CS 46B: Introduction to Data Structures

1430-1545 MW, MH422
Jeff Smith, MH 415, 924-5153, smithj@cs.sjsu.edu

Tentative office hours:

1600-1700 and 1800-1900 MW, and 1:30-2:30 Th, or by appointment.

Topics:

The text is Main, Data Structures and Other Objects Using Java. Other references will be available in the library's course reserves. It's a good idea to bring the text to class every day.

For proper preparation for other courses, we need to cover all of Chapters 1-13, except that Sections 10.3 and 12.1 will be the only sections covered from those chapters. In addition, we will introduce the Java collections library, and material on the ethics and social impact of computing. This is a lot of material, and we will not be able to go over all of it in class. Therefore you should carefully read these parts of the text.

Grading system:

45% on class assigments; 30% on 3 in-class tests; 15% on the final exam; 10% on the lab grade.

All tests will be open book and open notes. Calculators are not allowed. Programming assignments will be due roughly every two weeks.

For each exam or assignment, numeric grades are given and intervals for each letter grade are assigned (usually 90% for A-, 80 for B-, etc.). Your course grade will be determined by comparing the sum of your numeric grades to the sum of the intervals, except that I often give a higher than this to students who have just one poor grade, or who have been improving throughout the course. The intervals for + and - grades are rather small. My standards for the I grade, for makeup exams, and for extending assignment due dates are quite strict. At a minimum, I expect documentation of why you cannot complete the work in the expected time.

See the separate sheets on Assignments and Documentation for specific requirements in these areas. These, together with other useful documents, will be available on the class web page, which is accessible from my home page. The class web page is at

http://www.cs.sjsu.edu/faculty/smithj/classes/46B

The work you turn in should be your own. Do not share your work with anyone else. Please become familiar with the official university definition and policy on academic dishonesty, as stated in the 2002-2004 catalog, pp. 448-9, or at http://info.sjsu.edu/web-dbgen/narr/catalog-policies/catalog-policies-180.html and http://info.sjsu.edu/web-dbgen/narr/catalog-policies/catalog-policies-181.html. See my web page on this topic for further information.

Class Attendance:

Class attendance is not required, but is strongly recommended. Beginning one week after the first exam, only documentable compelling reasons will be considered for withdrawal requests.