Course Description for CSC 162: The Art of Data Structures

Spring 2010

Modern programming revolves around the creation of abstractions or, more specifically abstract data types (ADTs).  An ADT describes a collection of information in terms of the operations that one can perform upon it, and how those operations behave.  A data structure is a concrete way of organizing the information inside a computer.  An algorithm is a series of steps that the computer performs on the data structure (or set of data structures) to accomplish a desired operation.

In a nutshell, that’s what CSC 162 is about:  abstract data types, data structures, and algorithms.

Abstractions we’ll consider include

Data structures will include Algorithms will include To illustrate all of these, we’ll draw inspiration from such varied application domains as graphics and games, biology, web design, and social networking.
Last Change:  21 January 2010 / Michael Scott's email address