COMP2521 Notices

Robux Winners Drawn

Posted by Henry Hickman Friday 29 May 2026, 11:45:07 AM.

Robux winners have been drawn and emailed. Keep an eye on your inbox.

Cheers,
Henry

Exam Debrief is Live

Posted by Henry Hickman Friday 22 May 2026, 02:31:24 PM, last modified Friday 22 May 2026, 02:31:58 PM.

Hey all,

I've made a YouTube video going over the exam, in case you're curious about common pitfalls, and where things may have gone awry.

Let me know what you think!

Video is Here!!

Cheers,
Henry

Exam Debrief

Posted by Henry Hickman Thursday 21 May 2026, 11:25:22 PM.

Kia ora koutou,

COMP2521 may be over for the term, but that doesn't mean the fun has to stop. I've been getting a lot of emails from students (keep 'em coming) asking for clarifications on their exam results. So I figured, in the spirit of transparent assessment, I would do an exam debrief.

This is a new experiment, never been done in this course, that I hope will help alleviate concerns and answer some queries I've been getting, while making sure everyone has access to the same information. Equitable assessment is a big research area of mine, so I like to do what I can, when I can.

This will take the form of a YouTube video, where I'll walk through each question of the exam, explain the logic behind answers, and some common pitfalls. This will NOT be a step-by-step guide to the exam. I will NOT be providing sample answers directly. This will instead be a high-level overview, that hopefully helps clarify results, and improve your overall understanding should you wish to apply for a review of results, or are just curious about my thought process when writing exams.

I'm aiming to get this done by the end of tomorrow, with this being pending on how much editing and how many Survivor clips I feel like inserting into the video.

I'll do another post when it goes live, but figured I'd give you a heads up that information is coming if you are curious or worried. Please let me know in the comments of the video (when it goes live) if you want more stuff like it in future instances of the course.

I'll keep ya posted,
Henry

Exam Results Tomorrow (+ Robux Redraw)

Posted by Henry Hickman Wednesday 20 May 2026, 11:39:03 AM.

Hi everyone,

Exam results are coming out tomorrow. I hope you've all gotten a chance to rest and relax, and I'm rooting for you to get the result you're after!
As a quick reminder, please direct any queries about exam results to cs2521@cse.unsw.edu.au . This ensures that all of the relevant staff members see your query, allows us to better organise our responses, and ensures internal consistency when helping in this potentially stressful time. We will happily provide a marks breakdown via email if you request it.

Also, no one claimed the Robux. I have 2 $10 Robux gift-cards just sitting in my apartment, and I don't even play...okay that's slightly untrue, I do play Outlaster sometimes. It's like Roblox Survivor! But anyway, we're doing one last draw!

Please put your zID in this Google Form if you want a chance to win. I will draw two winners during O-Week.

Thanks again everyone for making this a great term, I've had a lot of fun, I hope you have too! Wishing you all the best of luck.

Bye for now,
Henry

myExperience Topic Reveal

Posted by Henry Hickman Thursday 30 April 2026, 11:24:43 AM.

Kia ora koutou,

As of today, we reached 60% in myExperience. For 50%, I went over 5 programming questions, one of which will be in the exam itself.
For 60%, I am now revealing one topic, which a programming question in the final exam will be covering.

One programming question in the final exam will involve exploring connections between nodes to determine a desired route.

I look forward to seeing you all Monday!

-Henry

P.S Aiden L still has not claimed their Robux Giftcard. I can confirm they subscribed in 2026 and are likely in the class. Reach out before Monday or we'll do the re-draw.

Uploaded Code and Updated Slides

Posted by Henry Hickman Wednesday 22 April 2026, 02:21:52 PM.

Hi all,

We had a spirited discussion in the lecture about whether I would upload the answer code to the questions I worked through in today's lecture. We concluded that uploading the answer code kind of defeats the purpose. If you want to effectively study, you should work through the problems, and if you want to check your answer, you should run the test cases, or you should watch the lecture to revise and see my thought process.

Also, a few people pointed out some mistakes in the slides, I have corrected those! I will patent this as another certified pedagogy moment.

Remember to come to the help sessions today! Details are in the slides.

Cheers, thanks for an amazing term, and best of luck on the exam!

