Code Large Language Models (CS 4/510)
Ref. No: 13610 and 13619
Fall 2026
Course
Objective
§ Large language models have
many potential applications, not only to natural languages, but also to
computer languages and software engineering. This course will focus on the
application of large language models and coding agents to computer code,
including code generation, repository understanding, planning, testing,
verification, and software development. The course will cover topics ranging
from the foundations of modern large language models to coding agents, agent
architecture, context engineering, tool use, long-horizon reasoning,
verification and feedback, evaluation, and harness engineering. This study will
be carried out by reading and discussing recent papers from relevant
conferences and journals.
Class
Homepage
§ http://www.cs.pdx.edu/~xie/cllms-f26/cllms-f26.htm
Instructor
§ Prof. Fei Xie
Office: FAB 120-10 Phone: (503) 725-2403
Homepage: http://www.cs.pdx.edu/~xie Email: xie@cs.pdx.edu
Office
Hours
Prerequisites:
§ None
Meeting
Time and Location
Textbooks
Grading
§ Paper Presentation and Class Participation:
50%
o Each
student is assigned to a team responsible for presenting two papers on a
specific topic in a given week and must participate in preparing and delivering
the presentations.
o Every
student is required to attend each meeting and participate in paper
discussions.
§ Paper
reviews: 50%
o Every student is required to submit 2-page review
for every paper being discussed each week, except the papers they are
presenting. A review is required to include:
§ Summary of the paper
§ Strength and Weakness of the paper/approach
§ Open problems from the paper
Class
Schedules
|
|
Dates
|
Topics |
Notes |
|
Week
1 |
Oct.
2 |
From
LLMs to Coding Agents |
|
|
Week
2 |
Oct.
9 |
Agent
Architecture |
|
|
Week
3 |
Oct.
16 |
Repository
Understanding |
|
|
Week
4 |
Oct.
23 |
Context
Engineering |
|
|
Week
5 |
Oct.
30 |
Tools
& Action Spaces |
|
|
Week
6 |
Nov.
6 |
Planning,
Search & Long-Horizon Work |
|
|
Week
7 |
Nov.
13 |
Verification
& Feedback |
|
|
Week
8 |
Nov.
20 |
Benchmark
and Evaluation |
|
|
Week
9 |
Nov.
27 |
(Thanksgiving;
No Class) |
|
|
Week
10 |
Dec.
4 |
Harness
Engineering |
|
(This
schedule is subject to changes according to the need of the class. For the
readings of each class meeting, please see the reading list.)
Academic
Integrity
§ Academic
misconducts will be handled according to the rules of the Department of
Computer Science, Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science, and