Course Orientation and Intro

Steven Zeil

Contents:

2.2 The Course Website

3.1 Where to Go from Here?

1 Welcome to CS 361

Course website: divided between Canvas and main website.

1.1 Instructor

Instructor:
- Steven Zeil
  - email: zeil@cs.odu.edu
  - Office hours

1.2 Textbook

Starting Summer 2024, we will be using an “open resources” textbook developed by faculty from Virginia Tech & elsewhere, with support from the National Science Foundation.

1.2 Textbook

Starting Summer 2024, we will be using an “open resources” textbook developed by faculty from Virginia Tech & elsewhere, with support from the National Science Foundation.

Free, online

We will also make use of

Course Themes

1.2 Textbook

Starting Summer 2024, we will be using an “open resources” textbook developed by faculty from Virginia Tech & elsewhere, with support from the National Science Foundation.

Free, online

We will also make use of

Course Themes

Common data structures and algorithms

1.2 Textbook

Starting Summer 2024, we will be using an “open resources” textbook developed by faculty from Virginia Tech & elsewhere, with support from the National Science Foundation.

Free, online

We will also make use of

Course Themes

Common data structures and algorithms
- expanding your programming toolkit

1.2 Textbook

Starting Summer 2024, we will be using an “open resources” textbook developed by faculty from Virginia Tech & elsewhere, with support from the National Science Foundation.

Free, online

We will also make use of

Course Themes

Common data structures and algorithms
- expanding your programming toolkit
- when/how to choose among alternatives

1.2 Textbook

Starting Summer 2024, we will be using an “open resources” textbook developed by faculty from Virginia Tech & elsewhere, with support from the National Science Foundation.

Free, online

We will also make use of

Course Themes

Common data structures and algorithms
- expanding your programming toolkit
- when/how to choose among alternatives
How do they do that in Java?

1.2 Textbook

Starting Summer 2024, we will be using an “open resources” textbook developed by faculty from Virginia Tech & elsewhere, with support from the National Science Foundation.

Free, online

We will also make use of

Course Themes

Common data structures and algorithms
- expanding your programming toolkit
- when/how to choose among alternatives
How do they do that in Java?
- Interfaces to common data structures provided in the Java standard API
There are some people who believe that Data Structures and Algorithms should be taught as abstractly as possible, using language-independent “pseudo-code” exclusively.

I strongly believe that the end result of this abstract approach is programmers who waste their time reinventing the wheel and who don’t know how to do anything well in any programming language.

1.2 Textbook

Starting Summer 2024, we will be using an “open resources” textbook developed by faculty from Virginia Tech & elsewhere, with support from the National Science Foundation.

Free, online

We will also make use of

Course Themes

Common data structures and algorithms
- expanding your programming toolkit
- when/how to choose among alternatives
How do they do that in Java?
- Interfaces to common data structures provided in the Java standard API
There are some people who believe that Data Structures and Algorithms should be taught as abstractly as possible, using language-independent “pseudo-code” exclusively.

I strongly believe that the end result of this abstract approach is programmers who waste their time reinventing the wheel and who don’t know how to do anything well in any programming language.
Predicting program performance

1.2 Textbook

Starting Summer 2024, we will be using an “open resources” textbook developed by faculty from Virginia Tech & elsewhere, with support from the National Science Foundation.

Free, online

We will also make use of

Course Themes

Common data structures and algorithms
- expanding your programming toolkit
- when/how to choose among alternatives
How do they do that in Java?
- Interfaces to common data structures provided in the Java standard API
There are some people who believe that Data Structures and Algorithms should be taught as abstractly as possible, using language-independent “pseudo-code” exclusively.

I strongly believe that the end result of this abstract approach is programmers who waste their time reinventing the wheel and who don’t know how to do anything well in any programming language.
Predicting program performance
- Analysis of algorithms (“big-O”)

1.2 Textbook

Starting Summer 2024, we will be using an “open resources” textbook developed by faculty from Virginia Tech & elsewhere, with support from the National Science Foundation.

Free, online

We will also make use of

Course Themes

Common data structures and algorithms
- expanding your programming toolkit
- when/how to choose among alternatives
How do they do that in Java?
- Interfaces to common data structures provided in the Java standard API
There are some people who believe that Data Structures and Algorithms should be taught as abstractly as possible, using language-independent “pseudo-code” exclusively.

I strongly believe that the end result of this abstract approach is programmers who waste their time reinventing the wheel and who don’t know how to do anything well in any programming language.
Predicting program performance
- Analysis of algorithms (“big-O”)
  - (Yes, there will be math.)

1.2 Textbook

Starting Summer 2024, we will be using an “open resources” textbook developed by faculty from Virginia Tech & elsewhere, with support from the National Science Foundation.

Free, online

We will also make use of

Course Themes

Common data structures and algorithms
- expanding your programming toolkit
- when/how to choose among alternatives
How do they do that in Java?
- Interfaces to common data structures provided in the Java standard API
There are some people who believe that Data Structures and Algorithms should be taught as abstractly as possible, using language-independent “pseudo-code” exclusively.

