CS103: Mathematical Foundations of Computing

Course Overview and Welcome

Hi there 👋, and welcome to CS103: Mathematical Foundations of Computing! This class is an introduction to discrete mathematics (mathematical logic, proofs, and discrete structures such as sets, functions, and graphs), computability theory, and complexity theory. Over the course of the quarter, you’ll see some of the most impressive – and intellectually beautiful – mathematical results of the last 150 years. As we go, you’ll hone your ability to write clean, elegant, well-structured proofs. You’ll untangle interesting puzzles and encounter surprising mathematical results. In the latter half of the course, you’ll learn how to think about computation itself, how to show that certain problems are impossible to solve, and you’ll get a sense of what lies beyond the current frontier of computer science – especially with respect to the biggest open problem in math and computer science, the P = NP problem.

We’re excited to share our love of this material with you, and we have a superb team of TAs who will support you on your journey through this course. We hope you will ultimately find the class enriching and fulfilling and that you enjoy the fascinating topics we discuss along the way!

Teaching Team