TAs:
Piyush Prakash (head TA)Some useful books:
Cormen, Leiserson, Rivest and Stein: Introduction to Algorithms, Second Edition. MIT Press, 2001.
Kozen, The design and analysis of algorithms. Springer, 1992.
Book draft: Dasgupta, Papadimitriou, Vazirani
Lecture notes for April 26Lectures:
Assignments:
Problem Set 1Exam instructions: these are the instructions you will find on the front page of the exam.
Announcement: I'll hold a review session for the final exam on Thursday June 3 at 5:00pm in Jorgensen 74. The exam itself will be available on Monday morning, and due by Wednesday afternoon; it will be timed (4 hours) with an extra half-hour for pick-up and drop-off to my secretary, Maria Lopez, in Jorgensen 273. In other words, you must pick it up in the morning in order to be able to return to Maria before 5:00pm the same day. You will be allowed a 4 page (single-sided) cheat sheet, and no other resources, during the exam.
Announcement: Graduating seniors and graduate students should email me by May 26 for special arrangements for their final exam.
Policies:
Collaboration: Unless a problem is marked ``no collaboration,'' you can work with other students in the class (and I encourage it). But you should read and think about each problem alone for at least a few minutes before collaborating. You must produce the final write-up for submission alone, after all discussions; if you worked with someone on a problem, list their name by your solution. (This need not be reciprocal. If A was stuck on a problem until getting an idea from B who had already solved it, no annotation is needed on B's assignment.) You can discuss ``no collaboration'' problems with the TAs and myself.
It's important that your work be written in clear technical English, and be typed or in legible handwriting. Points may reluctantly be deducted if these matters interfere with us reading your work. Please write each problem on a separate page and put your name on it (N.B.: with this many sheets of paper there is always a slight danger we'll lose something. The TAs will be careful, but I recommend you also keep a copy of your work.)
As a general rule I won't try to discuss material over email. I encourage you to attend office hours.
Suggested references: listed on the course web page. You're welcome to take advantage of other references. However, realize that some of the problems I'll assign are ``standards'', and solutions to those might be found in textbooks, notebooks of older students, and so forth. Regardless of the source, don't read existing solutions before turning in your work. This includes all materials from previous offerings of this course.
Problem sets will generally be due Fridays at 5pm in the Intel Lab (Jorgensen first floor). Late work may be handed in by Monday at 5pm. Ten problems can be handed in late without penalty during the term; late problems beyond that allotment can be handed in for 50% credit. Further exceptions will be made only for documented medical reasons.