comp sci (1 Viewer)

poloktim

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I enjoy it. Apart from Discrete Mathematics, that is. But from what I've gathered, Discrete Mathematics is forced on everyone doing CompSci at any uni.

:D
 

jm1234567890

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Doesn't seem as practical as the usyd one, they acctually did a group major projects....

However, i'm not sure of the merits of major project
 

Mithoric

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Group major projects? damn, I like to work by myself as I tend to keep a pretty fast pace.
 

poloktim

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Originally posted by Mithoric
Group major projects? damn, I like to work by myself as I tend to keep a pretty fast pace.
I like working by myself too, but no choice, so oh well.
 

adsta

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We get to do a major project in our third year...

As for computer science, I enjoy it. UOW is I think the second best school in Australia for comp sci, with UNSW at number one. Plenty of subjects to pick from (both inside and outside of the school).
I was originally planning on changing to UNSW after my first year, but I'm really happy with the faculty here, so I'm staying.
 

reno2004

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Wat sort of things apart from maths does comp sci involve? Like programming and stuff. And finally, wat is the difference between it and comp eng?

Thanx in advance
 

poloktim

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You get more freedom in Compsci. Also in comp engineering, if I'm not mistaken, in second year, you're only allowed to choose one of either C Family and Unix or Java Programming and the Internet. While in compsci, C Family and Unix is core, and if Java isn't then there's room for it to be chosen.

Also in computer engineering you have to do physics, and math187/141 and math188/142 in first year on top of programming and other core subjects. In compsci You have to do CSCI103 and STAT131 and MATH121 on top of other core subjects and two electives.
 

adsta

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reno2004 said:
Wat sort of things apart from maths does comp sci involve? Like programming and stuff. And finally, wat is the difference between it and comp eng?

Thanx in advance
Computer Engineering is more concerned with hardware design. It's a full on engineering course, so you will do physics and more maths. You will learn how to design the bits of hardware that make up a computer system (so there will be a fair bit of electrical engineering in there). So really, computer engineering is hardware, computer science is software.

At the gong, there are 4 majors in computer science (i.e. you specialisation). They are Computer Science (what you get if you don't pick any others pretty much), distributed systems (if you want to get into network programming and system admin stuff), software development (all about planning and group work etc), or digital system security (computer and network security etc).
Most people I know aren't picking a major, and are doing a variety of comp sci (and other schools) subjects. I'm doing a major though, because thats where I want to end up.
 

poloktim

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adsta said:
Computer Engineering is more concerned with hardware design. It's a full on engineering course, so you will do physics and more maths. You will learn how to design the bits of hardware that make up a computer system (so there will be a fair bit of electrical engineering in there). So really, computer engineering is hardware, computer science is software.

At the gong, there are 4 majors in computer science (i.e. you specialisation). They are Computer Science (what you get if you don't pick any others pretty much), distributed systems (if you want to get into network programming and system admin stuff), software development (all about planning and group work etc), or digital system security (computer and network security etc).
Most people I know aren't picking a major, and are doing a variety of comp sci (and other schools) subjects. I'm doing a major though, because thats where I want to end up.
I also intend to major in Software Development. Plus get the subdeans of Arts and Informatics to approve my degrees selection. They said they'd talk about it, so fingers crossed.
 

reno2004

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Just wondering adsta, wat major are you planning to do? Where could i get more information about the course majors?
Also one more thing i forgot to ask. wat sort of level is the first year maths?
 

adsta

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I'm planning on doing a double major in software development and distributed systems.

Unfortunately there isn't mush information on the majors except for the subjects you have to do. This can be found here http://www.uow.edu.au/handbook/yr2004/cour766.html
If you have any questions about the majors, just ask away and I'll try and anwser.

