Computer Science Course Descriptions

An introduction to some of the technologies underlying the world wide web, with emphasis on client-side programming. Topics covered include introductions to HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. This course is suitable for students with no prior experience in programming.

An introduction to computer programming for non-majors or other students interested in building basic programming skills. Topics include basic programming constructs such as decision statements, iteration, and functions. Students will complete a number of programming assignments over the course of the term, culminating in a final project. Instruction in the Python language.

An introduction to computer programming for potential mathematics/computer science majors and other students with a strong interest in computing. Topics include elementary programming constructs, design and implementation of algorithms, and object-oriented programming. Introductory instruction in the Java language.

Directed study follows a syllabus set primarily by the instructor to meet the needs or interests of an individual student or small group of students. The main goal of directed study is knowledge or skill acquisition, not research or creative work. PREREQUISITES: To register student must complete the Student Initiated Course Form with consultation of supervising instructor.

The academic component of the internship includes readings related to the substance of the internship, discussions with the faculty supervisor, and a written report appropriate to the discipline. Course grades are based on this academic work. PREREQUISITES: To register student must complete the Student Initiated Course Form with consultation of supervising instructor

An introduction to programming with emphasis on learning from data in order to gain useful insights. Topics focus on elementary programming concepts in the R language and the necessary tools to handle, analyze and interpret data. This course will be taught in a workshop format, and students will complete regular assignments and a final project that provide hands-on programming/analysis experiences. PREREQUISITES: One prior course MATH, STAT, or CMSC course, or BIOL 170, or BIOL 280, or consent of instructor

An overview of techniques used to discover structural patterns and make predictions using complex datasets that are prevalent in today's world. The central machine learning tasks of classification, clustering, and regression will be explored, along with methods for training models and evaluating predictions. This course will be taught in a workshop format. Assignments will involve the use of statistical software. PREREQUISITES: CMSC 150, or CMSC 205, or CMSC 210, or consent of instructor

An introduction to computer programming with an emphasis on numerical applications in mathematics and the sciences. Topics include elementary programming concepts in the Python language, design and implementation of numerical algorithms, and an introduction to symbolic computation. PREREQUISITES: One term of calculus (either MATH 140 or MATH 120), or consent of instructor

A study of more advanced programming techniques in the Java language. Topics include graphical user interfaces, exception-handling, multithreading, networking, databases, and web applications. PREREQUISITES: MATH 140 and C- or better in CMSC 150

A study of advanced programming and an introduction to data structures. Topics focus on programming skills needed for the design and implementation of standard data structures such as lists, trees, and graphs and their associated algorithms. Additional topics include recursion, analysis of algorithms, and advanced aspects of object-oriented programming in the C++ language. PREREQUISITES: C- or better in CMSC 250

PREREQUISITES: To register student must complete the Student Initiated Course Form with consultation of supervising instructor.

Directed study follows a syllabus set primarily by the instructor to meet the needs or interests of an individual student or small group of students. The main goal of directed study is knowledge or skill acquisition, not research or creative work. PREREQUISITES: To register student must complete the Student Initiated Course Form with consultation of supervising instructor.

The academic component of the internship includes readings related to the substance of the internship, discussions with the faculty supervisor, and a written report appropriate to the discipline. Course grades are based on this academic work. PREREQUISITES: To register student must complete the Student Initiated Course Form with consultation of supervising instructor

PREREQUISITES: To register student must complete the Student Initiated Course Form with consultation of supervising instructor.

This course builds on CMSC/STAT 205, providing a deeper exploration of statistical computing in R. Topics might include efficient programming techniques, parallelization, statistical algorithms, advanced data visualization, and creation of R packages. Statistical software will be used extensively in this course. The class will be taught in an interactive lab-based format. There will be regular assignments and a project. PREREQUISITES: CMSC 205

Introduction to client side and server side web development with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Topics covered include the use of client side and server side JavaScript frameworks. Students will complete a number of small projects over the course of the term. PREREQUISITES: CMSC 270

An introduction to techniques for analyzing and modeling systems for implementation as computer programs. Topics include a survey of modeling methodologies for structured and object-oriented systems and case studies of system development. Also, applications of analysis and design methods to database design and design of distributed systems. PREREQUISITES: CMSC 250

The fundamentals of computer graphics and their applications in visualizing a variety of scientific phenomena. Topics include graphics primitives, two- and three-dimensional transformations, three-dimensional viewing techniques, spline curves, surface patches, hidden line algorithms, ray tracing, radiosity, texture-mapping, and fractals. PREREQUISITES: MATH 155 and CMSC 270

The structure and function of computers as viewed from the hardware/software interface. Hardware topics include elementary digital logic, data storage devices, dataflow pathways, and central processor organization with special emphasis on parallelism. Corresponding software topics include data representation and manipulation, instruction sets, addressing techniques, and program control mechanisms. PREREQUISITES: CMSC 250 and CMSC 270

