• Project
• Add codes will be provided after the first lecture, in class. All STATISTICS and BIOSTATISTICS students who want to take this class will be given add codes at the time.
• I am considering changes to the syllabus, focusing on the topics of most interest to the class. Please check the syllabus page for details.

Instructor Marina Meila mmp@stat.washington.edu

Lectures: Tuesdays, Thursdays 11:30-12:50 PCAR 395

Office hours Mondays 2--3pm, Padelford B-321

Should I take this class? STAT 534 is primarily intended for statistics first year graduate students, although others may also find it useful. With them in mind, my goals in teaching this class are:

• To provide you with opportunity to develop your programming skills. The language used in class this quarter will be python. With the opportunity will come some guidance too, but keep in mind this is not a programming course. You should know the basics of programming (in e.g. R, C or another language) if you want to take this class.
• To introduce you to data structures, algorithms and algorithmic thinking. This is a huge area so we will cover the basic data structures and essentials of advanced data structures and algorithms such as trees, dynamic programming, and disjoint sets.
• To present some examples of computational problems in statistics, specifically Markov Chain Monte Carlo. In a less focussed but significant way, you will improve at visualizing statistical data and the results of your analyses.
• To introduce basics of parallel programming (MPI)