STANFORD CS 161
Design and Analysis of Algorithms
Fall 2008
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Announcements

Handouts

Handout Title

Format
Updated
Comment
Course Information

09/16/2008
Lecture 1 Notes

09/23/2008
Lecture 2 Notes

09/25/2008
Lecture 3 Notes

09/30/2008
Lecture 4 Notes

10/04/2008 Some slides in the handout were skipped during the lecture. They will be discussed during section.
Slides used in section 10/03/08

10/03/2008
Lecture 5 Notes

10/07/2008

Homework Sets

Frequently Asked Questions
1. Can I e-mail my homework assignments?
Yes, if your homework is done in electronic format (PDF only) you can e-mail them to the TAs at cs161-aut0809-staff@lists.stanford.edu. Please subject your email HOMEWORK <#> SUBMISSION.

2. I have a tight work schedule, can I have some extension on homework due date?
Lateness of homeworks will be measured in terms of class periods. You have two grace periods which you can use at any time during the term without penalty. For a particular homework, you can use only one late period, i.e., submit late homework the following lecture. Once you run out your two late periods, homework will NOT be accepted, unless prior arrangements have been made with the instructor.
Late periods are not accepted on exams.
 
General Information
Lecture:
3-4 units, TuTh 11:00-12:15, Gates B01
Section:
F 3:15-4:05, Gates B03
Midterm:
In class, Date TBD
Final:
Thursday, December 11, 3:30-6:30
Note that the Final exam schedules are decided by office of the university registrar. You can find the complete schedule here .
Instructor:
Serge Plotkin
Location: Gates 472
E-mail: plotkin@cs.stanford.edu
Office phone: (650)723-0540
Office hours: Tu 2-4pm
Teaching Assistants:
Craig Gentry
Location: Gates 492
E-mail: cgentry@stanford.edu
Office hours: Th 1-3pm
Shipra Agrawal
Location: Terman 329
E-mail: shipra@stanford.edu
Office hours: Wed 4-6pm
Suchi Saria
Location: Gates 126
E-mail: ssaria@cs.stanford.edu
Office hours: TBA
Chen Gu
Location: Gates B24B
E-mail: guc@stanford.edu
Office hours: M 5-6pm
E-mail address for questions related to the class. Rather than using the above e-mail addresses, you should use the following e-mail address, which goes to the instructor and the TAs: cs161-aut0809-staff@lists.stanford.edu.

Prerequisites:
The official prerequisites for this course are CS 103 and Stat 116. If you have not taken Stat 116 or its equivalent, you should expect to do some independent reading during the course on topics including probability, random variables, expectation, and basic combinatorics.

Grading
The requirements for the course will be approximately six weekly written assignments, an in-class midterm exam, and a final exam. Grading will be based primarily on the written assignments (30%), midterm (30%) and the final (40%), with class participation being factored in for borderline cases. There also may be a programming project, to be decided upon at a later date.

Each homework will be due at the end of lecture one week after it is distributed. Assignments can be submitted in class or slipped under Professor Plotkin's door (Gates 472). Lateness of assignments will be measured in terms of class periods. You will have two grace periods which you can use at any time during the term without penalty; you may only use one late period on any given assignment. Once these are exhausted, homework will not be accepted, unless prior arrangements have been made with the instructor. In no cases will homework be accepted after solution sets have been distributed. We will aslo disregard the score for the worst homework.

Graded homeworks will be distributed in class. Whatever is not picked up will be placed into a handout bin marked "cs161" in Gates 4B, near the elevators.

One of the aims of this class is to teach you to reason about algorithms, describe them, and formally prove claims about them. In writing up your assignments, be as clear, precise, and concise. Understandability will be an important factor in the grading of these assignments.

You are permitted and encouraged to work in groups of up to three students when discussing the homework assignments. If you do collaborate, however, you must still write up the solutions individually and clearly acknowledge anyone with whom you have discussed the problems. It will be considered an honor code violation to consult previous years' solutions in the event that homework problems have been previously assigned.

There is no differences of requirements to take this course for 3 or 4 units.

Required Textbooks:
Introduction to Algorithms, Second Edition by Thomas H. Cormen, Charles E. Leiserson, Ronald L. Rivest and Clifford Stein. McGraw-Hill.

Optional Readings:
Algorithm Design by Jon Kleinberg and Eva Tardos (highly recommended)
Data Structures and Algorithms by Alfred V. Aho, John E. Hopcroft, Jeffrey D. Ullman

Information for students with disabilities

CS161 Fall 2008
Comments and Suggestions: send to staff mailing list cs161-aut0809-staff@lists.stanford.edu.