I strongly believe that the end result of this abstract approach is programmers who waste their time reinventing the wheel and who don’t know how to do anything well in any programming language.
Predicting program performance
- Analysis of algorithms (“big-O”)
  - (Yes, there will be math.)
Algorithm design techniques

1.2 Textbook

Starting Summer 2024, we will be using an “open resources” textbook developed by faculty from Virginia Tech & elsewhere, with support from the National Science Foundation.

Free, online

We will also make use of

Course Themes

Common data structures and algorithms
- expanding your programming toolkit
- when/how to choose among alternatives
How do they do that in Java?
- Interfaces to common data structures provided in the Java standard API
There are some people who believe that Data Structures and Algorithms should be taught as abstractly as possible, using language-independent “pseudo-code” exclusively.

I strongly believe that the end result of this abstract approach is programmers who waste their time reinventing the wheel and who don’t know how to do anything well in any programming language.
Predicting program performance
- Analysis of algorithms (“big-O”)
  - (Yes, there will be math.)
Algorithm design techniques
- Desigining own algorithms
  (considering some common patterns or styles)

2 This Semester

2.1 Course Delivery

Asynchronous lectures
Weekly review/question meetings by Zoom- office hours
- check Announcement section in Canvas

2.2 The Course Website

Start at the Canvas site
- Hosts announcements, calendars, tests, forums
Most of the content is on the main website
- Lecture notes, labs, assignments
- This material remains accessible after the end of the semester

The Outline Page

The Outline page is the “heart” of the course

Lecture notes
Assigned readings from the text book
Labs
Assignments

The Policies page

Syllabus

The Policies page

Syllabus
- All students are responsible for reading the syllabus and adhering to the policies described there!

The Policies page

Syllabus
- All students are responsible for reading the syllabus and adhering to the policies described there!
You have options for how to ask questions: office hours, email.

The Policies page

Syllabus
- All students are responsible for reading the syllabus and adhering to the policies described there!
You have options for how to ask questions: office hours, email.
I also try to keep an eye on the CS361 Discord.

The Policies page

Syllabus
- All students are responsible for reading the syllabus and adhering to the policies described there!
You have options for how to ask questions: office hours, email.
I also try to keep an eye on the CS361 Discord.
- Obviously, you should not post solutions to graded work (even if only tentative or half-baked) in a public Forum. )

2.3 Communications

Office hours will be conducted by network conferencing (Zoom).
email to instructor
- Make sure that “CS361” appears somewhere in the subject line
  - But that should not be the only thing in the subject line
- I try to answer all emailed questions within 24 hours on weekdays, 48 on the weekend.
  - But email does get lost/blocked, so if you don’t hear from me in that time frame, send it again.
Do not use the Canvas messaging system.
- I don’t check it, and I only get emailed updates from it at infrequent intervals.

2.4 Grading

Labs:	10%
Assignments & Quizzes:	50%
Midterm Exam:	15%
Final Exam:	25%

The lowest assignment/quiz grade will be dropped

2.5 Due Dates

2.5.1 Exams

Assignments & quizzes in each part are due on the date shown in the outline, at 11:59:59PM EDT.
- Late submissions on programming assignments will be accepted for up to two days, at a penalty of 10% per day.
- Late submissions will not be accepted on quizzes, exams and non-programming assignments.
- Programming assignments will be accepted
  - one day late at a penalty of 10%, or
  - two days late at a penalty of 20%.
  - Submissions more than two days late will not be accepted.
Readings, self-assessments, & other activities, if not given an explicit due date, should be completed by the ending date given for that entire module.

2.6 Labs

Graded, but low-stakes

Often involve practice or preparation for a later assignment

Labs will be distributed and submitted via GitHub

Assignments will be distributed and submitted via GitHub

I place a lot of emphasis on testing in these assignments.

My tests are designed to be self-checking

They tell you whether your code is passing or failing the tests

2.6.1 System Tests

System testing refers to the testing of the entire program.

This is what you are most used to — running the entire program to see if it works.

Assignments will be distributed and submitted via GitHub
I will provide some of these.
You may need to choose additional system tests of your own, particularly when debugging.
- System testing refers to the testing of the entire program.
- Unit testing refers to testing the modules that you are working on, in isolation from the rest if the code.

2.6.2 Unit Tests

Unit testing refers to testing the modules that you are working on, in isolation from the rest if the code.

In most assignments, I will provide unit tests for the specific class or functions that you are supposed to be implementing in a larger program.
- These are often the quickest way to discover problems in your code.
- These are usually the easiest way to debug problems that you have discovered.

3 Keys to Success

Pace Yourself

There’s a lot of material in this course.
Plan to finish the readings and ask any questions you have about them in the first half of the time allotted to a module.

Work on the assignments in the 2nd half. Not just the last day!
There’s not time to waste by staying stuck on one assignment.
- If you get stuck, ask questions.
  - Take the time to frame your question carefully so that I have enough info to actually give you a helpful answer.
- If you are stuck for more than a few days, it’s time to move on.
  - Read my solution and tests.
  - Run the tests through your own code.
  - If you don’t understand how my solution works, ask.

3.1 Where to Go from Here?

Go to the Policies page.
- Read the Syllabus.
- Read the Communications policy.
Then head off to the Outline Page