Notices

  • Last chance to fill out myExperience!

    Posted by Sim Mautner Thursday 14 August 2025, 01:17:59 PM.

    Hi everyone,

    You have only 9 more hours to fill out myExperience. At this point in time 53.3% of students have filled it out. At 60% you get an extra hint in the exam. Also, we get more of your feedback - which is good for us.

    So please do the thing.

    Cheers,

    Sim.

  • Assignment 2 Automarking

    Posted by Kevin Luxa 🦉 Wednesday 13 August 2025, 11:15:49 PM.

    Hi everyone,

    Assignment 2 automarking has been released! Please check the pinned forum post for more details.

  • myExperience

    Posted by Kevin Luxa 🦉 Tuesday 12 August 2025, 03:05:50 PM.

    Please complete your myExperience survey ! The survey closes at 11:59pm on Thursday 14th August.

    The current response rate is 33.6% - thanks to everyone who has completed the survey so far. Starting from a response rate of 60% (and every 10% after), we'll add a hint to one programming question in the exam!

    A hint could be the difference between passing and having to retake the course, so go and complete the survey as soon as you can!

  • Today's Revision Lecture

    Posted by Sim Mautner Monday 11 August 2025, 03:39:21 PM.

    Today's lecture has been added to the YouTube playlist with all lectures

  • How to Check My Algorithm Knowledge

    Posted by Sim Mautner Friday 08 August 2025, 01:15:41 PM.

    Hi everyone,

    In the past week I've referenced a document I shared during the term. It helps plan out which algorithms you know and how well.

    I'm attaching here my (very incomplete) document which can guide you on this journey. Please make sure to update it to include the algorithms we covered later in the term if you wish to use it as a study guide.

    How to Check My Algorithm Knowledge

    Along with this, I recommend you watch my explanation of the document and how to use it: YouTube Video of Explanation

    All the best with your studying,

    Sim.

  • Additional Revision Lecture - Monday 11am to 1pm

    Posted by Sim Mautner Thursday 07 August 2025, 10:09:42 AM.

    Hi everyone,

    Back by popular demand, I'm running another revision and exam preparation lecture.

    Monday 11th August
    11am-1pm
    Online only: https://unsw.zoom.us/my/sim.mautner

    This lecture will be primarily (if not entirely) focused on doing practical programming questions.

    If there are specific questions you'd like me to cover, please enter them here . You can submit this form multiple times.

    I'm accepting requests for theory as well as programming questions, though I'll prioritise programming questions over theory ones. I'll also not be doing any questions from the Sample Exam at this point (if you'd like another session to cover those, I'll do one within the 13th or 14th). (On that topic, I'm away 15th-18th August so won't be available for much revision after the 14th.)

  • Today's Lecture - slides are up

    Posted by Sim Mautner Wednesday 06 August 2025, 12:03:04 PM.

    Hi everyone,

    Slides have now been released for today's lecture.

    Also, today's lecture will be on YouTube (link on the lectures page) rather than Zoom (I mentioned differently previously).

    I'm looking forward to seeing you all :)

    Sim.

  • Topics for Wednesday's lecture

    Posted by Sim Mautner Wednesday 06 August 2025, 10:01:36 AM.

    Hi everyone,

    Based on the data that I was able to collect, I'm going to prepare the following topics for today's lecture (though will remain flexible about it):

    1. Hamiltonian path algorithm
    2. Practical differences between singly and doubly linked lists
    3. Sample exam questions both theory and practical

  • Wednesday's Lecture

    Posted by Sim Mautner Tuesday 05 August 2025, 07:41:19 PM.

    Hi everyone,

    It turns out my collection of requests for what to do in tomorrow's lecture failed spectacularly.

    The biggest impact of this is that I'm currently unable to provide a clear and solid plan for what we will cover in the lecture.

    For requests which have been covered in lecture material, I will write up references to where you can find answers. For questions not yet covered in lecture material I will prioritise spending time on that in tomorrow's lecture. In particular, I'll be sure to cover some past programming and theory exam questions.

