CSci 455 Syllabus

CSci 455 cannot normally be taken for credit by computer science majors.

CSci 455 Course Objectives

Give students the skills they need to write complex programs in C++ using an object-oriented approach utilizing appropriate data structures.
Provide valuable programming experience in appropriate homework assignments and programming projects.
Ensure a fair and accurate measurement of student performance by using a variety of scores.

CSci 455 Course Texts

There are two required text books for this course: Data Structures and Other Objects Using C++, by Main and Savitch (ISBN 0-8053-7470-1) and C++ How to Program, second edition, by Deitel and Deitel. Additional materials will be available via the Web or handed out in class.

Students are expected to have read the assigned chapters before the indicated class session. Readings from Deitel and Deitel are prefixed with DD and readings from Main and Savitch are prefixed with MS.

CSci 455 Schedule

Lectures and events will follow this weekly schedule:

Week  Tuesday                                         Thursday

1     Aug 31: Introduction; MS ch 1                   Sep 2: Introduction (cont.); DD ch 1

2     Sep 7: Abstract Data Types: MS 2.1-2.3          Sep 9: Control Structures: DD 2.1-2.15
                                                      Homework 1 due

3     Sep 14: Abstract Data Types (cont.): MS 2.4-2.5 Sep 17: Control Structures (cont.): DD 2.16-2.22

4     Sep 21: Container Classes: MS 3                 Sep 23: Functions: DD 3
                                                      Homework 2 due

5     Sep 28: Arays: DD 4                             Sep 30: Pointers and Dynamic Arrays: MS 4.1-4.2
                                                      Programming project 1 due

6     Oct 5: Pointers and Strings: DD 5               Oct 7: Pointers and Dynamic Arrays (cont.): MS 4.3-4.4
                                                      Homework 3 due

7     Oct 12: Linked Lists: MS 5.1-5.2                Oct 14: Linked Lists (cont.): MS 5.3-5.5
 
8     Oct 19: Templates: MS 6.1-6.2                   Oct 21: Templates (cont.): MS 6.3-6.5
                                                      Programming project 2 due
                                                      Homework 4 due

9     Oct 26: Review                                  Oct 28: Mid-term Exam
                  
10    Nov 2: Stacks: MS 7.1-7.2                       Nov 4: Stacks (cont.): MS 7.3-7.4

11    Nov 9: Queues: MS 8.1-8.2                       Nov 11: Queues (cont.): MS 8.3-8.4
                                                      Homework 5 due

12    Nov 16: Recursive Thinking: MS 9.1-9.2          Nov 18: Recursive Thinking (cont.): MS 9.3
                                                      Programming project 3 due

13    Nov 23: Trees: MS 10.1-10.3                     Nov 25: Thanksgiving Recess

14    Nov 30: Trees (cont.): MS 10.4-10.5             Dec 2: Searching: MS 12.1
                                                      Programming project 4 due
                                                      Homework 6 due

15    Dec 7: Sorting: MS 13.1-13.2                    Dec 9: Review: DD 15

16    December 14: Final examination,
                   4:30 PM to 6:30 PM

Email: Richard dot J dot Wagner at gmail dot com