CO 450Combinatorial Optimization
- Units
- 0.50
- Faculty
- Mathematics
When it runs
- F24
- W25
- S25
- F25
- W26
- S26
- F26
- W27
- S27
Ran in 3 of the last 7 terms. Winter 2027: not on the schedule. Spring 2027: schedule not out yet.
Characterizations of optimal solutions and efficient algorithms for optimization problems over discrete structures. Topics include network flows, optimal matchings, T-joins and postman tours, matroid optimization.
Prerequisites
Antirequisites
None listed.
Leads to
No course lists it as a requisite.
Fall 2026 sections
| Section | Class | Enrolled | Meets |
|---|---|---|---|
| LEC 001 | 5962 | 12 / 15 | TTh 14:30–15:50 |
Resources
Around the web
Found by uwloo’s link finder, which checks that each page names CO 450.
- Course Notes Course notes · david-duan.me · posted on r/uwaterloo Mar 2022 Remove
Reviewed on UW Flow
100% liked it38% easy100% useful
From 6 ratings and 2 comments on UW Flow. The most helpful comments, quoted as written, without names. Read them all on UW Flow.
(Swamy 2024) : Very time consuming assignments but with a lot of bonuses. Assignment questions are very nice but writing algorithm formally is so fucking annoying. Bonus assignment had very neat questions. Swamy is a good lecturer, he tries to give the intuition behind the proofs first and the reason why someone should think about this method. He also provides a lot of applications which was cool. We covered matroids, flows (+ Karger and Gomory-Hu) and matchings in depth. Proofs are hard but other than the weighted Blossom algorithm, everything else was kinda fine. I will shout if I see maximum weighted matching again.
Dec 2024 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this
Lots of work, but the applied algorithms to combinatorial structure (mostly graphs) was pretty cool.
Nov 2014 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this
Discussed on r/uwaterloo
27 posts and comments in 24 threads mention CO 450, October 2011 to December 2024. Quoted word for word, newest first; each reply sits under the post and the comment that started its branch. Search r/uwaterloo for newer posts.
Spring 2024
Best CO minor courses to take outside of the requirements? 3 points, 7 comments
“What are some recommendations? I'd like to choose mainly based on how useful/interesting the courses are, but wouldn't want them to be overly difficult either. TIA!”
u/batson2002: “co courses and overly difficult aren’t really words that go together, the courses you’ve listed are generally quite difficult (367 being the hardest imo). …”
u/mreifslp: “Do you know how CO 351 and CO 367 compare in difficulty and content to CO 450, CO 463, and CO 466?”
CO 456 and CO 367 or CO 351 6 points, 4 comments
“As the title suggests how doable would it be for me to do CO 456 along with CO 367 or CO 351? And can anyone give me a rundown on the difficulty between these 3? …”
u/mreifslp: “… I really like optimization and I'm debating between taking CO 450 (combinatorial optimization), 463 (convex optimization), and 466 (continuous optimization), or taking three of CO 351, 367, 450, 463, and 466. …”
2A math courses selection how doable is five major courses? 10 points, 13 comments
“Honours Math, for 2A courses selection I'm choosing between the following two plans Plan A: Math 237 Stat 230 CO 250 CS246 + CLAS104 Plan B: Math 237 Stat 230 CO 250 CS246 + Math235 given that i'm …”
u/KLWG-: “I do CO330/431/456/450/442 and ECON102 in my 3B. I suggest to try how far you can go and drop some if you feel burned out.”
Winter 2020
What’s your favourite class that you’ve taken, and why? 29 points, 37 comments
u/OnlyJustOnce: “CO 450 and CO 487. 487 because Menezes it literally the best UW prof and the concepts are interesting and applicable. CO 450 was just a fun course and was a very rewarding experience whenever I finished an assignment. Also HIST 242 taught by Ron Kroeker.”
Spring 2019
CO 450/650 (Combinatorial Optimization) with Chaitanya Swamy? 7 points, 2 comments
u/AllenHW: “Do people have ideas about either the course (Combinatorial Optimization) or the instructor (Chaitanya Swamy)?https://uwflow.com/course/co450 Difficulty level, relative to other 400-level courses, style of the prof, etc. Thanks!”
