CS210 · Course Info

Course Info

Course Description

The design and implementation of computer programs in a high-level language, with emphasis on proper design principles and advanced programming concepts, including dynamic data structures and recursion. Efficient design, implementation and debugging techniques are stressed. The assignments are designed to introduce the student to a variety of topics in computing: data structures and ADTs, Lists, Stacks, Queues, Ordered Lists, Binary Trees, and searching and sorting techniques.

Prerequisites: CS110 with a grade of C- or better or permission of the instructor.

Students who successfully complete this course will be able to confidently implement, debug, and put a wide variety of algorithms and data structures to work in computational problems that they might encounter later in their careers. The course covers fundamental material that will be of value to students interested in science, mathematics, and engineering.

Course Staff

Name	Role	Email	Office	Hours
Swami Iyer	Instructor	siyer@cs.umb.edu	M-3-201-14	In-person: Tue Thu 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM Remote: Wed 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM (Zoom link)
Kristin Qi	Teaching Assistant	yanankristin.qi001@umb.edu	M-3-201-10	Tue Thu 5:30 PM - 6:30 PM
Lucas Gustafson	Teaching Assistant	lucas.gustafson001@umb.edu	M-3-201-10	Mon Wed 2:30 PM - 3:30 PM
Samyak Gangwal	Teaching Assistant	s.gangwal001@umb.edu	M-3-201-10	Mon Wed 1:15 PM - 2:15 PM
Jongsoo Ha	Course Assistant	jongsoo.ha001@umb.edu	M-3-0731	Tue 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM; Fri 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Lorenzo Orio	Course Assistant	lorenzo.orio001@umb.edu	M-3-0731	Mon Wed 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Trinadhreddy Seelam	Course Assistant	t.seelam001@umb.edu	M-3-0731	Tue Thu 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Gwen Dowling	Supplemental Instruction Leader	gwen.dowling001@umb.edu	-	-

Note: In case you want to email us, please start the subject line with [CS210].

Sessions

Class

We will have two lectures per week, during which I will present the material from the slides. I strongly recommend skimming through the material before each lecture, and reading it again thoroughly soon after.

Section	When	Where
1-4, 7-8	Tue Thu 2:00 PM - 3:15 PM	Y-2-2310

Discussion

Starting from the second week, there will be a discussion every week. The focus of the discussion for a particular week will be the current assignment. The teaching assistant (TA) will walk you through the exercise/project problems systematically. The TA will also answer any specific questions you may have about the assignment or the course material in general. You may also seek help from the course assistant (CA) who will be assisting the TA during the discussions. The discussions will be worthwhile only if you go to the sessions having read the assignment writeup thoroughly and have at least a moderate understanding of the problems involved. The TA will assume that you have done the reading in advance.

Section	When	Where	TA	CA
1	Tue 12:30 PM - 1:45 PM	M-1-0418	Samyak Gangwal	Trinadhreddy Seelam
2	Thu 12:30 PM - 1:45 PM	M-1-0418	Samyak Gangwal	Trinadhreddy Seelam
3	Tue 4:00 PM - 5:15 PM	W-1-0045	Kristin Qi	Lorenzo Orio
4	Thu 4:00 PM - 5:15 PM	W-1-0055	Kristin Qi	Lorenzo Orio
7	Tue 9:30 AM - 10:45 AM	W-2-0200	Lucas Gustafson	Jongsoo Ha
8	Thu 9:30 AM - 10:45 AM	W-1-0047	Lucas Gustafson	Jongsoo Ha

Supplemental Instruction

As part of the College of Science and Mathematics Freshman Success Program, supplemental instruction (SI) is available to all CS210 students free of charge. The SI sessions will also start from the second week. The focus of the sessions for a particular week will be the material covered in class during the previous week. The SI leader will walk you through the relevant lecture notes and solve problems. In addition, the SI leader will answer any specific questions you may have about the current exercise/project assignment, or the course material in general. The SI sessions are optional, but highly recommended, especially if you feel like you are falling behind in the course. You may attend as few or as many sessions as you like. You will receive extra-credit points for attending the sessions (see the Grading section below).

When	Where
Mon 2:00 PM - 2:50 PM	Y-1-1340
Wed 2:00 PM - 2:50 PM	Y-1-1340
Thu 12:30 PM - 1:45 PM	M-2-0417
Sat 9:00 AM - 9:50 AM	Remote (Zoom link)

Tutoring

Tutoring for this course is available through the Tutoring Programs.

Text

Algorithms by Robert Sedgewick and Kevin Wayne

This text provides an excellent survey of the most important algorithms and data structures in use today, motivating each algorithm by examining its impact on applications to science, engineering, and industry.

