NUIMCrest Information for Students
CS211 - Algorithms and Data Structures II
Department of Computer Science
National University of Ireland, Maynooth

For the attention of: 2nd yr BSc, HDipIT, 1st yr MCompSci

From: T. Naughton, CS211 Lecturer

Effective: Semester II, 2000

 

CS211 is a course that supplies you with concepts and techniques, allowing you to construct sophisticated and useful computer programs. In order to get the most from lectures it is important to try these out. The laboratory sessions for CS211 provide you with an opportunity to do just that. If you want to understand what it means to swim you must get in the water --- if you want to be able to understand computer programs you must practise writing them.

 

  1. Attendance at scheduled labs is compulsory.
  2. You must stay for the full duration of the lab.
  3. Demonstrators are doing you a service. Respect them and you will get the most out of them.
  4. Bring your lecture notes.
  5. Copying programs or portions of a program is frowned upon. It is rare that you will learn from the experience, and even rarer that you will pick up marks. Commonly, both supplier and copier(s) receive a mark of zero.
  6. Demonstrators will help you understand concepts from the lecture material, explain compiler errors, explain logical or design flaws in your program, ask you leading questions so that you may discover the answers yourself, draw pictures, frown, scratch their heads, and wave their arms about but I am specifically instructing them not to do the programming for you. In short, they will tell you where you are going wrong and how to remedy the situation but will not give you the exact code.
  7. During lab hours, demonstrators are working directly for the Department of Computer Science. Co-operate with their requests as you would those of the Head of Department (such as to turn off mobile phones, refrain from eating, shut down WWW browsers, etc.).

 

If you are dissatisfied with any aspects of your laboratory session, or have a problem with your demonstrator(s), please come and see me after a lecture or at my office (Callan Building, adjoining Research Lab 1, Room 1.42A.4) at one of the scheduled consultation periods.