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Back to Divide and Conquer, Sorting and Searching, and Randomized Algorithms

Learner Reviews & Feedback for Divide and Conquer, Sorting and Searching, and Randomized Algorithms by Stanford University

4.8
stars
5,224 ratings

About the Course

The primary topics in this part of the specialization are: asymptotic ("Big-oh") notation, sorting and searching, divide and conquer (master method, integer and matrix multiplication, closest pair), and randomized algorithms (QuickSort, contraction algorithm for min cuts)....

Top reviews

SK

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I would rate it very high because of the kind of assignments given and kind of questions asked is very very good. I would refer my friends for this kind of professional things.

CN

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Since I am relatively new to computer science, this course is a little bit hard.

But, overall it's ok and the course also mentioned the similar material is taken by sophomores, juniors and seniors.

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851 - 875 of 997 Reviews for Divide and Conquer, Sorting and Searching, and Randomized Algorithms

By Daniel Z

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Feb 18, 2019

Good introductory course: allows to relatively quickly go through the topic without getting stuck in too much detail; hands on assignments are nice and useful. The slides I feel could be further improved to (i) aid rapid understanding, (ii) be more helpful in problem solving and (iii) have a few more maps back to the bigger picture.

By Rishi B

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Jun 6, 2018

This was a good course, but it is not for people who want to get work done using algorithms. It is pretty math heavy and requires ample amount of dedication and understanding. Some high standard videos like the ones on Graph Theory was not very well explained, I had to see some youtube videos to get a nice understanding about them.

By Chris S

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Mar 7, 2018

I thought the course was well instructed, Tim is a good professor and doesn't give up too many of the answers. I found the probability section needing more review as I didn't come into the course with a statistics background, and I felt that hurt my full comprehension of the material. Other than that, awesome course.

By Weiming H

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May 23, 2018

I really like this course and think that the course is very helpful for me as a non-cs major student to learn more about algorithms.

However, I found it hard to find answers to the quiz and the questions. I tried in the forum but in vain. Might be an improvement of the Coursera system and organization?

By Aniruddha S

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Jul 5, 2020

Excellent course for students to study why and how the popular algorithms work. The course was very much focused on the math behind the algorithms and I felt it could have been better if the course focussed more on real time applications using the algorithms and their implementations with pseudocode.

By Sandesh K A

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Nov 16, 2018

Perfect start for a NOOB, all algorithms are explained in a detailed way. Only draw back i felt which can be addressed in further version is to include few programmatic assignments, so that developers can relate how the algorithm is translated from mathematical equation to running code.

By John Z

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Nov 13, 2017

Sincerely speaking, the lecture is too coarse. It will be more help, if there are more details in lecture. But not only in videos. It is quite waste of time by watching videos one by one. However, by finish this course, I have regained basic algorithm knowledge learned in college.

By Krish R

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Mar 23, 2018

I took this course to understand more the approach of problem solving and less the mathematical analysis. To understand why the things the way they are , Its sufficient to understand conceptual analysis, rather than mathematical analysis , at least for me.

By Ruocheng S

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Sep 13, 2022

The course provides a brief introduction to divide and conquer algorithm. The professor proved the theorems by hand, which makes the course precise and rigorous. The only defect is that there's few lecture about how to implement the algorithms by code.

By Kelvin

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Oct 28, 2017

The course is awesome and explained in details of every topic. However, watching the videos alone is not enough and in my opinion, read the book that the course recommended or look on the internet for relevant reference to support your learning.

By Eldiiar D

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Nov 16, 2020

It would be great to see some implementation with some coding language, not only pseudocode. But overall, it is a great course, I have learned so much! and of course, I started to think differently (dividing every problem into subproblems)!

By Sean S

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Jul 21, 2017

A little too much math than what was anticipated, I would have preferred more of why did the CS choose a divide and conquer approach than proofs. The professor talks faster than I can take notes, it's great that we can stop and rewind.

By Nicolai V

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Aug 21, 2022

Generally, a good course. It has a good explanation of merge sort and quicksort algorithms, and also very good explanation of the master theorem - probably the best I have encountered.

The only con is the ugly hand writing from slides.

By Norman W

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Jun 24, 2018

Yea i think it's good. However, some of the proofs didn't 100% make sense to me and I don't prefer sloppy proofs. I'd like more concrete walkthrough of the proofs. I know that's hard for course that has so much content packed into it.

By Tran C

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May 22, 2021

Mathematical analysis and induction to divide and conquer strategy of the professor are really attractive. Base of a programming language to implement and test the algorithm during the lecture reading is highly recommended.

By Pranav K

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Apr 17, 2020

It is the best course for the above algorithms that I have seen till date.The pace and problems are just perfect.It produces interest in us to learn more.Atlast the course is not that tough nor that easy it is just amazing.

By Khanh N

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Aug 23, 2018

The lecturer explains everything very clearly. All materials are interesting but the assignments are not well-prepared and quite little :( I don't think they can assess learner's understanding and knowledge well enough

By R P

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Mar 31, 2020

It is a great course, but the person needs to be determined to complete the course, and you will also have to refer to a lot of external materials... Tim tried to make the course as interesting as possible...

By Chit T N

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Mar 21, 2022

Since I am relatively new to computer science, this course is a little bit hard.

But, overall it's ok and the course also mentioned the similar material is taken by sophomores, juniors and seniors.

By Ali I C

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Jan 4, 2020

A bit too heavy on the probability and mathematical proof side, otherwise I learned a lot about divide and conquer algorithms and minimum cut as well as the Master Method for algorithm analysis.

By Joe

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Apr 29, 2017

As someone with only (UK) high school level maths I just about managed to follow this. I am still confused by logarithms. I guess I should go and read the maths for computer science resource.

By Gonzalo E

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Apr 8, 2018

I would like a better balance workload from week to week. In my experience it increase every week, so last week I was in a rush, not even being able to go through the optional material.

By Emin E

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Jan 27, 2018

It would be great if lectures and slides would be with better design and to make and record new slides and lectures. Because these lectures seems too old. Everything else is great.

By Pablo J

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Aug 28, 2019

understand that this is intended to be cross code language information, but would also be nice to see examples of non-pseudo code and implemented into at least one language

By Xiaoliu W

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Jul 12, 2020

Nice material. Wish the instructor can go over some part of the material a little slower. Also it would be nice if the solution of the optional questions can be provided.