Dr. David Matuszek Spring, 2003 Introduction to CSE121 Dr. David Matuszek Spring, 2003

About CSE121 Content of the course Textbooks Assignments, exams, grading Academic honesty

Course Content I: Overview This is a course in data structures We will use the Java language throughout Our focus is on programming Our focus is not on the Java language itself Our main topics will be “Pointer pushing,” that is, building and using complex data structures Information hiding, for better program design Recursion, a powerful programming technique Analysis of programs, using “big-O” notation

Course Content II: About Java Java is: A very large and complex programming language But it is also: A very popular, practical, “real world” language CSE121 is about data structures and algorithms CSE121 uses Java, it isn’t about Java I will teach some Java, but only as necessary You are expected to learn more Java on your own and in the labs

Course Content III: Prerequisites You are expected to know at least this much Java: Basic data types: int, double, char, boolean, etc. The difference between a class and an object The statement types: Variable declarations Assignment statements for, while, and do...while loops if, if...then, and switch statements try...catch...finally statements How to write and call simple methods, such as println

Textbooks Our main textbook is “Data Structures & Algorithms in Java (Second Edition),” by Robert Lafore This is an extremely lucid textbook The analysis part will need to be supplemented Our secondary textbook is “The Java Tutorial, Third Edition: A Short Course on the Basics,” by Mary Campione, Kathy Walrath, and Alison Huml This is pretty good as a textbook Sections are relatively independent, so it’s a very good book for when you need to learn about some particular language feature

Assignments There will be approximately one programming assignment per week Assignments will be submitted and returned the same way as was done last semester Assignments will be graded on: Whether it works (non-working assignments are automatically worth zero) Programming and commenting style How well you read and followed the instructions All assignments will be available on the Web

Exams There will be two “midterms” and a final Midterms will be 20% worth each The final will be 20% The remaining 40% of your grade will be from your programming assignments All exams will be cumulative!

Grading Exams will be difficult; the average will probably be less than 70% Programming assignment grades are expected to be substantially higher, with an average over 90% If you believe a grading error has occurred, you have one week from the time the work is returned to request a regrade Follow instructions on the “Grades” web page Spring break and snow days will not be counted All grades will be curved That is, it is not necessarily the case that 90% is an A, 80% is a B, or whatever scheme you are used to I expect roughly 1/4 As, 1/2 Bs, 1/4 Cs, and a few Fs

The Rules You may: You may not: Things to be especially careful about: discuss the assignments with one another help others debug their work use anything from the course textbooks or the course Web site You may not: work together on the same program copy another person’s code allow your code to be copied use any code from other textbooks or Web sites without permission Things to be especially careful about: Do not “lend” your programs, in any form, to anyone Do not ask to “borrow” someone else’s program Do not leave your programs where someone else may find them If you accidentally lose a diskette or listing, inform your TA at once If you are helping someone else, you can explain and show examples, but do not write any code for them

Consequences Anyone caught cheating will be reported to the Office of Student Conduct and will receive an F in the course There will be no second chances Dealing with cheating cases takes up a lot of our time which we would prefer to spend improving the course for honest students If you need to cheat, you will never do well in this field and will probably never be happy in it You should be aware: I am very good at catching cases of academic dishonesty I have never lost a case If you have lost a diskette or program listing, or think you may have accidentally broken a rule, tell your TA

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