Computer Science

This module is designed to equip you with the foundational information you need to understand and work in business and technical fields requiring the use of computers and networking technologies. Computing technology has a diversity of applications, so this module is suitable both for computer science students and for those pursuing other study disciplines. On this module, you will acquire useful knowledge of computer systems, computer networks and information systems analysis and design.

By the end of the module, you should be well placed to make use of an extensive range of hardware and software. In addition, you will have gained the knowledge and skills to enable you to analyse existing computer-based information systems and to design and develop web-based applications from informal specifications. 

On successful completion of this module, you should be able to:

Module Specific Skills and Knowledge:
1  outline the major components of operating systems, computer architectures and computer networks;

2 compare and contrast different operating system architectures;

3 compare and contrast different computer architectures;

4 compare and contrast different network architectures;

5 implement a computer program to demonstrate operating system calls;

6 implement a network program to demonstrate network protocols;
 

Discipline Specific Skills and Knowledge:

7 interpret an informal requirement specification;

8 systematically analyse information and make appropriate design choices.
 

Personal and Key Transferable / Employment Skills and Knowledge:

9 express information at various levels of abstraction;

10 use an operating system to manage a computer and a computer network;

11 write a basic technical report incorporating the design, implementation and testing of computer systems.

computer operating systems: structure (monolithic, layered, modular, micro-kernel), file management (files, directories), process management (fork/exec), processor management (scheduling), memory management (allocation,free);

 - computer architectures: Von Neumann processor architectures (CISC, RISC), caching (caches, virtual memory), pipelining, input/output devices (polling/interrupts), storage technologies (disk, solid-state);

- computer networks: interconnection (LAN, WLAN), devices (switches, routers), organization (client-server/peer-to-peer), protocols (TCP/IP, HTTP);
 

Referred students will be re-assessed for a maximum of 40%. For students deferred in the exam only, the uncapped exam mark will be combined with marks from coursework according to the stated percentage weightings. For students deferred in the whole module, the uncapped exam mark will be used.

ELE: College to provide hyperlink to appropriate pages

Additional Reading Resources

A. Silberschatz, P. B. Galvin and G. Gagne, "Operating Systems Concepts (Eighth Edition)", John Wiley, 2009, ISBN 978-0470233993

A. S. Tanenbaum and T. Austin, "Structured Computer Organization (Sixth Edition)", Pearson, 2012 ISBN 978-0273769248

J. F. Kurose and K. W. Ross, "Computer Networking: A Top-Down Approach (Six Edition)", Pearson, ISBN 978-0273768968, 2012

L. L. Peterson and B. S. Davie, "Computer Networks: A Systems Approach (Fifth Edition)", Morgan Kaufmann, ISBN 978-0123851383, 2011

Reading list for this module: