CS 411 Fall 2025 > Syllabus

CS 411 Fall 2025
Syllabus

COURSE:	CS 411 Analysis of Algorithms. 3 credits.
Time & place:	2:15–3:15 pm MWF, 342 Duckering.
Prerequisites:	MATH 307 and CS 311.
INSTRUCTOR:	Glenn G. Chappell, Dept. of Computer Science.
Office:	539 Duckering.
Office hours:	In person 11:45–12:45 MWF, 3:30–4:00 MW on fall 2025 class days, or by appointment; private Zoom meetings available on request.
E-mail:	`ggchappell@alaska.edu`
TEXT:	A. Levitin, Introduction to the Design and Analysis of Algorithms, 3rd ed. (required)
WEB PAGE:	`https://www.cs.uaf.edu/~chappell/class/2025_fall/cs411` UA Canvas will be used for homework submission and online quizzes.

Course Topics & Goals

CS 411 covers design techniques for efficient algorithms, along with standard algorithms that are based on these techniques.

We begin by discussing algorithms, efficiency, and the mathematical tools we use in analyzing these. We will spend most of the semester covering various algorithm-design ideas: brute force/exhaustive search, decrease-and-conquer, divide-and-conquer, transform-and-conquer, trading space for time, dynamic programming, greedy methods, iterative improvement. We will finish the semester with a discussion of the limits of algorithmic efficiency, and how we deal with such limits.

After taking this class, students should:

Be able to set up and solve recurrence relations of the kinds encountered in the analysis of algorithms.
Be able to determine the efficiency class of an algorithm.
Be able to choose and/or design the best algorithm for a given problem.
Be familiar with classic algorithms from major problem domains: sorting, sets, graphs, etc.
Understand how approximation algorithms work and when they are appropriate.
Have a basic understanding of NP-completeness and its impact on algorithm design.

Important Dates

For more details, see the Semester Plan, on the class webpage.

Mon, Sep 1	No class meeting (Labor Day)
Fri, Oct 10	In-class Midterm Exam
Fri, Oct 31	Last day to withdraw (“W” on transcript)
Wed, Nov 26–Fri, Nov 28	No class meetings (Fall Break)
Fri, Dec 5	Last regular class meeting
Thu, Dec 11	Final Exam 1–3 pm

Procedures

Class meetings—Lecture-discussion format.

Quizzes—Online quizzes will be given weekly, using UA Canvas. There will be a quiz due each Sunday at 5 pm, from Sunday, August 31 to Sunday, December 7, except for the Sunday after Fall Break (November 30). Each quiz will be available by 5 pm on the preceding Friday. No make-up quizzes will be given.

Homework—Homework will be assigned every couple of weeks, and will consist of both C++ programming and answering questions. Some assignments will be done individually; others may, at your option, be done in groups.

To do the coding, students must obtain access to a C++ compiler with support for the 2017 (or later) ISO standard. Any version of a major C++ compiler that was released within the past year is acceptable. Appropriate compilers are available in the CS labs.

Exams—Two exams will be given: a Midterm and a comprehensive Final. See Important Dates.

Grades

Course grades will be based on points earned, using a 90-80-70-60 scale. The +/− grading system will not be used. Point totals will be as follows.

Assignments (total)	510 pts
Quizzes (total)	140 pts
Midterm Exam	150 pts
Final Exam	200 pts
TOTAL	1000 pts

Policies

Communication with the instructor outside of class will be via e-mail and the class webpage. Students are expected to check both their UA e-mail account and the class webpage daily during the semester.

Students are expected to be at every class meeting on time, and are responsible for all class content, whether present or not. If absence is necessary, then work (other than quizzes) may be made up only if the instructor is notified as soon as possible; in particular, absences due to scheduled events must be arranged ahead of time.

Students who fail to attend the first class meeting after registering for the class, or who miss four consecutive class meetings, may be dropped/withdrawn without warning, unless prior arrangements are made with the instructor.

Work turned in late will generally be penalized. Work submitted more than 14 calendar days after the assignment due date will not be graded, except under exceptional circumstances and when prior arrangements have been made with the instructor. Fall Break and the following weekend will not be counted in this 14 day period. No graded work, other than the Final Exam, will be accepted after the beginning of the final exam period.

Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated, and will be dealt with according to UA procedures.

Students pay the CS lab fee. Payment allows access to the CS labs.