Grading

Assessments

Item	% of Final Grade
Exercises (best 5 out of 6)	5
Projects (best 5 out of 6)	20
Exams (1 and 2)	70
Attendance	5

Scale

% Score	Grade
[93, 100]	A
[90, 93)	A-
[87, 90)	B+
[83, 87)	B
[80, 83)	B-
[77, 80)	C+
[73, 77)	C
[70, 73)	C-
[67, 70)	D+
[63, 67)	D
[60, 63)	D-
[0, 60)	F

Note

The goal of the exercises and projects is to make sure that you can apply the concepts learned in class to solve relatively straightforward computational problems (exercises) and somewhat challenging real-world scientific problems (projects).
The exams will test your understanding of the material covered in class as well as concepts from the projects.
Each of the two exams will have a written and a programming component. The written exam, worth 75 points, will take place during a class period. The exam will be closed-book and will contain 25 multiple-choice questions, each worth 3 points. The programming exam, worth 25 points, will take place during a discussion session.
If you score at least 80% on both exams, the higher exam score will be considered as the exam average.
Attendance score will be based on attendance in class (3%) and discussions (2%).
You can earn up to 3% extra points for attending the SI sessions. Your SI score will be calculated as 3A(E1 + E2) / 200N, where A is the number of unique sessions you attended (attending multiple sessions in a week just counts as one), N is the number of unique sessions held, and E1 and E2 are your Exam 1 and Exam 2 scores, respectively. For example, if A = 9, N = 13, E1 = 62, and E2 = 82, the SI score is 1.5%.
You can also earn up to 0.01x% extra points if x% of the class completes the end-of-semester course evaluation.
If your overall score falls within half a percent of a higher grade, your score will be elevated to that grade.

Click here to calculate your current course grade.

iClicker

Starting from the second week, I will use iClicker to record your attendance in class. You will be able to mark yourself present, using your laptop or smart device, during the first 15 minutes of a class. In addition, I will take paper-based attendance on some undisclosed days. If I find any discrepancy in your attendance record on those days (ie, you were marked present on iClicker but absent on paper), you will receive a 0 for your overall attendance score.

The TAs will manually record your attendance during discussions.

Piazza

I will use Piazza as the online discussion forum for the course. If you have any general questions about the projects, lectures, textbook, or other course material, the most effective way to get them resolved is by posting them on Piazza. You can expect your questions to be answered by the course staff or one of your classmates. Remember that you can post anonymously, but you are anonymous only to your classmates and not to the course staff.

Gradescope

I will use Gradescope to grade your quizzes, projects, and exams.

Programming Environment

To write and execute Java programs in this course, you will need a laptop (Linux, Mac, or Windows) properly configured with the necessary software. Click here for setup instructions.

CS Account

In order to use the computing resources of the department, and in particular, those in the UNIX/PC Lab (M-3-0731), you need to setup a CS account. With your CS account credentials, you can connect to our designated server (users.cs.umb.edu) remotely using SSH. With the same credentials, you can also sign into the Linux systems in the CS Lab. In addition, you can sign into the Windows systems in the lab with the same username and an initial password abcd_1234, which you must change the first time you sign in.

Visit CS Labs Portal to register for a portal/CS account and confirm via email. If you already have a CS account, use the same username. The next step is to sign into the portal and select your courses for the term. You will be notified via your UMB email once the course directories and your account are created.

Policies

Classroom

Come to each class/discussion/SI session on time and stay for the entire session. If you have to leave early, let the instructor know in advance.
Have your mobile phone silenced or turned off during the entire session.
Use of earphone/headphone during the session is not permitted.
Use of a laptop during the session is permitted only for class purposes.
Do not talk to each other during the session. If you have any questions, bring them up to the instructor.

iClicker

You have to remember to use iClicker during the first 15 minutes of a class to record your presence. Set a reminder on your smartphone if you are of the kind that forgets these things easily. I will not fix your attendance record if you forget to mark yourself present.

Piazza

If you have a question, first make sure that it has not already been asked/answered.
Clearer questions get clearer answers, so re-read your question before you post it.
Ask your questions early.
Posts are organized in folders, so specify the right folder(s) for your post.
Use the forum only for questions that can be asked in a general way, without sharing code or other assignment-related work. However, if you are stuck on a problem despite your valiant efforts to solve it, you may seek help from the course staff by posting your code privately, as properly formatted text (not images).
Posts that might be of general interest to the entire class must be made public. The course staff reserves the right to make such posts public if they are not.
Any post that is inappropriate or violates the academic honesty code will be deleted by the course staff.

Excused Absence and Makeup Exam

You must provide appropriate documentation if:

You could/will not attend a lecture or discussion and want your absence to be excused.
You were/are unable to take an exam on the scheduled date and want to arrange a makeup exam.

The documentation must be a letter from the Dean of Students if the type of your absence is among those listed on their website. For other types of absences, the supporting documentation must be shared with me directly.

Collaboration

Click here for the collaboration policy and the penalties for infractions of the policy.

Late Days

Assignment deadlines are firm and non negotiable, but you have up to 5 (8 if you have accommodations through the Ross Center) late days that you may use to submit one or more assignments a bit late.
You may request an extension for any assignment only once. To do so, you must send me a request via email (not Piazza) at least 48 hours prior to the assignment deadline, clearly stating the number of late days needed, or else your request will not be granted.
The extension, if granted, will be applied to both the exercise and the project.

Regrade Request

If you have any concerns about the grading of a particular assignment (exercise or project) or exam (programming or written), you may submit a regrade request via Gradescope.
You must submit your regrade request within a week from the date the assignment or exam grades are published, or else your request will be turned down.

Accommodations for Students with Disabilities

Section 504 of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 offers guidelines for curriculum modifications and adaptations for students with documented disabilities. If applicable, students may obtain adaptation recommendations from the Ross Center for Disability Services. The student must present these recommendations and discuss them with the instructor within a reasonable period, preferably by the end of Add/Drop period.