Welcome to CS 15!


CS 15 is all about building your programming toolkit. The tools are data structures, the means by which we store, organize, and access data. We will implement and utilize the key data structures and algorithms that every programmer must know, learn about the useful abstractions that they provide, and study the costs in time and space associated with them.

The structure and assignments of this course are based largely on prior versions of the course taught by Marty Allen, Milod Kazerounian, Mark Sheldon, Mati Korman, Chris Gregg, Ben Hescott, and Bruce Molay. Thank you!

Course Information

Course Policies: All students are expected to know and adhere to our course policies. Please take the time to read our admin page in full.

Prerequisites: CS 11 or consent of instructor.

Textbook: No purchase required. We will regularly post online readings from Data Structures and Algorithm Analysis by Clifford A. Shaffer.

Instructor: Chris Magnano
Email: christopher.magnano@tufts.edu
Office: JCC 449
Office Hours: Tuesdays from 3:00-4:00pm on zoom, Wednesdays from 1:30-2:30pm in JCC 449

Our graduate TAs are Umair Muhammad and Tien Vu. Our teaching fellows are Eleanor Elkus, John Cha, Lindsay Ulrey, and Yoda Ermias. We also have an army of teaching assistants who will hold office hours in the third floor common space in the Joyce Cummings Center. Schedules for office hours will be regularly updated on our course forum, Piazza.

Lecture Section 1: (Mon/Wed) 10:30 – 11:45pm
Location: Barnum Hall LL08
Final exam: Friday, May. 1st from 12-2pm

Lecture Section 2: (Mon/Wed) 3:00 – 4:15pm
Location: Robinson 253
Final exam: Friday, May 1st from 3:30-5:30pm

For Spring 2026, lectures will be automatically recorded by Tufts IT and posted on the CS 15 Canvas site under Echo360. If you miss a lecture, you can find it there.

We do not use Canvas for anything else in CS 15!

Because all lectures are recorded, we are all on video with audio. The videos are for use by this class only and must not be downloaded or distributed.