COURSE INFORMATION

Lectures:

Monday/Wednesday, 1:00-2:15pm

Mundelein Skyscraper(SKY) 502

Lake Shore Campus

Instructor:

Michael Goldwasser

Email: mhg@cs.luc.edu

Office: DH 115, Lake Shore Campus (inside the DH105 Suite)

Phone: (773) 508-2883

Hours: Monday 2:15-3:15pm, Thursday 3:15-4:15pm, or by appointment

Teaching Assistant:

Shaorong Wu

Email: swu1@math.luc.edu

Hours: Sullivan 221, Tuesday 2:30pm-3:30pm

Text:

Introduction to Algorithms

Thomas H.Cormen, Charles E. Leiserson and Ronald L. Rivest

MIT Press, 1990, ISBN 0-13-012720-5

List price: $69.95

Available at Barnes & Noble Campus Store, Beck's, or many online vendors (shop around!)

---

Prerequisites:

The official prerequisite for this course is Design and Analysis of Computer Algorithms (Comp363). However students will be allowed to bypass this requirement so long as they have equivalent background in each of the following areas:

Discrete Structures (Comp 211) or Abstract Algebra (Math 313). A solid background in formal mathematics will prove invaluable for this course, in that we will argue rigorously about the correctness and performance of almost every algorithm and data structure we introduce. The ability to write clear and formal proofs will be relied upon heavily throughout the course.

Structured Programming & Data Structures (Comp 271). Many of our algorithms will need to use more basic data structures as building blocks, and although we will try when possible to review the earlier material, we expect that students will have seen many of these concepts previously.

Elements of Calculus I (Math 131) or Calculus I (Math 161). As one of our goals is to mathematically analyze the performance of algorithms, we will often need to rely on techniques involving summations, recurrences and other mathematical background.

Statistics (Stat 203). We will rely on some knowledge of basic probability theory, including probability spaces, discrete events, expected value, etc.

---

Grades: The graded work of this course will be weighted as follows:

50% - homeworks (evenly weighted)

10% - midterm 1 (Monday, 28 Feb 2000)

10% - midterm 2 (Monday, 10 Apr 2000)

30% - final exam (tba)

A precise definition for what percentages will be required for which letter grades will be announced immediately after the mid-semester break.

---

Academic Honesty: You may certainly use other references in learning and understanding the material covered in class, as well as consultations with the instructor or teaching assistant. However, when it comes to written assignments and exams, we expect that you will not use or search for direct or indirect solutions using any outside references, including but not limited to:

other texts or books

any online information other than the course web page

students in this class who are ``graders'' for that assignment

past students, whether from this school or other schools

any people except the instructor or teaching assistant.

other students in this class (with exception below)

Students are also expected to have read the full statement on academic honesty available on page 18 of Loyola's ``The Graduate School'' book. Violations of any of the policies of that statement, or the policies outlines in this handout will be dealt with strongly. Any such violations will result in a minimum penalty of a zero on the given assignment, and all incedents will be reported in writing to both the department and the appropriate dean. These penalties will also apply to a student who is aiding another student.

---

comp460 Class Page
mhg@cs.luc.edu

Last modified: 11 April 2000

---