Course

Introduction to Algorithms

In this course, you’ll learn how to analyze the time and space complexity of algorithms to optimize them for your use cases.

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Part of the Data Engineer (Python) path.

4.8 (359 reviews)

5,559 learners enrolled in this course.

Intermediate friendly
8 hours
Self paced
6 lessons
1 project

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Software Engineer @Livit Orthopedie

Introduction to Algorithms

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Course overview

Algorithms are at the center of almost any programming job – particularly in the world of data engineering, where this is a recurring topic in job interviews. In this course, you’ll learn how to assess and model the time and space complexity of algorithms (i.e., how fast they’ll be, how much memory they’ll require), and you’ll learn how to trade memory for speed.
Best of all, you’ll learn by doing – you’ll practice and get feedback directly in the browser. At the end of the course, you’ll put together what you’ve learned in a guided project that tasks you with building indices for a CSV using dictionaries.

Key skills

Analyzing the time complexity of an algorithm
Analyzing the space complexity of an algorithm
Designing algorithms that are optimized to your use-case

Course outline

Introduction to Algorithms [6 lessons]

Time Complexity of Algorithms 2h

Lesson Objectives

Measure the execution time of an algorithm
Generate random inputs for an algorithm
Model the execution time of an algorithm

Constant Time Complexity 2h

Lesson Objectives

Identify constant time operations
Identify how computers manage memory
Refine computing time complexity models
Identify hidden function calls in Python.
Identify how lists and strings are stored in memory

Logarithmic Time Complexity 1h

Lesson Objectives

Explain logarithms and logarithmic complexity
Apply the binary search algorithm to find elements in sorted lists

Sorting Algorithms 1h

Lesson Objectives

Apply a sorting algorithm
Identify the time complexity of sorting in Python

Space Complexity 2h

Lesson Objectives

Evaluate the space complexity of an algorithm
Define the relation between time and space

Guided Project: Building Fast Queries on a CSV 2h

Lesson Objectives

Build indexes for a CSV using dictionaries

Projects in this course

Building Fast Queries on a CSV

For this project, we’ll step into the role of Python developers to build an inventory system for a laptop store. We’ll apply efficient data structures and algorithms to enable fast queries.

View Project

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