Introduction to Algorithms 6 006 Massachusetts Institute of Technology Professors Sivan Toledo and Alan Edelman February 3 2009 Handout 1 Course Information This handout describes basic course information and policies Most of the sections will be useful throughout the course The main items to pay attention to NOW are 1 Be sure to create an account on the 6 006 website and fill out the student information sheet You MUST do this by midnight tonight in order to receive a recitation assignment 2 Please note the dates of the quizzes on the attached calendar and plan trips accordingly Notify the staff if you have an unavoidable conflict e g an exam in another class 3 Please note the collaboration policy for homeworks 4 Please note the grading policy 1 Staff Lecturers Teaching Assistants Sivan Toledo stoledo mit edu 32 G918 617 253 7328 Alan Edelman edelman math mit edu 2 343 617 253 7770 Jason Juang juang mit edu Matthew Ng mng 520 mit edu Chieu Nguyen cvnguyen mit edu Rishabh Singh rishabhs mit edu 32 G707 Rob Speer rspeer mit edu E15 385 World Wide Web http courses csail mit edu 6 006 Email 6 006 staff mit edu 2 2 Handout 1 Course Information Prerequisites A strong understanding of programming in Python and a solid background in discrete mathematics are necessary prerequisites to this course You are expected to have taken 6 01 Introduction to EECS I and 6 042J 18 062J Mathematics for Computer Science and received a grade of C or higher in both classes If you do not meet these requirements please talk to a TA before taking the course 3 Course 6 requirements Under the new curriculum 6 006 serves as a Foundational Computer Science course It is a prerequisite for 6 046 which serves as a Computer Science theory header 4 Lectures Lectures will be held in Room 32 141 from 11 00 A M to 12 00 P M on Tuesdays and Thursdays You are responsible for material presented in lectures including oral comments made by the lecturer 5 Recitations One hour recitations will be held on Wednesdays and Fridays Students must attend recitations You are responsible for material presented in recitation Attendance in recitation has been well correlated in the past with exam performance Recitations also give you a more intimate opportunity to ask questions and interact with the course staff Your participation in recitation counts for a part of your grade and your final grade will be assigned by your recitation instructor We do not use the recitation assignments made by the scheduling office The course staff will assign recitations based on the information you provide on the course website Please complete the online form by midnight on Tuesday night Recitation assignments will be posted shortly thereafter to the course website If you cannot make any recitation time you cannot take the class The following recitation times are available Time 11 12 12 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 Room 36 112 36 156 36 156 36 144 36 144 Instructor Rishabh Singh Rob Speer Chieu Nguyen Jason Juang Matthew Ng Handout 1 Course Information 6 3 Problem sets Six problem sets will be assigned during the semester The course calendar available from the course webpage shows the tentative schedule of assignments and due dates The actual due date will always be on the problem set itself A large portion of each problem set will be a coding assignment to be done in Python Any code for submission must uploaded to the class website and the final submission will be graded Late homework will generally not be accepted If there are extenuating circumstances you should make prior arrangements with your recitation instructor An excuse from the Dean s Office will be required if prior arrangements have not been made We strongly encourage that problem set solutions other than code be written in LaTeX using the template provided on the website They should be uploaded to the class website in PDF form by 11 59PM of the due date If hand drawn diagrams are useful for explaining solutions please refer to the diagrams in your LaTeX submission scan them and include them in your submission If you are unable or unwilling to use LaTeX you may scan and submit your handwritten problem set solutions CSAIL has large Xerox machines around the Stata Center that will scan documents and e mail them to you you may find these useful Be sure to fill in the Collaborators section of each problem If you solved the problem alone write none The problem sets include exercises that should be solved but not handed in These questions are intended to help you master the course material and will be useful in solving the assigned problems Material covered in exercises will be tested on exams 7 Exams There will be two evening quizzes on Wednesday March 11 and Wednesday April 15 The quizzes will be two hours long starting at 7 30PM The location will be announced on the course website closer to the test dates Recitations those days will be optional review sessions There will also be a final exam during finals week 8 Grading policy The final grade will be primarily based on 6 problem sets two quizzes and a final The problem sets will together be worth 40 points each quiz will be 15 points and the final exam 25 points Recitation participation will be worth 5 points The specifics of this grading policy are subject to change at the discretion of the course staff 4 Handout 1 Course Information Grading of Code Code will be graded for correctness and for the algorithm used Correctness You will be given a public set of unit tests to test your code For grading purposes we may run your code against a more thorough private set of unit tests Your code must run within the time allotted which will vary by assignment Algorithm Your code must come well commented describing the algorithm used Your code must be readable so the TAs will believe that your code does what it claims to do Your algorithm should be efficient 9 Collaboration policy The goal of homework is to give you practice in mastering the course material Consequently you are encouraged to collaborate on problem sets In fact students who form study groups generally do better on exams than do students who work alone If you do work in a study group however you owe it to yourself and your group to be prepared for your study group meeting Specifically you should spend at least 30 45 minutes trying to solve each problem beforehand If your group is unable to solve a problem talk to other groups or ask your recitation instructor You must write up each problem solution by
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