C.W. Johnson, BSc Monash, PhD ANU
Senior Lecturer and Head of Department
Computer Science continues to be the name for a field of study which has changed greatly in its fifty-year history. The subject now includes a wide range of interests in communications, computer software, computer hardware, and information systems for human organisations. The Department of Computer Science offers full degree studies in software engineering, information systems, and computer science, as well as service courses in information technology applications.
The Department provides courses to produce three- and four-year graduates who can enter the information technology industry as novice professionals, and to support the main computing applications in Science, Engineering, Economics, and Commerce. The professional degree courses of Bachelor of Software Engineering and Bachelor of Information Technology are described in the Department’s entry under the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology in this Handbook. Many of the same computer science and software development units can be taken within the more generalist Bachelor of Science degree. Students can thereby combine study of a Science subject with as much computing as they wish, ranging from the use of spreadsheets, word processing and information organisation, or introductory programming, through to a complete third-year study of computer science and software development.
A fourth year of honours study can be added to the BSc and the BInfTech. The fourth year of the BSEng includes an honours or pass result. In all these degrees the Department aims to produce first class honours graduates who can enter postgraduate studies at leading international computer science laboratories.
The Department has an active research program and educates Master of Science and PhD students by research. Details are provided in the companion Graduate School Handbook.
Introductory units
The Department offers several units that can be taken by students with no previous background in computing or information technology. COMP1900 is an information technology service unit offered for the first time in 1999, which provides a university level introduction to applied computing for students in any area who wish to use computers in their studies or their careers but do not necessarily need to study computer programming. COMP1200 provides a broad perspective on the field of computing for those with a deeper interest in the underlying science and technology.
COMP1100 provides an introduction to computer programming, both as a service course and as a foundation for all further studies in information technology. It requires a prerequisite of secondary college mathematics, but does not require any previous computing experience. COMP1110 provides further study of programming and software engineering, consolidating the study of constructing larger programs. It leads to further software development and software engineering studies.
COMP2400 can be taken in first year, following COMP1100. It provides an introduction to the use of databases and to their underlying technology.
Further Information
Further information on the units offered and the structures of the courses
is available from the Department’s World Wide Web site, at
http://cs.anu.edu.au
UNITS TO BE OFFERED FOR THE PASS DEGREE
Introduction to Programming and Algorithms COMP1100
(6cp) Group A
Foundations of Software Engineering COMP1110
(6cp) Group A
Perspectives on Computing COMP1200
(6cp) Group A
Introduction to Information Technology Applications COMP1900
(6cp) Group A
Operating Systems Fundamentals COMP2029
(4cp) Group B
Distributed Systems Fundamentals COMP2030
(4cp) Group B
Construction of Program Systems COMP2031
(4cp) Group B
Data Structures and Algorithms COMP2033
(4cp) Group B
Programming Language Acceptors COMP2037
(4cp) Group B
Design of Program Systems COMP2038
(4cp) Group B
Relational Database Management Systems INFS2051
(4cp) Group B
This unit will not be offered in 1999.
Internet and Intranet Information Systems INFS2052
(4cp) Group B
Introduction to Computer Systems COMP2300
(6cp) Group B
This unit will not be offered in 1999.
Introduction to Technology of Information Systems COMP2400
(6cp) Group B
Software Engineering COMP3018
(8cp) Group C
Design of Digital Circuits and Microprocessor Systems COMP3020
(8cp) Group C
Computer Networks COMP3036
(4cp) Group C
Operating Systems Implementation COMP3037
(4cp) Group C
Interactive User Interfaces COMP3043
(4cp) Group C
Principles of High Performance Computing COMP3061
(4cp) Group C
Advanced Databases COMP3062
(4cp) Group C
Formal Languages, Computability and Complexity COMP3063
(4cp) Group C
May not be offered in 1999
Advanced Algorithms: Implementation and Analysis COMP3064
(4cp) Group C
Declarative Programming Paradigms COMP3065
(4cp) Group C
Formal Semantics and Programming COMP3066
(4cp) Group C
May not be offered in 1999
Computational Science and Engineering COMP3067
(4cp) Group C
Object-Oriented Systems Analysis INFS3047
(4cp) Group C
Object-Oriented Systems Design INFS3048
(4cp) Group C
Database Management Systems INFS3055
(4cp) Group C
This unit will not be offered in 1999
THE HONOURS DEGREE
Computer Science Honours COMP4001