Computing

Programme Structure & Content

First Year
First year students focus on the foundations of Computing Science, including: how to design and implement programs (using Java); relevant mathematical concepts, and some of the grand challenges of Computing. They also study two other subjects.

Second Year
In the second year, students are introduced to core topics in Modern Computing, with courses in Algorithmic Problem Solving, Data Management, Human Computer Interaction, and Intelligent Hardware and Robotics. Students develop significant programming skills in Java and C, and also get hardware experience through building and programming small robots.

Third Year
The third year includes a year-long Software Engineering Project. Working in teams, students develop a major software system, from an initial analysis to the final delivery. The course emphasises inter-personal teamwork skills as strongly as technical topics. Taught courses cover: Knowledge-Based Systems, Distributed Systems and Security, Operating Systems, Adaptive Interactive Systems, Languages and Computability, and Enterprise Computing.

Fourth Year (Honours)
The fourth year also involves a substantial project, but this time students work individually on a specific topic of interest to them; most projects are research-related, and some involve working with local companies. Many of the taught courses are also related to research activity, including Semantic Web Engineering, Peer-to-Peer and Agent-Based Computing, eScience and Natural Language Processing.

Teaching & Assessment

All courses are supported by Web-based material, usually including full course notes. Lectures in the first two years commonly include live computer demonstrations. In third and fourth year, as well as completing a project, students enjoy a variety of lectures and practicals. Assessment is by a mixture of coursework and examination.