About this Course

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This course covers the essential information that every serious programmer needs to know about algorithms and data structures, with emphasis on applications and scientific performance analysis of Java implementations. Part I covers elementary data structures, sorting, and searching algorithms. Part II focuses on graph- and string-processing algorithms.
All the features of this course are available for free.  It does not offer a certificate upon completion.

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Intermediate Level

Approx. 54 hours to complete

English

Subtitles: Arabic, French, Portuguese (European), Italian, Vietnamese, Korean, German, Russian, English, Spanish

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Skills you will gain

Data Structure
Algorithms
Java Programming

Flexible deadlines

Reset deadlines in accordance to your schedule.

100% online

Start instantly and learn at your own schedule.

Intermediate Level

Approx. 54 hours to complete

English

Subtitles: Arabic, French, Portuguese (European), Italian, Vietnamese, Korean, German, Russian, English, Spanish

Could your company benefit from training employees on in-demand skills?

Try Coursera for Business

Instructors

Instructor rating

4.78/5 (1,376 Ratings)

Kevin Wayne

Phillip Y. Goldman '86 University Lecturer

Computer Science

1,252,818 Learners

5 Courses

Robert Sedgewick

William O. Baker *39 Professor of Computer Science

Computer Science

1,282,281 Learners

7 Courses

Syllabus - What you will learn from this course

Content Rating97%(61,421 ratings)

Week

1

Week 1

1 hour to complete

Course Introduction

Welcome to Algorithms, Part I.

1 hour to complete

1 video (Total 9 min), 2 readings, 1 quiz

9 hours to complete

Union−Find

We illustrate our basic approach to developing and analyzing algorithms by considering the dynamic connectivity problem. We introduce the union−find data type and consider several implementations (quick find, quick union, weighted quick union, and weighted quick union with path compression). Finally, we apply the union−find data type to the percolation problem from physical chemistry.

9 hours to complete

5 videos (Total 51 min), 2 readings, 2 quizzes

1 hour to complete

Analysis of Algorithms

The basis of our approach for analyzing the performance of algorithms is the scientific method. We begin by performing computational experiments to measure the running times of our programs. We use these measurements to develop hypotheses about performance. Next, we create mathematical models to explain their behavior. Finally, we consider analyzing the memory usage of our Java programs.

1 hour to complete

6 videos (Total 66 min), 1 reading, 1 quiz

Week

2

Week 2

9 hours to complete

Stacks and Queues

We consider two fundamental data types for storing collections of objects: the stack and the queue. We implement each using either a singly-linked list or a resizing array. We introduce two advanced Java features—generics and iterators—that simplify client code. Finally, we consider various applications of stacks and queues ranging from parsing arithmetic expressions to simulating queueing systems.

9 hours to complete

6 videos (Total 61 min), 2 readings, 2 quizzes

1 hour to complete

Elementary Sorts

We introduce the sorting problem and Java's Comparable interface. We study two elementary sorting methods (selection sort and insertion sort) and a variation of one of them (shellsort). We also consider two algorithms for uniformly shuffling an array. We conclude with an application of sorting to computing the convex hull via the Graham scan algorithm.

1 hour to complete

6 videos (Total 63 min), 1 reading, 1 quiz

Week

3

Week 3

9 hours to complete

Mergesort

We study the mergesort algorithm and show that it guarantees to sort any array of n items with at most n lg n compares. We also consider a nonrecursive, bottom-up version. We prove that any compare-based sorting algorithm must make at least n lg n compares in the worst case. We discuss using different orderings for the objects that we are sorting and the related concept of stability.

9 hours to complete

5 videos (Total 49 min), 2 readings, 2 quizzes

1 hour to complete

Quicksort

We introduce and implement the randomized quicksort algorithm and analyze its performance. We also consider randomized quickselect, a quicksort variant which finds the kth smallest item in linear time. Finally, we consider 3-way quicksort, a variant of quicksort that works especially well in the presence of duplicate keys.

1 hour to complete

4 videos (Total 50 min), 1 reading, 1 quiz

Week

4

Week 4

9 hours to complete

Priority Queues

We introduce the priority queue data type and an efficient implementation using the binary heap data structure. This implementation also leads to an efficient sorting algorithm known as heapsort. We conclude with an applications of priority queues where we simulate the motion of n particles subject to the laws of elastic collision.

9 hours to complete

4 videos (Total 74 min), 2 readings, 2 quizzes

2 hours to complete

Elementary Symbol Tables

We define an API for symbol tables (also known as associative arrays, maps, or dictionaries) and describe two elementary implementations using a sorted array (binary search) and an unordered list (sequential search). When the keys are Comparable, we define an extended API that includes the additional methods min, max floor, ceiling, rank, and select. To develop an efficient implementation of this API, we study the binary search tree data structure and analyze its performance.

2 hours to complete

6 videos (Total 77 min), 1 reading, 1 quiz

Week

5

Week 5

2 hours to complete

Balanced Search Trees

In this lecture, our goal is to develop a symbol table with guaranteed logarithmic performance for search and insert (and many other operations). We begin with 2−3 trees, which are easy to analyze but hard to implement. Next, we consider red−black binary search trees, which we view as a novel way to implement 2−3 trees as binary search trees. Finally, we introduce B-trees, a generalization of 2−3 trees that are widely used to implement file systems.