    I'll also allow the students in attendance (both in person and online) to vote on what we cover.

    The lecture will be at 2pm in Keith Burrows Theatre (and live on Zoom - I'll update the link). (Zoom and lecture theatre to allow for instant Q&A and voting.)

    Cheers,

    Sim.

  • Voting is now open for Wednesday's lecture content!! :)

    Posted by Sim Mautner Monday 04 August 2025, 08:28:06 PM.

    Thank you to everyone who put forward requests for Wednesday's revision lecture!! If we find that there is a lot of content which people would like covered, I'm happy to do more revision next week too.

    For starters, I'm going to give you the form. I know there's a lot there, please take your time to give your best response. If it's all too much, just make sure your highest priorities are near the top and your lowest priorities are near the bottom. (The summary of your data will give me the average ranking for each item and we will go from the highest ranked (#1) down - with some input of my discretion.)

    Here's the link to have your say :)

    I'll announce the poll results on Tuesday evening.

    Cheers,

    Sim.

  • Expression of interest and content requests for Wednesday's lecture

    Posted by Sim Mautner Monday 04 August 2025, 10:10:17 AM.

    Hi everyone,

    The content which will be provided in Wednesday's lecture will be by student request.

    The process is:
    1. Monday: Fill out this form to indicate if you intend to attend (in person or online) and what content you'd like covered. Be as specific as possible. (Do this before 7pm for maximum chances of your request being included in step 2.)
    2. Tuesday: All requests** entered on the form will be released in a poll for students to vote on which one(s) they'd most value being covered in Wednesday's lecture.
    3. Tuesday evening: I will announce the content which will be covered in Wednesday's lecture.

    ** Broad requests such as "AVL Trees" will not be accepted. In these situations, the recommendation will be to go watch the recorded lectures again. Specific requests such as "How to insert into an AVL tree" or any specific theory or programming question within the scope of the course, will be accepted.

  • Registration for today's 1pm consultation

    Posted by Sim Mautner Monday 04 August 2025, 09:54:29 AM.

    If you intend to attend today's consultation, please fill out this form by 12:50pm.

  • Registration for today's 1pm consultation

    Posted by Sim Mautner Monday 28 July 2025, 09:37:38 AM.

    If you intend to attend today's consultation, please fill out this form by 12:50pm.

    Also, consultations still run on weeks when I don't put out this form, but people haven't been showing up. I'd rather only run consultations when people are going to show up.

  • Assignment 1 Automarking

    Posted by Kevin Luxa 🦉 Monday 21 July 2025, 11:06:54 AM.

    Hi everyone,

    Assignment 1 automarking has been released! Please check the pinned forum post for more details.

  • Registration for today's 1pm consultation

    Posted by Sim Mautner Monday 21 July 2025, 08:34:21 AM, last modified Monday 21 July 2025, 10:05:20 AM.

    If you intend to attend today's consultation, please fill out this form by 12:50pm.

    Also, consultations still run on weeks when I don't put out this form, but people haven't been showing up. I'd rather only run consultations when people are going to show up.

    (Edited at 10:05am to ensure the link is correct.)

  • Wednesday Lecture - Online via Zoom

    Posted by Sim Mautner Tuesday 01 July 2025, 07:57:13 PM.

    Wednesday's lecture will be held online via Zoom (not YouTube). The link will be posted on the lectures page tomorrow, before the lecture.

    The lecture will be recorded and uploaded to the YouTube playlist of all our 2521 lectures, after the lecture.

    Hopefully our in-person lectures can resume in week 7.

    Looking forward to seeing you all there.

  • Severe Weather Continues - Wednesday classes moved online

    Posted by Ethan Brown 💜 Tuesday 01 July 2025, 07:15:54 PM.

    Hi everyone,

    The severe weather warning is expected to continue through Wednesday 02/07, so again, classes will be online tomorrow. If you have a tutorial and lab tomorrow, please attend online at the same time, via blackboard collaborate accessed through Moodle. Lectures are live-streamed and the link can be found on WebCMS.

