CSE 2407
Data Structures and Algorithms
Study of fundamental algorithms, data structures, and their effective use in a variety of applications. Emphasizes importance of data structure choice and implementation for obtaining the most efficient algorithm for solving a given problem. A key component of this course is worst-case asymptotic analysis, which provides a quick and simple method for determining the scalability and effectiveness of an algorithm. Online textbook purchase required. Prerequisite: CSE 131/501N, and fluency with summations, derivatives, and proofs by induction. *CSE 2407 has mandatory evening exams; the specific days and times will be listed under assessments on the course section once confirmed.
Instructors
Athena MTabakhi, Cole, Cynthia Ma, Ilan Goodman, M Tabakhi, MTabakhi, Siever, Steve Cole, William Siever
Reviews
2 or less hrs/week
Idk bout these other reviews but legit no one showed up to lecture by the end of the year there were less than 15 people at the start of the year there were like 100 The class was chill and pretty easy
12/26/2024
I'm convinced she's either a low-level NPC or part of a social experiment.
9/26/2024
Went to 1st 2 lectures, found out a lot of what she said was blatantly wrong, and then never went again. She would sometimes walk around studio, but never actually offered to help anyone. The one time someone in my studio group asked her for help, she said she couldn't help because she herself didn't create the assignment. Was not good :(
6/10/2024
6-8 hrs/week
Assignments were hard but you just had to go to office hours. The in-class studios I pretty much got nothing out of. The topics aren't super hard if you just put a little bit of time into understanding them. Should be a relatively easy A if you put in some effort.
5/24/2024
2-4 hrs/week
Challenging exams for sure but not too bad because they make up so little of your grade. Helpful class if you want to go into SWE.
5/21/2024
6-8 hrs/week
Tough class but useful. Overall class structure could be improved: lectures are little more than speeding thru a 50-100 slide ppt, but the quizzes (not for a grade) at the start of class on content from last studio are usually helpful. Biweekly lab assignments are very time consuming and may require a lot of time invested in office hours, but exams are weighted lightly and you can earn up to 5% extra credit.
5/21/2024
2-4 hrs/week
The first unit is the hardest and has a big learning curve but IMO it gets way easier from there. The most helpful thing is to watch youtube videos on the algorithms/concepts and ask TAs questions. Pretty easy A as you can do bad on exams and still get an A.
5/20/2024
4-6 hrs/week
TL;DR: this class can be painful, but it\'s doable.\n\n247 has quite a lot of stigma around it, and the class subject itself is known to be difficult across universities. Though the course offering at WashU can be challenging at times, it is overall doable and the majority of students pass, a good portion with an A or B.\n\nThe course followed a flipped-classroom structure, using a digital textbook (Zybooks) with completion-based exercises that were due the night before the week\'s lecture. One day of the week was devoted to lecture recapping and attempting to expand on materials covered in the Zybooks. The other day was a studio where students group together to work through an assignment related to the week\'s topics, TAs present to offer help. The studios were mandatory while the lectures were optional (but encouraged). Some studios were found to be good explorations of the topics, but most often felt dull. They are clearly meant to make students think about topics, but most of the studios work was spent answering questions in ways that didn\'t seem as beneficial as playing around with source code or working simulated real-world related examples.\n\nIn addition to the Zybooks were accuracy-based homework assignments called labs. Labs were not always weekly; they would often go with an overarching topic such as the week\'s data structure (a hash map, binary tree, etc.) or algorithm (AVL tree rebalancing, Dijkstra\'s shortest path, etc.). Most labs came with three parts: a pre-lab write up, coding portion, and a post-lab writeup. The write ups are expected to be typeset; the course provided a Latex template. Labs can be difficult, but there were excessive and accessible TA office hours, both in-person and online through Zoom. Office hours are truly the key to completing the labs. The labs can be finished in one sitting (1-4 hours) with or without TA help, depending on how well the content is understood.