Week 1 of algorithms

I have just finished the first week of the coursera course Algorithms, Part I.

We learned about the union find algorithm and how to do some basic analysis of algorithms. I enjoyed the presentation of the union find algorithm (from an initailly naive implementation to a more robust final solution). The material on analyzing an algorithm is of course important, but a little drier and less fun for me.

The quizzes were helpful in forcing me to work through the gritty details of the lectures again. It often took me about 3 tries for each quiz before I got a perfect score. I think each failed attempt forced me to really think about the material.

I didn't really enjoy the programming assignment this week. Setting up the IDE was a chore. The assignment wasn't really about algorithms. It was more about using an API than understanding algorithms.

One of my worries before starting the course was whether I'd have enough time to do all the work. After one week, I'm still worried. I finished all of the work for this week before the next lecutre comes out tomorrow, but it was close. I didn't have much time to review the optional job interview questions. If the material gets more challenging, I may run out of time. To give myself some more leeway, I think I'll have to cover more material on the weekend.