CSC 263 -- Data Structures

Fall 2011

Index of this document

Contact information and meeting times

Instructor: Toniann Pitassi and Faith Ellen
Office hours:  Thursday 12-1, or by appointment
Office:  SF 2305A/2302C
Telephone:  416-978-3695/6183
Email:  toni@cs.toronto.edu faith@cs.toronto.edu
TAs: Arron Norwell, Michael Christoff, Trevor Brown
Lecture/tutorial time and location:
Lectures: Thursdays 10-12, LM 161, starts Thursday September 15
Tutorials: Tuesday 10-11, starts Tuesday September 20
BA2135: surnames beginning with A-C,H-N
BA2159: surnames beginning with D-G,O-Z

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Course content

Course goals:  Data structures are ways of organising the data involved in computation, suitable for representation in and manipulation by computers.  Algorithms are precisely stated, general problem solving methods.  Data structures and algorithms are central to computer science.  They are also integrally related: neither can be studied fruitfully without knowledge of the other.

This course has two goals: First, to survey several important data structures and algorithms; and second, to introduce the basic tools and techniques for the analysis of algorithms and data structures.

Required Text:  Goodrich and Tamassia,  Algorithm Design, Wiley, 2002 or later edition.
A supplementary text that is very useful is Cormen, Leiserson, Rivest, and Stein, Introduction to Algorithms , (2nd edition).
Online access to this text is available free to U of T students through the library website: http://main.library.utoronto.ca/eir/resources.cfm

Tentative weekly schedule:  To view the tentative weekly schedule click here .

Calendar of important course-related events:

 

Date Event
Thurs, Sept 15 First class
Thurs, Sept 29 Assignment 1 out
Thurs, Oct 13
 Assignment 1 due and Assignment 2 out
Thurs, Oct 27
 Assignment 2 due
Tues, Nov 1
 Lecture Instead of Tutorial
Thurs, Nov 3
 Midterm
Thurs, Nov 3
 Assignment 3 out, last day to drop F courses
Tues, Nov 9
 No tutorial (Fall break)
Thurs, Nov 17
 Assignment 3 due and Assignment 4 out
Thurs, Dec 1
 Assignment 4 due 
Final Examination Period
 Final Exam 


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Course policies

Course evaluation:   There will be four homeworks, a midterm exam and a final exam. The relative weights of these components towards the final mark are shown in the table below:

Homework 40% (10% each)
Midterm 15%
Final 45%

Important note: A mark of at least 35% on the final exam is required to pass the course.  Repeated differently:  If you receive less than 35% on the final exam, you automatically fail the course, regardless of how well you have done on homeworks or the midterm exam.

Prerequisites:   CSC207H1, CSC236H1/CSC238H1/CSC240H1; STA247H1/STA255H1/STA257H1

Homework marking:  For each homework assignment, solutions will be made available.

Late homework policy:  No late homeworks will be accepted. If you miss a homework deadline because of a medical or personal emergency, you must fill out the Special Consideration Form. (In case of a medical emergency, you must also submit the U of T Student Medical Certificate, completed and signed by your physician.)  If we judge your reason for missing the deadline to be valid, we will use the average mark you achieved in other homeworks as your mark for the missed homework.

Collaboration policy:   Students often learn a lot from working with one another. You are encouraged to meet with other students from class for this purpose. For example, you might work through exercises in the course text together or discuss any material you found confusing in lecture or in the text.

It is a good idea to get contact information (email address and telephone number) of at least two other students in the class. That way, if they miss a lecture, you can tell them important information and give them a copy of your lecture notes. They can return the favour if you miss a lecture.

It is also legitimate to discuss assignment problems with other students in the class or consult other texts. However, you must destroy any notes concerning assignment problems made during this time and you must not write down anything for at least two hours afterwards. Do not send other students any code you have written. Assignments must be written up completely by yourself using only the text and your own notes as aids. The point is that your written report should be your own work. Do not let other students even look at your completed assignment solutions, since this can lead to copying. These rules are meant to ensure that all students understand their solutions to the problems well enough to write up solutions by themselves. Failure to comply with these guidelines is a serious academic offense.

On the first page of each homework assignment, you must explicitly list all people, except the professor and the course teaching assistants, with whom you have discussed assignment problems (even briefly) and which problems you discussed with each. This includes students in other classes and people at the help centre. If you have discussed the homework with no one except the professor or course teaching assistants, write ``NO OUTSIDE DISCUSSION''. You may not consult any material except the courst textbook and your course notes. Note that finding (or copying) the solution to a homework problem on the web does not demonstrate your understanding of course material and, hence, will receive no credit.

Remarking policy:   If your request concerns a simple addition error, see the instructor.  To make any other kind of remarking request, you must fill this form , attach it to your homework assignment or test, and give it to the instructor of the course no later than one week from the date the marked assignment or test was made available to the class.  Remarking requests made after this deadline will not be accepted.

Missed midterm test policy:    If you miss the midterm test due to a medical or other serious emergency, get in touch with your instructor immediately, and fill out the Special Consideration Form. (In case of a medical emergency, you must also submit the U of T Student Medical Certificate, completed and signed by your physician.)  There will be no make-up test, but if we consider your reason for missing the test to be valid, we will use your final examination mark to compute your mark for the missed midterm test.

Attendance in tutorials:  Attendance in tutorials is as mandatory as attendance in lectures.   Formal records of attendance will not be taken. However, there will be material that is presented only in tutorial and not discussed in the lectures for which you are responsible and in which you may be tested in homeworks or exams.

Accessibility:   The University of Toronto is committed to accessibility. If you require accomodations or have any accessibility concerns, please visit http://studentlife.utoronto.ca/accessibility as soon as possible or talk to one of the course professors.

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Announcements

In this space we will post announcements related to the course. Please check this space at least weekly.

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Handouts

In this space we will make available postscript or PDF versions of course material, including homeworks and solutions (posted after the due date, naturally).

To view postscript handouts you will need access to a postscript previewer. If your machine does not have the required software, you can allegedly download it for free by following this link.


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