    Stay safe!

  • Severe Weather - Tuesday classes moved online

    Posted by Ethan Brown 💜 Monday 30 June 2025, 05:59:21 PM.

    Hi everyone,

    Due to a severe weather warning in Sydney tomorrow, all Tuesday 01/07 classes have been moved online. Please do not travel to university tomorrow unless absolutely necessary. Your COMP2521 tutorials and labs tomorrow will be run via blackboard collaborate instead, which can be accessed via Moodle. Similarly, the 4-6pm help session has been moved online.

    Stay safe!

  • Registration for today's 1pm consultation

    Posted by Sim Mautner Monday 30 June 2025, 10:16:48 AM.

    If you intend to attend today's consultation, please fill out this form by 12:50pm.

  • Monday's Lecture

    Posted by Sim Mautner Saturday 07 June 2025, 06:32:26 PM.

    Hi everyone,

    This Monday 9th of June is a public holiday. There's no official class, but we also don't want to miss 2 hours of lecture. So the lecture will be held at its usual time, 11am-1pm on Monday, but it will be held online via Zoom. Please attend if you can. If you can't attend, please watch the recording before the lecture at 2pm on Wednesday.

    Location: Sim's Zoom Room
    Day: Monday 9th June
    Time: 11am-1pm
    Content: Introduction to sorting, Elementary sorting, Divide-and-conquer sorting

    I hope you enjoy the rest of your long weekend. I'll see you online on Monday and back in-person on Wednesday.

    Cheers,
    Sim.
    :)


  • Linked List Revision Lecture

    Posted by Sim Mautner Wednesday 04 June 2025, 04:08:59 PM.

    Hi everyone,

    This Friday 6th June, 10am-12pm I will hold a revision lecture covering Linked Lists.

    Topic: Linked Lists Revision
    Location: Sim's Zoom Room (If more than 300 students show up we will have to move across to YouTube, but until then, Zoom allows us to have more instantaneous interactions.)
    Date: Friday 6th June
    Time: 10am-12pm

    Yes, it will be recorded, uploaded and included in our YouTube playlist for whoever cannot attend.

    There are many different ways I can approach the lecture, so please have in mind what would suit you best.

    • Teaching linked lists from the beginning
    • Going over, explaining, more complicated/challenging functions from linked lists
    • Talking about different ways of implementing linked lists and the strengths and weaknesses of each
    • Being given a question to attempt, then I can take someone's code which isn't working and demonstrate some helpful ways to debug linked list code

    These are just suggestions. My preference will be to adapt my teaching content and style to the students in attendance on Friday.

    I look forward to seeing many of you there.

    Cheers,

    Sim.
    :)




  • Left your earphone and case in lecture?

    Posted by Sim Mautner Wednesday 04 June 2025, 03:57:25 PM.

    To whoever left their earphone and case in the lecture - I've left it at the front of the lecture theatre on the lecturer's desk.

  • Welcome to COMP2521 25T2!

    Posted by Sim Mautner Wednesday 21 May 2025, 09:41:55 PM.

    Hello everyone and welcome to COMP2521: Data Structures and Algorithms !

    • If you haven't already, please read through the course outline , as it details everything important, including what topics we'll cover, when we'll cover them, and how you'll be assessed.
    • The first lecture is on Monday 2nd of June, 11am-1pm. The lecture will be in Keith Burrows Theatre , and if all goes well, it will be streamed to YouTube as well. The link to the livestream will be available on the lectures page .
    • The forum will be set up sometime between now and our first lecture. Once it's ready, please join the forum by clicking the Join the Forum link in the sidebar!
    • Tutorials and labs start in week 1. Make sure you know your tutorial time and location . If you are in an online tutorial, these are held on Blackboard Collaborate, which you can learn how to access here .

    I look forward to meeting you all :)

    Cheers,

    Sim.


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