Studying Computer Science at UNSW

 
 
John Shepherd

(former Co-ordinator of Computer Science Program)

... Studying Computer Science at UNSW

Nerd Pride

A geeky guy with thick glasses, no life and a computer obsession?

 

 
Like this guy?

... Nerd Pride

• that you know more about computers than them
• that you can do fun stuff all day and get paid for it
• that you have more chance to change the world than they do
• that you are way more likely to be a millionaire by age 30 than them

Famous Nerds #1

 

 
 
Both are called "The Father of X" ... who are they?
(only one of them is computer-related)

... Famous Nerds #1

John von Neumann 1933-1953: Professor of Mathematics Princeton University Institute of Advanced Studies developed idea of "stored program" developed "memory/cpu" architecture (now called the "von Neumann architecture") first computer called "MANIAC" provided computational support for Manhattan Project (US atom bomb) early champion of scientific computing sceptical of "high-level programming languages"

Famous Nerds #2

 

 
Who is the one who's not the ex-President?

... Famous Nerds #2

Grace Hopper Admiral in U.S. Navy Most famous woman in CS Invented ... the first compiler the COBOL language the term "bug" (allegedly)

... Famous Nerds #2

And here's the bug itself ...
 

 

Famous Nerds #3

 

 
 
The guy in the middle invented something you used today ... what?

... Famous Nerds #3

Doug Engelbart 1940's, trained as Electrical Engineer 1950's, worked at NASA Ames and SRI labs 1960's and 1970's, invented ... the mouse 2-dimensional display editing   (e.g. Notepad) windows-based interfaces   (e.g. KDE, fvwm) hypermedia and collaborative groupware etc. etc. etc. had 2nd host on ARPANET, set up & ran NIC currently running Bootstrap Inc.

... Famous Nerds #3

 

 
Photo circa 1963

Famous Nerds #4

 

 
 
How did this mild-mannered guy change the world?

... Famous Nerds #4

Tim Berners-Lee Invented the Web distributed hypertext linking heterogeneous documents a universal naming scheme (URL) Founder of W3C Now Professor at MIT

... Famous Nerds #4

Tim Berners-Lee's diagram of the "Web"
 
 

 
(from his proposal document, 1989)

Famous Nerds #5

 

 
 

You have probably used something he developed. Who is he?

... Famous Nerds #5

Marc Andreesen Co-founder of Netscape Communications Age 29, Silicon Valley "veteran", $$$$$ 1992: Mosaic project at Uni of Illinois 1994: co-founded Mosaic Communications 1994: changed name to Netscape Current project: Loudcloud (instant custom Web-sites) Quotable quotes: "I don't want to be like Bill Gates" "Email is ultimately the killer app"

Famous Nerds #6

 
 

 
Arguably the most famous Nerd of the 90's ... what did he write?

... Famous Nerds #6

Linus' Linux wanted O/S for his PC preferred Unix to Windows wrote own version of Unix released source code 1991 the rest is history ...

Linus Torvalds native of Helsinki, Finland mid 1980's ... CS undergrad late 1980's ... CS Masters early 1990's ... wrote Linux late 1990's ... Open Source leader currently working for Transmeta (Silicon Valley startup; new Crusoe chip) favourite beer: Guinness (on tap)

 
Who's the next Linus? ... One of you?

Famous Nerds #7

 

 
 
What does all of this equipment add up to?

 
 
 

UNSW United Won
the World Robocup2000 Championship!

 

The Team:	Bernhard Hengst, Son Bao Pham, Darren Ibbotson
The Scores:
Semi Final	UNSW: 12,    Carnegie-Mellon: 1  (UNSW own goal)
Grand Final	UNSW: 10,    Laboratoire Robotique de Paris: 0
Overall	UNSW: 48,    Other teams that we played: 1

Famous Nerds #8

... Famous Nerds #8

William H. Gates Chairman, Microsoft Corporation Chief Software Architect, Microsoft World's richest man ($80 billion) Contributions to Computer Science Basic? ... (existed in mid-60's) MS-DOS? ... (bought it from Tim Paterson) Window-based GUIs? ... (copied from Apple) Explorer? ... (bought it from Spyglass) the Internet? ... (hah! he wishes) Technical contributions == ???

