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CS 860Advanced Topics in Algorithms and Complexity

Units
0.50
Level
Graduate
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 6 of the last 7 terms. Winter 2027: scheduled. Spring 2027: schedule not out yet.

Consult the schedule of classes for specific topics being offered.

Prerequisites

None listed.

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
SEM 001893313 / 24Th 13:30–16:20

Winter 2027 sections

Enrolment from UW Open Data, which can trail Quest by up to two days. Instructors and rooms: Schedule of Classes.
SectionClassEnrolledMeets
SEM 00162430 / 24Online or by arrangement
SEM 00264600 / 24Online or by arrangement

Resources

Around the web

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Reviewed on UW Flow

100% liked it0% easy100% useful

From 3 ratings and 1 comment on UW Flow. The most helpful comments, quoted as written, without names. Read them all on UW Flow.

  • Timothy Chan is one of the best professors of UWaterloo. Geometric Data Structures is without doubt the best course I took in UW. Prof. Chan covered the material extensively and the assignments were very hard, but I learnt a lot and fell in love with this topic!

    Apr 2016 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this

Discussed on r/uwaterloo

6 posts and comments in 6 threads mention CS 860, April 2017 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

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/mjnichol2: “… I came back again and again for your courses (CS 360, CS 646, CS 860) and they are the ones I enjoyed and remember the most. It's hard to believe it was almost 25 years ago. …”

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Spring 2021

PSA: Do Not Overload an Online Term 54 points, 17 comments

“I'm probably late into the game given that Winter 2021 was the first term for me that got fully online, but I dare say I regret the decision of taking 6 courses instead of 5, 3 of which are CS …”

u/BlazingMuddy-6305: “… I might have gotten lost in CS 860 if not because of PMATH 446). In the end, I think this is one of the most rewarding terms I ever have (in terms of material) and also the heaviest term I ever have. …”

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Fall 2017

Staying in CS to take machine learning courses only 8 points, 14 comments

“I am currently a CS student going to 2B this Winter. I want to drop out of CS and go into Stats/Pmath because I am more focused on going into academia for research in machine learning. …”

u/GenesisTK: “From the CS dept: 1. CS 798: It's a topics course, but it was Optimization for ML once upon a time 2. CS 886 - Advanced Topics in AI (Summer it's RL and Fall 2018 it's NLP). 3. …”

u/GenesisTK: “… If only CS 341/485/486 interest you, maybe you should look at CS 365/CS 462/CS 466/CS 860 ? All of them are pretty cool, a good friend is taking CS 798 (boolean functions) this term and says it's super fun. …”

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Spring 2017

All "Algorithms and Data Structures" courses at Waterloo 10 points, 41 comments

“Hey, I'm a coop at Karat, and we're hiring interns for next term at UW via Waterloo works. Due to the nature of our product (engineering interviews), we've decided to interview all 150+ applicants …”

u/taylorsmith2: “I'm not sure if you're looking for engineering-specific courses, but quite a few engineering students take CS courses, so here's the list for CS (excluding service courses for non-CS students): CS …”

u/GenesisTK: “In addition, there's CS 860 which is a super fun course.”

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Winter 2017

Anyone feeling burned out about CS? 14 points, 29 comments

u/shine-wang: “Rant: I joined CS after doing CCC things, and now think I'm staying only because it pays well and I'm decent at it, rather than actually liking it. …”

u/GenesisTK: “… If this helps, there's a lot of fun theoretical CS courses which are fun to take, CS 798, CS 860 and CS 886 are extremely fun courses, the latter being more applied and the former(s) being really theory heavy.”

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Check it elsewhere for Fall 2026

Calendar versions

Graduate Calendar

Older Graduate Calendars

In 42 terms, Fall 2006 to Winter 2024