Welcome to data structures and algorithms in LP4

…in the name of the whole teaching team!

The modules contain all the information for this course, organized by category.

Here are the most important details and rules. Read them well before the course starts!

Schedule

See TimeEdit. The lectures and exam preparation sessions are offered in-person only. For the lab supervision sessions, we also provide some remote supervision via Discord and Zoom.

Join our Discord server!

We use Discord for discussion and supervision. Take some time to acquaint yourself with the channels:

#general for announcements and information,
#questions for questions and discussions about the course material (start one!),
#lab-partner-wanted to find lab partners,
#lab-questions to get help with the labs; don't expect quick answers outside supervision hours,
#lab-supervision to queue up for help during a lab supervision session.
#lab-supervision-online to queue up for online help via during a lab supervision session, depending on TA availability.
#exercise-questions for discussions about exercises and questions/requests for the exercise & exam preparation sessions.

Note: If for some reason you cannot use Discord, please contact the course-responsible teacher.

Laborations

There are four compulsory labs (we offer Java and Python versions):

The first lab is a short individual coding exercise for the first week. It also introduces you to the lab system.
Labs 2–4 are longer projects done in groups of three. For these, you must pass a live supervision checkpoint.
We offer multiple lab supervision sessions every week where you can get help.

Start forming a group now!

Reading material

Familiarize yourself with the reading material.

Make sure you are familiar with the programming and maths background required by the course. We highly recommend doing the recursion practice (with interactive exercises) as preparation for the course!

Lectures

In the lectures, we review the main points of the course material and conduct discussions and quizzes to consolidate your understanding. The lectures are designed to make you think about the material you looked at before each lecture.

The course material is divided into seven themes. Each theme is a module containing a page for each lecture and other material such as Canvas quizzes and optional exercises.
Each lecture page lists the coursebook sections covered (generally a week in advance). Take a look at the material before each lecture. You don't have to read everything, but enough to know what is coming up. If you ask #questions, we can discuss them in the lectures!
We use Mentimeter for live quizzes. You can install the app on your phone.
At the end of the course, we will review the course content and go through some practice exams.
The lectures are not recorded, but there are videos and slides from the Corona period and the previous instance. You can also use these as preparation for the lectures.

Quizzes and exercises

Every week, we publish optional quizzes and exercises to help you in your learning.

The exercises are not graded, but you should attempt at least the core exercises (on your own or with other students).
Questions about the exercises can be asked on #exercise-questions. You can also share solutions and ask for feedback, but please hide your solutions by creating a thread (don't write them in a top-level message).
Solution guides will be posted the following week.

If you find the regular content of the course too easy, try the extreme exercises (more available on request). If you solve one of these (and convince a teaching assistant of your solution), you get a cookie.

Exam preparation sessions

There is a weekly exercise & exam preparation session.

Here, you will do selected exercises and practice exam questions (alone or in groups), supervised by the teaching assistants, and then have discussions about them. We will use real questions from past exams, so this is a good way to prepare for the actual exam! You can also talk to teaching assistants about exercises and get additional explanations and examples about the course material.

You can influence the format of the session by writing in #exercise-questions.

Note: This session is not for lab-related questions. Ask those in a lab supervision session.

Exam

The exam is scheduled for Thursday, June 5, 14–18. Don't forget to sign up!

The exam problems will be similar to the practice questions of the exam preparation sessions. So be sure to go there if you feel uncertain.

Drop-in times

Christian: after lectures or usually Thursdays, 14–15, EDIT 6467 (Johanneberg),
Linda: TODO.

You can always hit Christian, Linda, or the teaching assistants up on Discord.

Extra support

Chalmers offers maths tutoring/support for all students in this course.
There is study support for students with special needs (Chalmers, GU). Send Christian your NAIS certificate or drop-in to discuss accomodations.