CMSI 3630: Class Notes by Week

The following outline presents the topics that are covered, in the approximate order and time frame in which they will be discussed. Weeks that have passed will be grayed out. The upcoming or current week will be green. Click on each title to expand it and see the topics for that week. Click on the Expand All or Collapse All buttons to do the appropriate action for all weeks on this page.

• Week 01 — Introduction, Syllabus, Getting Started
  
  1. Tuesday
     • Introduction and Syllabus
     • Tools you will use during the semester
     • Initial roll call and other sundries
     • Extreme Beginning Python
     • Development Environments
     • Assignment Submissions - GitHub Redux
  2. Thursday
     • Announcements
     • Python INTRODUCTION BEGINS ~ Python Fundamentals
     • Getting Started with Python
     • First Python Program ~ 'HelloSayer.py' of course!
     • What is a 'Data Type'?
     • What is a 'Class'?
     • In-class Exercise - environment checkout
     • Assignment #1 assigned
  
  
• Week 02 — Python Fundamentals, Part I
  
  1. Tuesday
     • Announcements
     • Data Structures Introduction
     • Python Workshop
     • Some Words on Abstraction and Modeling
  2. Thursday
     • Announcements
     • Assignment #01 due at start of class
     • Python Classes, Encapsulation, built-in Objects/methods
       
       1. Classes Overview
       2. More on modeling and diagrams
       3. Creating and initializing objects
       4. Inheritance and encapsulation
       5. File Organization. Python I/O, Packages and Namespaces
     • Python documentation — Pythondocs
       
       1. Pythondoc comment style
       2. Pythondoc tags and in-line comment tags
       3. Pythondoc cross references
     • Discussion of floating point numbers
     • Python Interfaces Intro
     • Discussion of in-class exercise — MyFileCopier.Python
     • In-class exercise: MyFileCopier
  
  
• Week 03 — Python Fundamentals, Part II
  
  1. Tuesday
     • Announcements
     • Discuss Bloch items 12 & 14 ~ "need to know", composition vs. inheritance
     • Continue with Workshop
     • More Python Basics
  2. Thursday
     • Announcements
     • Computer Architecture
     • Garbage Collector
     • Memory and management
     • Abstract data types
     • Sequential Lists
     • Arrays revisitied
     • Stacks and Queues
     • In-class Exercise
     • Python Generics — a way to improve collections
  
  
• Week 04 — Python Fundamentals, Part III
  
  1. Tuesday
     • Announcements
     • Discuss readings
       1. Structures made of other structures
       2. Linked lists
       3. Abstract Data Types [ADT's]
       4. Iterators
     • Discuss Bloch reading Items 16 & 17 ~ interfaces
     • Finish Python Basics
     • Introduction to the Python API
     • Linked Lists
     • Lab work begins/continues on assignment #03
  2. Thursday
     • Announcements
     • Assignment #02 due at start of class
     • Iterators
     • More on Linked Lists
  
  
• Week 05 — Sorting, Review
  
  1. Tuesday
     • Announcements
     • Iterators
     • More on Linked Lists
  2. Thursday
     • Announcements
     • More on Queues and Deques
     • ENOUGH with the Python code already!!
     • Linked list in-class coding exercise
  
  
• Week 06 — Finish Lists, Implementations, and Sorting & Test #1
  
  1. Tuesday
     • Announcements
     • Explanation of homework 2
     • Linked Lists vs. Sequential Lists
     • Stack implementation using Python list
     • Doubly-linked lists and use of "None"
     • Iterators/insertion/deletion in linked lists
     • Visibility
     • Brief review for quiz
  2. Thursday
     • Announcements
     • No in-class exercise this week, obviously…
     • Test #1
  
  
• Week 07 — Algorithm Analysis, Material Review
  
  1. Tuesday
     • Announcements
     • Abstractions upon abstractions
     • Stack and queue implementations in Python ~ insert() and remove()
     • Deques ~ Double-Ended Queues [introduction only, no notes]
     • Beginning Sorting ~ Bubble Sort
     • Beginning Sorting ~ Insertion Sort
     • In-class exercise ~ code along with recursive factorial
  2. Thursday
     • Announcements
     • Assignment #03 due at start of class
     • Beginning algorithm analysis
     • Recursion and recursive data structures
     • Algorithm analysis using sorting
     • Algorithm analysis characterization fundamentals
     • We're not 'out of sorts'…
  
