Which DAA topics are most important?

Recurrences and the master theorem, quick sort and merge sort, greedy problems such as MST and Dijkstra, DP problems such as knapsack and LCS, N-Queens and NP-completeness are asked most often.

Why does Dijkstra's algorithm fail with negative edges?

Dijkstra fixes a vertex's distance once it is picked. A negative edge found later could give a shorter path, which the algorithm never rechecks. Use Bellman-Ford when negative edges are present.

Are these DAA handwritten notes free?

Yes. Fill in the short form on this page and the PDF downloads right away. There is no fee for the notes.

Are these official university notes?

No. They are original revision notes written by the Uncodemy trainer team in a handwritten style. They are not issued or approved by AKTU or any other university, and they do not replace your prescribed textbook or your teacher's class notes.

Which university syllabus do they follow?

They follow the common Design and Analysis of Algorithms syllabus taught in most Indian B.Tech CSE and IT, BCA and MCA programmes. Unit order, names and depth differ between universities such as AKTU, IPU, VTU and others, so tick the topics against your own university syllabus before you start revising.

Can I print these notes?

Yes. Print them for personal study, write your own examples in the margins and carry the formula and diagram pages into your last revision before the exam.

DAA Handwritten Notes PDF (Free Download)

Key takeaways

Recurrences, MST, Dijkstra traces and DP tables are the most common numericals.
Write the recurrence and the final complexity for every algorithm you revise.
Each section has exam tips and formula boxes, and the last page lists the most asked practice questions.
These are original Uncodemy revision notes, not official university notes; check your own syllabus.

About these DAA handwritten notes

This page offers Uncodemy's Design and Analysis of Algorithms notes as a free handwritten-style PDF. Design and Analysis of Algorithms teaches standard problem-solving strategies and how to prove how fast an algorithm runs. The notes are written in short points with neat tables, labelled diagrams, boxed formulas and exam tips, so you can revise a full unit in one sitting instead of reading a long textbook chapter.

Please note: these are original Uncodemy revision notes. They follow the common syllabus that most Indian universities share for this subject, but they are not official university notes. Check your own university syllabus and add anything it lists that is missing here.

What's inside the DAA notes

The PDF is arranged in 8 sections plus a final page of most asked practice questions. The sections follow the usual unit order of a Design and Analysis of Algorithms syllabus, so you can map them to your own units quickly. Here is what each section covers.

Introduction and asymptotic notations

What an algorithm is, analysis of best, average and worst case, and Big-O, Omega and Theta with examples.

Recurrence relations

Substitution, recursion tree and master theorem methods, with solved examples.

Divide and conquer

Quick sort and merge sort with their recurrences, quick sort's worst case and how randomisation avoids it.

Greedy method

Fractional knapsack, job sequencing with deadlines, Huffman coding, Prim's and Kruskal's MST, and Dijkstra's shortest path.

Dynamic programming

Optimal substructure and overlapping subproblems, 0/1 knapsack, LCS and other classic problems, and a matrix chain multiplication example.

Backtracking and branch and bound

N-Queens, sum of subsets and graph colouring with backtracking, and branch and bound for problems such as the travelling salesperson.

Graph algorithms summary

BFS, DFS, topological sort, Bellman-Ford and Floyd-Warshall at a glance with their complexities.

Complexity classes

P, NP, NP-hard and NP-complete, reductions and standard NP-complete problems.

Most asked questions (practice)

Ten exam-style questions, from asymptotic notation to NP-completeness.

How to use handwritten notes to revise DAA

DAA is about method and tracing, so revise from the notes with a pencil and solve each worked example again.

Solve five recurrences with the master theorem and check the case you used each time.
Run Prim's and Kruskal's on the same graph and confirm both give the same MST weight.
Fill a full 0/1 knapsack table and an LCS table, then trace back the answer.
Write the greedy choice for each greedy problem in one line; it helps in comparison questions.

A simple three-pass method works well with handwritten notes. In the first pass, read one section and underline only what you do not already know. In the second pass, close the notes and write the definitions, diagrams and steps for that section on a blank sheet, then compare and correct in a different colour. In the third pass, a day or two later, answer two or three exam-style DAA questions in timed conditions using only memory. Add your own examples and doubts in the margins so the PDF becomes your personal revision copy.

Formulas, diagrams and definitions to memorise

Master theorem for T(n) = a T(n/b) + f(n), with its three cases compared against n^(log_b a).
Standard complexities: merge sort O(n log n), quick sort worst O(n^2), Dijkstra with a heap O((V + E) log V).
Fractional knapsack greedy rule: sort by profit per unit weight.
DP recurrences for 0/1 knapsack, LCS and matrix chain multiplication.
The relationship between P, NP, NP-complete and NP-hard as a set diagram.

Common mistakes that cost marks

Applying the master theorem to recurrences that do not fit its form.
Using the greedy method for 0/1 knapsack, which needs dynamic programming.
Forgetting to trace back the DP table to give the actual solution, not just its value.
Saying NP means not polynomial; it means nondeterministic polynomial time.

Exam focus: DAA topics that carry the most marks

These DAA topics carry the most marks in most university papers and in GATE.

Asymptotic notation and solving recurrences.
Quick sort and merge sort analysis.
Greedy problems: knapsack, job sequencing, Huffman, MST and Dijkstra.
DP tables (0/1 knapsack, LCS, matrix chain), N-Queens and NP-completeness.

Typical long questions

Define Big-O, Omega and Theta with examples.
Solve recurrences using the master theorem and the recursion tree method.
Explain quick sort, its worst case and how to avoid it.
Solve a fractional knapsack and a job sequencing problem.
Find the MST of a graph using Prim's and Kruskal's algorithms.
Solve 0/1 knapsack and LCS using dynamic programming.
Define P, NP, NP-hard and NP-complete with examples.

Marks per question change between universities and years, so confirm the pattern on a recent official paper. In long answers, start with a definition, add a labelled diagram or table, explain the steps and finish with an example or comparison. Underline the key term in each answer and leave a line between steps, because examiners mark faster when the structure is easy to see.

A 7-day revision plan for DAA

Day 1: Introduction and asymptotic notations, Recurrence relations.
Day 2: Divide and conquer, Greedy method.
Day 3: Dynamic programming, Backtracking and branch and bound.
Day 4: Graph algorithms summary.
Day 5: Complexity classes.
Day 6: redo the numericals: three recurrences, one MST, one Dijkstra trace, one knapsack table and one matrix chain problem.
Day 7: answer the most asked practice questions at the end of the notes from memory, then solve one official previous year paper in three hours and mark the units that cost you time.

Keep a single sheet of formulas, definitions and diagrams from the notes for the last hour before the exam, and do not start new topics on the final day.

Who these notes are for

B.Tech CSE and IT students preparing for the semester DAA exam.
MCA students with an algorithms paper.
GATE CS aspirants revising recurrences, greedy and DP.
Students preparing for coding rounds who want to understand algorithm design patterns.

The notes are a revision aid, not a first textbook. If a DAA topic is new to you, learn it from your prescribed book or class lectures first, then come back to the notes to compress and revise it. For practice, pair them with the Design and Analysis of Algorithms Important Questions PDF page and your university's official previous year papers. If your syllabus has a topic that is not covered here, you can ask for it through the handwritten notes request page linked below.

Download Design and Analysis of Algorithms Handwritten Notes PDF