About this course: Experienced Computer Scientists analyze and solve computational problems at a level of abstraction that is beyond that of any particular programming language. This two-part course builds on the principles that you learned in our Principles of Computing course and is designed to train students in the mathematical concepts and process of "Algorithmic Thinking", allowing them to build simpler, more efficient solutions to real-world computational problems. In part 1 of this course, we will study the notion of algorithmic efficiency and consider its application to several problems from graph theory. As the central part of the course, students will implement several important graph algorithms in Python and then use these algorithms to analyze two large real-world data sets. The main focus of these tasks is to understand interaction between the algorithms and the structure of the data sets being analyzed by these algorithms. Recommended Background - Students should be comfortable writing intermediate size (300+ line) programs in Python and have a basic understanding of searching, sorting, and recursion. Students should also have a solid math background that includes algebra, pre-calculus and a familiarity with the math concepts covered in "Principles of Computing".
Taught by: Luay Nakhleh, Associate Professor
Computer Science; Biochemistry and Cell Biology
Taught by: Scott Rixner, Professor
Computer Science
Taught by: Joe Warren, Professor
Computer Science
| Basic Info |
Course 5 of 7 in the
Fundamentals of Computing Specialization.
|
| Level | Intermediate |
| Commitment | 4 weeks of study, 7-10 hours/week |
| Language | English, Subtitles: Spanish |
| How To Pass | Pass all graded assignments to complete the course. |
| User Ratings |
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| Audit | Purchase Course | |
|---|---|---|
| Access to course materials | Available | Available |
| Access to graded materials | Not available | Available |
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great course
Great class, very well constructed. Professors are very knowledgeable and the course materials are well designed. I started from the very beginning of the class knowing very little about python and algorithm, by this class I'm pretty comfortable coding in python. And I got to apply what I've learned in my interview for jobs. Definitely a great class! Learned a lot, and still applying it in my job.
Compared to the previous courses in this specialization I found this a tough course. Calculating the big-O for yourself wasn't easy. The descriptions of the applications #1 and #2 were not very clear to me at the start (probably because English is not my first language). Some sentences I had to read several times before I understand what was asked. But the things I learned are useful and I am definitely sure that what I have learned here I can use in my work as software engineer. Thank you Luay, Scott and Joe for another excellent course.
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ZC
Application assignment is a must-do for students taking this course. The second computer network application is very a rewarding one for me to finish with gains on concepts of graph as well as programming stretch with my hands dirty.