Internet Computing
- Course-codes: CompSci 1003,CompSci 1003BR
- Year-level: 1
- Study-units: 3
- Contact: 36 hrs lectures, 12 hrs tutorials,
and 24 hrs supervised practical classes
Current offerings
Why should I study Internet Computing?
The Internet and the World Wide Web
are a vital part of our modern world.
Initially, the internet was only able to display fixed pages of
(possibly interesting) information stored remotely on other
computer systems.
Naturally, it wasn't long before the contents of the web-pages
were based on changing underlying data (such as current temperature).
The next development was the creation of a mechanism that allowed data
to be sent from the user to the remote website.
This permitted websites to become interactive, and thus
made possible internet-shopping.
You have already heard all the following terms, but may not
know exactly what they mean:
- URL
- Host
- Client
- Server
- Browser
- Protocol
- Web-page
- DNS
Internet Computing explains these terms and shows how all the parts
fit together.
A knowledge of how the internet works will enable you to exploit
this modern resource to maximum advantage.
What will I learn?
The core of the course has three main threads: - Networks;
- Web-pages; and
- Programming
The networks thread gives a basic understanding of how computer networks
operate, including the concepts of host, server, protocol, url, Domain-name
Server(DNS).
You will also understand the factors that affect the performance of networks,
including latency and channel-capacity.
The web-pages thread explains how web-pages work, and how they should
be constructed so that the result appears the same on all computers.
You will also learn how to extract common information from web-pages
and thus simplify management of large web-sites.
The programming thread introduces programming in PHP.
Programming makes it possible to create web-pages that display data that
depends on interactions with the remote user.
After the core material, there are extension topics including: - The design and management of the Internet;
- Issues in network-security;
- XML, the eXtensible Markup Language; and
- The Semantic Web.
What should I know before I enrol?
The course has no formal prerequisites.
You will find the concepts of the course easier to understand if
you have regularly used web-broswers and email.
(You will almost certainly satisfy this requirement if you were
born after about 1990!)
While prior programming experience is not necessary (we will teach the
fundamentals during the course) you will find the course easier
if you have programmed before.
How will my performance be assessed?
Your performance will be assessed in three ways:
- Tutorial classes, which are usually not graded, though we do record your attendance;
- Practical exercises, which typically account for 20% to 30% of your final score; and
- A final exam, which usually accounts for at least 60% of your final score.
The precise details of assessment vary from year to year, and will
be explained at the first lecture.
What comes next?
There are a number of courses that follow on from Internet Computing: - Computer Networkslooks into the the details of how the
major internet protocols really work, and examines other issues concerning
network performance and management.
- Distributed Systems
examines the interesting problems that arise when computer programs
are executed on a number of computers connected together in a network.
What do students think of this course?
From time-to-time, we ask students to give their opinion of this course,
and allow the lecturers to respond to the evaluation.
The most recent results, labelled 'courseEvaluation', and 'courseResponse'
are here:
Handy links
Disclaimer
The information presented here should apply to most students.
It is possible, however, that special conditions may apply to you.
You can find out by reading the
University Calendar program rules
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