DCS-128 Algorithms and Data Structures 2004

Aims and objectives ·  Lectures  ·  Local notes and resources  ·  Worldwide notes and resources  · 
Lab exercises  ·  Code used for examples  ·  Newsgroup/Discussion

Staff

Lectures, these web-notes and overall design of the course by Matthew Huntbach.

Aims and Objectives

The aims and objective of the course are given in its Information Sheet which can be found here. A longer statement of the aims and objectives can be found here.

In summary, this is a course on algorithms and data structures which uses the Java language to give executable implementation of the concepts discussed.

History and curriculum

This is now the third year this course has been taught. Only minimal changes to the curriculum have been made since it was first taught in 2002.

The course was introduced along with Procedural Programming and Object Oriented Programming (originally titled "Programming 1" and "Programming 2") as part of a rearrangement of the first-year curriculum in 2001. These three courses replace the previous Introduction to Programming double unit course which I taught, and Introduction to Algorithms course taught by Paul Taylor. 

Last year's web page for the course can be found here.

Assessment

Marks for the course will be divided between the final exam in May and two term-time tests. The final exam will count for 70% of the total marks, the term-time tests will count for 15% each..

College regulations regarding assessment, progression and resit entitlement can be found here.

In 2003 only one term-time test was set, you can find a copy here. In 2002 two term-time tests were set, you can find them here and here.

The first term time test for 2004 took place on Monday 16th February. Marks, a copy of the test paper, and some comments on how well it was done together with answers, can be found here.

The second term time test for 2004 took place on Tuesday 16th March. Marks, a copy of the test paper, and some comments on how well it was done together with answers, can be found here.

You can find a copy of the May exam paper for 2003 here and for 2002 here.

Programming Language

We shall be using Java, though we shall avoid detailed use of its extensive code library. Full documentation on Java can be found here, but very little of this will be required for the course.

I maintain a set of links on Java and programming in general, aimed at students who are just starting out to learn programming in Java. It is available here.

Systems

You will be encouraged to run Java under the Linux operating system.   In line with the aim in this course of concentrating on the basics, we will not be using a Java "Interactive Development Environment".

Local notes and resources

Notes written by myself can be found here. These will be used rather than printed handouts. Code used in these notes can be downloaded from here.

Worldwide notes and resources

If any other web sites anywhere catch my eye as something that might be useful or interesting for you in the context of this course, I'll add them to a general links page, available here.

Lab Organisation

Lab sheets issued, along with solutions, are available here. Code needed for the lab exercises can be downloaded from here.

Labs will be in the Informatics Teaching Laboratory on Monday afternoons.

Your allocated lab time will depend on the first letter of your surname:

A-D: 4-5pm
E-M: 3-4pm
N-Z: 2-3pm

Anyone in the ITL from 2-5pm on Mondays who is not in their allocated time slot may be asked to leave. Please note, however, that it is expected you will spend more than one hour a week on lab work, you may use the lab during unallocated hours (it is open early mornings, evenings and weekends), or you may use your own computer if you have one.

You are expected to attend labs during your allocated time, and a register may be taken. Any student who is consistently absent from labs may be barred from the course.

Lectures

This is a semester 2 course, with teaching from January 12th until April 2nd 2004. Lectures (each an hour long) are at 11am on Mondays, 3pm on Tuesdays and 5pm on Tuesdays. All lectures are in the Chemistry Lecture Theatre. The 5pm Tuesday lecture slot may not be used every week.

A summary of each week's lectures will be posted here.

Newsgroup

There is a newsgroup for this course which will be used to give news about it and also as a place for public discussion about it. It can be found here. If you have a question, please consider sending it to this newsgroup (though I'm happy to answer emails sent to me personally about the course), as there are probably many others with the same question, and all will be helped by a public discussion of it.

Books

The textbook recommended for the course is: Other suitable books include:

You will also find complete on-line textbooks in the Worldwide notes and resources section of this website.

Matthew Huntbach
Last modified: 15 August 2007