====== Ground Rules ======

  - Generic course policies are given at Prof. Spafford's [[http://spaf.cerias.purdue.edu/cpolicy.html|Course Polices]] page.
  - Weekly attendance is required.
  - No specific outside homework is planned, but 
    * you are encouraged to read through the weekly chapter before each class;
    * we may hold one or two separate "practice contests" toward the end of the semester; and
    * plan on attending the ACM 2010 International Collegiate Programming Contest this fall (site and date are not decided yet: either October 23rd or November 6th).
  - When solving problems...
    * Course requirement: Discussions are fine, but write your own (team) code.
    * Contest requirement: Using books (especially the text) is OK, but no web searching (for class use, it is OK to search language reference materials).

====== One-Time Setup ======

  - Buy the book: Skiena & Revilla, [[http://www.amazon.com/Programming-Challenges-Steven-S-Skiena/dp/0387001638|Programming Challenges]].
  - Join Facebook group: [[http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=125232120895|Competitive Programming]].
  - Join both robot judging websites:
    * [[http://www.programming-challenges.com|Programming Challenges]].
    * [[http://uva.onlinejudge.org|UVA Online Judge]].
  - Set up directory structure and programming environment:
    * Use one directory for each problem (named, e.g., by the problem number).
    * Choose C, C++, or Java.
    * Programs read from stdin and write to stdout.  For Java, use the Scanner class for input (arcane setup at Programming Challenges site is not needed).

====== Weekly Schedule ======

  - Skim current chapter.
  - Discuss chapter-of-the-week concepts.
  - Join teams and participate in weekly competition (details coming).
  - Discuss solutions.