Introduction to mobile application development with modern application development frameworks. Frameworks covered may include Swift/iOS, Kotlin/Android or other similar frameworks. Topics covered will include user interfaces for mobile applications and the use of back end services. Students will complete a series of app development projects over the course of the term. PREREQUISITES: CMSC 270

Tools and techniques for constructing server side back end software for modern web and mobile applications. Topics covered will include working with both SQL and NoSQL databases and frameworks for constructing back end applications. This course will be structured as a traditional lecture course with regular programming assignments. PREREQUISITES: CMSC 250

An examination of issues in the design and implementation of programming languages. Students will first gain proficiency in the functional programming paradigm (using Scheme), and will then design and implement, in Scheme, an interpreter for a brand-new programming language. PREREQUISITES: CMSC 250 and CMSC 270

A detailed investigation into foundational concepts of artificial intelligence: search, knowledge representation, and automated planning. Specific topics include uninformed and heuristic search techniques, logic-based knowledge representations, automated theorem-proving, logic programming (Prolog), action representations, means-ends analysis, regression and partial-order planning, and reachability analysis using graphs. PREREQUISITES: CMSC 250 and CMSC 270

A survey of some fundamental aspects of computer operating systems and their impact on the performance of software. Topics include process and memory management, system level input/output, concurrency, and parallel programming. PREREQUISITES: CMSC 270

A survey of modern applications for neural networks and programming toolkits used to implement them. Applications surveyed will include image recognition, natural language processing, and machine learning applications. Students will complete programming projects using modern toolkits for neural network construction. Course is structured as a traditional lecture course with programming assignments. PREREQUISITES: CMSC 270

An exploration of advanced computing techniques such as artificial life, constraint logic, continuation-passing, lazy evaluation, production systems, and robot programming, to name a few. The choice of topics for any given term will vary according to the interests of the students and faculty.

Advanced data structures and the time and space efficiency of the algorithms that manipulate such structures. Topics include proof of correctness for algorithms, recursion, dynamic programming, optimized tree structures, union-find problems, graphs, path-finding algorithms, and string search algorithms. PREREQUISITES: MATH 230, and C- or better in CMSC 270

A study of programming in the abstract, leading to an understanding of the precise nature and limitations of computing machines. Topics include universal computing machines such as Turing machines, decidable and undecidable predicates, regular and pushdown automata, and regular and context-free grammars. PREREQUISITES: CMSC 150 and MATH 230

Advanced study arranged and carried out under the direction of an instructor. PREREQUISITES: To register student must complete the Student Initiated Course Form with consultation of supervising instructor.

Directed study follows a syllabus set primarily by the instructor to meet the needs or interests of an individual student or small group of students. The main goal of directed study is knowledge or skill acquisition, not research or creative work. PREREQUISITES: To register student must complete the Student Initiated Course Form with consultation of supervising instructor.

The academic component of the internship includes readings related to the substance of the internship, discussions with the faculty supervisor, and a written report appropriate to the discipline. Course grades are based on this academic work. PREREQUISITES: To register student must complete the Student Initiated Course Form with consultation of supervising instructor

Advanced research. Students considering an honors project should register for this course, for one or more terms. PREREQUISITES: To register student must complete the Student Initiated Course Form with consultation of supervising instructor.

Intended as a capstone experience for math-computer science majors, this course provides a forum for seniors to formally present the results of their required independent study projects. CMSC minors and other students doing senior projects involving computing are also invited to present their work in this seminar.

Advanced study arranged and carried out under the direction of an instructor. PREREQUISITES: To register student must complete the Student Initiated Course Form with consultation of supervising instructor.

Directed study follows a syllabus set primarily by the instructor to meet the needs or interests of an individual student or small group of students. The main goal of directed study is knowledge or skill acquisition, not research or creative work. PREREQUISITES: To register student must complete the Student Initiated Course Form with consultation of supervising instructor.

The academic component of the internship includes readings related to the substance of the internship, discussions with the faculty supervisor, and a written report appropriate to the discipline. Course grades are based on this academic work. PREREQUISITES: To register student must complete the Student Initiated Course Form with consultation of supervising instructor

Designed as an inclusive alternative to separately-scheduled, required independent studies (CMSC 699). Students in the graduating cohort will present proposals, progress reports, and preliminary results of their self-directed senior projects to be evaluated by their peers while learning about each others' capstone projects in computer science. PREREQUISITES: Instructor Approval required

Advanced research. Students considering an honors project should register for this course, for one or more terms. PREREQUISITES: To register student must complete the Student Initiated Course Form with consultation of supervising instructor.