Main page

Contents

• Contact Information
• Course Information Sheet and References
• Grading Scheme
• Important Dates
• Course Outline
• Course Newsgroup
• General Policies

Contact Information

• Instructor: Mohammad R. Salavatipour.
• e-mail address:  mreza-AT-cs-DOT-ualberta-DOT-ca
• Lectures:
  
  • Section A2: MWF, 12:00-12:50, CAB 269
    
• Tutorials (Seminars):
  • Mon, 5:00-5:50, CAB357
    
  • Tue, 12:30-1:20, CAB229 
    
  • Wed, 11:00-11:50 CAB377
    
• Office hour: Fridays 2-3.
• Office: Ath303.

Generally, the best way to contact me is by e-mail. I try to answer e-mails within 1-2 working days. Often it is within the same day but if you send me an e-mail on Friday or Saturday, don't expect to get a quick response.

Course Information Sheet and References

Here is the course information sheet in Postscript format and in PDF format.
(Download a free Postscript viewer.)

Text Book
The course text book is:
T. H. Cormen, C. E. Leiserson, R. L. Rivest, and C. Stein.
Introduction to Algorithms (Second Edition). McGraw Hill. 2001.

Grading Scheme

• Five Assignments at 7% each: 35%
• Two term tests at 15% each: 30%
• Final Exam: 35%

Important dates

Course outline

Basics (1,2,3)
- Getting started
- Analyzing algorithms
- Growth of functions

Recurrences (4.1-4.3)
- Methods
- Master Theorem

Sorting Algorithms (6, 7, 8.1)
- Heaps and Heapsort
- Priority Queues
- Quicksort and analysis
- Lower bound on sorting

Design Techniques (16.1-16.2, 15.1-15.4)
- Greedy method
- Divide-and-Conquer
- Dynamic Programming

Graphs (22, 23, 24.2-24.3, 25)
- Basics
- Traversals (DFS/BFS)
- Minimum spanning tree
- Shortest paths

Additional Topics (time permitting)

Course newsgroup

• The course newsgroup is for discussions of topics related to the course, including (but not limited to) questions and answers about the course material and assignments.
• Important: NEVER post to the course newsgroup your solution to an assignment, or even your idea of the solution to an assignment, or even one small part of a program or proof that is part of your solution to an assignment, etc. In particular, questions similar to the ones in the following list should be avoided completely:
  "... Is this the right idea?" , "... Can anyone tell me what's wrong with this?" , "For this question, are we supposed to do X or Y?"
• The newsgroup.
  

General Policies

• Electronic Correspondence: Please do not send messages that include HTML or MIME. I can only read plain ASCII text.

• Assignments and late policy: All assignments are due on Wednesday by noon (at the beginning of the lecture). Late assignments are not accepted.
• Missed term test or exam: Term tests and Final Exam absence may result in a mark of 0, unless an acceptable excuse exists and is supported by documentation, in which case:
  • for a missed term test, the weight of that test will be carried over to the final exam;
  • for a missed Final Exam, the student must apply to their Faculty Office (not the instructor) for permission to write the deferred exam.

• Remarking Requests: You may NOT submit a remarking request later than TWO WEEKS from the date on which the assignment or test was returned, with the exception of the last assignment, for which you can submit a remarking request no later than ONE week after it is returned. We will NOT accept remarking requests after these deadlines. It is your responsibility to pick up your assignment or test as soon as possible. If you were not in class or in tutorial when it was handed back, pick it up from your instructor's office, immediately.
• Collaboration on Assignments and Plagiarism:

  • What is plagiarism?: "Submitting the words, ideas, images or data of another person's as ones own."
    For more details, see Code of Student Behaviour

  • Are we allowed to collaborate on assignments?:
    

    You are allowed to discuss the assignments with each other, but you must write your solutions alone and independently. In particular, you are not allowed to take any written (or recorded) notes from your discussions. You must list the name of students you have discussed the assignment with, and any other sources that you have used on the front page of your assignment.