MASTER OF SCIENCE IN COMPUTER SCIENCE (MSCS)
BACKGROUND PREPARATION
Students admitted in to the MSCS degree program are required to have the following background preparation. A student with any deficiency is required to clear it by either (1) taking the course at Triton Institute and earning a grade of at least C-or higher or (2) taking and passing a proficiency exam on the subject. The student is advised to clear all deficiencies before attempting to enroll in graduate level courses.
1. ENGLISH/COMMUNICATION:
- English communication (one of the following: CS407or a college English course);
2. COMPUTER SCIENCE SUBJECTS:
- Programming languages and Data structures (CS414, CS470);
- Operating systems (CS440, CS490);
3. ELECTRONIC SUBJECTS:
- (EE400, EE420);
4. MEZZANINE COURSES:
(Students with a background deficiency can take these courses and earn graduate credits)
- Database Design (CS527)
- Computer networks (CS530)
MSCS CURRICULUM
A minimum of 36 semester units of graduate study are required for the MSCS program. A maximum of four (4) 4xx courses (400 level courses with a designation taken as elective courses) are allowed to count towards graduation credits. The student must meet prerequisite requirements when taking any of the following courses.
1.) Basic Courses (12.0 credits)
The required courses emphasize understanding of (1) the principles and architecture of Computer networks and (2) the design of modern operating systems. A student must take the following two courses to complete the required graduate course requirement. These two courses cannot be used to meet concentration coursework requirements.
CS511 Computer Architecture
CS527 Database Design
CS543 Advanced Computer Networks
CS546 Operating System Design
2.) Area of Concentration (12.0 credits)
In addition to the three required graduate courses in section I, a student must select an area of concentration and complete at least 12 units (four courses) listed in one chosen concentration area. This is to ensure the students competence in a selected area. As new courses are also offered between publications of school catalogs, the students are advised to refer to the “Concentration area courses tables published with each release of the semester class schedule to select courses for meeting the concentration area requirements.
Area A. Internet Technology and Digital e-Business Systems
Required courses:
CS560 NET Web Programming
CS572 Advanced Java Programming
CS542 Software Engineering
CS570 Algorithms
3.) Courses for Breadth of Study (6.0 credits)
The student is required to take at least 6 units in graduate course work outside the chosen Concentration area. The courses may be at 400 level or 500 level And above. The student must observe the limits on the number of 400 level courses with a designation.
4.) Electives (6.0 credits)
The student may elect graduate-level courses in any discipline, in or outside the chosen Concentration area, to meet the elective requirements. Elective courses may also include Mezzanine courses taken to meet the background requirements for the program and/or For the chosen concentration area. The students must observe the limits on the number of 400 level courses with a designation.
Mezzanine Courses for Program Requirement
Students admitted with a background deficiency in (1) database design and/or (2) computer networks must take the courses (1) “CS527 database design” and/or (2)“ CS530 computer networks” at Triton. Credit earned can be counted as elective.
* Other background requirements for the concentration area:
Each concentration area requires certain 400 level background courses. Students may earn credit towards the degree, if observing the limit for the number of 400 level courses for the program, by taking the courses such as CS540.
MSCS TOTAL REQUIREMENTS (36credits)
COMPUTER SCIENCE COURSE DESCRIPTION
CS 360 COMPUTER FUNDAMENTALS (4.0Credits)
This is an introductory computer literacy course introducing the students to the basics of computer hardware structure, the World Wide Web, and MS Windows software tools. Topics include introduction to computer components, input/output, data storage, the Internet and the WWW, operating systems, data management and databases, software program development and programming languages, and ethics for technical professionals. Students also learn to use the latest Microsoft Office tools Word, Excel, Access, Powerpoint, MS Visual Basic, and the use of the Internet and browsers. Hands-on exercises are required.
CS 407 PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT (2.0 Credits)
This course instructs the student to develop his/her professional career. Topics cover personality assessment, professional ethics, understanding the business professional world, recognizing company culture and organizational structure, career stages and paths, resume preparation, and interview techniques and business report/proposal writing.
Prerequisite: Placement by English exam or successful completion of advanced ESL classes.
CS 414 PROGRAM DESIGN AND ANALYSIS IN C (4.0 Credits)
This course is designed to teach C language syntax rules and the analysis of a structured programming language, with emphasis on practical applications in engineering and business problems. Methods of testing and debugging well-structured programs in C are also covered. Topics include problem specification and analysis, writing-editing-compiling-linking a C program, data types, operators and expressions, selection and repetition, arrays, pointers, functions, text files, dynamic memory allocation, strings, structures and unions, binary files, and bitwise manipulation and preprocessor directives. Hands-on exercises are required and the weekly lab session is an integral part of this course.
Prerequisite: CS360
CS 440 INTRODUCTION TO UNIX/LINUX (4.0 Credits)
This course is designed to familiarize the students with the UNIX/Linux environment. Topics include concepts of the UNIX/Linux operating system, Shell commands, Visual editor, file manipulation and securities, UNIX utility commands, Shell features and environment, online manual, controlling user processes and managing jobs, introduction of Regular Expression and its usage with grep, sed, and awk UNIX power utilities, basic Shell programming techniques, large file management, and the user programming environment customization. Hands-on exercises are required.
