Getting Help

Your work on the homeworks and the labs for this course should be completed on your own, following the Collaboration Policy. However, you are encouraged to ask lots of questions about the material when you get stuck. Please ask your instructor, graduate TAs, undergraduate lab programming mentors, and fellow classmates for help.

Don't be shy or worried if you can't always figure things out all on your own. Please ask for help. We're happy to give you hints, programming tips, and guide you through debugging.

RPI LMS Discussion

Post your questions about homework and general questions on the course discussions page. The TAs, instructor, and other students will help answer your questions. Be sure not to post partial or full solutions to the lab or homework problems when asking your questions. A line or two of code that is causing a compiler syntax error is ok.

If you registered at least a week before the first day of classes, you should be automatically added to the course LMS database. You will use your RPI RCS username & password to log in to LMS. Contact the instructor if you cannot access the Data Structures LMS website. Include your RCS username with the request so you can be added.

Instructor & TA Office Hours

A very important resource for help outside of class are the instructor and TA office hours. You may attend the office hours of any other TA (not just your lab TA) for questions about the course material or the homework. If you have questions about the grading of your homework, please see the TA who graded your assignment during their regular office hours or make an appointment.

Weekly Office Hours Schedule
Office hours get very busy as the deadline approaches. Start the homework early and take advantage of the less crowded office hours early in the week.
Instructor & TA Contact Information
Short questions over email are ok. But please come see us in person for more involved questions.
Programming Advice from the TAs
Helpful hints about problem solving, debugging, compiling, C++, and good programming & commenting style.
Advice from the Fall 2011 Data Structures students
From the end-of-semester course evaluations.

Additional Tutoring

In addition to the Instructor and TA Office Hours for the course, you may also want to check out:

Advising & Learning Assistance Center (ALAC) Drop in Tutoring
Drop in Tutoring is staffed by upperclass Computer Science majors. Note that Drop in Tutoring tends to get busy and crowded on Wednesday and Thursday nights before a homework deadline.
RPI's chapter of Upsilon Pi Epsilon (UPE) offers CS tutoring to undergraduates in small groups. Interested students should send an email to with the course name and the times available for tutoring.