I'm planning on taking Algorithms Part 1 and Part 2 through Coursera to complement my first year computer science (software engineering) courses. I am very much interested in collaborating with other LWers. The first course in the sequence starts August 23. Please let me know if you are interested and what form of collaboration you would be most comfortable with (weekly "book club" posts in Discussion, IRC studyhall, etc... ) if you are.

About the course:

An introduction to fundamental data types, algorithms, and data structures, with emphasis on applications and scientific performance analysis of Java implementations. Specific topics covered include: union-find algorithms; basic iterable data types (stack, queues, and bags); sorting algorithms (quicksort, mergesort, heapsort) and applications; priority queues; binary search trees; red-black trees; hash tables; and symbol-table applications.

Recommended Background:

All you need is a basic familiarity with programming in Java. This course is primarily aimed at first- and second-year undergraduates interested in engineering or science, along with high school students and professionals with an interest (and some background) in programming.

Suggested Readings:

Although the lectures are designed to be self-contained, students wanting to expand their knowledge beyond what we can cover in a 6-week class can find a much more extensive coverage of this topic in our book Algorithms (4th Edition) , published by Addison-Wesley.

Course Format:

There will be two lectures (75 minutes each) each week. The lectures are each broken into about 4-6 pieces, separated by interactive quiz questions for you to to help you process and understand the material. In addition, there will be a problem set and a programming assignment each week and there will be a final exam.