Data Structures and Algorithms Lab Assignment no. 2

CS 211 Data Structures and Algorithms Lab

Assignment no. 2
Objective To implement Merge sort
Total marks 10

Penalty for violating
naming convention(s)
5%
Command-line argument:
Your program should receive a file (input file) as a command line argument.
Input file
The input file will be a text file where each line contains a non-negative integer.
Task
Implement Merge sort to sort the integers in the input file in ascending order. The output must
be a file named ‘mergesort.txt’. Every line should contain exactly one integer (the first line
contains a smallest integer, and so on).
Submission
● The program you submit should output mergesort.txt when run.
● The main file of your program should be named as <roll no>.<extension>, where roll no.
specifies your roll no. and the extension depends on the language you choose (Usage of
C is mandatory for this assignment). Ex: 200010001.c.
● Test well before submission. You may use the attached sample input file for testing. The
corresponding output file is also attached. We have some hidden inputs with us to test
your program. The mark you obtain is purely based on whether your program correctly
gives outputs for the hidden inputs.
● If your program has only a single source file, please submit the file as it is. If your
program has multiple source files, please submit your code as a zip file where the name
of the zip file should be your roll number. It is important that you follow the input/output
conventions exactly (including the naming scheme) as we may be doing an automated
evaluation. There will be a penalty of 5% (on the mark you deserve otherwise) if
you do not follow the naming conventions exactly.
● Follow some coding style uniformly. Provide proper comments in your code.
● Submit only through moodle. Submit well in advance. Any hiccups in the moodle/internet
at the last minute is never acceptable as an excuse for late submission. Submissions
through email or any other means will be ignored.
● Acknowledge the people (other than the instructor and TA) who helped you to solve this
assignment. The details of the help you received and the names of the people who
helped you (including internet sources, if applicable) should come in the beginning of the
main file as a comment. Copying others’ programs is a serious offence and a deserving
penalty will be imposed if found.
Evaluation
● To consider for the first evaluation without penalty, you have to submit your program by
the due date. If you submit after the due date but on or before the cut-off date, there
will be a penalty of 5% on the marks you deserve otherwise.
● If you do not submit by the cut-off date, your program will not be considered for the first
evaluation.
● We will do the first evaluation after the cut-off date. The marks you obtain will be
proportional to the number of correct lines in the output files. We will use the ‘diff’
program to check the differences between the correct output file and the output file
generated by your program. So, you may verify the correctness of the output file by
using the diff program with a sample output file before submission. (See the man page of
diff for more info).
● We will do the second evaluation later. This is for those who want to improve their marks
obtained in the first evaluation or who do not submit for the first evaluation. There will be
a penalty of 20% for those who are submitting for the second evaluation. The details of
the second evaluation will be shared later.