CS 4341/6341: Continuous Algorithms

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  • What is the course all about?
    The traditional computer science curriculum covers foundational material based on discrete mathematics. The discrete type of math starts with sets, relations, graphs and combinatorics, and then later covers grammars, automata, algorithm analysis and logic. Not one element of this material involves continuous math, the kind you see in your math (calculus) and stats courses. At the same time, there is growing body of computing applications with important algorithms that rely on a foundation of continuous mathematics. These applications include robotics, machine learning, computer vision, simulation and even modern approaches to natural language processing. The purpose of this course is to bring a number of related continuous math topics, driven by their applications, into a single foundational course.

  • Who should take this course?
    The course is open to both undergrads and grads. This is an elective course, but for undergrads, the course may count towards the math and stats requirements in the curriculum (both B.S. and B.A.). That is, you might be able to take this course instead of a math or stats course.

  • I haven't taken CS-2113. Can I take this course?
    You will need to be comfortable programming in Java, approximately at the skill-level of students completing CS-2113. If you do not have this level of experience, talk to me about it.

  • I've taken the equivalent of CS-2113 but in another language. Can I take this course?
    If you aren't comfortable with Java, this course could prove overwhelming. We are not going to teach Java in the course.

  • Is this a programming-intensive course?
    To some extent. It is intended to be less programming-intensive than CS-2113. At first glance, it looks substantial, but then, you have more experience programming and so, with the teamwork options, the overall programming load is not as high as comparable courses.

  • Is this a math-intensive course?
    We are certainly going to cover mathematical topics, but will do so mostly from a computational viewpoint. The course is, in fact, designed to show the math-phobic CS student that much of this material can be understood computationally.