As for the level of maths, I would say 2 unit at a minimum. I only did general maths in year 12, but I then did 3 unit maths at tafe (took a year). There are other ways around it, so don't worry if you are doing general.
For the engineering degrees, you would need 2 unit for sure (or even 3 unit). I did some extra maths subjects that are done in engineering degrees and if I didn't do 3 unit (well, the 2 unit section), then I probably wouldn't have gotten through.
 

reno2004

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im not too worried about the maths, i did 4unit so i should be fine (that is wat others have told me). I was just curious wat type of stuff they do, cause i was thinking i might do a double degree with maths or somethin.
Is it possible to get early entry in the informatics faculty?
 

adsta

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Oh, in that case first year maths will be easy=]
A double degree in computer science and maths is a very good idea. The maths industry is booming apparently.
The core maths subjects (discrete maths and statistics) is very boring (well i thought so), and I really didn't enjoy them. But the other first year maths subjects are really cool. We learnt further calculas stuff, matrix algebra, vector geometry, complex numbers etc.

And yes, you can get early entry into some degrees in the informatics faculty. Not sure about early entry into maths, but you can for comp sci. I'm not sure where the link is, but if I find it, i'll let you know.
 

reno2004

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Thanx for the help, i just checked the UOW website and found the early entry link. Maths and Com Sci double degree is looking like my most attractive option at the moment.
 

ziggyboy

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The BCompSc course for 2004 is different from previous years. I only had to do MATH122 as a core subject and now they have some (useless?) subjects like algorithms/problem solving or something like that, but most other subjects are the same after first year.

There is just one problem with the new curriculum: Changing CSCI212 from Operating Systems to Interacting Systems. This Autumn 2004 session was the last time 212 will be taught as Operating Systems. OS is a core CS subject from any university and I'm a bit dumbfounded why it was removed.

To the first years, I strongly suggest doing CSCI112 this Spring session...that is...if you're serious with your CS degree.
 

poloktim

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ziggyboy said:
The BCompSc course for 2004 is different from previous years. I only had to do MATH122 as a core subject and now they have some (useless?) subjects like algorithms/problem solving or something like that, but most other subjects are the same after first year.

There is just one problem with the new curriculum: Changing CSCI212 from Operating Systems to Interacting Systems. This Autumn 2004 session was the last time 212 will be taught as Operating Systems. OS is a core CS subject from any university and I'm a bit dumbfounded why it was removed.

To the first years, I strongly suggest doing CSCI112 this Spring session...that is...if you're serious with your CS degree.
Algorithms and Problem Solving is useless for a little bit, but when you get into Abstract Data Types and Efficiency/Complexity, it's really interesting.

I would do CSCI112 this session, but my hands are full with other (all core) subjects.
 

adsta

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ziggyboy said:
There is just one problem with the new curriculum: Changing CSCI212 from Operating Systems to Interacting Systems. This Autumn 2004 session was the last time 212 will be taught as Operating Systems. OS is a core CS subject from any university and I'm a bit dumbfounded why it was removed.
Yeah I agree. What I am really confused at is why they still changed the name of the course to interacting systems, when we actually did the old operating systems subject. They should have kept it operating systems this year, and changed the name when the course changes. Now when we go for job interviews we are going to have to explain that it was really the operating systems subject and not this stupid interacting systems subject (well, maybe not, but you get my idea).
 

adsta

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poloktim said:
Algorithms and Problem Solving is useless for a little bit, but when you get into Abstract Data Types and Efficiency/Complexity, it's really interesting.
Sounds like they are trying to prepare you guys for csci203.
 

ziggyboy

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adsta said:
Yeah I agree. What I am really confused at is why they still changed the name of the course to interacting systems, when we actually did the old operating systems subject. They should have kept it operating systems this year, and changed the name when the course changes. Now when we go for job interviews we are going to have to explain that it was really the operating systems subject and not this stupid interacting systems subject (well, maybe not, but you get my idea).
LOL! EXACTLY! I've seen some postgraduate degrees of other unis who list down subjects that should have been taken in the undergrad course. One of them included Operating Systems... Our transcripts would show CSCI212 Interacting Systems and the only way to convince them is to have Koren sign some letter stating the content was OS.
 

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