News
Relocation of TutorialsWritten on 14.11.24 by Niko Hastrich Dear all, Dear all, |
Exam DatesWritten on 12.11.24 by Karl Bringmann Dear students, The exam dates have been fixed as follows: Final Exam: 13.02. 16:00-18:30 Re-Exam: 25.3. 14:00-16:30 |
Tutorial Assignment, Exercise Sheet 2, Sample SolutionsWritten on 24.10.24 by Niko Hastrich Dear all, as some of you already noticed, you were assigned to a tutorial now. If there are any dealbreakers with your assignments, please don't hesitate to contact me. Dear all, as some of you already noticed, you were assigned to a tutorial now. If there are any dealbreakers with your assignments, please don't hesitate to contact me. Best, |
One Submission per TeamWritten on 24.10.24 by Niko Hastrich Dear all, for each team, exactly one team member should submit your solution (either digitally or physically). This helps the tutors to only grade each exercise sheet once. Dear all, for each team, exactly one team member should submit your solution (either digitally or physically). This helps the tutors to only grade each exercise sheet once. Best, |
Corrected Deadline for First Exercise SheetWritten on 17.10.24 by Niko Hastrich Please note that we put the wrong Deadline on the first exercise sheet. The correct deadline is next Thursday, October 24. We have corrected the uploaded version. As mentioned in the lecture, this gives you one week to work on the exercises. Best, |
Update Your Tutorial ChoiceWritten on 16.10.24 by Niko Hastrich Dear all, up until now, you were only able to assign preferences for the time of your tutorial. For the time slots where there is an English and a German tutorial simultaneously, this did not allow you to choose the tutorial language. We have updated the tutorial choices for you to be able to give… Read more Dear all, up until now, you were only able to assign preferences for the time of your tutorial. For the time slots where there is an English and a German tutorial simultaneously, this did not allow you to choose the tutorial language. We have updated the tutorial choices for you to be able to give preferences to each tutorial individually, allowing you to specify the language of the tutorial you prefer. This erased all preferences. So, please update your preferences by next Wednesday, October 23rd. Best, |
Introduction to Algorithms and Data Structures
This lecture gives an introduction to the design of efficient algorithms and data structures, as well as analyzing their correctness and running time. We will cover sorting algorithms, basic data structures (linked lists, stacks, priority queues, balanced binary search trees, hashing), and basic graph algorithms (traversal, shortest path, minimum spanning tree). We will discuss algorithm design techniques such as divide and conquer, exhaustive search, greedy and dynamic programming as well as randomized algorithms and amortized analysis of algorithms.
Lecture Format
Lecture: Thursdays 12:15-14:00 (E2 2 HS 001, Günter-Hotz-Hörsaal)
The first lecture will take place on October 17. The lectures will be held in English.
We will try to make recordings of the lecture available on this website, but there can always be technical difficulties, so we recommend attending in person.
Prerequisites: It is recommended to have taken Programming 1+2 and Mathematics for Computer Scientists 1+2 before this course.
Exercise Sheets & Tutorials
Exercise sheets will be handed out on Thursday and are due on the next Thursday before the lecture. Your solutions should be submitted either physically in the lecture hall or digitally via this website. Physical solutions are handwritten or printed sheets of paper. Digital solutions are submitted as a PDF by writing in LaTeX, writing in a common word processor like Word, or as a high quality scan/photo of a handwritten submission. The first page of your solutions must list your name and your tutorial slot.
You can work in groups of up to 3 students on the exercises. Each group must submit exactly one solution (for digital solutions this means that exactly one group member should submit the solutions via this website). The first page of your solutions must list all group members. Each group must write their own solution and must not copy the solution of another group!
The exercises sheets will be written in English, but you can choose to write your solutions in English or German depending on the tutorial you choose (i.e. check the submission language in the table below).
