Okay, agree with the other sem2, 2024 review. It is completely different than FOC. It introduces more data structures that have more complex things going on in the background. There are multiple concepts that seriously need looking over but its manageable. For example, I thought Big Oh time stuff was complex at the start, it is but its easy to learn. The first project was to do with data structures and then second with mallocs - being much harder. Also last questions, way too hard never got them. They did require a good amount of work. The chapter quizzes were pretty stock standard, they are all from the textbook so make sure you're keeping up. MST was on the easier side of things, similar to FOC where its on paper doing a similar thing. Alistar is a funny dude - will demand a standing ovation every time. Artem, I felt was a bit harder to understand just wasn't as clear with his explanation of the theory. The exam was hard, Alistair meant it to be hard - laughing outside of the exam hall they were. Best you can do is repeat the practice one over and over. Biggest tip: Go to the tutes at least the week prior to when your project is due, ask your tutor to explain it again. Helps a lot when you're stuck and don't know what you're doing. Rating - Its not that bad.

The great filtration of compsci students is what this subject serves to achieve. A massive pitfall form the COMP10001 which gave confidence to beginner programmers with no experience, that maybe they can also thrive in the computer science industry. What first year's don't realise is COMP10001 is a honeypot, welcoming everyone with open arms, only to trap people into the hell that COMP10002 brings. Mind you, COMP10002 isn't that bad for people who have mastered COMP10001 or have computer science running in their blood. This subject mercilessly bashes those who are new to the computing field. Just imagine this. Three months ago you were just learning about how to even print a word on your screen and now you're dealing with malloc realloc, data structures, binary search trees, linked lists????? It just feels too fast paced for students like these to properly grasp and come to love programming as a whole. Obviously it has deterred many, it having a sizeable fail rate and it will continue to deter many because it's just obviously too much to handle. For those experienced and have that logical intuition, it's not difficult to pass, but at the same time, the amount of scares that Alistair will give you prior to the exam "you need to know how to code mergesort "you need to know how to code quicksort" "you need to know how to make minecraft in C /s" will make you anxious from the exam period time to the results time, praying that you don't have to take this god forbidden subject again.

Of course as other people said, absolutely an increase in difficulty from COMP10001, no doubt. The first few weeks are purely learning the basics of C, this is really the easy part. The hardest part in my opinion is the part on dynamic data structures (linked lists, binary search trees etc.) and particularly understanding their C implementations. However, the content gets quite interesting especially the sorting algorithm parts with Alistairs captivating illustrations (he truly is a great lecturer), and Artem is also a good lecturer. A downside was definitely the online pre-recorded (like from 2020) lectures which made the content a bit less engaging and makes the whole subject a bit demotivating. I hope this changes next semester. The projects are on the harder side, especially the later questions, but boy are they satisfying when you can get all the test cases to work. Memory management can be especially tedious and took up the better part of the second assignment. The 2 quizzes were fine really, the multiple choice could be a bit hard but the function questions made up for that. Overall, a challenging but very interesting subject which changes the way you will look at programming.

A definite step up from COMP10001. Learning C is a whole different experience in coding and can be a bit confusing especially with pointers. I found the lectures a little bit pointless but the textbook was a godsend. If you are type of person that can learn from the textbook I would honestly suggest just doing that as the questions at the end of each chapter are a great way to test your understanding. Just spend a lot of time on the projects and the exam isn't that bad

Grade: H1 80 This subject is a huge filter subject for the computing major, and it serves that purpose pretty well. The first half or so is pretty chill actually, with you just learning the C language. The first quiz was pretty easy too, and the first assignment was also very easy, with students getting pretty good marks. But after the first half, the subject turns to a new level in terms of difficulty. The lectures cover topics that are a lot more difficult, going over new data structures like trees and tricky looking sorting algorithms. Its absolutely imperative that you don't find yourself in a lecture backlog with this subject, because at least for us, the second project required a pretty intuitive understanding of a set of 3 or so lectures, and if you didn't have that understanding because you are behind, then you were absolutely dead when it came to passing the project. The second project was way more difficult than the first, making you code an algorithm to solve a board game. It was doable, but I found it tricky and spent a lot of time on it, unfortunately. However, the nice thing about doing this subject sem 2, is that it allows you to be a bit more chill about the exam since it is a 50% exam, and if you had done well in the projects and quizzes, you can get away with a good score without having to try insanely hard on the exam. This is because half the exam is pretty easy questions, another 20% or so is medium difficulty and the last 30% ranges from hard to impossible. As for teaching, Alistair is a great and engaging lecturer, and he thankfully injected some fun and amusement into an otherwise tricky subject. Artem was also good. This subject is a hell of a step up from COMP10001, especially if you are like me and never really coded before uni, so be prepared to struggle and be moments away from a mental breakdown because you hadn't attended a workshop in like 4 weeks, and vaguely attempt like 1 or 2 questions that are provided to you, because you are too busy catching up with lectures. If i do have some advice though, it is to get the textbook for this subject in winter break and start reading it and doing problems. That is the one regret I have, because if I had did that it would have saved me some significant pain. Overall I still give 4 stars because it was a well ran subject, just one that I found really tricky.

Jianzhong was a very knowledgeable but somewhat dry lecturer. Alex was a great tutor though, and honestly if you get a good tutor like him you probably learn the same amount by just going to the workshops as you do with the lectures. Definitely a step up from COMP10001, but Jianzhong's assessments were quite fair and straightforward. Not a bad subject, but not quite as fun or engaging as COMP10001 either.

This subject is very fundamental, but not as easy as you thought. New concepts introduced and are different from COMP10001. It is extremely important to practice often because the quizzes and final exam have limited time and you need to think fast. Overall, not an easy H1, but an enjoyable subject.

Really liked this subject, though it's obviously a step up from COMP10001. I didn't end up going to half the tutorials, which tbh I somewhat regret as my tutor Alex was awesome. The assignments can be challenging at first glance though work through them and you start understanding it's easier. The most technical things in terms of programming you'll do are linked lists and learning about pointers, which are essential for the next algorithms subjects (COMP20003 or COMP20007) whichever you pick. I found Jianzhong to be a good lecturer, provided some laughs and was good in the sense of explaining how things worked in the C language. As it is an introductory subject to algorithms, you learn only the standard few sorting and searching algorithms. For more, do the next algorithms subject, which is MUCH more interesting in that regard. Overall, I liked this subject if at times was a bit confusing. I would recommend doing this subject when Alastair is the lecturer if possible, he's a god though I had no regrets taking it while Qi was lecturing. Good subject.

a very fundamental subject, that is extremely important to become a good programmer. becoming good at algorithms is going to help you immensely in building applications as well as coding interviews. Jianzhong was a good lecturer, and allistar's book is the bible

Really loved Artem and Alistair as lecturers for this subject. The assignments took SO much time, felt a bit much for 15%, but I did well, so it felt worth it. They were quite challenging, but hard work was reflected in the grades. I lowered it one star because I did well throughout the subject (90%) but somehow wound up with a 73 as a final mark. Thought I was prepared for the exam so I wish there would have been better exam prep throughout the semester/end of semester. Hoping to get some clarification when I can view the exam next sem.