UGA CSCI 2720: Data Structures
CSCI 2720 covers the design, analysis, and implementation of the core data structures (lists, stacks, queues, trees, hash tables, and graphs) along with sorting, searching, and complexity analysis. It sits at the center of the UGA CS major: 1302 and 2610 feed in, and the upper-division courses assume it cold.
Fennie is independent and not affiliated with University of Georgia. This is an unofficial study guide.
What makes it hard
The course demands implementation and analysis simultaneously. Writing a working binary search tree is one skill, arguing its operations are O(log n) is another, and exams test both. Students who memorized 2610's notation without understanding it, or coasted through 1302's projects on partner effort, get found out here.
What you'll cover
- • Lists, stacks, and queues
- • Trees and binary search trees
- • Hash tables
- • Graphs and traversals (BFS/DFS)
- • Sorting and searching algorithms
- • Time and space complexity analysis
The CSCI 2720 study guide
How to study for UGA CSCI 2720, step by step.
- 1
Implement every structure from scratch
Lists, trees, hash tables: built by you, not adapted from lecture code. Implementation is where the understanding the exams test actually forms.
- 2
Pair every implementation with its analysis
After each structure works, write out the complexity of every operation and why. CSCI 2720 exams ask for the argument, not just the answer.
- 3
Trace operations on paper
Insertions into a BST, collisions in a hash table, BFS visit order on a drawn graph, all by hand, until predictable. Paper-tracing questions are exam staples.
- 4
Keep the 2610 toolkit warm
Induction and asymptotics from discrete math reappear in correctness and complexity arguments. Reviewing them early is cheaper than relearning them mid-semester.
Today
Today's CSCI 2720 plan
What a Fennie Daily Plan looks like for CSCI 2720. Yours is built from your own syllabus and adapts every day to your deadlines and progress.
First plan free, no card required. Fennie is independent and unaffiliated with your school.
FAQ
Is CSCI 2720 hard at UGA?
It's the course where the CS major's threads converge, demanding 1302's programming and 2610's analysis at once, so gaps in either prerequisite surface fast. With consistent implementation practice it's very manageable; it punishes cramming more than any course before it.
What should I review before taking CSCI 2720?
Solid object-oriented Java from 1302 and the induction/asymptotics material from 2610. Students who can still write a clean class hierarchy and explain Big-O on day one spend the semester learning data structures instead of relearning prerequisites.
How do I study for CSCI 2720 exams?
Implement each structure yourself, then practice on paper: trace insertions and traversals by hand and write out complexity arguments. The exams reward students who can both execute the operations and justify their costs, so train both deliberately.
More UGA courses
CSCI 1301: Introduction to Computing and Programming
CSCI 1301 (with the CSCI 1301L lab) is UGA's first programming course, taught in Java: variables, control flow, methods, arrays, and a first look at objects and classes. It's the entry point for computer science majors and a common pick for students testing whether CS is for them.
CSCI 1302: Software Development
CSCI 1302 is UGA's second programming course and its real gatekeeper. It covers object-oriented Java (inheritance, polymorphism, interfaces, generics) plus the professional toolchain: the Unix command line on the department's Odin server, Git, unit testing, and strict style checking. It's required for the CS major and the prerequisite for nearly everything after.
CSCI 2610: Discrete Mathematics for Computer Science
CSCI 2610 is UGA's discrete math course for computing majors: logic, sets, relations, functions, proof techniques including induction, counting, and the asymptotics that algorithm analysis is built on. It's required for the CS major and a prerequisite for CSCI 2720.