Knowledge areas in the CS major

    The following list is adapted from Table 5.1 (p.17) of CC2001 (Computing Curriculum 2001 , the joint curricular recommendations of the Computer Science professional societies (ACM-IEEE/CS Task Force on the Curriculum).

    • The boldface headings are titles of knowledge areas that frequently appear in CS at the undergraduate level.
    • The bulleted list items are “knowledge units” of topics for undergraduate study.
    • The parenthesized recommended minimum hours (described as “core hours” in CC2001) represent the number of class hours per each knowledge unit that the committee recommends for an undergraduate major.
    • Annotations of the form  “– CS1”  means that the indicated course(s) in St. Olaf’s CS major include(s) some or all of the material listed for a particular “knowledge unit” in the list.
    • DS. Discrete Structures (43 recommended minimum hours)
      • DS1. Functions, relations, and sets (6) — MFC
      • DS2. Basic logic (10) — MFC
      • DS3. Proof techniques (12) — MFC
      • DS4. Basics of counting (5) — MFC
      • DS5. Graphs and trees (4) — MFC
      • DS6. Discrete probability (6) — MFC

      PF. Programming Fundamentals (38 recommended minimum hours)

      • PF1. Fundamental programming constructs (9) — CS1
      • PF2. Algorithms and problem-solving (6) — CS1
      • PF3. Fundamental data structures (14) — CS1
      • PF4. Recursion (5) — CS1
      • PF5. Event-driven programming (4) — CSA

      AL. Algorithms and Complexity (31 recommended minimum hours)

      • AL1. Basic algorithmic analysis (4) — ADS
      • AL2. Algorithmic strategies (6) — ADS
      • AL3. Fundamental computing algorithms (12) — ADS
      • AL4. Distributed algorithms (3) — CSA , PCS
      • AL5. Basic computability (6) — MFC , TC
      • AL6. The complexity classes P and NP (0) — TC
      • AL7. Automata theory (0) — TC
      • AL8. Advanced algorithmic analysis (0) — ADS
      • AL9. Cryptographic algorithms (0) — TC
      • AL10. Geometric algorithms (0)
      • AL11. Parallel algorithms (0) , PCS

      AR. Architecture and Organization (36 recommended minimum hours)

      • AR1. Digital logic and digital systems (6) — HD
      • AR2. Machine level representation of data (3) — HD
      • AR3. Assembly level machine organization (9) — HD
      • AR4. Memory system organization and architecture (5) — HD
      • AR5. Interfacing and communication (3) — HD
      • AR6. Functional organization (7) — HD
      • AR7. Multiprocessing and alternative architectures (3) — HD , PCS
      • AR8. Performance enhancements (0) — HD
      • AR9. Architecture for networks and distributed systems (0) — HD

      OS. Operating Systems (18 recommended minimum hours)

      • OS1. Overview of operating systems (2) — OS
      • OS2. Operating system principles (2) — OS
      • OS3. Concurrency (6) — OS , CSA , PCS
      • OS4. Scheduling and dispatch (3) — OS , CSA , PCS
      • OS5. Memory management (5) — OS , SD
      • OS6. Device management (0) — OS
      • OS7. Security and protection (0) — OS
      • OS8. File systems (0) — OS , PCS
      • OS9. Real-time and embedded systems (0)
      • OS10. Fault tolerance (0) , PCS
      • OS11. System performance evaluation (0)
      • OS12. Scripting (0) — OS , PCS

      NC. Net-Centric Computing (15 recommended minimum hours)

      • NC1. Introduction to net-centric computing (2) — CSA
      • NC2. Communication and networking (7) — CSA
      • NC3. Network security (3) — CSA
      • NC4. The web as an example of client-server computing (3) — CSA
      • NC5. Building web applications (0) — ATP
      • NC6. Network management (0) — NET , PCS
      • NC7. Compression and decompression (0) — ADS
      • NC8. Multimedia data technologies (0)
      • NC9. Wireless and mobile computing (0)

      PL. Programming Languages (21 recommended minimum hours)

