Data Structures

Overview

6-week cohort with live MIT Faculty sessions. Learn to scale AI beyond the pilot stage.

This course expands on Python fundamentals to introduce powerful tools for problem-solving and software design. The course emphasizes how abstraction, recursion, and object-oriented programming (OOP) enable students to build flexible, efficient, and maintainable programs.

By the end of the course, students will have mastered the ability to think recursively, design modular code structures, and create object-oriented programs that model complex real-world systems. These skills form the backbone of modern computing and prepare learners for advanced study in data structures, efficiency, and algorithmic design in “Working with Data Structures.”

Syllabus

Through guided examples and projects, learners will:

Explore abstract data types (ADTs) to design clear and reusable program interfaces.
Implement recursive algorithms for numerical computation, string processing, and sequence generation.
Analyze and write tree-recursive functions, including the Fibonacci sequence, change-counting, and quicksort.
Understand the relationship between iterative and recursive approaches to solving problems.
Apply object-oriented programming principles, including classes, methods, attributes, and inheritance.
Design and extend object hierarchies, such as banking account systems