CS 3100

useful class that went into data structures and algorithms at a way higher level than DSA1 . be prepared for the sudden ish shift in difficulty ? i feel like it was way different from DSA1 and also is not as forgiving . professor hott is a nice guy and always answers questions very thoroughly , but i would also recommend going to TA OH for more direct help . make sure you start the assignments early ! #tCFF23

DSA 2 is a considerably difficult course, but Professor Hott made it as smooth as possible, understanding that students have difficulty with grasping the material at first. This semester was co-taught by Professor Hott and Professor Pettit, and the lectures were recorded for both sections. Professor Hott has shown a willingness to adapt to students' needs and takes feedback frequently, and he was also very helpful during office hours. There was a problem set that was assigned every week, which differs from the previous semester that had a longer problem set due every couple weeks. These were still challenging, but students were allowed to work with others to complete this. 5 programming assignments were given that were designed to test the students' understanding of the conceptual material. These were doable but difficult to complete without some guidance. There were 5 quizzes that each tested a topic from the class (asymptotic complexity and graphs; divide and conquer, greedy algorithms; dynamic programming; and network flow, reductions, and machine learning). These were tested through two quizzes at a time, except quiz 5. There were opportunities for quiz retakes that were taken along with quiz 5 at the end that provided up to 20 points back for each quiz (initially 10 but increased to 20 mid-semester). Overall, this is a challenging but very helpful and rewarding course. #tCFS24

Prof Hott seems to really know his stuff and explains stuff in much more straightforward way than another DSA2 professor. The content in DSA2 is naturally hard, so I can't blame him for the difficulties I had in the beginning with this class, but I think he conveyed the information the best way it could be conveyed. DSA2 in the beginning was very stressful with the PS sets being graded a bit harshly (and I had gone to OH like every day for 2 hours), with poor point distributions across questions on the quizzes as well (like one or T or F question being 5 points), and with students only originally being able to get 10 points back on retakes. However, I feel like Robbie really hears students out and closely pays attention to how to class is doing, as he made two major changes to grading quizzes and PSs after seeing the feedback from students which made a huge difference. #tCFS24

Professor Hott is the BEST. He is such a talented lecturer, and I was really engaged with the course material the way that he presented it. Lectures can get a bit complicated, but for the first third (ish) of the semester I really do recommend reading the textbook for a better grasp on the more complicated algorithms and graphs. The programming assignments weren't too bad but the problem sets (there were 11) were complicated with little TA support available. If you put in the work for this class, you can definitely get an A, but you have to be confident in the course material and study a lot. #tCFS24

Class layout:

5 programming and 5 problem sets (group work) - worth 20% and 25% respectively of final grade
Quiz - 50 %
In class activity 5%

Programming assignments are pretty hard. They tell you to do something and scratch the surface level on how to do it. You can use Python or Java and both are fine for first 4 assignments, but last assignment Python is best cause its easier.

Problem Sets are not that difficult, but grading (via a rubric) can be pretty harsh on a problem where if you mess up the logic a little, that's like 10 - 15% off on the later problem sets.

Biggest thing I recommend is going to TA for help on problem sets and programming assignments. They're very helpful and if you have an idea of what you are doing, they can help you a lot. A lot of people ask TA to double check their problem set answers to see if they're in the right direction. For programming assignments, start early and debug in sections and some TA won't really help you that much while others will kind of give you the answer so its a coinflip.

Getting a B/B+ is very doable. The quizzes average around 70 - best way is to study the lecture slides and understand especially the math parts and the what if you alter this algorithm like this etc etc. If you go to OH and study the material you'll be fine. But honestly, the Programming assignments were pretty hard if you didn't go to OH as it's hard to figure out where to start and aren't very intuitive.