CompSci 161 - Design and Analysis of Algorithms - Winter, 2025 (Dillencourt)
This web site is a work in progress.
Information will be added as it becomes available.
There may be some broken links.
If so, these should be fixed by the second lecture (Wednesday, January 8).
To view the information on this page, either scroll down or
click one of these links:
Class announcements
- Class announcements will be made on canvas.
The most recent ones will appear at the top of the course home page on canvas.
Please check there frequently.
Class meetings
- Lectures: 10:00-10:50AM M W F HIB 100 [This is the
Humanities Instructional Building]
- Midterm Exams will be given during the lecture time, in
the same classroom as the lectures.
- The first lecture will be held on
Monday, January 6.
- There will be no lecture on the following days:
- Monday, January 20 (Martin Luther King, Jr. Day)
- Monday, February 17 (Presidents' Day)
- Discussion sections:
- There are six discussion sections (A1, A2, A3, A4, A5, A6).
They meet at the following times and places. (Note that the
list is ordered by Section Number which does not correspond to
chronological order).
- A1: 1-1:50PM M W SH 134
- A2: 3-3:50PM M W SST 220B
- A3: 2-2:50PM M W PSCB 140
- A4: 4-4:50PM M W MSTB 122
- A5: 5-5:50PM M W SST 220B
- A6: 6-6:50PM M W SST 220B
- The building codes are as follows:
- The first discussion section meetings will be on
Monday, January 6.
- There will be no discussion sections
on the following days:
- Monday, January 20 (Martin Luther King, Jr. Day)
- Monday, February 17 (Presidents' Day)
Course staff
- Instructor:
- Professor Michael Dillencourt
- Email: dillenco at ics dot uci dot edu. But please note:
- Office hours:
- My office is DBH 4086. (To get there, take the elevator
to the fourth floor and keep taking left turns until you
come to my office on the right. If you find yourself on the
fire escape, you have gone too far.)
- Office hour: Tuesday 3:30-4:30 PM (January 21 through March 11).
- I am also available after each lecture.
- On Mondays and Wednesdays, there is a class immediately after
ours.
On these days, we need to leave the classroom quickly.
I will stay just outside the exit (the left exit as you
face the front of the classroom) as long as there are
students with questions.
- On Fridays, there is no scheduled class immediately after ours.
On these days, I will plan to stay in the classroom
as long as there are students with questions.
However, should something unexpected happen (e.g., a one-time
event at 11AM on a Friday), I will move outside the classroom
as described in the previous bullet.
- Teaching Assistants:
- Alvin Chiu
- Email: chiua13 at uci dot edu.
But it is better to use the compsci-161 questions list as discussed
in the section on email.
- Office hours: Will be posted on the home page of the course Canvas
space.
- Kun Han
- Email: khan7 at uci dot edu.
But it is better to use the compsci-161 questions list as discussed
in the section on email.
- Office hours: Will be posted on the home page of the course Canvas
space.
- Cole Groen
- Email: cgroen at ics dot uci.edu>
But it is better to use the compsci-161 questions list as discussed
in the section on email.
- Office hours: Will be posted on the home page of the course Canvas
space.
- Nero Li
- Email: yimil31 at uci dot edu.
But it is better to use the compsci-161 questions list as discussed
in the section on email.
- Office hours: Will be posted on the home page of the course Canvas
space.
- Vinesh Sridhar
- Email: vineshs1 at uci dot edu
But it is better to use the compsci-161 questions list as discussed
in the section on email.
- Office hours: Will be posted on the home page of the course Canvas
space.
- Readers:
- David Joves
- Email: djoves at uci dot edu.
But it is better to use the compsci-161 questions list as discussed
in the section on email.
- Jenny Lee
- Email: jiwonl17 at uci dot edu.
But it is better to use the compsci-161 questions list as discussed
in the section on email.
- Madison Lin
- Email: mmlin2 at uci dot edu.
But it is better to use the compsci-161 questions list as discussed
in the section on email.
- Kent Ziti
- Email: kziti at uci dot edu.
But it is better to use the compsci-161 questions list as discussed
in the section on email.
Sending us email
- Rather than sending email to one of us individually,
it is much better to send email to the address:
compsci161-questions at uci dot edu
This is an alias for the instructor, the TAs and the Readers.
Sending your question here ensures that all of us see your message
and the response.
This usually gives you better turnaround time.
- Please put the string "CompSci 161 - " in the subject line, followed by
something meaningful.
- NOTE: It is very important to put spaces around 161.
UCI and ICS email accounts are actually GMail accounts,
and the GMail search engine has problems
when there is a word preceding a number with no intervening space.
If we search for emails with "CompSci 161" in the subject line and
cannot find yours, we will not know it exists. If we do not know
it exists we cannot answer it.
- If you are posting a question of general interest, please post it
on Ed Discussion instead
Ed Discussion question-and-answer forum
- We will be using the Ed Discussion question-and-answer forum.
Access to the Ed Discussion forum will be made available through the
class Canvas space.
- Although posters can hide their identity from other students,
the instructor and the teaching assistants are able to determine the
identity of posters.
- The forum is intended as an open and respectful forum for the exchange
of questions and answers about the class and the course material.
Inappropriate, insulting, or offensive posts will not be tolerated.
Such posts will be deleted, and
may result in the suspension or termination of access to the forum.
In extreme cases, offensive posts may be referred to other University entities
for appropriate disciplinary action.
Academic Dishonesty:
- Academic dishonesty (cheating) is a serious offense
in the eyes of the instructor, the instructional assistants,
ICS, and the university.
Incidents of academic dishonesty will usually result in your receiving
a grade of F in the course and not being allowed to drop the course.
Additional consequences may occur at the academic unit or campus level.
