18.400
Table of contents
- Course Info
- Realistic Prerequisites
- Subject Matter
- Course Staff
- Lectures
- Problem Sets
- Exams
- Resources
- Grading
- Advice to Future Students
Course Info
Class Size | 39 |
Hours/Week | 8.8 (13 responses) |
Instructors | Ronitt Rubinfeld (Lecturer), Damian S. Barabonkov (TA), Linda Z. Gong (TA) |
# of Responses to Course 18 Underground Questions | 6/39 |
Realistic Prerequisites
- It is recommended to have some background in graph theory and algorithms (6.006 and 6.042 material).
- Some experience with writing proofs is also helpful.
Subject Matter
- Course content is theoretical and foundational.
- “Very theoretical, but it is crucial to the CS field as a whole.”
Course Staff
- Students found the course staff very approachable, accommodating, and engaging.
Lectures
- The lectures were well-paced and contained good examples that were helpful to understanding the material.
- “Lecturer did a good job focusing on key things to know and making sure we were learning them.”
Problem Sets
- The course had biweekly psets.
- Students found the psets challenging and requiring some creativity, but generally very doable.
Exams
- Most students found the exams to be of reasonable difficulty. Some problems were challenging, but could be solved by studying and understanding the principles presented in class.
- Students recommend going through practice problems to prepare for the exam.
Resources
- Detailed lecture notes were available.
- Many students found readings from the textbook, Introduction to the Theory of Computation by Prof. Sipser, to be very useful.
Grading
- Students found the grading to be fair but not very transparent.
Advice to Future Students
- “Ask questions and go to office hours”
- “I liked the class, I hope you do too!”