Prerequisite: CS360
CS 470 OBJECT- ORIENTED PROGRAMMING IN C++ (3.0Credits)
This course is designed to develop the students' abilities to design, code, and document application programs using object-oriented design and analysis concepts and methodology. Emphasis is on establishment of design objectives, criteria and specifications, processes of synthesis, analysis, construction, testing, and evaluation of open-ended problems. Topics include an introduction to general object-oriented programming as implemented in C++, data types, expression, statements, functions, program scope, run-time memory allocation, function overloading, template functions, class mechanism, derivation, inheritance, and migration from C to C++. Labs may accompany lectures in partial class meetings during the semester. Hands-on exercises are required.
Prerequisite: CS414
CS 490 INTRODUCTION TO OPERATING SYSTEMS (3.0 Credits)
This course is designed to introduce students to basic concepts of modern operating systems, topics include processes, threads, microkernel, concurrency, memory management, file system. Hands on exercises are required.
Prerequisite: CS360
CS 511 COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE (3.0 Credits)
This course focuses on the techniques of quantitative analysis and evaluation of modern computing systems, such as the selection of appropriate benchmarks to reveal and compare the performance of alternative design choices in system design. The emphasis is on the major component subsystems of high performance computers: Pipelining, instruction level parallelism, memory hierarchies, input/output, and network-oriented interconnections. Students will undertake a major computing system analysis and design project of their own choosing.
Prerequisite: Instructor's Consent
CS 527 DATABASE DESIGN (3.0Credits)
This is the first of a series designed to teach relational database concepts, design, and applications. Topics include database architecture, relational model, structured query language (SQL), data manipulation (DML), data definition language (DDL), database design, ER modeling, database normalization, denormalization, and physical database design. Popular database systems, such as Oracle and Microsoft SQL server, are used for hands-on exercises and projects.
Prerequisite: CS414 or Instructor's Consent
CS 530 COMPUTER NETWORKS (3.0Credits)
This course is designed to give students a global picture of computer networks. Topics include network layered models (OSI, TCP/IP), data communication basics, circuit switching, packet switching, routing and internetworking. Hands-on exercises are required.
Prerequisite: CS490
CS 540 JAVA PROGRAMMING AND INTERNET APPLICATIONS (3.0Credits)
This course introduces students to the Java language, programming with object-oriented construct, GUI design and graphics programming and core Java libraries. Students will learn Java language basics such as syntax and classes, inheritance, interfaces, reflection, graphics programming, event handling, user-interface components with Swing, Java applets, exception handling, stream, and files. Hands-on exercises are required.
Prerequisite: CS470
CS 542 SOFTWARE ENGINEERING (3.0Credits)
This course is designed to demonstrate the engineering approach to the development of large, high-quality software projects. Topics include software life cycle, development process, requirement specifications, design and testing techniques, verification and validation, and software management. Students learn to use project management tools, principles, and environment to facilitate development of software programs/systems. Hands-on exercises and projects are required.
Prerequisite: CS470
CS 543 ADVANCED COMPUTER NETWORKS (3.0 Credits)
This is the sequel to CS520, Computer Networks, and is designed for an in-depth study of computer networks. Emphasis is on modern Internet technologies and implementations. Topics include a review of computer networks, OS reference model, a study of emerging Ethernet technologies (Fast, Gigabit), client and server implementation with socket programming, local and wide area networks, TCP/IP, routing, network protocol and architecture, Internet protocol, and IP addressing. Projects are required.
Prerequisite: CS530
CS 546 OPERATING SYSTEM DESIGN (3.0 Credits)
This course offers graduate students an in-depth understanding and hands-on experience in modern operating system design and implementation. Topics include process, memory, file system, I/O, deadlocks, case studies of operating system implementations, modern distributed and network system architectures, communication and synchronization in distributed systems, threads and processor allocation, scheduling in distributed operating systems, distributed file systems, and case studies of modern distributed operating system design. Projects are required
Prerequisite: CS490
CS 550 UNIX/LINUX SYSTEM PROGRAMMING (3.0Credits)
This course is designed for students to gain fundamental knowledge of and hands on experience with programming in unix/linux environment. students will learn to program in c with unix/linux system calls and other advanced topics such as unix file system, process control, signals and inter process communications. upon completion of this course, students should be able to develop real world unix/linux applications.
Prerequisite: CS440
CS 555 UNIX/LINUX NETWORK PROGRAMMING (3.0Credits)
This course is designed for graduate students to gain hands on experience in unix/linux programming. The students will learn to develop unix/linux network applications using a number of unix/linux network programming interface techniques including sockets, XTI ,RPC. Topics include: an overview of transport layer, TCP sockets, UDP sockets, threads and client server design, XTI, RPC and Streams.
Prerequisite: CS440
CS 560 NET WEB PROGRAMMING (3.0Credits)
This course provides students with the knowledge and skills needed to develop dynamic web-based applications using ASP.NET and gain an understanding of the new architecture behind ASP.NET. Topics include creating ASP.NET pages, creating Web custom controls and Web user controls, using validation controls and composite controls, using ADO.NET to access data from various data sources, configuring and securing a Web application, state management, error handling and debugging, and migrating existing web applications to ASP.NET.