Examples of academic dishonesty include, but are not limited to:
- Copying from others during an examination
- Using unauthorized materials during an examination.
- Sharing answers or
allowing another student to copy off your work during an examination.
- Tampering with an examination after it has been
corrected, then returning it for more credit.
- Intentionally disrupting the educational process in any way.
- For more complete information about academic honesty policies and
procedures, consult the following resources:
Required Textbook
- We will be using the online, web-based version of the textbook
- [GT] Algorithm Design and Applications,
by Michael T. Goodrich and Roberto Tamassia,
published by Zybooks.
- You are required to subscribe to the book if you are
enrolled in the class.
The material in the book includes interactive exercises which will count as
a small portion of your grade.
- Instructions for subscribing can be found here.
- Copies of the book in traditional (non-Zybook) form
are available in hard copy from the usual sources,
and an online PDF is available for free.
Additional resources
- Optional additional reading:
- You may find the following books helpful as well.
These are not required, but they may provide useful additional
perspective and, in for some topics, more detailed coverage.
I have requested that a copy of each of them be placed on reserve
in the Science Library:
- [BvG] Baase and van Gelder, Computer Algorithms,
Addison-Wesley.
- [KT] Kleinberg and Tardos, Algorithm Design, Addison Wesley.
- [CLRS] Cormen, Leiserson, Rivest, and Stein,
Introduction to Algorithms, MIT Press.
- Prerecorded lectures from previous quarters:
- Prerecorded lectures from previous quarters can be found on the class
canvas page. Please note the following:
- These prerecorded lectures are intended as a supplement
to the in-class lectures, not as an alternative to or a substitute
for attending the in-class lectures.
- The material covered in the prerecorded lectures will overlap
considerably with the in-class lectures,
but it will not be identical. There will be topics
covered in the in-class lectures that are not covered in the prerecorded
lectures, and you will be responsible for these topics on exams.
- On occasion I may explicitly assign you to watch one or more
prerecorded lecture.
If I do so, you will be responsible for the material covered on
those specific prerecorded lectures.
- I will not fix errors in the prerecorded lectures.
Here is a list of known errors.
If you think you have found an error, let me know, and once I have
verified it I will add it to the list of known errors.
Grading
- Based on two midterms, a final exam,
an online self-assessment quiz on the prerequisite/introductory
material,
weekly homework assignments, and
assigned readings in the online textbook.
- The individual components will be weighted as follows when
computing the course grade:
- Test score (weighted average on midterms and final exam): 90%.
- The test score will be computed as follows:
- Midterm 1: 33%
- Midterm 2: 33%
- Final Exam: 34%
- The "second-chance" policy described
here
will be applied.
- Self-assessment quiz on the prerequisite/introductory material: 2%
- Homework assignments: 4%
- Readings in the online textbook: 4%
- Midterms and Final:
- There will be two midterms.
- The midterms will be given Friday of weeks 4 and 8.
- Makeup exams midterms will only be given in extraordinary
and documentable circumstances, and only at the discretion of
the instructor.
If the circumstances are forseeable in advance, notify me
as far in advance as posssible. Failure to do this may result
your forfeiting your opportunity to take a makeup.
- The final exam will be given during finals week, in the
time period designated by the registrar.
-
Click here for more information about the
midterms and the final exam, including exact date/time.
- Self-assessment quiz on the prerequisite/introductory material:
- For more information about prerequisite/introductory material,
click here.
- This quiz is to be taken online, on GradeScope.
- For instructions on how to sign up for GradeScope for this class,
read the first few lines of the
homework assignment page.
- The quiz will be released on or before Friday, January 10
(end of week 1).
- To receive credit, you must take the quiz by 11:59 PM on
Tuesday, January 14.
- The quiz will be autograded.
- Since this is a self-assessment quiz, you will receive credit for
taking the quiz by the deadline, irrespective of your score.
- If you do poorly on the self-assessment quiz, you are strongly
encouraged to drop the class, study the prerequisite/introductory
material, and take the class after you have learned this
material.
- Note that the midterms and the final exam may contain questions
specificially testing your knowledge of the
prerequisite/introductory material.
- Homework:
- There will be weekly homework assignments.
They will generally be due on Wednesday,
BEFORE THE BEGINNING OF THE FIRST DISCUSSION SECTION.
The first assignment will be due during week 2.
- Your lowest homework assignment scores will be dropped.
- A consequence of this policy is that if you do not turn in
a homework assignment and hence receive a zero on it,
this homework scorewill be dropped.
This means that failing to turn in one homework assignment
will not negatively impact your grade as long as you do well on
all the other homework assignments.
- For a link to the homework assignment page, scroll down or click
here.
- Reading Assignments:
- There will be reading assigments from the online Zybook textbook.
- In each section you are assigned to read, you will need to
complete the Participation Activities.
- Generally there will be a reading assignment due one minute before
the start of each lecture.
- You will be deemed to have satisfactorily completed the reading
of a particular section if and only if the Zybook log says that
you completed all Participation Activities in the section by the
deadline.
- For a link to the reading assignment page, scroll down or click
here.
Class Notes:
- The class notes consist of the slides used in the lectures.
- Other material may be added to the class notes page over the course
of the quarter.
- Access to class notes is restricted to students enrolled in the class.
- Click here to access the class notes.
Authentication information will be announced.
Homework Assignments
- Homework assigment page:
The homework assignments and instructions for submitting the homework
are posted here.
Reading Assignments
- Reading assigment page:
The reading assignments to be completed before each lecture
are posted here.
List of topics:
- A preliminary, prospective list of topics can be found
here.
- A retrospective list of topics that were covered in each lecture
can be found
here.
Last modified: March 9, 2025