Module Identifier CH21120  
Module Title DATA STRUCTURES, ALGORITHMS AND SOFTWARE DESIGN  
Academic Year 2004/2005  
Co-ordinator Dr Lynda A Thomas  
Semester Semester 1  
Other staff Dr Lynda A Thomas, Mr Richard C Shipman  
Pre-Requisite CH21120 , Available only to students taking the Diploma/MSc in Computer Science scheme in Aberystwyth.  
Course delivery Lecture   55 lectures  
  Practical   Up to 12 x 2hr sessions  
Assessment
Assessment TypeAssessment Length/DetailsProportion
Semester Exam2 Hours (A1)  50%
Semester Assessment (A2) Assignment:  25%
Semester Assessment (A3) Assignment:  25%
Supplementary Exam Will take the same form, under the terms of the Department's policy.   
Further details http://www.aber.ac.uk/compsci/ModuleInfo/CH21120  

Learning outcomes

On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
demonstrate their understanding of the principles of abstraction and encapsulation as they apply to the design of abstract data types and programs (A1, A2, A3).



analyse and evaluate the time and space behaviour of algorithms and understand how this is expressed and determined (A1, A2,A3).

recognise the importance of this analysis in the design of software (A1, A2, A3).

recognise the importance of the classes P and NP in the analysis of algorithms (A1).

describe some of the main approaches to algorithm design such as greedy algorithms, divide and conquer and dynamic programming (A1).

demonstrate judgement in evaluating and choosing appropriate data structures and algorithms for a range of programming problems (A1, A2, A3).

design and implement significant programs in Java (A2, A3).

Brief description

In the 40 or so years that people have been developing software, a range of common tasks, such as sorting and searching, have been identified and a body of knowledge has been accumulated about how these tasks are best carried out. This knowledge usually consists of various ways of structuring the data, a range of different algorithms, and performance analysis that enables a designer to chose the algorithm and data structure most appropriate to the circumstances of the system, and to predict how the system will perform.

This module introduces students to this body of knowledge and sets it into the context of modern software design and structuring techniques.

Aims

The aims of this module are to:

Content

1. Introduction - 10 Lectures
Course Overview. An introduction into time/space complexity. Mathematical underpinnings. Issues of correctness as they relate to the definition of ADTs. The key ideas of abstraction and encapsulation. Notations for describing ADTs. Java support for their implementation: packages, exceptions and interfaces.

2. Introduction to Complexity - 3 Lectures
O() notation, growth rates. Measurement of execution time of some real programs and estimation of their time complexity. Some examples of time/space trade-offs.

3. Classes of Algorithm - 4 Lectures
An overview will be given on the different classes of algorithm; for example, divide and conquer and greedy algorithms. Genetic algorithms will also be discussed. P and NP.

4. Recursion - 3 Lectures
An introduction to recursive thinking. Examples of recursion.

5. Storing and Retrieving Data by Key (1) - 17 Lectures
This problem will be used to motivate the discussion of a wide variety of different implementation techniques. The features of some typical solutions will be related to the dimensions of the problem such as the volume of data to be handled, volatility and the operations required. Internal Storage: linear and binary searching. Linked representations; an introduction to hashing, binary search trees, AVL trees and heaps.

6. Storing and Retrieving Data by Key (2): External storage - 4 Lectures
Performance issues. Hashing and B-tree organisations. The Hashable class in Java.

7. Representing Text - 4 Lectures
String matching algorithms and their performance. Search engines case study.

8. Sorting - 4 Lectures
A comparison of divide and conquer, priority queue and address calculation based sorting algorithms. Performance characteristics of these algorithms will be discussed.

9. Representing Complex Relationships: Graphs - 6 Lectures
Some examples of greedy algorithms. Terminology and implementation considerations. A look at some graph-related problems such as: finding a route (shortest paths); planning a communications network (minimum spanning trees); network routing management (flow graphs); compiling a program or planning a project (topological sorting).

Reading Lists

Books
** Reference Text
Nell Dale, Chip Weems, Mark Headington (2003) Programming and Problem Solving with Java Jones and Bartlett, Computer Science 0763704903
** Consult For Futher Information
Weiss, Mark Allen (2002) Data Structures and Problem Solving in Java Addison-Wesley
Collins, William Data Structures and the Java Collections Framework McGraw Hill
T. Budd (2001) Classic Data Structures in Java Addison-Wesley Pub Co ISBN: 0201700026
T.A. Standish (1998) Data Structures in Java Addison Wesley ISBN: 020130564X
Michael Main (Oct 1998) Data Structures and Other Objects Using Java Addison-Wesley ISBN 0201357445
David Flanagan (March 2002) Java in a Nutshell 4. O'Reilly 0-596-00283-1
Dale, Nell B. (2002.) Object-oriented data structures using Java Jones and Bartlett 0763710792

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 5