Other relevant classes

Algorithm Software Libraries (Spring 2002) that I taught last year has all the stuff you want to look at.
Algorithm Library Design taught by Lutz Kettner at UNC (Spring 2000) has great lecture notes which can help you with C++ and other issues discussed in class.
Algorithms in the Real World explains how algorithms are used in real-world applications. A great source of inspiration for your projects. I keep a local copy of the class notes (3.8Mb!) for easier dowloading.
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C++

Textbooks

I have a copy of all these books. You are welcome to borrow it or make short photocopies. If you are considering reading it or studying it, think of the LIBRARY, then perhaps you might want to buy it. Here is what customers at Amazon.com have to say about it:

C++ Primer by Stanley B. Lippman, Josee Lajoie, Jose Lajoie is a good tutorial for first-timers or if you're a bit rusty on C++.
The C++ Programming Language by Bjarne Stroustrup is not quite the ISO Standard, but the second best authority on C++.
Effective C++ Cd : 85 Specific Ways to Improve Your Programs and Designs by Scott Meyers is almost a must, at that price. It contains two books, and the soruce code, all on a browsable CD.
Exceptional C++: 47 Engineering Puzzles, Programming Problems, and Solutions by Herb Sutter will help to sharpen you C++ skills.
Multi-Paradigm Design for C++ by James O. Coplien organizes your projects, and gives you some infrastructure and methodology. Excellent text.
Large-Scale C++ Software Design by John Lakos
Algorithm and Data Structures in Java for a view on a different programming language
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Web resources

C++ FAQ and C++ FAQ LITE is a MUST READ!
C++ Resources Plenty of nice pointers on various topics all related to C++ or STL.
The C++ Guru of the Week has a lot of challenging questions, some of which you will find in the book Exceptional C++, mentioned above.
Patterns home page
The C++ Virtual Library, including software, documentation, and lectures.
SGI STL homepage and documentation and a local copy of the documentation
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Generic programming, Libraries, Components

STL: Standard Template Library
C++ Toolkits a great source of inspiration for CS903 projects! Check out the www<Toolkit>
Blitz++ home page
MTL: Matrix Template Library
GGCL: Generic Graph Component Library
LEDA: Library of Efficient Data types and Algorithms
JDSL: the Java Standard Data structures Library
CGAL home page
Coordinate free geometry home page
BOOST is a collection of C++ small libraries, exactly the kind that we would like to explore in this class. The libraries are very small (like a random generator library, or a wrapper on arrays) or can be larger (GGCL is now the Boost Graph Library).

Mini projects:

These are links that will help you on the assignments. But never forget to check ALTAVISTA or GOOGLE or your favorite search engine (e.g. "Huffman encoding", "generic programming", "text compression" or "Burrows-Wheeler").

Compression, encoding and Bzip2

Practical Huffman encoding offers a good insight on how to implement Huffman codes efficiently.
The Burrows-Wheeler algorithm from the C++ journal (Dr Dobbs).
Universal Coding and the Burrows-Wheeler Block-sorting Algorithm

Geometric algorithms

LEDA: Library of Efficient Data types and Algorithms
JDSL: the Java Standard Data structures Library
CGAL home page
Coordinate free geometry home page
Jeff Erickson's page is a treasure trove of software libraries, along with Nina Amenta's Directory of Comp Geom Software.

General purpose libraries

Freashmeat has a nice collection of development tools and libraries.
LinuxApps also holds a collection of pointers to development tools andi libraries.

Final projects:

If you are already thinking of final projects, here are a few suggestions from the class COMP 290 taught at UNC.