  
• Week 08 — NO CLASS – SPRING BREAK
  
  1. ALL WEEK — you've worked hard, take the full week!
  2. No in-class exercise this week, obviously…
  
  
• Week 09 — Recursion & Trees
  
  1. Tuesday
     • Announcements
     • Algorithm analysis using sorting
     • Algorithm analysis characterization fundamentals
     • In-class exercise on Big-Oh and Algorithm Analysis
  2. Thursday
     • Announcements
     • Doubly-Linked Lists Redux
     • Planting trees
     • Trees, trees, and more trees
     • Eventually we are in a forest
     • In-class exercise
  
  
• Week 10 — The Forests Of Lothlórien & Test #2
  
  1. Tuesday
     • Announcements
     • Binary Search
     • We're not out of the woods yet…
     • Trees continues! Binary Trees
     • Binary SEARCH Trees
     • Tree Representations in Memory
     • Balancing Trees ~ AVL, Red-Black, and Splay
     • Special EE opportunity handout: Parallel Resistance Calculation [if there's time]
     • Review for Quiz #2
  2. Thursday
     • Announcements if any
     • Quiz #2
  
  
• Week 11 — Koyanesqatzi: Life Out of Balance!
  
  1. Tuesday
     • Announcements
     • Quiz #2 Coverage
     • Divide and Conquer sorting
  2. Thursday
     • Announcements
     • Assignment #04 due at start of class
     • Heaps and Heaps of Heaps
     • In-class Exercise With Heaps
     • Special EE opportunity: Low-pass Filter Design
     • Special EE opportunity: Parallel Resistance Calculator Design
  
  
• Week 12 — NO CLASS – EASTER BREAK
  
  1. ALL WEEK — you've worked hard, take the full week!
  2. No in-class exercise this week, obviously…
  3. Happy Bunny Day!
  
  
• Week 13 — Divide & Conquer, and Hashing
  
  1. Tuesday
     • Announcements
     • Divide and Conquer Sorting Revisited
     • Hashing
     • Collisions
  2. Thursday
     • Announcements
     • Hashing continues
     • Heaps of fun with heaps!
     • In-class exercise with heaps ~ load up your truck!
  
  
• Week 14 — Excellent Hash
  
  1. Tuesday
     • Announcements
       • Hashing In-class Exercise Perhaps?
       • Introduction to graphs
     • Thursday
       • Graphs Continues
       • Adjacency Matrix
  
  
• Week 15 — Warning: Graphic Content
  
  1. Tuesday
     • Announcements
     • Graphs Continues
  2. Thursday
     • Announcements
     • Assignment #05 due at start of class
     • REMINDER: COURSE EVALUATIONS IN BRIGHTSPACE
     • Graphs Finishes
     • In-class exercise
  
  
• Week 16 — Putting It In Context
  
  1. Tuesday
     • Announcements
     • REMINDER: COURSE EVALUATIONS IN BRIGHTSPACE
     • Graphs completes — Final Exam Review Begins
  2. Thursday
     • Announcements
     • REMINDER: COURSE EVALUATIONS IN BRIGHTSPACE
     • Final Exam Review Coontinues
  
  
• Week 17— Final Exam
  
  1. Tuesday
     • Announcements
     • Final Exam Review Completes for the Semester
     • REMINDER: COURSE EVALUATIONS IN BRIGHTSPACE
  2. Thursday
     NO CLASS THIS DAY ~ START OF FINAL EXAMS
  3. Friday
     • FINAL EXAM — Friday afternoon, 14:00 hours
     • Since our class time is 13:45 on Tuesday/Thursday, the registrar lists the exam start time as 14:00 [2:00 PM] on Friday May 8^th
       …which is the second day of finals this semester.
     • You will have two full hours to complete the exam as stated above. Registrar's Final Exam Schedule page to make certain of the date and time.

     • …And now for something COMPLETELY different…

     • NOTE that finals week is split this semester and starts on Thursday May 7^th and runs over the weekend to stop on Wednesday May 13^th. So OUR final exam is on the very second day!