Courses taught by Dr. Boetticher

CSCI 3333 -- Data Structures
Updated January 17, 2009

Office and Addresses

Delta 164 Phone 281.283.3805
email: boetticher@uhcl.edu
Secretary: TBD, Delta 164 281.283.3860

Office Hours

Mon. 7 - 8, Tues. 5:30 - 7, Wed. 5:30 - 7, or by appointment. If the suite door is locked, then call my extension (last 4 digits) using the phone in the hallway.

Teaching Assistant

tbd, email : tbd
Office Hours: tbd

Textbook

Kruse, Robert L., Data Structures and Program Design Second Edition, Prentice Hall 1997.

Course Description

Advanced programming techniques and data structures including tables, linked lists, queues and stacks. Abstract Data Types, Recursion, Searching and Sorting. Binary Trees. Elementary algorithm design and implementation. Laboratory instruction. The traditional undergraduate student load is 5 courses. Be prepared to commit 12 to 15 hours per week to this course!

Course Goals

Upon course completion, students are expected to:

Continue developing a disciplined approach to the design, coding, and testing of programs written in a block structured, high-level language.
Be able to apply different data abstractions such as linked lists, stacks, queues and binary trees.
Provide an understanding of different implementations of these data structures.
Describe different internal sort routines.
Understand different search algorithms.
Write a recursive function or procedure.

Prerequisites

The prerequisite for this course is C, C++, or JAVA. All projects are to be done in C.

Methodology

Primarily lecture

Appraisal

Project Assignments : 40%
Homework Assignments : 10%
Examinations : Tests ( 20% ) Final ( 30% )

Grading Scale

93+ = A; 90 = A-; 87+ = B+; 83+ = B; 80+ = B-; 77+ = C+;
73+ = C; 70 = C-; 67+ = D+; 63+ = D; 60+ = D-; 0+ = F

Schedule

Jan 17 – Read Ch. 1 & 2/ Review C, Course Overview, Index Cards, Syllabus, Pascal/C issue
Jan 22 – C Quiz
Jan 24 – Software life cycle, Module Decomposition, Header files, Unit testing
Jan 29 – C: Functions vs. Procedures, Arrays, Records, typedef, Pointers, static, I/O
Jan 31 – Read Chapter 6, ADT, Linked Lists, Why use
Feb 5 – Using the c debugger
Feb 7 – Assign Project 1
Feb 12 – Read Chapter 3.1, Stacks
Feb 14 – Read Chapter 5, Queues
Feb 19 – Doubly linked lists
Feb 21 – Circular Queues, Directories
Feb 26 – Assign Project 2
Feb 28 – Read Ch. 3.2, 3.3, and Ch. 4, Recursion. Factorial example, Fibonacci example
Mar 5 – Recursion continued: GCD, Towers of Hanoi
Mar 7 – Review
Mar 12 – Spring Break
Mar 19 – Midterm: You will be allowed one sheet 8.5 x 11 inches
Mar 21 – Review midterm
*** Last day to drop a class or withdraw for the semester is March 26^th***
Mar 26 – Read Chapter 10.1 to 10.4, Trees: Binary
Mar 28 – Trees: Binary/AVL
Apr 2 – Assign Project 3
Apr 4 – Read Chapter 13, Trees: Expression
Apr 9 – Read Chapter 8, Internal Sorts: Bubble, Exchange, Quicksort
Apr 11 – Internal Sorts: Shell
Apr 16 – Internal Sorts: Heap
Apr 18 – Assign Project 4 Project 4 Data
Apr 23 – Read Chapter 7, Big O notation
Apr 25 – Read Chapter 9.6 and 9.7, Hashing
Apr 30 – Review
May 7 – Final Exam: You will be allowed one sheet 8.5 x 11 inches

