Description

This course builds on students’ earlier programming experiences, moving beyond syntax and logic, to the question of how to build “better” programs focusing on organizing data and designing algorithms for efficiency. The materials as well as the assignments rely heavily on proficiency with Java programming language. Students will learn: • the concept of efficiency, why it is important for programs to be efficient and scalable, how to manage the trade-offs of computational time as well as resources such as memory, and how to compare the efficiency of various algorithms, • problem-solving through judicious organization of data, how abstract data types allow encapsulation and localization, as well as how their concrete implementations in the form of various data structures allow for efficient access and modification of data, • algorithmic strategies such as divide-and-conquer, iteration, recursion, randomization, etc., to achieve more effective problem solving and more efficient solutions. This course is different from Computational Thinking, as it goes into the theoretical underpinnings of efficiency, covers more data structures, and delves deeply into the implementations of those data structures.

Learning Outcomes

Graduate Learning Outcomes

Disciplinary Knowledge, Critical thinking & problem solving, Self-directed learning

Competencies

Applications Development, Formal Proof Construction, Algorithm Analysis, Computational Modelling, Data Engineering