Syllabus

Description. This course surveys the most important algorithms and data structures in use on computers today. Particular emphasis is given to algorithms for sorting, searching, graphs, and strings. The course concentrates on developing implementations, understanding their performance characteristics, and estimating their potential effectiveness in applications.

Prerequisites. COS 126 or approval by the COS placement officer.

Lectures. Lectures meet at 11–12:20pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays in Friend 101. Attendance is required.

Precepts. Precepts meet once per week and cover details pertinent to programming assignments, quizzes, and exams. Come prepared to participate in the discussion, not just ask questions. This includes reading the assignment specification before the corresponding precept.

Course staff.

Kevin Wayne
Faculty
Instructor

Dan Leyzberg
Faculty
Instructor

Jérémie Lumbroso
Faculty
Instructor

Bob Tarjan
Faculty
Turing Preceptor

Chloe Qiu
Graduate Student
Preceptor

Laura Leal
Graduate Student
Preceptor

Max Tchouambe
Graduate Student
Preceptor

Morgan Nanez
Graduate Student
Preceptor

Yingxi Lin
Graduate Student
Preceptor

The staff is complemented by a team of Undergraduate Course Assistants who assist in precepts and office hours (Alex Zhang, Alison Lee, Andrew Tao, Bryan Wang, Dwaipayan Saha, Harvey Wang, Kartik Shah, Liam Johansson, Niva Sivakumar, and Saumya Malik) and grading (First Last).

Office hours. You are welcome to attend the office hours of any staff member. Office hours are listed on the Help page.

Schedule. Here is the schedule for lectures and precepts.
TIME LOCATION PERSON FACILITATORS
L01 T Th
11–12:20pm
Friend 101 Kevin
Wayne
P01 Th
3–4:20pm
Friend 109 Dan
Leyzberg
Morgan,
Laura
P02 Th
4:30–5:50pm
Friend 109 Dan
Leyzberg
Max,
Yingxi
P03 Th
7:30–8:50pm
Friend 109 Morgan
Nanez
Andrew,
Dwaipayan
P04 F
11–12:20pm
Friend 109 Yingxi
Lin
Saumya,
Kartik
P05 F
11–12:20pm
Friend 108 Max
Tchouambe
Bryan,
Alison
P06 F
11–12:20pm
Friend 009 Bob
Tarjan
P07 F
1:30–2:50pm
Friend 109 Laura
Leal
Liam,
Harvey
P08 F
1:30–2:50pm
Friend 108 Chloe
Qiu
Niva
P10 F
3–4:20pm
Friend 108 Chloe
Qiu
Alex

ASSESSMENTS

Course grades. Your grade for the course will be based on the following components: programming assignments (45%), quizzes (10%), midterm exam (15%), final exam (25%), and participation (5%).

Programming assignments. The programming assignments involve applying the material from lecture to solve problems in science, engineering, and commerce.

Quizzes. The quizzes consist of two or three short questions per lecture, to ensure that you are keeping up with the material.

Exams. The midterm exam is Monday, October 25. The final exam is Monday, December 20 at 9am ET.

Participation. Participation in this course is fundamental to engaged learning, including using iClickers in lecture and making positive contributions in precept. You are expected to attend each scheduled class on time and ready to participate fully.

Regrades. If you believe that your work was misgraded, write a short note describing the potential mistake; attach it to the graded work; and email it to your preceptor within one week of when the work was returned.

RESOURCES

Course website. This course website includes links to course content, including lecture slides, precept lessons, programming assignments, quizzes, and old exams.

Algorithms, 4th edition

Canvas. We will post grades in Canvas.

Textbook. Algorithms, 4th edition by Robert Sedgewick and Kevin Wayne. Addison-Wesley Professional, 2011, ISBN 0-321-57351-X. The assigned readings are required.

Booksite. The booksite contains many useful resources while programming.

Studio-produced lecture videos. You can access studio-produced lecture videos via CUbits.

Discussion forum. The best way to ask a short question about the course materials is via Ed Discussion, an online discussion forum where you can ask (and answer) questions.

Programming environment. We recommend developing Java programs for this course on your personal laptop or desktop. Here are instructions for setting up a custom IntelliJ-based programming environment under Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux.

Lab TAs. Undergraduate lab TAs are available to answer general computing questions in Room TBD. They can assist you in debugging, provided you have first made a reasonable effort to identify the bug and isolate the problem. For non-debugging questions, use Ed Discussion or office hours.