Course Basics

Lecture: Tuesday, Thursday 11:20AM-12:35PM, Science Center 199
Lab A: Monday 1:15PM - 2:45PM, Science Center 256
Lab B: Monday 3:00PM - 4:30PM, Science Center 256
Instructor: Joshua Brody (lecture, Lab A) Adam Lammert (Lab B)
Email: lastname at cs.swarthmore.edu lastname at cs.swarthmore.edu
Office: Science Center 260 Science Center 270
Office Hours: Thursday 3-5PM and by appointment Thursday 9-11AM and by appointment
Lab Assignments: weekly, due Sunday 11:59PM
Ninjas: Meiri Anto, Klarissa Khor, Shawn Pan, Ravenna Thielstrom
Ninja Sessions: Wednesday 8-10PM
Saturday 2-4PM
Course Discussion: Piazza (by invitation, mandatory enrollment)

Welcome to CS35. This course continues the broad introduction to computer science begun in CS21, providing a general background for further study in the field. By concentrating on data structures and algorithms, you will obtain the basic building blocks by which all large software are built. These topics are central to every sub-discipline in computer science, and also connect to central concepts across the sciences. Topics to be covered include object-oriented programming in C++, advanced data structures (such as priority queues, trees, hash tables, and graphs), advanced algorithms, as well as software design and verification. At the end of this course, you will have obtained the ability to successfully analyze problems in the discipline. You will also take your first steps towards developing the skills necessary to synthesize and evaluate the must fundamental questions in the field.

To enroll in this course you must have completed CPSC 21 or obtain permission from the instructor. This course is designated as a natural sciences and engineering practicum.

Course Textbook

You may rely on either of two text books for the course:

I will post readings from both books; you only need to choose one though. I plan on using the first book when I design lectures, but I will not necessarily follow the style of C++ coding from the book. This book is useful for coming at material from a different view point than lecture (some students find this confusing, others find it useful), and there are also several problems at the end of each chapter for studying. The second book is a freely available textbook online exploring data structures and algorithms in C++. Both are reliable references but is your choice which you prefer to use.

In addition, you will need to read A Transition Guide from Python 2.x to C++ by Michael Goldwasser and David Letscher for the first week or two.

Debugging references

Learning how to debug code efficiently is part of this course material. Many of the lab assignments in this course will be more involved than what you have seen in CS21, and debugging will be essential. Some references for debugging tools:

Additional references

This course provides an introduction to object oriented programming as well as the C++ program language. Each could warrant their own course of study and I highly recommend you study them further. Some references of use: