Algorithms, Fall 2020

This course provides an introduction to the design and analysis of computer algorithms, with a particular emphasis on the use of principles of mathematical induction in designing algorithms. Its goal is to acquaint the students with basic computer algorithms and their design principles and to cultivate the students' ability in designing and analyzing algorithms independently.

• 01/20: grade report available; please send inquiries, if any, to the instructor by 2PM 01/22 (Fri.).
• 01/06: slides from TA sessions: HW#6, HW#7, HW#8, HW#9.
• 12/29: notes/slides for NP-Completeness available.
• 12/22: HW#10 due on 2021/01/04 (Monday); Problem F of the 2017 ACM ICPC World Finals.
• 12/22: notes/slides for Reduction available.
• 12/15: HW#9 due on 12/22.
• 12/15: notes/slides for Dynamic Programming available.
• 12/01: HW#8 due on 12/08.
• 12/01: notes/slides for Advanced Graph Algorithms available.
• 11/24: HW#7 due on 12/01.
• 11/23: Suggested Solutions to Midterm Problems available.
• 11/17: notes/slides for Basic Graph Algorithms available.
• 11/03: slides from TA sessions: HW#1, HW#2, HW#3, HW#4.
• 11/03: old exams.
• 11/03: HW#6 due on 11/17.
• 11/03: notes/slides for String Processing available.
• 10/21: HW#5 due on 11/03; Problem D of the 2012 ACM ICPC World Finals.
• 10/20: notes/slides for Searching and Sorting available.
• 10/13: notes/slides for A Supplement to Data Structures available.
• 10/06: HW#4 due on 10/20.
• 10/06: notes/slides for Design by Induction available.
• 09/29: HW#3 due on 10/06.
• 09/29: notes/slides for Analysis of Algorithms available.
• 09/22: HW#2 due on 09/29.
• 09/16: email addresses of TAs corrected.
• 09/16: regarding the waiting list for enrollment, priority will be given to those who have taken Computer Programming and/or Data Structures. To be considered, you should email relevant information (including when you took the course and the grade you got) to the instructor.
• 09/15: HW#1 due on 09/22.
• 09/15: notes/slides for Introduction and for Mathematical Induction available.
• 09/14: this website created on 09/07. It is the main source of all up to date course information and syllabus; there will be no separate PDF version.

Yih-Kuen Tsay (蔡益坤), NTU IM Dept., 3366-1189, Xtsay@ntu.edu.twX (between the enclosing pair of X's).

Tuesday 2:20~5:20PM, Room 103, Management Building 2.
TA sessions will be scheduled prior to some of the class meetings between 1:20 and 2:10PM; see the course schedule below.

Tuesday 1:30~2:00PM, Wednesday 1:30~2:00PM, or by appointment, Room 1108, Management Building 2.

Wayne Zeng (曾守瑜), Xr08725038@ntu.edu.twX (between the enclosing pair of X's).
Wei-Cheng Liu (劉韋成), Xr09725026@ntu.edu.twX (between the enclosing pair of X's).
Jack Su (蘇俊杰), Xr09725002@ntu.edu.twX (between the enclosing pair of X's).

• [M] Introduction to Algorithms - A Creative Approach, U. Manber, Addison-Wesley, 1989. (Four copies of this book have been put on reserve at NTU Library in the B1-教師指定參考書區 under 演算法(BM-4). Additionally, eleven copies are available for loan; please contact one of the TAs.)
• [C] Introduction to Algorithms, Third Edition, T.H. Cormen, C.E. Leiserson, R.L. Rivest, and C. Stein, MIT Press, 2009. (開發圖書代理; one copy of this book has been put on reserve at NTU Library in the B1-教師指定參考書區 under (FF-9).)

We will try to cover most of Manber's book plus supplementary material, including a few chapters of the book by Cormen et al. (Note: a TA session will precede a class meeting whose date is marked with an *. There are six TA sessions on 10/06, 10/20, 11/03, 11/24, 12/15, and 01/05.)

• Introduction [M: Ch. 1; C: Ch. 1,2] (.5 week: 09/15a) [notes, slides]
• Mathematical Induction [M: Ch. 2; C: Ch. 4] (1.5 weeks: 09/15b, 09/22) [notes, slides]
• Analysis of Algorithms [M: Ch. 3; C: Ch. 2,3,4] (1 week: 09/29) [notes, slides]
• Design by Induction [M: Ch. 5] (1.5 weeks: 10/06*, 10/13a) [notes, slides]
• Data Structures: A Supplement [M: Ch. 4; C: Ch. 6,13,21] (1 week: 10/13b, 10/20a*) [notes, slides, Building an AVL Tree (Illustration)]
• Searching and Sorting [M: Ch. 6; C: Ch. 6,7,8,9] (1.5 weeks: 10/20b, 10/27) [notes, slides, Heapsort (Illustration), Bottom-Up Heap Building (Illustration)]
• String Processing [M: Ch. 6; C: Ch. 32] (1 week: 11/03*) [notes, slides, Construction of a Huffman Tree (Illustration)]
• Midterm (2020/11/10)
• Graph Algorithms: Basic [M: Ch. 7; C: Ch. 22,23,24,25,26] (2 weeks: 11/17, 11/24*) [notes, slides, Dijkstra's Algorithm (Illustration), Prim's Algorithm (Illustration)]
• Graph Algorithms: Advanced [M: Ch. 7; C: Ch. 22,23,24,25,26] (2 weeks: 12/01, 12/08) [notes, slides]
• Dynamic Programming [C: Ch.15] (1 week: 12/15*) [notes, slides]
• Reduction [M: Ch. 10; C: Ch. 29] (1 week: 12/22) [notes, slides]
• NP-Completeness [M: Ch. 11; C: Ch. 34] (2 weeks: 12/29, 01/05*) [notes, slides]
• Final (2021/01/12)

• Mathematical Induction (a Wikipedia page)
• Structural Induction (a Wikipedia page)
• MIT OpenCourseWare: Introduction to Algorithms
• Stanford Coursera: Algorithms
• What is an Algorithm? (M.Y. Vardi, Communications of the ACM, Volume 55 Issue 3, March 2012)
• Sorting Algorithms Animations
• Graph Animations with Combinatorica
• The website of ICPC (International Collegiate Programming Contest)

Homework 20%, Participation 10%, Midterm 35%, Final 35%.