Terminology and Jargon

• overall term covering theory, practice and application of information processing via digital computers

• application of IT to businesses/organisations   (how to apply packages)

• foundations and technological underpinnings of IT   (how to build packages)

... Terminology and Jargon

• being taught specific skill-set for current products/packages
• knowledge that dates quickly as technology changes
• the kind of thing they do at TAFE and industry training-courses

• being taught foundations on which products/packages are based
• knowledge that dates far less rapidly   (foundations change slowly)
• the kind of thing we do here at UNSW
• afterwards, we expect that you can train yourself

... Terminology and Jargon

• a single-semester (14-week) unit of study (aka "subject")

• a collection of courses that make up a thorough study of an area

• the piece of paper (qualification) that you get when you finish a course

The Comp Sci Program

• introduction to programming and computer systems, mathematics

• algorithms, data structures, computer hardware, software construction

• artificial intelligence, cryptography, databases, graphics, ...
• compilers, computer design, networks, operating systems, ...
• advanced algorithms, computation theory, software engineering, ...

... The Comp Sci Program

Each year is composed of 8 courses (4 in each semester).

What are COMP courses really about?

• for you to learn about some aspect of computer technology
• for you to understand the theory/principles behind the technology
• for you to develop skills in using this technology
• for you to further develop your general problem-solving skills
• for you to learn how to learn about new technologies like this

What are our degrees really about?

• all of you to have a deep understanding of "computation"
• all of you to be capable of being information technology innovators
• some of you to create the next generation of information technology

  (and become obscenely rich in the process :-)

Languages and Systems

• introductory programming: Haskell, C, Java
• software construction: Perl, Unix shell, HTML
• databases: SQL, Oracle, Java, JDBC
• artificial intelligence: Prolog
• networks: Java   ...   operating systems: C

... Languages and Systems

Cast of Characters

Students

• should be at University because they are interested and want to learn
• required to perform in exams and assignments to demonstrate learning

Academic Staff

• should be at University because they are interested and want to learn
• required to do   research,   teaching,   administration

... Cast of Characters

General Staff

• provide invaluable support for academics and students (under pressure)
• School Office, Computer Support Group, Admin Staff, Technicians, ...
• some advice: you can never be too nice to General Staff ...

University Admin

• some might say "a necessary evil"
• BUT see comments for General Staff ...

At the "coal face"

• we present the "theory" via lots of on-line examples   (watch, listen, learn)

• clarify theory, practice abstract problem solving   (design skills)

• write a small program, with the tutor there to help you   (practical skills)

... At the "coal face"

• "write a program to do XYZ" ... you take home and solve on computer

• "write n small programs" ... you have 2-3 hours to finish

• questions on a selection of topics ... multi-choice, programming, written

Learning Environments

How do you know you've succeeded?

• you leave the exam saying "Yes! ... Easy."
• you start adding bells and whistles to your assignment, a week before it's due
• you make suggestions to your tutor on how to improve their solution to a tough tute question
• your start-up IPO's and the share price increases 500% in the first hour :-)

... How do you know you've succeeded?

Why not?

• a mark of 50 means that you know only half of the material
• most courses lead onto others, so you've got shaky foundations

You will have carte blanche of 4th-year thesis topics if your average > 80

How to succeed in CS

How to fail in CS

• turn up to tutes/labs without reading the questions first
• don't even bother to attend tutorials or lab classes
• copy assignment solutions from other students  
• don't practice before a Prac Exam
• spend the revision week in the Uni Bar
• assume that a fake medical certificate will get you a 2nd exam

How to annoy people in CS

• spend the lectures chatting on your mobile phone
• download 100's of MB of GIFs and print them in the labs
• spend hours on the lab workstations in ICQ chat rooms
• go around telling everyone that Bill Gates is great innovator

Want to know more?

Course web pages are called e.g. http://www.cse.unsw.edu.au/~cs1011/

Most staff members have their own web pages ... which can be revealing ...

E.g. jas ... databases, teaching, beaches, beer, babies, Bay Area ...

Conclusion

Produced: 4 Dec 2000