Prerequisites. The following, with a grade of at least C- in each course: CS 313K or 313H, 314 or 314H, 429 or 429H: M408C or 408N: SSC 321 or M 362K: and a pre-req or co-req of M 340L or SSC 329C; and consent of the honors director.

Professor. Vijaya Ramachandran (vlr"at"cs, GDC 4.422, 471-9554)
Office Hours. Mondays 5-6 pm and Wednesdays 11-noon.

Teaching Assistant. Jeevitha Kirubanandam.
TA Office Hours. Mondays 11:30 am - 12:30 pm and Tuesdays 2-3 pm in GDC 1.302.

Textbook. T.H. Cormen, C.E. Leiserson, R.L. Rivest, C. Stein, Introduction to Algorithms, Third Edition, MIT Press, 2009.

COURSE OUTLINE. This course will cover the basic aspects of the theory of algorithms, including divide-and-conquer, dynamic programming and greedy, several graph algorithms, randomized algorithms, and approximation algorithms, together with an introduction to undecidability, and to NP-completeness. Here is a high-level course schedule.

COURSE SCHEDULE.

Grading. The course grade will be based on the following course-work.

• Problem sets (3 points each).
• Closed-book mini-tests (3 points each). Each mini-test will test your understanding of the material covered in class over the previous few weeks.
• Two in-class tests and a final exam (26 points each). The tests and final exam are open notes and they will test your understanding of the class material more deeply than the mini-tests. At least half of the material in the tests and final exam will build directly on material seen in class and in the problem sets.
• In-class participation (3 points). Attendance and class participation will account for 3 points.

Course Grade. The course grade will be computed by the following method:

• The lowest scoring problem set will be dropped, and the remaining problem sets will account for 3 points each, for a total of 27 points.
• The lowest scoring mini-test will be dropped, and the remaining three mini-tests will contribute 3 points each, for a total of 9 points.
• The two tests and the final exam will all be treated equally.
  The lowest score among the three will contribute 9 points, and the top two scores among the three will each contribute 26 points, for a total of 61 points.
• Together with the 3 points for class attendance and participation, this adds up to 100 points.

Key Dates. (Note the extended time for the two tests.)

• First Test: Monday, March 4, 3:30-5:30 (TWO HOURS)
• Second Test: Monday, April 15, 3:30-5:30 (TWO HOURS)
• Final Exam: Friday, May 10, 7-10 p.m. (THREE HOURS)
  • ** FINAL EXAM IS IN GDC 1.304 **
• Mini-tests : January 30, February 20, April 3, April 29 (DURING CLASS).

Collaboration on Problem Sets. Students may discuss the problem sets with one another, but solutions must be written up separately. Please include a statement at the start of your solution to each problem that lists the individuals with whom the problem was discussed. If a key idea was obtained from another book or paper (other than the course textbook), then the source of that idea should be cited, and then should be written in your own words. If no outside source was consulted, then a statement to this effect should be made.
Note that there is no penalty for discussing with others; you are, in fact, encouraged to do so. But be sure to acknowledge these discussions in your write-up, and also do not copy solutions from others.

Blackboard. Course grades will be posted on Blackboard, which is accessible through UTDirect. Any important messages for the the class will be sent through Blackboard, so please monitor messages sent to your UT email address.

Piazza. All class-related course material and discussion will be on Piazza (https://piazza.com/utexas/spring2013/cs378hvr), and students are encouraged to post comments and queries about class material there.

Please reserve your email messages to the instructor and TA for matters that concern only you. For queries relating to class material, please post to the discussion board so that everyone can benefit from the query and the responses.

Grading Queries. Any questions on grading should be brought to the attention of the TA or the instructor no later than a week after the graded material is handed out in class.

Students with Disabilities. Students with disabilities may request appropriate academic accommodations from the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement, Services for Students with Disabilities, 471-6259, http://www.utexas.edu/diversity/ddce/ssd
If you intend to notify me of such accommodations, please let me know by January 30.

Accommodations for Religious Holidays. If you must miss a class or an examination in order to observe a religious holy day, you will be given an opportunity to complete the missed work within a reasonable time before or after the absence.
If you intend to make use of such accommodations, please let me know by January 30.

Statement on Scholastic Dishonesty. Anyone who violates the rules for the problem sets or who cheats in the in-class tests or final exam is in danger of receiving an F for the course. Additional penalties may be levied by the Computer Sciences department and the University.
The departmental code of conduct posted at http://www.cs.utexas.edu/undergraduate-program/code-conduct/ will apply unless superseded by the rules stated for this course in this course description.

Daily Course Schedule. A daily course schedule can be found at http://www.cs.utexas.edu/~vlr/courses/s13.378h/sched.html