-Henry

CPMSoc Graph Theory Workshop

Posted by Henry Hickman Monday 20 April 2026, 12:07:48 PM.

Are you afraid of graphs?
Do you want more help understanding graphs?
I know the answer is probably yes, considering that most of the responses I got about what we should revise concerned graphs!

If that's the case, go to the CPMSoc Graph Theory Workshop on Wednesday! Details are in the image below!

See you all tomorrow!
-Henry

myExperience - Please fill out

Posted by Henry Hickman Monday 13 April 2026, 10:37:59 AM.

Hello everyone,

myExperiene is ready and available for you to fill out.

https://go.blueja.io/jjsF2vW6eUC8QziDp8nUGg

Please do it.

I will be presenting the list of incentives for filling out myExperience in the lecture tomorrow, but the most exciting one requires a high enough threshold to be reached BEFORE THE FINAL LECTURE. Trust me, you want to reach the target.

Say good things, say bad things, say secret third things, as long as you fill out the survey, I am happy.

See you all tomorrow!

-Henry

Lost property

Posted by Kevin Luxa 🦉 Tuesday 31 March 2026, 12:07:58 PM.

Hi everyone,

Some lost property was handed in to me at the end of today's lecture. If it belongs to you, you can pick it up at the Gate 2 Security Office.

Week 7 Friday public holiday

Posted by Kevin Luxa 🦉 Friday 27 March 2026, 12:56:26 PM.

Hi everyone,

I hope you are all well!

This is a reminder that next Friday is a public holiday, so classes will not be running on that day.

If you usually attend a Friday class, you are welcome to attend a class on a different day (see the timetable ). If you need to get Lab 4 marked, then please make sure to attend a different lab to get your lab marked, as the handmarking deadline will not be extended to week 8.

Assignment 1 update

Posted by Kevin Luxa 🦉 Sunday 22 March 2026, 02:54:34 PM.

Hi everyone,

Please note that we have updated the assignment 1 spec - the Journal section now goes into more detail about what is expected.

I hope you enjoy your flex week!

A few updates

Posted by Kevin Luxa 🦉 Monday 09 March 2026, 09:48:37 AM.

Hi everyone,

Here are some important updates:

• If you received an email saying that handmarking for lab03 is due this week, please note that this is a mistake - handmarking for lab03 can be done this week or next week. Sorry for the confusion!
• Last Thursday from about 5:45pm onwards, CSE servers were down, so if you were in these classes you may have not been able to get lab01 marked. Therefore, we will allow students enrolled in H16A, H16B, H17A and H18A to get their lab01 marked this week.

New lab marking system

Posted by Kevin Luxa 🦉 Tuesday 03 March 2026, 08:46:29 AM.

Hi everyone,

This week, we will be trialing a new lab marking system !

With this new system, there will be one main change to how handmarking works, which is that you'll need to create a marking request in the system before a tutor marks you. For more details on how to use the system, please see this guide .

You can access the system by clicking the "Lab Marking System" link in the sidebar.

Welcome to COMP2521!!!

Posted by Henry Hickman Monday 16 February 2026, 09:38:36 AM.

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

• To those of you joining us for the first time - Welcome! To those of you returning - Welcome Back!
• All the information about the course, including lectures, tutorials, labs, assignments, can be found on the course website ...which you should be on if you're reading this...
• 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 tomorrow! Tuesday 17th of February at 9am, we will all be very awake. This lecture will be in the Science Theater .
• The second lecture will be in E19 Patricia O'Shane 104 , this is a different room. It is also a different time, being at 11am on a Wednesday.
• If all goes well, all lectures will be streamed to YouTube as well. The link to the livestream will be available on the lecture page . The lecture slides for each week can also be found there.
  • Lecture slides will be posted as soon as they are completed. We are considering posting old lecture slides as well, for students that want to read ahead. Please note content may differ slightly.
• Tutorials and labs start in week 1. Make sure you know your tutorial time and location.
• If you have any questions, now or at any point in the course, you can ask them on the course forum and our wonderful, dedicated team of admins and tutors will gladly help you out.

I look forward to seeing everyone bright and early tomorrow!

Kind regards,

Henry Hickman