ECS 122A, Spring 2012

Course Information Sheet

NOTE: You are responsible for the information on this handout. Please read it.

Course Web page

We will maintain useful information on the course web page: http://www.cs.ucdavis.edu/~martel/122a.
Visit this page regularly to see what's new. If you miss a handout, get it from here.
(In addition to this web page, some information is also on the class smartsite webpage,
see Communications next).

Communication Policy (email and smartsite)

Forum: Please use forum in smartsite to post questions and have discussions.
The chat group can also be used, although we will not check it---we will check the forum.
However, on the chat group you may get quick answers from other students.

Posting and Email Policy: All general questions related to curriculum must be posted to the forum.
Only topics of a personal nature can be emailed to TAs or the instructor.
Such emails should have "ECS122A" in the subject line. Emails not following these rules will
probably end up in our SPAM folders, and may not be read.

Lectures

T Th 10:30-11:50 in 06 Olson

Discussion Sections

W 4:10-5:00 in 6 Olson;

Instructor

Prof. Chip Martel

Office: 3049 Kemper Hall
Phone: 752-2651
email: martel AT cs DOT ucdavis.edu
Office hours: Tuesday 1-2:15, Fri 1:30-2:30

Teaching Assistants

Richard Wang

Office: 53 Kemper Hall
email: ruiwang AT ucdavis DOT edu
Office hours: Monday 1:30-2:30 Thursday 1-3.

Graders

David Jin

Office 55 Kemper email: dkjin AT ucdavis DOT edu
Office hours: Monday 2:00-3:00

Justin Horton

Office 55 Kemper email: jkhorton AT ucdavis DOT edu
Office hours: Tuesday 2:00-3:00

Midterm

There will be one midterm in this class on April 26.

Final

1:00-3:00 PM on Wednesday, June 13 in 6 Olson.

Prerequisites

Minimal prerequisites are ECS 20 ( discrete math) and ECS 60 (data structures).
Mathematics majors might do fine without ECS 20. However, the knowledge
in both these classes is critical to success in this class. This is a demanding class
and those without the prerequisites are likely to do poorly.

Textbook

Introduction to Algorithms, by Cormen, Leiserson, Rivest and Stein, third edition. Often called "CLRS."
Reading the book strengthens the mind; carrying it strengthens the body. The new edition has some
nice new stuff and improved explainations. It's a good reference for the practicing computer scientist.
Clearly we will not cover all of its 1000+ pages.

Grading

There will be periodic problem sets (30%), one midterm (30%) , and a final (40%).
Note that you must get a passing average on the exams to pass this course.

Homeworks

Homeworks are due by 3:15PM on the due date. It is to be turned in at the marked box in Kemper Hall, #2131.
No late homeworks will be accepted.

Much of what one learns in this course comes from trying to solve the homework problems, so work hard on them.
Doing a conscientious job on the homeworks is the best preparation for the exams. We hope that you will ultimately
solve the majority of the problems, but don't be surprised if some of them stump you; some of the problems may be
quite challenging.

Your solutions should be terse, correct, and legible. Understandability of the solution is as necessary as correctness.
Expect to lose points if you provide a "correct" solution with a not-so-good writeup. As with an English paper,
you can't expect to turn in a first draft: it takes refinement to describe something well.
Typeset solutions are always appreciated.

If you can't solve a problem, briefly indicate what you've tried and where the difficulty lies. Don't try to pull one over on us.

If you think a problem was misgraded, please see the grader first.
(The grader(s) will hold 1 office hour per week; time will be announced later.)