Solutions to the exercises will be presented in the weekly tutorials. Tutorials start on October 28. We offer the following tutorial slots:
| Time | Tutor | Room | Tutorial Language | Submission Language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday 8-10 | Jonas | E1.3, SR014 | English | English or German |
| Monday 10-12 | Jan | E1.3, SR014 | English | English or German |
| Monday 10-12 | Lars | E1.3, SR015 | German | English or German |
| Monday 12-14 | Thorben | E1.3, SR014 | English | English or German |
| Monday 12-14 | Mahmod | E1.3, SR015 | German | English or German |
| Monday 14-16 | Samuel | E1.3, SR014 | German | English or German |
| Monday 16-18 | Florian | E1.3, SR014 | German | English or German |
| Thursday 8-10 | Johannes | E1.3, SR015 | German | English or German |
| Thursday 10-12 | Jashmanpreet | E1.3, SR015 | English | English or German |
When registering on this website, you are asked to give your preferences for tutorial slots. You can submit your preferences until October 23. We will then create a tutorial assignment on October 24.
Office Hours
We offer Office Hours, where you can ask tutors about the course material or exercises:
- Tuesdays 13:00-14:00, room 401 E1 3
- Wednesdays 11:00-12:00, room 401 E1 3
Algodat++
If you feel confident with the core concepts of the lecture and would like to explore more advanced topics, we offer an extra tutorial which is:
- solving additional, difficult exercises
- presenting additional material related to the lecture, e.g. more efficient algorithms
-
discussing unexpected applications of the lecture material
This happens Tuesdays 14:15-16:00 in room 024 building E1 4 (MPI-Inf), starting on October 29. It is organized by Evangelos Kipouridis. Participation is voluntary.
Grading and Exams
To be able to obtain a certificate you must register in the LSF system. If you are unable to register in LSF, please contact Niko.
To be admitted to the final exam and the re-exam, you need to score at least 50% of the points on the exercise sheets. For the exams you are allowed to bring a single handwritten DinA4-sheet (which can be written on both sides); photocopies and printouts are not allowed. Your final grade will be the better of your grade in the final exam and your grade in the re-exam.
- Final Exam: 13.02. 16:00-18:30
- Re-Exam: 25.03. 14:00-16:30
Tentative Schedule
| Date | Topic | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 17 |
Introduction (machine model, O-notation, correctness proofs)
|
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| Oct 24 |
Basic Sorting Algorithms and Lower Bound
|
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| Oct 31 |
Non-comparison-based Sorting + Basic Data Structures
|
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| Nov 7 |
More Basic Data Structures + Binary Search Trees
|
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| Nov 14 |
Balanced Binary Search Trees
|
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| Nov 21 |
Divide and Conquer
|
replacement lecturer: Evangelos Kipouridis |
| Nov 28 |
Priority Queues
|
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| Dec 5 |
Introduction to Randomized Algorithms
|
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| Dec12 |
Hashing
|
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| Dec 19 |
Greedy and Dynamic Programming
|
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| Dec 26 | --- | lecture-free period |
| Jan 2 | --- | lecture-free period |
| Jan 9 |
More Dynamic Programming
|
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| Jan 16 |
Graphs: Representation and Traversal
|
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| Jan 23 |
Graphs II: Shortest Paths
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| Jan 30 | Graphs III: Minimum Spanning Trees | |
| Feb 6 |
Outlook
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Literature
There are many good books and lecture scripts on the topic, here is a selection:
- [Blä] M. Bläser, Introduction to Algorithms and Data Structures, 2015 (Script)
- [MS] K. Mehlhorn, P. Sanders, Algorithms and Data Structures - The Basic Toolbox, Springer, 2008 (ISBN: 9783540779773)
- [CLRS] T. H. Cormen, C. E. Leiserson, R. L. Rivest, C. Stein, Introduction to Algorithms - Fourth Edition, MIT Press, 2022 (ISBN: 9780262046305)
- [Eri] J. Erickson, Algorithms, 2019 (Free electronic version)