Textbook: Mark Allen Weiss. Data Structures and Problem Solving Using Java. Addison-Wesley, 3rd edition, 2006. The university bookstore carries this book, which is a “required textbook” for this course. The edition is important. The core topics for this course are found mainly in Chapters 18 and beyond; a few earlier chapters, such as 5, 8, and 14 are also relevant. Detailed coverage information will be announced as we progress in the semester. Most chapters in roughly the first third of the textbook, as well as some later chapters, discuss topics that are covered in the prerequisite course, COS 225. We will not be covering these topics in this course.
Other Readings: All the following are recommended, but not all are required. Further details and additional readings will appear here.
This tutorial is optional reading but I strongly suggest that everyone read it. The concepts explained here are essential for making good use of generics in Java and it is very painful to learn them the hard way (e.g., while debugging your code).
The main purpose of this paper, for this course, is providing a concrete example how data structures and related concepts find use in current research and applications. Sections I, II, and III are required reading. The rest of the paper is optional reading.
This paper provides a succinct and readable description of polyphase merging. It is a very useful supplement to the description in the textbook, which is missing many important details.