedule may change)
| Week | Dates | Topic | Assignment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tue 01/20/2009, Thu 01/22/2008 | Review of Python: Lists and Functions | Read Chapter 3, and Chapter 9 | |
| 2 | Tue 01/27/2009, Thu 01/29/2008 | Files and Input/Output; Dictionaries | Read Chapter 10 | |
| 3 | Tue 02/03/2009, Thu 02/05/2008 | Lists, Dictionaries, and Files | How many times is Alice mentioned in Alice in Wonderland? | |
| 4 | Tue 02/10/2009, Thu 02/12/2008 | Defining Classes | Read Chapter 13 For Tuesday, do the LinkedList Assignment | |
| 5 | Tue 02/17/2009, Thu 02/19/2008 | Object-Oriented Programming | For Thursday, do the Tree Assignment | |
| 6 | Tue 02/24/2009, Thu 02/26/2008 | Binary Trees | ||
| 7 | Tue 03/03/2009, Thu 02/05/2008 | Doubly-linked Lists, etc | ||
| 8 | Tue 03/10/2009, Thu 02/12/2008 | Spring Break! No classes | ||
| 9 | Tue 03/17/2009, Thu 02/19/2008 | Review and Midterm Exam | ||
| 10 | Tue 03/24/2009, Thu 02/26/2008 | Project Proposals | ||
| 11 | Tue 03/31/2009, Thu 03/02/2008 | Graphs | ||
| 12 | Tue 04/07/2009, Thu 02/09/2008 | Graph Traversals | Game Details | |
| 13 | Tue 04/14/2009, Thu 02/16/2008 | Advanced Sorting | ||
| 14 | Tue 04/21/2009, Thu 02/23/2008 | Review and Project Presentations | ||
| 15 | Tue 04/28/2009, Thu 02/30/2008 | Project Presentations and Final Exam | ||
Other dates of interest in Spring 2009:
| Sunday, January 18 | Deferred Examinations |
| Monday, January 19 | Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service. Classes begin at Swarthmore College. |
| Tuesday, January 20 | Classes begin at at Bryn Mawr and Haverford Colleges. |
| Friday, January 23 | Bryn Mawr College Monday only classes meet. |
| Tues and Wed, January 27 and 28 | Confirmation of Registration for upper class students. |
| Friday, February 6 | Final day to drop HC or BMC class without penalty |
| Friday, February 27 | Last day to declare Credit/No Credit Option--closes at 5:00 pm |
| Friday, March 6 | First half semester classes end. |
| Friday, March 6 | Spring Vacation begins after last class. |
| Monday, March 16 | Spring Vacation ends--Classes resume at 8:00 am. |
| Monday, March 16 | Second half semester classes begin. |
| Monday, April 13 | Semester I 2008-2009 registration begins. |
| Friday, April 17 | Semester I 2008-2009 registration closes. |
| Friday, May 1 | Last day of classes--All written work due 5:00 pm (including papers and lab notes). |
| Saturday, May 2 | Review Period begins. |
| Tuesday, May 5 | Review Period ends. |
| Wednesday, May 6 | Examination Period begins. |
| Saturday, May 9 | Senior Examination Period ends 5:00 pm. |
| Monday, May 11 | Senior grades due 12 noon |
| Friday, May 15 | Examination Period ends--All work due by 12:30 pm |
| Sunday, May 17 | Commencement |
| Friday, May 22 | All grades due 12 noon |
Grading
Final grades will be calculated as a weighted average of all grades according to the following weights:
Written work: 25%Midterm Exam: 20%
Final Exam: 20%
Class participation: 25%
Project: 10%
dblank (at) cs (dot) brynmawr (dot) edu