Covers abstract data types and structures including dictionaries, balanced trees, hash tables, priority queues, and graphs; sorting; asymptotic analysis; fundamental graph algorithms including graph search, shortest path, and minimum spanning trees; multithreading and parallel algorithms; P and NP complexity classes. Prerequisites: CSE 311
This course will assume competency with Java programming (covered in the CSE12X or CSE14X sequence) and knowledge of several topics from Discrete Math (covered in CSE 311). In particular, we assume knowledge of:
We will use Java for programming assignments. We strongly recommend although will not require that you use the IntelliJ development environment. Links for downloading and installing Java and IntelliJ will be included with our first exercise.
(Optional) Data Structures and Algorithm Analysis in Java 3rd Ed., Mark Allen Weiss, Addison Wesley: 2012, ISBN-10: 0132576279. Our course calendar will list sections of the textbook that are most relevant to the topic discussed in class that day. You may find the textbook useful to clarify topics and find more examples as well as to examine Java implementations of the data structures and algorithms discussed during lecture. We will not be assigning problems from the textbook.
We will use a set of free on-line notes for the material on parallelism and concurrency.
The Ed Discussion board should be your first stop for questions about course content and assignments. Before posting, first check that your question has not already been answered on the Discussion board, and if not, ask it there. If it is not possible to ask your question on the Discussion board without revealing details of your solution, please either use a private post on the Discussion board or send email to cse332-staff at cs.washington.edu, which will go to the instructor and TAs. In general we prefer that you send questions to the cse332-staff list instead of to an individual staff member so that you will get a faster response time and the entire staff can remain aware of questions and issues. Note that while we will try to respond to questions in a timely manner, we may not be able to respond to questions posted to the Ed Discussion board after 10pm until the next day.
We will use the "Announcements" category on the Ed Discussion board for class announcements. You will be expected to read messages in the Announcements category on Ed Discussion so be sure you are receiving email notifications for these posts.
Lectures will meet MWF 12:30-1:20pm in CSE2 G20 and 3:30-4:20pm in CSE2 G01. You should plan on attending the lecture you are registered for, although occasionally attending the other lecture will be fine as long as there is space. Attendance at lecture is strongly encouraged. If you are unable to attend a lecture, both lectures will be recorded (and live streamed) on Panopto and recordings will be posted in Canvas. Slides for lecture will be posted on the course calendar and on the lectures page, generally before lecture. Inked slides will be posted after lecture.
Sections will be held on Thursdays in rooms indicated on the course time schedule. Section attendance is strongly encouraged. You should plan on attending the section you are registered for. Occasionally attending another section should be fine as long as there is space. If you do this, please ask permission from the leading TA(s) and let them know you are present. Slides, and handouts for section will be posted on the course calendar and on the sections page. Sections will NOT be recorded as we want students to feel comfortable asking and answering questions in the smaller classroom environment.
Office Hours will be held throughout the week both in person and on Zoom. You may attend the office hours of any staff member, not just the TA who leads your section. A schedule of office hours and more information can be found on the office hours page.
Course Staff information can be found on the staff page.
Your learning in the course will be assessed via weekly-ish individual exercises, an in-person midterm exam, and an in-person cumulative final exam.
There will be a total of 13 individual exercises, with 1 or 2 due each week. Some exercises will involve programming in Java while others will be written assignments. Exercises will be posted on the exercise page and will be submitted to Gradescope.
There will be an in-person midterm and an in-person cumulative final exam. The midterm exam is tentatively set for Monday February 10, 2025 in the afternoon/evening, exact time and location TBA. The final exam will be Thursday March 20, 2025 12:30-2:20pm in KNE 120. More information about the midterm and final exam will be posted on the exams page.
Regrade Requests for exercises or exams, will be handled via Gradescope.
Course grades will be computed approximately as follows (weights may be modified):
To facilitate timely feedback, exercises will not be accepted late. That being said, we are happy to consider any request for a deadline extension. These deadline extensions are intended to either grant submission flexibility for students who experience hardship during the open window of the assignment, or to grant a small amount of extra time to students who began the assignment in a timely manner, have made substantial progress before the deadline, but would have their grade be a more accurate reflection of their understanding if a minimal amount of extra time was allotted.
To submit an extension request, fill out this google form, providing either:
ER visitis fine, details are unnecessary), as well as the approximate amount of time lost due to the hardship and a suggested replacement deadline.
To ensure that we can respond to these requests before the deadline, please submit the requests no later than 24 hours before the deadline whenever possible. Requests made beyond that window may not be processed before the assignment deadline, and therefore there is a risk of the request being denied after the deadline has already passed. Requests made after this time should include additional justification for why the request was delayed.
We expect all work you submit to be your own. However we believe you can learn a lot from discussing course concepts with others. When completing the exercises you should:
It should be obvious, but referring to solutions found on the web or solutions from this or other courses from previous quarters is considered cheating, as is requesting help with an assignment from an "interactive source" other than course staff. This includes pasting the questions from our exercises into search tools, requesting help on platforms like Chegg or Stackoverflow, or use of generative AI systems like Chat-GPT. We plan on running similarity-detection software over all submitted student assignments, including assignments from past quarters. Instructors are required to report violations of course policy to The Office of Community Standards & Student Conduct.
We must all do our part to keep our community safe. If you are sick or have potentially been exposed to COVID-19 or another illness, please stay home. Attendance at lecture and section is not required. Lectures will be recorded on Panopto and will be made available to the class for viewing afterwards. We will post materials used in section. We will be holding a combination of in-person and Zoom office hours and our course message board is always available. If the instructor becomes sick we will either revert to Zoom lectures briefly or have guest lectures. A similar policy will be followed for sections or office hours in case other staff members become sick.
Disability Resources for Students (DRS) is a unit within the Division of Student Life and is dedicated to ensuring access and inclusion for all students with disabilities on the Seattle campus. They offer a wide range of services for students with disabilities that are individually designed and remove the need to reveal sensitive medical information to the course staff. If you have a medical need for extensions of assignment deadlines, these will only be granted through official documentation from DRS. Browse to this link to start the process as soon as possible to avoid delays.
You can refer to the university policies regarding Disability Accommodations for more information.
Washington state law requires that UW develop a policy for accommodation of student absences or significant hardship due to reasons of faith or conscience, or for organized religious activities. The UW's policy, including more information about how to request an accommodation, is available at Religious Accommodations Policy. Accommodations must be requested within the first two weeks of this course using the Religious Accommodations Request form.
We recognize that our students come from varied backgrounds and can have widely-varying circumstances. If you have any unforeseen or extenuating circumstance that arise during the course, please do not hesitate to contact the instructor in office hours, via email, or private message board post to discuss your situation. The sooner we are made aware, the more easily these situations can be resolved. Extenuating circumstances include work-school balance, familial responsibilities, military duties, unexpected travel, or anything else beyond your control that may negatively impact your performance in the class.
Additionally, if at any point you are made to feel uncomfortable, disrespected, or excluded by a staff member or fellow student, please report the incident so that we may address the issue and maintain a supportive and inclusive learning environment. Should you feel uncomfortable bringing up an issue with a staff member directly, you may consider sending anonymous feedback or contacting the Office of the Ombud.