      • PL1. Overview of programming languages (2) — PL
      • PL2. Virtual machines (1) — HD , PCS
      • PL3. Introduction to language translation (2) — PL
      • PL4. Declarations and types (3) — PL
      • PL5. Abstraction mechanisms (3) — PL
      • PL6. Object-oriented programming (10) — SD , PCS
      • PL7. Functional programming (0) — CS1
      • PL8. Language translation systems (0) — PL
      • PL9. Type systems (0) — PL
      • PL10. Programming language semantics (0) — PL
      • PL11. Programming language design (0) — PL

      HC. Human-Computer Interaction (8 recommended minimum hours)

      • HC1. Foundations of human-computer interaction (6) — ESD , CSA
      • HC2. Building a simple graphical user interface (2) — CSA
      • HC3. Human-centered software evaluation (0)
      • HC4. Human-centered software development (0)
      • HC5. Graphical user-interface design (0)
      • HC6. Graphical user-interface programming (0) — ATP
      • HC7. HCI aspects of multimedia systems (0)
      • HC8. HCI aspects of collaboration and communication (0)

      GV. Graphics and Visual Computing (3 recommended minimum hours)

      • GV1. Fundamental techniques in graphics (2) — CSA
      • GV2. Graphic systems (1) — CSA
      • GV3. Graphic communication (0)
      • GV4. Geometric modeling (0) — CG
      • GV5. Basic rendering (0) — CG
      • GV6. Advanced rendering (0) — CG
      • GV7. Advanced techniques (0) — CG
      • GV8. Computer animation (0)
      • GV9. Visualization (0)
      • GV10. Virtual reality (0)
      • GV11. Computer vision (0)

      IS. Intelligent Systems (10 recommended minimum hours)

      • IS1. Fundamental issues in intelligent systems (1) — LP
      • IS2. Search and constraint satisfaction (5) — LP
      • IS3. Knowledge representation and reasoning (4) — LP
      • IS4. Advanced search (0) — LP
      • IS5. Advanced knowledge representation and reasoning (0) — LP
      • IS6. Agents (0)
      • IS7. Natural language processing (0)
      • IS8. Machine learning and neural networks (0)
      • IS9. AI planning systems (0)
      • IS10. Robotics (0)

      IM. Information Management (10 recommended minimum hours)

      • IM1. Information models and systems (3) — CSA
      • IM2. Database systems (3) — CSA
      • IM3. Data modeling (4) — CSA
      • IM4. Relational databases (0) — DB
      • IM5. Database query languages (0) — DB
      • IM6. Relational database design (0) — DB
      • IM7. Transaction processing (0) — DB
      • IM8. Distributed databases (0)
      • IM9. Physical database design (0) — DB
      • IM10. Data mining (0)
      • IM11. Information storage and retrieval (0)
      • IM12. Hypertext and hypermedia (0) — CSA
      • IM13. Multimedia information and systems (0)
      • IM14. Digital libraries (0)

      SP. Social and Professional Issues (16 recommended minimum hours)

      • SP1. History of computing (1) — ESD
      • SP2. Social context of computing (3) — ESD
      • SP3. Methods and tools of analysis (2) — SD , ESD
      • SP4. Professional and ethical responsibilities (3) — ESD
      • SP5. Risks and liabilities of computer-based systems (2) — ESD
      • SP6. Intellectual property (3) — ESD
      • SP7. Privacy and civil liberties (2) — ESD
      • SP8. Computer crime (0) — ESD
      • SP9. Economic issues in computing (0) — ESD
      • SP10. Philosophical frameworks (0)

      SE. Software Engineering (31 recommended minimum hours)

      • SE1. Software design (8) — SD , PCS
      • SE2. Using APIs (5) — CSA , PCS
      • SE3. Software tools and environments (3) — SD
      • SE4. Software processes (2) — SD
      • SE5. Software requirements and specifications (4) — SD
      • SE6. Software validation (3) — CSA
      • SE7. Software evolution (3) — SD
      • SE8. Software project management (3) — SD
      • SE9. Component-based computing (0)
      • SE10. Formal methods (0) — CS1 , SD
      • SE11. Software reliability (0) , PCS
      • SE12. Specialized systems development (0) , PCS

      CN. Computational Science and Numerical Methods (0 recommended minimum hours)

      • CN1. Numerical analysis (0)
      • CN2. Operations research (0)
      • CN3. Modeling and simulation (0)
      • CN4. High-performance computing (0) , PCS