CO 452Integer Programming
- Units
- 0.50
- Faculty
- Mathematics
When it runs
- F24
- W25
- S25
- F25
- W26
- S26
- F26
- W27
- S27
Ran in 1 of the last 7 terms. Winter 2027: scheduled, 2 lecture sections. Spring 2027: schedule not out yet.
Formulation of problems as integer linear programs. Solution by branch-and-bound and cutting plane algorithms. Introduction to the theory of valid inequalities and polyhedral combinatorics.
Prerequisites
Antirequisites
None listed.
Leads to
No course lists it as a requisite.
Winter 2027 sections
| Section | Class | Enrolled | Meets |
|---|---|---|---|
| LEC 001 | 7262 | 0 / 20 | MW 10:00–11:20 |
| LEC 701 | 8169 | 6 / 9999 | Online or by arrangement |
Reviewed on UW Flow
50% liked it0% easy50% useful
From 2 ratings and 1 comment on UW Flow. The most helpful comments, quoted as written, without names. Read them all on UW Flow.
A proof-heavy course covering the foundations of integer programming and some popular algorithms. The prereqs for the course are CO 255 or CO 351, The course heavily relied on intuition involving affine/convex/etc. sets and hulls that was covered in CO255 but not CO 351 (which I took). As a result, despite a couple of weeks of reviewing these concepts I felt like I was significantly behind and I wasn't able to recover. The prerequisites for this course should change to reflect this, or spend more time at the beginning of the course reviewing these concepts. I was also hoping for more discussion about the applications of integer programming, however the course was mostly theoretical with a…
Mar 2025 · didn’t like itOn UW FlowRemove this
Discussed on r/uwaterloo
8 posts and comments in 7 threads mention CO 452, 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.
Fall 2024
Manageable Course Load 1 point, 1 comment
u/DidYouTrainNeckToday: “Going into 4a. How realistic/manageable is this course load: CO452, CO481, CO463, STAT443, MTHEL300.?For context I didn't take advanced courses in first/second year and I'm about an 80% average student. Thanks.”
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.”
Winter 2017
Good CO courses? 4 points, 7 comments
“Wondering if there are any good CO courses that anyone would recommend? Also would you recommend taking the prerequisites or just override them, this is coming from a student that's not in the math …”
u/RecurrentWalk: “… Other optimization courses: CO 367, 452, 454, 463, 466, 471 I don't know much about these. The topics seem interesting and I've heard good things about the 400-level optimization courses (with the exception of scheduling, I haven't heard anything about that one). …”
Fall 2016
Best CO courses? 6 points, 5 comments
“Took 250. Interested in upper year CO courses.”
u/maaaath: “… CO 452 (integer programming): Depending on your offering of 250, you may have seen some of this already. IPs are way harder (NP-hard, even) to solve than LPs, and the theory of solving them is complex. …”
Spring 2016
Studying CO as a CS major 6 points, 7 comments
“When would studying CO be beneficial to a CS major, other than for grad school? I've done CO 250 and loved it, but not sure how much it will help me to continue on with higher CO classes. …”
u/maaaath: “… I've found that CO generally has much better algorithms courses than CS (in particular, CO 450, CO 452, and some offerings of CO 255), largely because the students are willing/able to actually do math. …”
Winter 2016
Geomatics to now be offered under the math faculty for 2016-17, students in the Geomatics in the environment faculty can transfer given few prerequisites 105 points, 19 comments
u/Huex3: “… 367 Nonlinear Optimization CO 370 Deterministic OR Models CO 450 Combinatorial Optimization CO 452 Integer Programming CO 453 Network Design Notes: CS 240 requires CS 245 and 246 as prerequisites, CS 241 requires CS 246 as a prerequisite. …”
Fall 2011
Any tips for getting involved in research / generally planning for grad school applications? (C&O) 3 points, 5 comments
“I've been told that you can talk to your professors to see if they, or anyone they know, need a research assistant, and that this can be very helpful when it comes to being accepted into graduate …”
u/JodoYodo: “Heyo I'm a C&O Masters student, I'll chime in a bit on this. I started networking with profs around my 2nd year, not in a really deep sense but just getting to know them. …”
u/JodoYodo: “I'll be honest, I wouldn't count on it unless you've taken a lot of cross-listed grad courses like CO 452/652 or CO 450/650 and done okay in them. If you've just been taking regular undergrad courses and your average is below 80, your chances aren't great. …”
Check it elsewhere for Fall 2026
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