CS 241: Data Organization using C

Instructor:

Dr. Marie Vasek
Contact: Private message me on the course Piazza page
Office Hours: Tuesday 2-4pm and Thursday 9:30-11am (and by appointment)
Office: Farris 2120

Lab Instructors/Graders:

Jannatul Ferdous
Contact: Private message me on the course Piazza page
Office Hours: Wednesday 3-5pm
Office Hours location: FEC 3105

Jacob McCullough
Contact: Private message me on the course Piazza page
Office Hours: Tuesday 2-3pm
Office Hours location: FEC 2360

Farhang Rouhi
Contact: Private message me on the course Piazza page
Office Hours: Fridays noon-1pm
Office Hours location: FEC 2000

Robert Woehrle
Contact: Private message me on the course Piazza page
Office Hours: Fridays 2-3pm
Office Hours location: FEC 2000

Lectures

12:30pm - 1:45pm TR Mechanical Engineering 218

Labs

Lab 001

Time: 9am - 9:50am Friday
Location: Centennial Engineering Center B146A
Lab Instructors: Jannatul, Jacob, Robert

Lab 002

Time: 2pm - 2:50pm Thursday
Location: Centennial Engineering Center B146A
Lab Instructors: Jannatul, Jacob, Farhang

Course Description

CS 241 is an introduction to the C Programming language, an introduction to using a command-line interface in the Linux operating system, and an introduction to machine level data organization and memory allocation. Students taking this course should already be familiar with basic concepts of computer programming such as variables, conditional control flow and loops. Developing mastery of these fundamental concepts is one of the goals of CS-241. Students in CS-241 author many C programs. Lab assignments will give students the opportunity to handle a small amount of material in a structured setting. Some homework ssignments will be short and relatively simple. Others will be more interesting and touch on a wide range of computer applications including encryption, numerical analysis, databases, artificial intelligence, genetic algorithms and games.

Many examples used in this course involve standard data structures such as linked lists and trees. However, mastery of such data structures is not within the course's domain. The primary goals of CS 241 are for the student to be able to:

  1. Read and apply the C syntax covered in the textbook (The C Programming Language by Kernighan and Ritchie).

  2. Without a computer, determine the output of C language source code involving triply nested loops, conditional control flow, function calls, pointers, arrays, arithmetic, logical and bit operators, structures and memory allocation.

  3. Use a Linux command-line environment to manipulate files, and directories, and to edit, compile, run and debug C programs. This includes the use of simple makefiles and a low level debugger such as valgrind.

  4. Implement, in C, any given algorithm with a complexity level equivalent to that of quicksort or a doubly linked list with accuracy, efficiently and clarity.

Syllabus

Schedule

Labs

Quiz Review

References