• People and Website
• Course Forum
• Course Goals
• Course Context
• Revision (material from COMP1511)
• Data Structure Viewpoint
• COMP2521 Themes
• Lectures
• Tutes and Labs
• Assignments
• Plagiarism
• Final Exam
• Supplementary Exams
• Course Assessment

♢ Course Convenor: Dr Ashesh Mahidadia [email: ashesh@cse.unsw.edu.au]

♢ Lecturer: Dr Ashesh Mahidadia.

♢ Course Admin: Kevin Luxa and Ethan Brown

♢ Course Email: cs2521@cse.unsw.edu.au
        [all course related queries must be sent to the above email address].

♢ Primary entry point is WebCMS,
        Course Website is:   https://webcms3.cse.unsw.edu.au/COMP2521/22T2/

♢ Login to WebCMS using your zID and your zPass, needed for
        course material (lecture slides, tutorials, labs, assignments, etc.), polls, comments/forums, etc. ...

♢ We'll be using the Ed forum for discussion this term.

♢ To join:

• Go to the COMP2521 page on Moodle
• Click on "Forum", which will take you to the Ed forum.
• you may want to bookmark the Ed forum page

COMP1511 ...

• gets you thinking like a programmer
• solving problems by developing programs
• expressing your ideas in the C language

• gets you thinking like a computer scientist
• knowing fundamental techniques/structures
• able to reason about applicability/effectiveness
• able to analyse behaviour/correctness of programs

COMP1511 ...

COMP2521 ...
 

♢ At the start of this course you should be able to:

• produce a correct C program from a specification
• understand the state-based model of computation
  (variables, assignment, addresses, parameters, scope)
• use fundamental C data structures
  (char, int, float, arrays, structs, pointers, linked lists)
• use fundamental control structures   (if, while)
• implement abstraction via function declarations, ADTs
• fix simple bugs in incorrect programs

♢ Important: Make sure you can properly understand and effectively use the following topics (covered in COMP1511):

• Structs (see videos on Structs, click here)
• Pointers (see videos on Pointers, click here)
• Malloc (see videos on Malloc, click here)
• Linked Lists (see videos on Linked Lists, click here)

♢ At the end of this course you should be able to:

• analyse performance characteristics of algorithms
• measure performance behaviour of programs
• choose/develop effective data structures (DS)
• choose/develop algorithms (A) on these DS
• package a set of DS+A as an abstract data type
• develop and maintain 9999-line C programs

COMP1511 considered ...

COMP2521 also considers ...

♢ Major themes ...

1. Analysis: correctness, performance, usability
2. ADTs: sets, lists, trees, graphs, dictionaries
3. Operations: building, sorting, searching, traversing

♢ For data types: alternative implementation of operations

♢ For algorithms: complexity analysis, performance analysis

♢ Always give credit if you use someone else's work.

♢ COMP2521 material is prepared by John Shepherd, and ideas are drawn from

• notes by Aleks Ignjatovic (COMP2011 2005)
• slides by Manuel Chakravarty (COMP1927 08s1)
• lectures by Richard Buckland (COMP1927 09s2)
• slides by Gabrielle Keller (COMP1927 12s2)
• slides by Michael Thielscher (COMP9024 17s2)
• slides and books by Robert Sedgewick

♢ Textbook is a "double-header"

• Algorithms in C, Parts 1-4, Robert Sedgewick
• Algorithms in C, Part 5, Robert Sedgewick

       

Good books, useful beyond COMP2521, but code style .....

♢ Four scheduled hours of lectures.

♢ Lectures will contain ...

• summary of content   (read textbook and lecture notes in advance),
• problem-solving exercises, hopefully, with lots of input from you.

♢ But without any "background noise" :-)

♢ Tutorials ...

• as in COMP1511
• analysis/design practice; clarify lecture material

♢ Labs ...

• small(ish) implementation tasks, done in pairs
• give skills practice (leading on to assignments/exam)

♢ Tutes/labs will run from week 01 to 10.

♢ Exercises for Week X available in Week X-1

♢ Lab exercises contribute 10% to overall mark.

♢ The lab exercises for Week X must be

• submitted before Sunday at end of week X
• demonstrated to tutor during Week X lab
  OR, demonstrated at the start of Week X+1 lab

♢ Total mark for all the labs is greater than 10 (and they are scaled to 10).

♢ Two assignments ...

• Ass1:   14% towards final mark,   (available in week-04, due in week-07)
• Ass2:   19% towards final mark,   (available in week-07, due in week-10)

♢ Two assignments contribute 33% towards final mark.

♢ Late penalties apply if you miss the deadline.

♢ Good time management avoids late penalties!

♢ 3-hour on-line exam during the exam period.

♢ How to pass?   Practice, practice, practice, ...

♢ The document "Essential Advice for CSE Students" states the supplementary assessment policy for the School of CSE. Please take the time to read it carefully.

♢ If you are granted a Supplementary examination, then it will be centrally timetabled. If you think that you may be eligible for a supplementary exam, then make sure you are available on that day. It is your responsibility to check at the Student Office for details of Supplementary examinations.

quizzes             = mark for quizzes               (out of  7)
labs                = mark for lab exercises         (out of  10)
ass1                = mark for assignment 1          (out of  14)
ass2                = mark for assignment 2          (out of  19)
finalExam           = mark for final exam            (out of  50)

okHurdle            = finalExam > 25 (that is, > 50% in the final exam)

mark      = quizzes + labs + ass1 + ass2 + finalExam
grade     = HD|DN|CR|PS  if mark >= 50 && okHurdle
          = FL           if mark <  50
          = UF           if mark >= 50 && !okHurdle

♢ The goal is for you to become a better programmer

• more confident in your own ability
• with an expanded set of tools to draw on
• able to analyse/justify your choices
• producing a better end-product
• ultimately, enjoying the programming process