Data Structures and Algorithms Design

By Prof. Nitin Saxena | IIT Kanpur

Learners enrolled: 9050 | Exam registration: 332

ABOUT THE COURSE:

The modern economy is run by algorithms. This a first-level course to introduce the students to the world of algorithm design, data structures, analysis, and programming. We'll start with the asymptotics notation which captures time and space of algorithms in the worst-case.

The basic data structures covered are -- array, list, queue, stack, matrix, tree, heap, set, and graph. The algorithmic paradigms covered are -- induction/recursion, divide-conquer, hashing, greedy-method, and dynamic-programming.

In the lectures, the theory will be backed up by numerous practical CS examples. The content is suitable for anyone who is mathematically inclined or computationally curious.

INTENDED AUDIENCE: Computer Science & Engineering, Mathematics, Electronics, Physics, & similar disciplines.

PREREQUISITES: Very good analytical skills.

INDUSTRY SUPPORT: Discrete Optimization, Cryptography/ Cyber Security, Coding theory, Computer Algebra, Symbolic Computing Software, Artificial Intelligence, Learning Software

Summary

Course Status :	Upcoming
Course Type :	Core
Language for course content :	English
Duration :	12 weeks
Category :	Computer Science and Engineering Programming
Credit Points :	3
Level :	Undergraduate/Postgraduate
Start Date :	21 Jul 2025
End Date :	10 Oct 2025
Enrollment Ends :	28 Jul 2025
Exam Registration Ends :	15 Aug 2025
Exam Date :	25 Oct 2025 IST
NCrF Level	4.5 — 8.0

Note: This exam date is subject to change based on seat availability. You can check final exam date on your hall ticket.

Page Visits

Course layout

Week 1: How do clever algorithms look? Introduction

Week 2: Max-sum-subarray in linear-time; Time/Space Complexity and Asymptotics

Week 3: How to write proofs? Super-clever Local-minima in 1D and 2D arrays

Week 4: Abstract Data Structure; Range-minima in 1D array

Week 5: Binary Search Tree (BST) data structure, Height, Balancing

Week 6: LIFO/FIFO, Grid-distance problem; Stack ds, Expression-evaluation

Week 7: BST example: RB tree, Height, Insert, Delete

Week 8: Half-majority, Multiplication, Inversion; Algo.Paradigm: Divide and Conquer

Week 9: BFS, Bipartiteness, DFS; Graph theory and algorithms; DFS tree

Week 10: Articulation points, Biconnectedness; Heap data structure; Dynamic ds

Week 11: Multi-Increment, Range-Min; Set, Disjoint-union, Find; Greedy paradigm

Week 12: I-th-Minima, Median; Dijkstra's algo; Counting sort, Radix sort

Books and references

https://cse.iitk.ac.in/pages/ESO207.html

Text Book:

TH Cormen, CF Leiserson, RL Rivest, C Stein, Introduction to Algorithms, 3rd Ed., MIT Press, 2009.

Instructor bio

Prof. Nitin Saxena

IIT Kanpur

https://www.cse.iitk.ac.in/users/nitin/about.html

Prof. Nitin Saxena did B.Tech in CSE from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur in 2002 and Ph.D. in the same department, under Manindra Agrawal, in 2006. He is broadly interested in Algebraic Complexity, Computational Algebra, Geometry, Number Theory, Cryptography and Learning theory.

He was a visiting graduate student in Princeton University (2003-2004) and National University of Singapore (2004-2005); a postdoc at CWI, Amsterdam (2006-2008) and a Bonn Junior Fellow (W2 Professor) at Hausdorff Center for Mathematics, Bonn (2008-2013). Since April 2013, he is a faculty in CSE, IIT Kanpur. He is a founding Coordinator of the "Center for Developing Intelligent Systems" (CDIS) since 2022 -- a new entity to solve governance problems at scale.

He has two of the most prestigious honors in the field of theoretical computer science and discrete mathematics -- Gödel Prize (2006) and Fulkerson Prize (2006) -- being the youngest Gödel Prize winner. He is a recipient of numerous other prestigious awards including the Distinguished Alumnus Award (2003, IIT Kanpur), INSA Young Scientist Medal (2015), SwarnaJayanti Fellowship (2013-14), Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award in Mathematical Sciences (2018), IIT Bombay International Award (2023); J.C.Bose.Fellowship (2023). He is a Fellow of INSA, IASc, NASI, and INAE.

In 2022, he was profiled by DST (Ministry of S&T, India) in the list of “75 Scientists under 50 shaping today’s India”. In 2009, he was voted one of the top 50 alumni by the IIT Kanpur Alumni Association to celebrate 50 years of the institute.

Course certificate

The course is free to enroll and learn from. But if you want a certificate, you have to register and write the proctored exam conducted by us in person at any of the designated exam centres.

The exam is optional for a fee of Rs 1000/- (Rupees one thousand only).

Date and Time of Exams: October 25, 2025 Morning session 9am to 12 noon; Afternoon Session 2pm to 5pm.

Registration url: Announcements will be made when the registration form is open for registrations.

The online registration form has to be filled and the certification exam fee needs to be paid. More details will be made available when the exam registration form is published. If there are any changes, it will be mentioned then.

Please check the form for more details on the cities where the exams will be held, the conditions you agree to when you fill the form etc.

CRITERIA TO GET A CERTIFICATE

Average assignment score = 25% of average of best 8 assignments out of the total 12 assignments given in the course.
Exam score = 75% of the proctored certification exam score out of 100

Final score = Average assignment score + Exam score

Please note that assignments encompass all types (including quizzes, programming tasks, and essay submissions) available in the specific week.

YOU WILL BE ELIGIBLE FOR A CERTIFICATE ONLY IF AVERAGE ASSIGNMENT SCORE >=10/25 AND EXAM SCORE >= 30/75. If one of the 2 criteria is not met, you will not get the certificate even if the Final score >= 40/100.

Certificate will have your name, photograph and the score in the final exam with the breakup.It will have the logos of NPTEL and IIT Kanpur .It will be e-verifiable at nptel.ac.in/noc.

Only the e-certificate will be made available. Hard copies will not be dispatched.

Once again, thanks for your interest in our online courses and certification. Happy learning.

- NPTEL team

SWAYAM Helpline / Support