It looks like I have pretty much got my fourth year Computer Science courses figured out.
CS325: Law in Computer Science
An examination of aspects of law and policy that relate to the creation, protection and implementation of software and hardware; attention is directed towards issues of current importance of which every computer scientist should be aware.
CS402: Distributed and Parallel Systems
Issues arising in distributed and parallel systems and applications; related architectures such as connection machines, shared memory multiprocessors.
CS413: Cryptography and Security
Survey of the principles and practise of cryptography and network security: classical cryptography, public-key cryptography and cryptographic protocols, network and system security.
CS444: Semantics of Programming Languages
Operational, denotational, and axiomatic semantics; lambda-calculus.
CS445: Analysis of Algorithms II
Parallel, distributed, probabilistic, and geometric algorithms; design and analysis; computational geometry; fractals and graphtals.
CS447: Compiler Theory
Syntax-directed translation; LR(k), LL(k), attribute grammars; code generation; optimization; compiler compilers; code generator generators.
CS457: Computer Networks II
Network layering, performance, management, modelling and simulation; faults and failures.
CS490: Thesis
A project or research paper completed with minimal faculty supervision. An oral presentation plus a written submission will be required.
It was pretty hard to decide which courses to take this year. The first big decision was to take the courses necessary for the Four-year BSc Honours Computer Science degree instead of the Four-year Bsc Honours Computer Science with Software Engineering Specialization degree. Although the Software Engineering sounds a little more impressive it seems to me to be the easy way out. The courses required for the Software Engineering specialization look easier and less interesting to me. Worse, I would not be able to take many of the more theoretical courses I listed above.
After making the above decision I still had to decide between
CS338A: Computer Graphics I
Graphics primitives. The viewing pipeline; clipping and visibility problems. The graphical kernel system; picture generation and user interfaces.
and
CS444: Semantics of Programming Languages
Operational, denotational, and axiomatic semantics; lambda-calculus.
It was a choice between specializing more in programming languages or broadening my knowledge with the Computer Graphics course. This was a tough decision because I know very little about graphics and would like to know more. I chose CS444.
The second course decision was between
CS325: Law in Computer Science
An examination of aspects of law and policy that relate to the creation, protection and implementation of software and hardware; attention is directed towards issues of current importance of which every computer scientist should be aware.
and
CS413: Foundations of Computer Science II
Formal languages; recursive functions; abstract complexity; automaton models; array machines; systolic systems; cellular automata.
I decided on CS325 for a couple of reasons. First, I have become very interested in intellectual properly issues. Second, I don’t want the spring term to be too hard because a lot of time will be consumed by my thesis.
I do feel like I should be taking another mathematics course or two but there just isn’t room.
It should be a very interesting year. I wish it were possible to take every course in the Computer Science department. Also, I still have to decide which option credit to take. I’m thinking economics.
Now, I just need to decide whether or not I will do a masters next year.
