CS 5050

Advanced Algorithms

Fall 2009

Professor: Dr. Nick Flann

Office: Old Main 402D

Office Hours: You are encouraged to come to office hours whenever you have difficulties with the class. Whatever the problem, students should bring their class notes, program and attempts at solving the problem with them.

Office Hour Times:

Mon Wed Fri: 9:30pm - 10:30am, Main 402D
Tue, Thu: 10:30am - 11:30am, Main 402D
Other times by appointment through email, see below.

Other help: If you cannot come to office hours or want help outside office hours I recommend emailing me a clear and concise description of your problem or question. Often I will be able to get back to them immediately.

Email: nick.flann@usu.edu

Course website: Mostly blackboard (syllabus at http://www.cs.usu.edu/~flann/cs5050/)

Class Time: 8:30am --- 9:20pm MWF

Class Location: Eccles Business 214

Course Goal:  Gain knowledge of a variety of computational problems and their algorithmic solutions 

Learning Outcomes:

• Be able to analyze and empirically evaluate the time and space complexities of an algorithm
• Be able to choose appropriate data structures in the design of an algorithm based on their mathematical properties
• Be able to design efficient algorithms for new problems using standard algorithmic techniques

Course Objectives:

• Be able to analyze the complexity of any algorithm
• Design and execute a comparative empirical study of the performance of a set of algorithms
• Implement a variety of algorithms utilizing many standard data structures
• Know standard types of computational problems and their standard algorithmic solutions
• Understand many algorithmic design techniques and be able to design algorithms to solve new problems by adapting and modifying existing algorithms
• Understand how many "clever" algorithms work
• Understand the difference between polynomial and non-deterministic polynomial (NP) problems
• Understand how to apply approximate and heuristic algorithm solutions to NP problems

Holidays and special days:

• Sept 7th (Labor day)
• Oct 15th (Thursday that we will treat as a Friday, so we have class then!)
• Oct 16th (Fall break, no class)
• Nov 25th-Nov27 (Thanksgiving holiday)
• Dec 4th (Last day of classes)

Prerequisites: Advanced standing. This is an advanced algorithm course and as such, you are expected to be an expert programmer. If you still struggle to get a complex program working quickly, this class will probably to be too hard for you. 

Text: Advanced Algorithms: Foundations, Analysis and Internet Examples by Michael Goodrich and Robert Tamassia

Last day to add/drop: see www.usu.edu/registrar/dates

Assignments: There will be assignments and projects given throughout the class. Completed assignments need to be submitted before the due date and time. All assignments will be posted on the class web page and through blackboard. All completed work is to be submitted through blackboard. The deadline for assignments will be 11:59 pm on the due date. Late work will lose points.

Written assignments must be submitted in pdf format. Code must be submitted as a .zip file that contains all support files needed to run the code.

Programming: This class will include a mixture of assignments, many involving programming. While the book emphasizes the Java programming language, there is no specific programming language that must be used for assignments. You may use any language you wish. This is not a programming class. You are expected to be able to take an algorithm description and write your own program that implements the algorithm. Getting the algorithm to work will not be surficient to complete the assignment since most assignments will include an empirical component where the algorithm is run repeatedly on sets of problems and its performance evaluated. You must allow additional time to complete the assignment after the code is running. This additional time will be needed to perform multiple runs of the algorithm on randomly generated input and because we often need thousands of different runs on large input sizes, runs can take up to 24 hours. Then you need to allow more time to analyze the results and write up your report. In other words, start you assignments early!

Late Work: Will lose points. No work can be submitted beyond 2 days late.

Quizzes: There will be quizzes during the semester, given at the beginning of class. The lowest scoring quiz will be dropped from your final score.

Exams: There will be a total of 3 exams. Two midterm exams of duration 50 minutes and a final of duration 1:50 minutes. 

