University of California, Berkeley - Extension

Data Structures and Algorithms

The course covers popular data structures—including arrays, linked lists, stacks, queues, hash tables, trees, heaps, and graphs—and associated algorithms for searching, sorting, traversal, shortest paths, and compression. Students study Big O complexity measurement, recursion, dynamic programming, memoization, and data representation in real-world contexts. Demonstrations are conducted in Python, while assignments may be submitted in Python, Java, C, or C++. Learning outcomes include analyzing algorithm complexity, implementing basic and more complex data structures, comparing sorting algorithms, using hash tables for optimized lookup, implementing autocomplete with tries, applying Dijkstra’s algorithm to shortest-path problems, optimizing programs with dynamic programming, and implementing Huffman compression.