CSCI 3104: Algorithms

Course Objectives

In this course, students will

• become familiar with "standard'' algorithms for abstract problem solving;
• learn how to mathematically prove properties of algorithms, including their correctness;
• analyze the time and space complexity of algorithms
• understand the relative merits or demerits of different algorithms in practice
• adapt and combine algorithms to solve problems that may arise in practice
• learn common strategies in the design of new algorithms for emerging applications

Topics Covered

Roughly, we will cover the following topics (some of them may be skipped depending on the time available).

• Introduction to Algorithms: Complexity analysis
• Divide and Conquer Algorithms
• Sorting and Order Statistics
  
• Greedy Algorithms
• Hash functions and Probabilistic Analysis
• Dynamic Programming
• Graph Algorithms: Search, Minimum Spanning Trees, Shortest Paths, Network Flows
  
• Matching algorithms
  
• Basic Computational Complexity: P, NP, reductions and open problems