MATH3411 Information, Codes and Ciphers (UNSW Sydney): rated 4.4/5 overall, difficulty 1.5/5 (higher is harder), would-recommend 5.0/5 across 32 reviews collected on UNSW Wall.
MATH3411 is a UNSW Sydney course taught by the Faculty of Science in School of Mathematics & Statistics. This page brings together its handbook details and what UNSW students say about it.
Review data updated 2026-10-24.
Chinese title: 信息、编码与密码
Type: Undergraduate course
Credit points: 6
Subject area: School of Mathematics & Statistics
Faculty: Faculty of Science
Level: Undergraduate Level 3
Handbook year: 2026
This course provides an introduction to information theory, including error-correcting codes, data compression and cryptography. Each of these subtopics are enhanced by the application of entropy functions, and more sophisticated error-correcting codes are provided by way of brief introduction to number theory and finite fields.
MATH3411 has 32 scored reviews: overall 4.4/5 · usefulness 2.0 · difficulty 1.5 · would-recommend 5.0 (all out of 5; higher difficulty means harder).
Sources: 2 reviews by UNSW students on UNSW Wall (4.3/5 overall); 30 Reddit comments that an AI model judged to be reviewing this course (average would-recommend 4.4/5).
On Reddit: "Not CS but considered a CS elective, I took MATH3411 and jeez Thomas Britz is single-handedly the most enthusiast lecturer I’ve ever seen. Don’t ask me where the tutors were though because I’ve got no clue. But I found that’s he’s very happy to chat and engage outside of class, …"
On Reddit: "I assume the commentator is talking about MATH3411 which you can easily get 80+ . There is a final exam but no hurdles and u have legit access to everything online including chatgpt. The lecturer is goated, he doesnt even mind if you use chatgpt..he actually encourages it. The l…"
The course panel on UNSW Wall shows every review and discussion in full.
Q: Is MATH3411 hard?
A: Students rate MATH3411's difficulty 1.5/5 on average (higher is harder), which makes it on the easier side.
Q: Is MATH3411 worth taking?
A: Averaged over 32 reviews: would-recommend 5.0/5, usefulness 2.0/5, overall 4.4/5.
Q: Which faculty teaches MATH3411, and when is it offered?
A: MATH3411 is taught by the Faculty of Science. Check the official handbook for the current year.
UNSW Wall is an independent student community and is not affiliated with UNSW Sydney.