Fall 2018
Marks not out thread 35 points, 57 comments
“What are you guys waiting on”
u/matty961: “CO 342, CO 450, CO 466, PMATH 347”
Spring 2018
What first year CS course to take? 3 points, 7 comments
“hey guys I'm a transferred student to Bmath and my academic advisor recommended me to take CS115 in this fall but I don't know if this will actually improve my CS skills. …”
u/daga2222: “… Take Math 235, Math 239, CO 250, CO 351, CO 353, CO 450 (hard), CO 454, CO 487. Take non-major CS courses CS 230, CS 231, CS 234, CS 338, CS 431, CS 436. …”
Fall 2017
C&O Course Suggestions? 8 points, 12 comments
“Interested in pursuing a minor in CO which requires three 3rd/4th year CO courses. To CO majors: which courses do you recommend?”
u/GenesisTK: “From the ones that look super cool: CO 446, CO 434, CO 450, CO 471, CO 463, CO 452, CO 466.”
u/maaaath: “CO 255 > CO 471 > CO 450 > CO 463 > CO 452 > CO 481 >>> CO 342 >>> every other 3rd year course and CO 250 CO 342 is decent, everything left of it is good-excellent, and everything right of it is bad. CO 450 and CO 342 are particularly useful for CS majors.”
Are my 3A and 3B terms doable? 1 point, 2 comments
u/isthisdoable: “I was planning out my schedule in advance and since i am in sequence 3 my course selections are pretty restricted 3A CO255 CO331 CS341 CS350 CS348 3B CO351 CO442 CO450 ECON212 CO456 (doing joint co and cs)”
CO 255, Any experiences? 5 points, 11 comments
“Hey /r/uwaterloo, I will be joining Waterloo next Winter as an Exchange Student and I am finalizing my course selection. Can someone share his/her experiences on CO255? …”
u/GenesisTK: “… CO 450 is really sick too, and it's more to do with the algorithms that most Algorithms courses teach.”
Any way to disable UWCourseLinker from posting? 16 points, 26 comments
“posting a reply to my comment I find the bot annoying.”
u/Jackhofmann: “PSYCH 483 PSYCH 484 PSYCH 485 PSYCH 486 PSYCH 490R PSYCH 499A PSYCH 499B PSYCH 499C PSYCH 621 PSYCH 630 PSYCH 677A PSYCH 704A PSYCH 704B PSYCH 707 PSYCH 710 PSYCH 714 PSYCH 717 PSYCH 720A PSYCH 721A …”
u/Jackhofmann: “… 770 CMW 202 CMW 363 CO 227 CO 250 CO 255 CO 330 CO 342 CO 351 CO 367 CO 370 CO 372 CO 442 CO 450 CO 456 CO 485 CO 499 CO 602 CO 642 CO 650 CO 681 CO 685 CO 739 CO 749 CO 750 CO 789 COGSCI 300 COGSCI 600 COMM 231 COMM 421 COMM 431 COMM 433 COOP 1 COOP 10 COOP 12 COOP 1G COOP 2 …”
Interesting 300/400 level math courses to take 0 points, 40 comments
“I'm doing a stats major but also have some room for other math courses. What're some of the more interesting non-stats math courses you guys have taken? …”
u/GenesisTK: “… CO 450: Pretty hard, but definitely a lot of fun. CO 446: Matroids are insanely cool, I haven't taken this course (I'm on co-op every summer), but I did work through the first bits of the course and it is super cool. PMATH 464: Haven't taken but sounds cool af. …”
Check it elsewhere for Fall 2026
- Undergraduate Calendar, 2026–27The official entry
- Requirements for Fall 2026Waterloo’s requisite checker
- Schedule of Classes, Fall 2026Instructors, rooms, live seats
- Quest Class SearchWhere you enrol
- Course outlinesSyllabi from past terms (UW login)
- UW FlowStudent ratings and reviews
- WClassesPast sections back to 2004, and who taught them