Swami Iyer · Work

Work

Throughout my student life, I had the good fortune of being taught by some exceptional instructors. I learned a great deal from them, but just as importantly, I developed a keen interest in sharing my own knowledge — however limited — with others, just as my instructors had shared theirs with me. The great physicist Richard Feynman once remarked, “I find that teaching and the students keep life going, and I would never accept any position in which somebody has invented a happy situation for me where I don’t have to teach. Never.” I feel exactly the same way about teaching.

That conviction has carried me through two decades in the classroom — from calculus and mathematical biology in the Mathematics department to introduction to computing, data structures, and compiler construction in the Computer Science department at UMB. Some of the resources I have developed for my courses over the years are freely available below.

Current Courses (Fall 2026)

Previous Courses

Mathematics Department, University of Massachusetts at Boston

Calculus I (Math 140): Fall 14
Calculus I for Life and Environmental Sciences (Math 145): Spring 14
Calculus II for Life and Environmental Sciences (Math 146): Fall 13, 14
Introduction to Mathematical Biology (Math 303): Fall 15; Spring 16 (assisted the instructor with the programming sessions)

Computer Science Department, University of Massachusetts at Boston

Compilers (CS451/651): Fall 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25; Spring 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26; Summer 18
Intermediate Computing with Data Structures (CS210): Fall 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25; Spring 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26; Summer 09, 11, 15
Introduction to Computing (CS110): Fall 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25; Spring 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26; Summer 12, 13
Introduction to Java Part II (CS115L): Fall 07, 08, 09, 11; Spring 07, 08, 10, 11, 12
igniteCS Python Workshop: Spring 17

Resources

Introduction to Programming in Python

Programs for teaching an introductory course on programming in Python, as a VSCode project. Most of the programs are from Introduction to Programming in Python: An Interdisciplinary Approach by Robert Sedgewick, Kevin Wayne, and Robert Dondero.
Supporting libraries: the API and the code as a VSCode project.

Introduction to Programming in Java

Programs for teaching an introductory course on programming in Java, as a VSCode project. Most of the programs are from Computer Science: An Interdisciplinary Approach by Robert Sedgewick and Kevin Wayne.
Supporting libraries: the API, the jar file (compiled using OpenJDK 21), and the code as a VSCode project.

Data Structures and Algorithms in Java

Programs for teaching a course on data structures and algorithms in Java, as a VSCode project. Most of the programs are from Algorithms by Robert Sedgewick and Kevin Wayne.
Supporting libraries: the API, the jar file (compiled using OpenJDK 21), and the code as a VSCode project.
The API for the data structures and algorithms and the jar file (compiled using OpenJDK 21).

Introduction to Compiler Construction

Marvin: a hypothetical register-based machine designed for teaching purposes. (GitHub)
j--: a compiler (written in Java) for a language called j-- and targeting the stack-based Java Virtual Machine. (GitHub)
iota: a compiler (also written in Java) for a language called iota and targeting the register-based Marvin machine. (GitHub)

My research explores how collective behavior emerges on complex networks. Using tools from evolutionary game theory and individual-based modeling, I have studied the evolution of cooperation in social dilemmas, the co-evolutionary dynamics of viruses and their hosts, and the robustness of networks to targeted attacks. Along the way, I have also dabbled in document classification and compiler construction, culminating in a book on building compilers in a Java world.

Publications [citations]

Books

Introduction to Compiler Construction in a Java World, Bill Campbell, Swami Iyer, and Bahar Akbal-Delibaş, CRC Press (2012).

Papers

Individual-based model highlights the importance of trade-offs for virus-host population dynamics and long-term co-existence, Fateme Pourhasanzade, Swami Iyer, Jesslyn Tjendra, Lotta Landor, Selina Våge, PLoS Computational Biology 18(6), e1010228 (2022).
Evolution of Cooperation in Social Dilemmas with Assortative Interactions, Swami Iyer and Timothy Killingback, Games 11(4), 41 (2020).
Evolution of Cooperation in Social Dilemmas on Complex Networks, Swami Iyer and Timothy Killingback, PLoS Computational Biology 12(2), e1004779 (2016).
Evolutionary Dynamics of a Smoothed War of Attrition Game, Swami Iyer and Timothy Killingback, Journal of Theoretical Biology 396, 25 – 41 (2016).
Network-based Analysis of Activity Patterns in Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops Truncatus) in Cedar Key, Florida, Stefanie Gazda, Swami Iyer, Timothy Killingback, Richard Connor, and Solange Brault, Royal Society Open Science 2(3), 140263 (2015).
Evolutionary Dynamics of the Traveler’s Dilemma and Minimum Effort Coordination Games on Complex Networks, Swami Iyer and Timothy Killingback, Physical Review E 90(4), 042134 (2014).
An Application of Evolutionary Game Theory to Social Dilemmas: The Traveler’s Dilemma and the Minimum Effort Coordination Game, Swami Iyer, Joshua Reyes, and Timothy Killingback, PLoS ONE 9(4), e93988 (2014).
Attack Robustness and Centrality of Complex Networks, Swami Iyer, Timothy Killingback, Bala Sundaram, and Zhen Wang, PLoS ONE 8(4), e59613 (2013).
Structural Classification of XML Documents Using Multisets, Swami Iyer and Dan Simovici, International Journal on Artificial Intelligence Tools 17(5), 1003 – 1022 (2008).
Multisets and Clustering XML Documents, Swami Iyer and Dan Simovici, Proceedings of the 19th International Conference on Tools with Artificial Intelligence, Patras, Greece (2007).

Posters

Individual-based model highlights the importance of trade-offs in shaping bacteria-phage co-evolutionary dynamics, Fateme Pourhasanzade, Swami Iyer, Jesslyn Tjendra, Selina Våge, Poster presentation at the ASLO Aquatic Sciences Virtual Meeting (2021).
Complex Network Topologies Resilient to Centrality Attack, Rachel Fiolek, Swami Iyer, and Timothy Killingback, Poster presentation at the 22nd Annual Massachusetts Statewide Undergraduate Research Conference, University of Massachusetts at Amherst (2016).
A Machine Learning Approach for Identifying the PTEN Non-coding ceRNA Network, Swami Iyer, Robert Moray, Prajna Kulkarni, Rahul Kulkarni, and Kourosh Zarringhalam Poster presentation at the Winter q-bio Meeting, Waikoloa, Hawaii (2014).
Network Analysis by Activity Reveals Community Overlap and Differences in Centrality of Individuals in Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops Truncatus) in Cedar Key, Florida, Stefanie Gazda, Swami Iyer, Timothy Killingback, Richard Connor, and Solange Brault, Poster presentation at the 19th Biennial Conference of the Biology of Marine Mammals, Tampa, Florida (2011).
Residency Patterns and Social Structure of Bottlenose Dolphins, Christina Ciarfella, Stefanie Gazda, Swami Iyer, Solange Brault, and Timothy Killingback, Poster presentation at the University of Massachusetts at Boston (2010).

Phd Thesis

Evolutionary Dynamics on Complex Networks, Swami Iyer, University of Massachusetts at Boston (2013). Thesis advisor: Prof. Timothy Killingback.

Erdős Number (4)

Swami Iyer ↔ Dan Simovici ↔ Ratko Tošić ↔ Joseph Straight ↔ Paul Erdös