Computer Science

Course Structure

1. Research and Scholarship Methods (compulsory for MSc and PG Dip) equips students with the tools necessary for the scholarship and research skill needed for the computing field as well as equipping them with the professional skills and outlook needed for a lifelong career in the computer industry.
2. Secure Systems Architecture (compulsory for MSc) studies computer and network security and the ways that computer systems can be secured. This module will look at both the technological and human issues involved in securing and assessing the security level of a modern networked computer system. It also introduces basic concepts of operating systems and architecture.
3. Formal Software Engineering (optional) explores the techniques used to keep programmes error-free at every stage of the software life-cycle. In particular, it focuses on the process of reasoning about the properties of programmes and on machine-assisted refinement from specification to implementation. It also introduces various mathematical concepts of software engineering.
4. Network Principles (optional) teaches the principles and practice of computer networking with an emphasis on data communications and local area network technologies and design.
5. Software Production (compulsory for MSc and PG Dip) studies the current practices, skills and techniques applied to managing software development related projects, individually and in project teams. The module combines theory with pragmatic and professional insights and considers requirements engineering, project management, risk, quality assurance, usability and HCI issues.
6. Paradigms of Programming (optional) enables students to broaden their existing understanding of programming by learning and practising multiple programming styles and programming technologies; and by studying the underlying disciplines of programming language design, compiler/interpreter construction, formal properties of programming languages, and low-level development.
7. Compiler Construction (optional) studies the principles, methods and techniques of compiler construction for imperative programming languages and the role of language tools in the broad context of software development. Students will work in small groups to create a compiler for a Java-like, high-level programming language.
8. Programming Applications (optional) covers algorithm and data structure design techniques, and gives students the ability to implement software, which is efficient and utilises a range of programming techniques and can be applied to a variety of application areas.
9. Web Ecosystems (optional) The Web is moving beyond a Web of hyperlinked documents to a Web of linked data and knowledge, in which user navigation is replaced by machine inferencing and reasoning. This module will cover the key current technologies in this area and will expose students to current research directions in this rapidly evolving field.
10. Multiservice Networks (optional) builds on the foundations laid in Network Principles and analyses the technologies and protocols used for multi-service networks in order to enable the student to develop the knowledge and skills required to design multi-service networks. The networks are illustrated with case studies, including state-of-the-art practice and recent research and development in the field.
11. MSc Dissertation which is an individual research and development project that allows you to study a topic of your choice in depth, guided by your supervisor. The work may be undertaken in close co-operation with a research, industrial or commercial organisation. You undertake your dissertation over the summer period.