Other Policies

Homework, Projects, Research Paper

Homework and projects are due exactly at the prescribed time (usually the beginning of class). As soon as a homework or project is collected, then all others are considered 1 day late (even if it only 3 minutes). In the event you might be running late, you might want to email the assignment. Also, when preparing your assignment, be mindful of possible backlogs at the printer, jammed printer, printer out of toner, etc.
Late projects are accepted with a penalty of 10% deduction per day after the due date. No late project will be accepted one week after the due date. The last project cannot be late.
There will be no extra-credit homework or projects in this course.
All homework and projects must be typed not hand-written.
VERY IMPORTANT! In certain classes students are encouraged to work in groups. For this class you are expected to work on all homework and projects individually. Students may not discuss, use, email, show, give, buy, sell, borrow, trade, steal, download from the Internet, etc. in whole or part, any of the homework or projects in any manner not prescribed by the instructor. Handing in an assignment for another student is considered cheating. Penalty for cheating will be extremely severe and may result in an F for this course. This condition applies even after you complete this course! Penalty for cheating will be extremely severe and may result in an F for this course.
VERY IMPORTANT! Failing to report to the instructor any incident in which a student witnesses an alleged violation of the Academic Honesty Code is considered a violation of the academic honesty code. Please see me to discuss any incidents.
VERY IMPORTANT! Purchasing, or otherwise acquiring and submitting as one's own work any research paper or any other writing assignment prepared by others constitutes cheating. Penalty for cheating will be extremely severe and may result in an F for this course.
VERY IMPORTANT! Plagarism on either an abstract, draft of a paper, or final paper will result in a 0 for all three parts (abstract, draft version, final paper). Please review the following links regarding plagarism very carefully: http://www.indiana.edu/%7Ewts/wts/plagiarism.html http://www.hamilton.edu/academics/resource/wc/AvoidingPlagiarism.html http://ollie.dcccd.edu/library/Module4/M4-VII/plagar.htm
Standard academic honesty procedure will be followed. See the following link for additional information: http://b3308-adm.uhcl.edu/PolicyProcedures/Policy.html

Tests and Quizzes

There are no make-up tests except in verified medical emergencies and with immediate notification. Rescheduling a final exam in order to catch a plane flight is unacceptable. Make up exams are harder, and different, than original exams.
There are no make-up quizzes. Allow plenty of additional time in the event that webCT crashes.
You are responsible for all the readings assigned throughout the semester.
Students are to work on test and quizzes individually. Students may not discuss, show, give, sell, borrow, trade, share, etc. their tests or quizzes. Penalty on cheating will be extremely severe. Standard academic honesty procedure will be followed.
VERY IMPORTANT! Providing answers for any assigned work or examination when not specifically authorized by the instructor to do so. Or, informing any person or persons of the contents of any examination prior to the time the examination is given is considered cheating. Penalty for cheating will be extremely severe and may result in an F for this course.
VERY IMPORTANT! Failing to report to the instructor any incident in which a student witnesses an alleged violation of the Academic Honesty Code is considered a violation of the academic honesty code. Please see me to discuss any incidents.

Miscellaneous

Any person with a disability who requires a special accommodation should inform me and contact the Disability services office or call 281 283 2627 as soon as possible.
Incomplete grades or administrative withdrawals occur only under extremely rare situations.
The ringing, beeping, buzzing of cell phones, watches, and/or pagers during class time is extremely rude and disruptive to your fellow students and to the class flow. Please turn off all cell phones, watches, and pagers prior to the start of class.
As a web-based class, there is no formal attendance policy. However, it is my experience that those students who do attend class on a regular basis do better on tests than those that don't.
I am willing to provide letters of recommendation/references only if you have attained an 'A' in one of my classes, or two 'A-' in two of my classes. Getting a letter of recommendation/reference does not guarantee that I will hire your for a TA/RA position.
I highly recommend that you seek out your advisor and complete you Candidate Plan of Study (CPS) as soon as possible. I am normally not available for advising during the summer months.
Pay very careful attention to your email correspondence. It reflects on your communication skills. Below is a compilation of email errors I have received during the past year.

dear sir.

wen r u gonna grad the homework, bcoz i have a doubt about the third problem

Some student

Common problems:

   *   wen instead of when

   *   bcoz instead of because

   *   r instead of are

   *   u instead of you

   *   lowecase i instead of I

   *   starting a sentence with a lowercase letter

   *   doubt instead of question

I immediately discard anonymous emails.

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Delta Building. Office 164
Houston, Texas 77058
Voice: 281-283-3805
Fax: 281-283-3869
boetticher@uhcl.edu