CS 201 Syllabus

Overview

"There must have been a better way to do that final project from Intro to CS..."

Data structures is all about patterns in trying to organize information. Whether you're trying to store a deck of cards, WWW data for a search engine, or Facebook connections, there are smart ways to store and retrieve this information. How can you do so, and how can you quantify how efficient your techniques are?

Instructor Information

• Instructor: Dave Musicant
• Office: CMC 326
• Email: dmusican
• Office phone: (507)222-4369
• Office hours: See home page at http://www.cs.carleton.edu/faculty/dmusican

Student Assistants

• Prefect: Anna Sallstrom (sallstra)
• Grader: Ty Thorsen (thorsent)

Textbook

• Problem Solving with Algorithms and Data Structures using Python by Bradley N. Miller and David L. Ranum. Franklin, Beedle & Associates, 2006.

Your Grade

• Assignments: 40%
• Exam 1: 30%
• Exam 2: 30%

Working from Home

• We will be programming in Python which will be set up for use in the Computer Science labs. You should feel free to install Python on your home machine and work from there if you wish. If you do so, you are responsible for making sure that your programs work under the version of the compiler that we have installed in the labs. I am glad to informally provide whatever advice I can to help you get the software running on your own machine, but home use is technically "unsupported."

Homework Policy

• Each assignment will have a specific time for which it will be due, and your electronic submissions are timestamped. An assignment turned in late within one day of the due time will be docked 25%. An assignment turned in later than one day of the due date but within two days will be docked 50%. An assignment turned in any time after this until the last day of classes will be docked 75%. This policy is to protect the grader, but also to encourage you to begin your work as early as possible.

Getting Help

• If you need help with a project, you can consult with other students, talk to the prefect, ask a lab assistant, or come to me. I am happy to answer your questions either in person or via email. If your question relates to difficulties with your program, please bring a printout.

Working Together

• For some programming assignments, you will be assigned a partner to work with. I'll shuffle up the partners a few times throughout the term so that you get the experience of working with a few different people.
• You and your partner should engage in the pair programming model: both of you should be sitting at a single machine, side by side. One of you is "driving," i.e. actually using the keyboard and mouse. The other is actively engaged following along, stopping bugs, and providing ideas. You should make sure that over the course of an assignment that you spend roughly the same amount of time each "driving." I will also ask you to turn in a form rating the work that your partner does.
• If you really want to work alone, even on the partner assignments, that's ok. Send me an email and let me know that you want to work alone, and I won't assign you a partner. I will expect, however, that you do work of the same amount and quality as those students with partners. You can change whether or not you work alone each "cycle" that I assign new partners.

Collaboration, Cheating, and the Difference Between the Two

There are two different kinds of working together: collaborating and plagiarism.

Collaborating

• Collaborating is good.
• You are encouraged to collaborate on ideas and program design.
• Programming is often a social effort, and there is much you can learn by talking out the ideas in this class with each other.
• If a piece of your program utilizes someone else's idea, i.e., someone other than the program author(s), you must give that person credit in program comments.

Plagiarism

• Plagiarism is bad. DON'T DO IT!
• Any programs that you turn in should be your work of the author(s) only.
• Even if the program author(s) share ideas with others, the program itself must be written by the author(s).
• If a piece of your program utilizes someone else's idea, you must make sure to give that person credit in program comments.

The following are examples of plagiarism.

• Taking someone else's program, changing the variables and comments around, putting your name at the top, and turning it in.
• Finding a similar program on the internet, changing the variables and comments around, putting your name at the top, and turning it in.
• Finding a similar program in a book, changing the variables and comments around, putting your name at the top, and turning it in.

I will be using software to discover plagiarism if it occurs, and I am compelled by Carleton policy to notify the College if I find evidence of plagiarism.