Description
This course represents an introduction to computational geometry – a branch of algorithm theory that aims at solving problems about geometric objects. Its application areas include computer graphics, computer-aided design and geographic information systems, robotics, and many others. You will learn to apply to this end various algorithmic approaches, and asses their strong and weak points in a particular context, thus gaining an ability to choose the most appropriate method for a concrete problem.
We will cover a number of core computational geometry tasks, such as testing point inclusion in a polygon, computing the convex hull of a point set, intersecting line segments, triangulating a polygon, and processing orthogonal range queries. Special attention will be paid to a proper representation of geometric primitives and evaluation of geometric predicates, which are crucial for an efficient implementation of an algorithm.
Each module includes a selection of programming tasks that will help you both to strengthen the newly acquired knowledge and improve your competitive coding skills.
