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CS 466Algorithm Design and Analysis

Units
0.50
Faculty
Mathematics
Subject
Computer Science

When it runs

  1. F24
  2. W25
  3. S25
  4. F25
  5. W26
  6. S26
  7. F26
  8. W27
  9. S27

Ran in 5 of the last 7 terms. Winter 2027: not on the schedule. Spring 2027: schedule not out yet.

Algorithmic approaches and methods of assessment that reflect a broad spectrum of criteria, including randomized algorithms, amortized analysis, lower bounds, approximation algorithms, and on-line algorithms. Particular examples will be chosen from different areas of active research and application.

Prerequisites

Antirequisites

None listed.

Leads to

No course lists it as a requisite.

Fall 2026 sections

Enrolment from UW Open Data, which can trail Quest by up to two days. Instructors and rooms: Schedule of Classes.
SectionClassEnrolledMeets
LEC 001600842 / 60MW 08:30–09:50
TST 101667342 / 60Oct 27 19:00–20:50

Resources

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Reviewed on UW Flow

74% liked it42% easy69% useful

From 87 ratings and 29 comments on UW Flow. The most helpful comments, quoted as written, without names. Read them all on UW Flow.

  • Difficult, but very good. I would highly recommend taking cs466 with Lap Chi Lau if you learn well from reading notes, and are interested in theoretical probabilistic algorithms.
    Check out the course website, everything in the course aside from exams is there: https://cs.uwaterloo.ca/~lapchi/cs466-2026/
    The workload is quite demanding, I spent maybe ~30h/week on this course. Grades are curved, so if you survive to the end you'll end the course with a good mark.

    Aug 2026 · liked it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

  • I took this class with Prof. Sepehr Assadi. This was my favourite class of undergrad so far, and he has been my favourite prof. Sepehr is extremely kind and supportive and always congratulates the class after every assignment. He is very knowledgeable about the material and is super helpful whenever you ask him a question. I don't think this class would have been nearly as enjoyable without him teaching it.
    The material covered in this course is very different from 341. This course focuses a lot on very recent advancements made in theoretical CS. A typical lecture would bring out a complex problem, pull some wild claims out of nowhere, introduce techniques to prove them, and then use the…

    Dec 2025 · liked it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

  • This was one of the most difficult courses I have taken in my degree, but it is very rewarding and the content is very very interesting. It is also totally manageable if you start your assignments when they come out. Rafael is also a great prof who is an absolute joy to listen to in class. He clearly knows his stuff super well, but is also laid back and really gives off the impression that he respects his students.
    I really recommend taking this course.

    Aug 2025 · liked it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

  • This course is already great, but it's outstanding and a large part of it was due to our instructor. Assadi is the nicest and best professor I have had. He is very supporting as a professor and congratulate us whenever we have high averages on midterm and assignment. His lectures were great, challenging and made me appreciate Theoretical CS research even more.

    Dec 2024 · liked it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

  • We're very lucky to have professor Sepehr Assadi this term. He's very brilliant and knowledgeable. He always cares about his students' success. You can easily tell that he wants you to do well in this course. Absolutely my favourite professor by far. Regarding the difficulty of the course, there's no doubt that it is very hard and requires solid math backgrounds in both stats and CO. Since I'm taking the course remotely and have to study it on my own, the pace seems to be a bit overwhelming to me. However, it's still doable thanks to those very detailed and interesting lecture notes(I feel that we've covered tons of topics in 4 months). Lastly, if you're hesitating to take this course, I…

    Dec 2023 · liked it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

Discussed on r/uwaterloo

187 posts and comments in 151 threads mention CS 466, January 2012 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

Spring 2024

I just retired from UW after 34 years of teaching CS (and 40 years of teaching total). Ask me anything. 503 points, 282 comments

“I just retired from UW after 34 years of teaching CS (and 40 years of teaching total). Summary: \ I published several books on number theory, combinatorics on words, and automata theory \ I published …”

u/kan829: “BMath 1985-1990, here. So we surely passed each other in MC, Bombshelter and FedHall a few times. Congratulations on your retirement. My favourite CS prof was Wes Graham. I had him in 1A or 1B. …”

u/vlyubin: “+1 there - Anna Lubiw's CS 466 was very good, so was CS 241 from Troy, and Craig seemed super knowledgable as part of the Graphics lab, I would highly recommend taking courses from any of them.”

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Winter 2024

Fall 2023

Spring 2023

Winter 2023

CO454 vs CO367 vs CO353 2 points, 8 comments

“I need to decide on one more CO course to meet my degree requirement; so far, I have done CO 351, 370 and 456. …”

u/ribbonkitty: “… CO 353 has significant overlap with CS 341 and CS 466 - there are programming assignments that involve submitting code of the algorithms taught in class to an online judge similar to CS 240. …”

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Fall 2022

CS 466 2 points, 4 comments

[deleted]: “What math courses other than the mandatory ones would be recommended to take for CS 466?”

u/xXxPDSpeedrunnerxXx: “CS 466 is quite prof-dependent. If you're planning on taking it on a specific term and know which prof is doing it then, you can reach out to ask. Usually profs try not to assume too much prior knowledge. …”

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how bad is this cs course load? 2 points, 4 comments

u/_IamAla_: “CS 466 Alogirthms Design and Analysis CS 350 Operating Systems CS 348 Introduction to Database Management CS 480 Introduction to Machine Learning PHYS 175 Introduction to the Universe I know PHYS 175 is birdy, and I have heard that all CS 466 350 and 480 are hard and consumes a …”

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CS466 1 point, 2 comments

u/naewi1606: “Has anyone taken CS466 with Therese Biedl before and can speak to the level of difficulty / time involved? I'm thinking of taking this as the only course on a full co-op term, is that the stupidest idea ever? Context: I'm taking this purely out of interest in algorithms. …”

u/Embarrassed-Turn-947: “CS 466 is a great course, and Therese Biedl is a wonderful teacher. I'll mention one alternative if you're interested in algorithms but would prefer an online course: I'm teaching CS 763 live in zoom this term. It's a course on Computational Geometry, and is open to undergrads. …”

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Spring 2022

Check it elsewhere for Fall 2026

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