Skip to content

CS173

CS173 (Discrete Structures) is a theory focused CS course that is required for Computer Engineering and Computer Science majors. It also counts as a technical elective for Electrical Engineering majors.

Who Should Take the Exam

For students who want to take CS225 early, they are required to take CS173 before taking CS225. Since Computer Engineering students are required to take both ECE120 and ECE220 before taking CS173, they will usually take CS225 one semester later than Computer Science Students. If you want to take CS225 as soon as possible, take the CS173 proficiency exam. MATH213 is an alternative for this class that doesn't require ECE220. However, MATH213 is considered to be disorganized compared to CS173. MATH213 also doesn't include some topics that will be used in CS374

It's not an easy proficiency exam. However, like all proficiency exams, there is no penalty for failing the CS173 proficiency exam, so if you're on the fence, take the exam.

Content Covered

  • Logic
  • Number Thoery
  • Modular Arithmetic and Sets
  • Relations
  • Functions
  • Graphs
  • Two-way bounding
  • Induction
  • Recursion, Recursion Trees
  • Trees, Grammars
  • Big-O
  • NP
  • Collections of Sets

Exam Format

The exam consists of a number of multiple-choice questions as well as a few proof questions.

How to Prepare

Professor Fleck's website has more information on CS173. There are links to the full textbook as well as other resources in the website. You can find Professor Fleck's online CS173 lecture videos under the lecture tab in CS173's Spring 2021 course website. Professor Fleck's videos are amazing and you should watch them to prepare for the proficiency exam. Past examlets are available on the course websites prior to spring 2019. Going over the examlets is extremely helpful for the proficiency exam.

Life After

If you pass the CS173 proficiency exam, you are quite good at proofs. Try to periodically review the concepts in CS173, having a solid foundation in CS173 is extremely beneficial for CS374.

If you don't pass the CS173 proficiency exam, don't take it as a reflection of your skills: the exam is considered a difficult proficiency exam. Your efforts to study CS173 material before the semester will still pay off, and the course will be easier for you than students who are learning those concepts for the first time. Taking the course will help you to have a solid foundation on proofs which is extremely beneficial for CS374.