CS 491 — Competitive Algorithmic Programming

When I first became the coach for ICPC, I discovered the graduate student coaches had created a one credit hour course to go over the algorithms that come up in programming contests. I decided to start there and build it into a formal course with objectives and assignments.

My biggest surprise in teaching this course has been understanding what was possible. My assumption was that the course would appeal to students who were new to competitive programming, and that this would get them started. What I did not expect was when a student mentioned — on the way back from world finals — that their start in competitive programming was this class. (I did not ask if it was my version or the GTAs' version.)

If you are curious about the course you can see the most recent semester here.