\n\nThis class had three exams, two in-person and a final that was administered online through Gradescope the last week of classes. The exams were probably the most stressful for students. I hated all of them as I found them boring and ugly. The exams are lengthy in the number of questions, and often times verbose. They were also typeset poorly with often little space to work out problems (drawing binary trees, performing calculations, etc.). Exams, fortunately, are not a make-or-break to getting a good grade in the class. You can get a score slightly below average on all three exams and still get an A in the class.\n\nAs for the courses instructor, Cole was a wonderful professor. He was very knowledgable and understands the course content exceedingly well. I cannot recall a lecturer where I thought he was unprepared, nor can I remember a time he stumbled on his words. The lectures are 80 minutes, and sometimes I found them boring, but they can be a great space to ask questions about content as Cole appreciated a question-/interaction-driven lecture. He was also available 1-2 days a week for office hours.\n\nAs with other CS courses at WashU, TAs are a hit or miss with 247. Some only know how to do the labs because they have solution code available. There are few that can properly explain course concepts in a way that is coherent. Professor office hours would be a better place to ask questions about content questions (exam prep, the *why* behind 247) while TA office hours are good for getting work done.\n\nTalking grading, this was the breakdown provided in the syllabus:\n42 Labs (7 pts. each, individual)\n18 Studios (~1.5 pts. each, group)\n30 Exams (10 pts. each, individual)\n10 Exercises (e.g. zyBooks “pre-lecture")\n1 Surveys/evals (if 90% class completion)\n4 Extra credit (e.g. zyBooks “extra credit”)\n105 Total Points\n\nGrading is fair and regrades for the labs\' write-ups is permitted. The inclusion of the extra credit makes it possible to bomb an exam and still pass the class, and it\'s greatly helpful for those who are at the cusp of letter grades.
5/19/2024
2-4 hrs/week
Lectures were in Steinberg so I can't attest to their quality (I did not want to walk to Steinberg) but the studios were pretty laid back. Having a good TA will make your life way better but it's still fine even if you don't.
5/18/2024
2-4 hrs/week
The professor is so so bad so just try to go to another professor if possible. TAs are your friend and there's a big grade boost for doing zybooks so not too hard to get an A.
5/18/2024
4-6 hrs/week
Learned through my tutor. Exams are not that bad if you have enough on your cheat sheet. Labs take time but are interesting
5/18/2024
2-4 hrs/week
not a bad class at all - everyone overhypes it for being super hard, but for just doing zybook readings you get like a 5% grade boost on your final grade so its pretty easy to get an A. Siever is also a great professor and made the class much better because his lectures connected a lot of the things we were learning. biggest thing is just making sure that you learn the material at the beginning, because some of the concepts there are difficult, and if you don't it'll make the rest of the year very hard.
5/17/2024
Just finished this course. Prof. Cole was really a nice person, and he cared about his students' thoughts. The most important tip was GO TO THE OFFICE HOUR! Exams might be difficult, but only take up 30% of the final grade. Be serious about the labs and Zybook. Extra credits are a huge surprise.
5/15/2024
I stopped going to lectures mid semester as I could not pay attention in class. I think the content of the class is better learned using the book and online resources. Some aspects of the class are poorly managed in my opinion but getting a good grade in the class is highly achievable.
5/13/2024
Professor cole seemed like a really nice person, lectures don't help that much in this class, I wouldn't recommend attending. Do the extra credit, it isn't too difficult, and will really boost your grade. Nice prof, but didn't interact that much. The content is pretty challenging, but stay on top of your work and you will do fine in the class.
5/2/2024
Cole is so nice and accommodating, he is a lovely man. The class is super interesting but he's not the best lecturer. Lectures didn't help anyway though.
5/1/2024
Professor Cole is very caring and always happy to help, but lectures are somewhat boring and the pacing is way too fast. It would be more helpful if there were two 80-minute lectures per week instead of blowing through 70-100 slides in a little over an hour, or just have students watch Professor Siever's videos instead. Very kind person regardless.
4/29/2024
He was very clear but would sometimes speed through topics, but I still learned a lot.
4/22/2024