DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF COMPUTER ALGORITHMS
Venue: TIL-232, Livingston Campus, Rutgers University
Time: Tuesdays and Fridays 12:10 - 1:30 pm ET
FALL 2026 (Sections 12, 13, and 14)
Venue: TIL-232, Livingston Campus, Rutgers University
Time: Tuesdays and Fridays 12:10 - 1:30 pm ET
FALL 2026 (Sections 12, 13, and 14)
Office Hours: Wednesdays 2:00-2:35 pm (Hill 407) and 2:35-3:00 pm (Zoom)
Kai Jie Wong (Ph.D. TA) Office hours: Thursdays 2:00-3:00 pm (Hill 482)
Drew Gao (Ph.D. TA) Office hours: Mondays 12:00-1:00 pm (Hill 482)
Chaitya Arun Dobariya (PTL) Office hours: Mondays 2:30-3:30 pm (Zoom)
Rija Khan (Grader)
Pratham Chauhan (Grader)
💼 What the course offers: In this course, we learn how to think algorithmically to solve computational problems. We dive into a variety of useful and elegant algorithmic paradigms and learn how to analyze their complexity and correctness.
🎓 What You’ll Gain: a strong foundation in the core algorithmic principles every computer scientist needs, while developing the analytical mindset to solve complex problems with confidence. Whether you're heading into research, software engineering, or the startup world, this course sets you up with crucial and foundational skills.
Methods for expressing and comparing the time and space complexity of algorithms. Algorithmic design paradigms: greedy, dynamic programming, and divide and conquer. Application of complexity analysis and algorithmic techniques to a variety of problems, including allocation, searching, sorting, scheduling, packing, and graph problems (including bipartite matching, shortest path, and minimum spanning tree). NP and P problems (knapsack, satisfiability, independent set, vertex cover). NP Completeness and Reductions.
The following textbooks are optional; they offer excellent additional practice problems.
Algorithm Design by Kleinberg and Tardos (available online, book slides)
Introduction to Algorithms by Cormen, Leiserson, Rivest, and Stein (available online)
Algorithms by Jeff Erickson (available online)
Practice Sessions and Quizzes:
Section 12: Friday 2:15 PM - 3:10 PM (BE-250)
Section 13: Tuesday 4:05 PM - 5:00 PM (BE-252)
Section 14: Tuesday 2:15 PM - 3:10 PM (BE-252)
20% Quizzes during recitation sessions
25% Mid-term 1
25% Mid-term 2
30% Final Exam
+5% Bonus participation credit (at the discretion of the Instructor/TAs/PTLs)
+5% Bonus credit for solving Challenge Questions
*Final grades will consider the overall performance of the three sections (12, 13, and 14). A curve will be applied to help balance results if the overall grade distribution is too low.
Challenge questions: Submit your challenge question on the corresponding Canvas page before the stated deadline. Late submissions will not be considered for bonus credit.
Regrading requests: If you have grading concerns, submit your requests within one week of receiving your graded paper. Please send a Canvas Inbox message to all TAs and cc the instructor when submitting your request.
If you miss a practice session, you miss the opportunity to retake the quiz on that day. However, there will be other opportunities to earn bonus points.
Exams will be based on the concepts taught in the class (including the parts that may not necessarily be covered in the textbooks).
The quizzes, mid-term exams, and final exam will be handwritten. The quizzes and exams are NOT open-book; use of electronics (including laptops, tablets, and phones) as well as books, notes, AI tools, or reference materials is strictly prohibited.
All exams are individual effort. Students are expected to follow the Rutgers academic integrity policy and the CS Department academic integrity policy for all their work in this course.
For any absence-related issues, please read the absence policy before reaching out to the instructors/TAs.
All types of non-confidential course-related questions should be posted to the CANVAS discussion page only. For confidential questions to the instructor/TAs/PTLs/graders, use the CANVAS inbox only.
Any grade-related questions should be directed to TAs/PTLs/graders (please cc the instructor if you are communicating via the Canvas inbox). If the query remains unresolved for more than a week, you can escalate it to the instructor.
Friday, October 9, 2026, 12:10 - 1:30 pm: Mid-Term Exam 1
Tuesday, November 17, 2026, 12:10 - 1:30 pm: Mid-Term Exam 2
Tuesday, December 15, 2026, 4-7 pm: Final Exam (according to University Schedule)
This course has received an Open and Affordable Textbooks Program award from Rutgers University Libraries. The OAT Program supports textbook affordability at Rutgers by encouraging courses to adopt educational materials that are freely available, available at a low cost (compared to similar courses), or part of Rutgers University Libraries' electronic collections, and thereby free of charge to Rutgers students. As a student in this course, you will be asked to provide feedback on this initiative at the end of the semester.