CSC 2232 units200 LevelSecond Semester

Discrete Structures

B.Sc. Data Science, University of Uyo

The mathematics of discrete objects — counting, graphs, trees, recurrence relations and Boolean algebra. Graph theory in particular is the direct foundation for network analysis, recommendation systems and the web-data work in UUY-DTS 311.

On Areté, CSC 223 comes with

  • 2 recommended textbooks
  • an AI tutor that has read this course’s outline and notes
Sign in to study CSC 223

Free for University of Uyo students — sign in with your email, no password.

Course outline

  1. 01Review of sets, relations and functions in a computing context
  2. 02Propositional and predicate logic; logical equivalence and inference
  3. 03Proof techniques: induction and strong induction; recursive definitions
  4. 04Counting: the product and sum rules, permutations, combinations, the pigeonhole principle
  5. 05Binomial coefficients and combinatorial identities; inclusion–exclusion
  6. 06Recurrence relations and their solution; the Master theorem informally
  7. 07Graph theory: graphs, digraphs, degree, paths, cycles, connectivity
  8. 08Graph representations (adjacency matrix and list), traversal, shortest paths, spanning trees
  9. 09Trees: rooted trees, binary trees, traversal; Boolean algebra and logic circuit minimisation

Recommended textbooks

  • Discrete Mathematics and Its Applications — Kenneth H. Rosen

    8th ed. — comprehensive; the exercises are the value

  • Discrete Mathematics with Applications — Susanna S. Epp

    5th ed. — gentler and stronger on proof writing

How to pass CSC 223

  • Counting problems are deceptively hard — do many, and always ask "does order matter?" and "is repetition allowed?" before choosing a formula
  • Graph theory is the highest-value topic for a data scientist here: social networks, web link structures and recommendation graphs are all this
  • Recurrence relations explain the running time of recursive algorithms from COS 221 — study the two courses together
  • Rosen's exercises are the best preparation for the exam; work them rather than re-reading notes

Other 200 Level courses

Lecture notes, practice questions and the AI tutor for CSC 223 are available once you sign in.

Sign in to Areté