The first exam will be given within approximately 4 weeks, the second given within approximately 8 weeks. The final will be comprehensive and given at 7:30am Wednesday, Dec 9th in Business 214

Approximate Grading:

Assignments 55%

Quizzes 5%

Mid term Exams  20%

Final Exam 20%

Following each graded assignment, quiz or exam, a report detailing your scores, standing in the class and percentage available through blackboard. Please read this report carefully. Errors in recording scores must be corrected as soon as possible.

Re-grading: Occasionally, a mistake may be made in grading. If you think you have found an error, please email nick.flann@usu.edu as soon as possible explaining the error, then come and see me during office hours.

Email: All students in the class will need an email account in order to receive grade information. Your account on the usu system will be used unless you email a different address.

Learning Style

I think learning is a lot more than remembering the contents of power point slides! I will mostly teach using the board, where we will dynamically develop problems and solutions. I welcome your participation! When I ask questions during class time, these are not intended to be rhetorical questions (i.e., I expect an answer). I will encourage you to develop problem-solving skills, which will be utilized during class, test taking and completing assignments. I will use power points when appropriate and will base the content of the lectures on the power points posted on the book website.

Rough Outline:

Week	Topic
1	Chapter 1 Complexity, empirical analysis, math review, amortization
2	Chapter 4 Sorting
3,4	Chapter 5 Fundamental techniques of algorithm design
5	Chapter 6,7 Graphs and weighted graphs
6	Chapter 8 Network flow and matching graphs
7,8	Chapter 9 Text processing
9,10,11	Chapter 10 Number theory and FFT
12,13	Chapter 12 Computational geometry
15,16	Chapter 13 NP completeness and approximation algorithms

Incomplete:

The University policy will be adhered to for incomplete. This means that an incomplete cannot be given to prevent receipt of a bad grade. Under no circumstances can an incomplete be given for which a re-take of the class is required to make up the work. In such situations, a withdrawal or late withdrawal is required. If a student feels that an incomplete is appropriate, it is their responsibility to immediately discuss the matter with their instructor.

• Computer Science Code of Conduct :
  • Students are encouraged to discuss and exchange ideas on homework assignments, but must write up the solutions independently; tests and exams will be "closed book."
  • As a computer scientist, or someone taking a computer science class, you are expected to perform your work at all times in an ethical manner. This means that in addition to doing your own work and giving appropriate credit when the work of others is used, you are required to protect your work.
  • A student that protects their work will not allow another student access to that work whether it be allowing it to be copied, or treating its security in such a way as to give unintentional access, such as "accidental" loss. It is the policy of the department that when duplicate (essentially the same) work is turned in by two or more students, without acknowledgment of allowed cooperation, all involved students will be considered in violation of this department policy. Under such circumstances, each student will receive minus the points possible for the work.
  • Thus, for a 15 point assignment, all would receive -15 points. If the infraction is deemed more egregious, then further action may be taken.

MSDNAA software downloads :

The Computer Science Department is a member of the Microsoft Academic Alliance (MSDNAA), and specifically what is now called the Developer Academic Alliance. Through this program, students in CS courses can obtain and use a large number of Microsoft's operating systems and software packages. If you are interesting in downloading any of this software for your use, please follow the directions found at http://www.cs.usu.edu/elms.html

ADA Compliance:

If a student has a disability that will likely require some accommodation by the instructor, the student must contact   the instructor and document the disability through the Disability Resource Center, preferably during the first week of the course. Any requests for special considerations   relating to attendance, pedagogy, taking of examinations, etc. must be discussed with and approved by the instructor. In cooperation with the Disability Resource   Center, course materials can be provided in alternative formats, e.g. large   print, audio, diskette, or Braille.

Fee:

Associated with this class is a class fee of $25. Monies from this fee are used to maintain lab facilities for the class, purchase software and licenses, and supervise the lab. In some cases, students may have their own computing equipment, and thus feel that they do not need to use the lab. However, the lab must be maintained regardless of and individuals use of it, and thus the fee is charged to all registered for the class. If you have questions or concerns about the fee, please see the department head.