Home Page for CMSC451 Design and Analysis of Computer Algorithms (Section 0201), Fall 2017

CMSC451 Design and Analysis of Computer Algorithms (Section 0201), Fall 2017

Instructor: Aravind Srinivasan
Class Venue and Time: CSIC 1122, TuTh 12:30-1:45PM

tl;dr -- Students: please add yourselves to the Piazza page for the class! We will use Piazza extensively.

Administrative Details

Instructor: Aravind Srinivasan
Office: AVW 3263, Phone: 301-405-2695
Instructor's Office Hours: Tue, Thu 10-11 in AVW 3263, or by appointment (please email Aravind)
TAs: Karthik A. Sankararaman (kabinav AT cs), and Pan Xu (panxu AT cs)
TA Office Hours: Fridays 3-4PM at AVW 4185
Course Time and Location: Tue, Thu 12:30-1:45, CSIC 1122
Course Webpage: http://www.cs.umd.edu/class/fall2017/cmsc451-0201/index.html

Lecture Notes and Related Resources

There is no required textbook. Instead, we will use, among others, the following excellent publicly-available resources: We thank the authors for these very-helpful resources.

Aravind's Pledge to the Students

Your education is very important to me, and I respect each of you regardless of how you do in the class. My expectations of you are that you attend class and pay full attention, and give enough time to the course. I strongly encourage you to ask questions in class, and to come to the office hours (mine or the TAs') with any further questions. We can have a very enjoyable educational experience if you pay attention in class, give sufficient time to our course, and bring any difficulties you have promptly to our attention. I look forward to our interaction both inside and outside the classroom.

Course Overview

This course presents the fundamental techniques for designing efficient computer algorithms, proving their correctness, and analyzing their complexity. General topics include the following; also, given the expected needs of Data Science (Big Data), we will place added emphasis on probability/statistics, sublinear algorithms, and linear algebra.

CMSC 351 is the prerequisite. Each student is expected to know the basic concepts of programming (e.g. loops, pointers, recursion), discrete mathematics (proof by induction, sets), simple data structures (lists, stacks, queues, trees, heaps), and calculus (logarithms, differentiation, integration). We will assume knowledge of the basic algorithm-analysis techniques covered in CMSC 351. All course materials, including the homework and project, will be posted on Piazza. The coursework will consist of 5-7 homework assignments, a small project and two exams (one midterm and a comprehensive final). Homework problems will be mathematically oriented.

Homeworks are to be turned in at the start of class on the due date. Since homework solutions will be handed out on the day the homework is due, no late homeworks will be accepted. All homeworks are to be done independently, with no help from the web or other sources. If you have questions, please talk to the TA or the Instructor. Assignments are to be written up neatly. Please staple your homework. It is your responsibility to make sure that you pick up all homeworks and handouts. All course information and handouts will be available in Piazza.

The topics, times and order listed in the syllabus next are tentative and are subject to change:

Topics, Schedule, and Online Resources

This course will use Piazza as a tool for communication between students, TA, and Instructor. The schedule for the next few lectures will always be available on Piazza; we will also have an "inverted classroom" to some extent, where you will do assigned reading at home, with more problem-solving done in class. You are very strongly encouraged to bring your questions to office hours. In addition, you may consider checking Piazza and posting questions there. Students are also encouraged to contribute answers to questions posed by others.

Grading, Homework, and Exams

Final grades will be based on homework assignments, the project, the midterm exam, and the comprehensive final exam with relative weights as follows:

Course Evaluation

Students are strongly encouraged to complete their course evaluations; please do so at the CourseEvalUM website when it is ready.

Academic Accommodations for Disabilities

Any student eligible for and requesting reasonable academic accommodations due to a disability is requested to provide, to the instructor in office hours, a letter of accommodation from the Office of Disability Support Services (DSS) within the first two weeks of the semester.

Excused Absences, Academic Integrity, and Additional Info.

Please see the university's policies on various important issues.

Web Accessibility