2 hours to complete

3 videos (Total 63 min), 2 readings, 1 quiz

9 hours to complete

Geometric Applications of BSTs

We start with 1d and 2d range searching, where the goal is to find all points in a given 1d or 2d interval. To accomplish this, we consider kd-trees, a natural generalization of BSTs when the keys are points in the plane (or higher dimensions). We also consider intersection problems, where the goal is to find all intersections among a set of line segments or rectangles.

9 hours to complete

5 videos (Total 66 min), 1 reading, 1 quiz

Week

6

Week 6

1 hour to complete

Hash Tables

We begin by describing the desirable properties of hash function and how to implement them in Java, including a fundamental tenet known as the uniform hashing assumption that underlies the potential success of a hashing application. Then, we consider two strategies for implementing hash tables—separate chaining and linear probing. Both strategies yield constant-time performance for search and insert under the uniform hashing assumption.

1 hour to complete

4 videos (Total 50 min), 2 readings, 1 quiz

26 minutes to complete

Symbol Table Applications

We consider various applications of symbol tables including sets, dictionary clients, indexing clients, and sparse vectors.

26 minutes to complete

4 videos (Total 26 min), 1 reading

Reviews

4.9

1999 reviews

5 stars
90.24%
4 stars
8.03%
3 stars
0.96%
2 stars
0.23%
1 star
0.51%

TOP REVIEWS FROM ALGORITHMS, PART I

by GHJul 2, 2019

Excellent course, great material and the structure of the class allowed me to learn in depth and practice independently. I also appreciated the complexity of the automated assignment evaluation.

by HMMay 9, 2019

The best online course I've taken so far. The autograder really does its job! The tests are so thorough that it always takes me several attempts to finish an assignment, but it is always worth it!

by RPJun 10, 2017

Incredible learning experience. Every programmer in industry should take this course if only to dispel the idea that with the advent of cloud computing exponential algorithms can still ruin your day!

by DCJun 2, 2022

Excelent lessons, occasionally references lessons not included in the course but overall great lessons. The assignments are rather challenging but you are given all the tools to complete them.

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Frequently Asked Questions

When will I have access to the lectures and assignments?
Once you enroll, you’ll have access to all videos and programming assignments.
Do I need to pay for this course?
No. All features of this course are available for free.
Can I earn a certificate in this course?
No. As per Princeton University policy, no certificates, credentials, or reports are awarded in connection with this course.
I have no familiarity with Java programming. Can I still take this course?
Our central thesis is that algorithms are best understood by implementing and testing them. Our use of Java is essentially expository, and we shy away from exotic language features, so we expect you would be able to adapt our code to your favorite language. However, we require that you submit the programming assignments in Java.
Which algorithms and data structures are covered in this course?
Part I focuses on elementary data structures, sorting, and searching. Topics include union-find, binary search, stacks, queues, bags, insertion sort, selection sort, shellsort, quicksort, 3-way quicksort, mergesort, heapsort, binary heaps, binary search trees, red−black trees, separate-chaining and linear-probing hash tables, Graham scan, and kd-trees.
Part II focuses on graph and string-processing algorithms. Topics include depth-first search, breadth-first search, topological sort, Kosaraju−Sharir, Kruskal, Prim, Dijkistra, Bellman−Ford, Ford−Fulkerson, LSD radix sort, MSD radix sort, 3-way radix quicksort, multiway tries, ternary search tries, Knuth−Morris−Pratt, Boyer−Moore, Rabin−Karp, regular expression matching, run-length coding, Huffman coding, LZW compression, and the Burrows−Wheeler transform.
Which kinds of assessments are available in this course?
Weekly exercises, weekly programming assignments, weekly interview questions, and a final exam.
The exercises are primarily composed of short drill questions (such as tracing the execution of an algorithm or data structure), designed to help you master the material.
The programming assignments involve either implementing algorithms and data structures (deques, randomized queues, and kd-trees) or applying algorithms and data structures to an interesting domain (computational chemistry, computational geometry, and mathematical recreation). The assignments are evaluated using a sophisticated autograder that provides detailed feedback about style, correctness, and efficiency.
The interview questions are similar to those that you might find at a technical job interview. They are optional and not graded.
I am/was not a Computer Science major. Is this course for me?
This course is for anyone using a computer to address large problems (and therefore needing efficient algorithms). At Princeton, over 25% of all students take the course, including people majoring in engineering, biology, physics, chemistry, economics, and many other fields, not just computer science.
How does this course differ from Design and Analysis of Algorithms?
The two courses are complementary. This one is essentially a programming course that concentrates on developing code; that one is essentially a math course that concentrates on understanding proofs. This course is about learning algorithms in the context of implementing and testing them in practical applications; that one is about learning algorithms in the context of developing mathematical models that help explain why they are efficient. In typical computer science curriculums, a course like this one is taken by first- and second-year students and a course like that one is taken by juniors and seniors.

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Algorithms, Part I