Prerequisite: CS470
CS 567 NET WINDOWS PROGRAMMING (3.0Credits)
The goal of this course is to provide students with the knowledge and skills they need to develop C# applications and components for the Microsoft .NET Platform, including Visual C# .NET Windows application development with Windows Forms and controls; user interfaces and navigation; error handling and debugging; data binding; consuming and manipulating data; components and .NET assemblies; Windows services; Remote; testing and debugging; application deployment and configuration. Hands-on practice is required.
Prerequisite: CS470
CS 570 ALGORITHMS (3.0Credits)
This course provides an in-depth analysis and efficient use of algorithms to solve problems. Well-structured programs are studied; modular, top-down design is emphasized. Topics include the use of data structures techniques to design efficient algorithms and analyze their complexity, efficient implementation of combinatorial algorithms, sorting, searching, and geometric problems, and branch and bound algorithms.
Prerequisite: CS360
CS 572 ADVANCED JAVA PROGRAMMING (3.0Credits)
This course is designed to give the students an in-depth understanding of Java programming techniques. The course focuses on advanced Java language features and packages which are essential for building a variety of application architectures. Topics include Java techniques of WAP, XML, JNI, thread, network programming, Servlet, JSP, JDBC, and internalization. Upon completion of this course, the students should be well prepared to create enterprise-wide, Java-centric solutions to client/server problems involving Java and networks. Each technology topic will cover its uses, implementation, and language issues. Students are required to implement a project for each Java technique. Hands-on exercises are required.
Prerequisite: CS540
CS 580 DATABASE ADMINISTRATION (3.0Credits)
This course provides an in-depth understanding of the Oracle Database Management System. Emphasis is on the latest Oracle database architecture, database configuration and administration. Topics include logical/physical database layout, database server processes, database creation, various database physical objects; client/server configuration, multi-threaded server configuration, database storage management, database security, database utilities, database monitoring, partitions, and database backup/recovery methods. Hands-on practices are required.
Prerequisite: CS527
CS 587 ADVANCED DATABASE DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT (3.0Credits)
This course is intended for graduate students to further explore database server development and database tuning. The course specifically details procedural extensions to SQL to develop stored procedures, functions, packages and database triggers. In addition, it covers database performance tuning from application development point of view by exploring query optimizer, database hints, and various database access methods. Hands-on exercises are required.
Prerequisite: CS527
CS 588 DATABASE AND INTERNET SERVER PROGRAMMING (3.0Credits)
This course introduces current client/server data access concepts on the Internet. It covers the fundamental concepts of the 3-tier model, Internet database access, and major tools and techniques utilized in application development. Topics include N-tier model, JDBC with database applications, Java Servlet, JSP and JavaBean, WML, and XML. Hands-on exercises are an integral part of the course.
Prerequisite: CS527
CS 607 MASTER'S PROJECT (3.0 units)
The course is designed to develop the creativity of graduate students in Computer Science through the exercise of the design effort on a self-selected project. The design project must be open-ended, whereas the design approach must employ the modern design techniques and methodologies in the related fields. Completion of the design project entails 1.) Formulation of a design problem statement including realistic constraints such as economic factors, safety, and reliability issues, 2.) Design specifications, 3.) Consideration of alternate solutions, 4.) Manufacturing procedures and 5.) Operation instructions. The research topic and proposal must be approved by the project advisor. The report format must be in accordance with Triton's Project Style Guide and be approved by the advisor and tech writer. Upon completion of the project, the student is required to conduct and open-forum presentation of the project.
CS 609A MASTER'S THESIS - I (3.0 units)
This is the first part of a 2-part master's thesis course designed for a graduate student the Computer Science program who plans to pursue his/her research interests in depth. Each part requires one trimester's effort to complete half of the entire project work. In this first part, the advisor will assist the student to identify the research topic, shape research ideas, and to define the research objectives and scope. The student then performs the following: topic studies, identifying software and/or hardware requirements, defining the project objectives and procedures, writing a project proposal and submitting it to the administration after obtaining his/her advisor's approval, working on research and implementation of the project, and documenting findings. Regular meetings with the advisor are required.
CS 609B MASTER'S THESIS - II (3.0 units)
This is a continuation of the first part of the master's thesis course. At the beginning of the semester, the student should draw a conclusion on the research and development work for the project and begin to write a thesis report following the required format. The student should make and analysis of the project work and results. Through this process, the student will gain in-depth knowledge of the selected subject and develop independent thinking and research capabilities, The report must be approved by the advisor and a tech writer. Upon completion of the project, the student is required to conduct an open-forum presentation of the project.
CS 647 XML AND WEB SERVICE DEVELOPMENT (3.0Units)
Markup language (XML) is rapidly becoming the standard information description language, and has been used in almost all areas related to computer and information technologies, such as Internet, semiconductor, bioinformatics, etc. Its usage will continuously grow. Web Services refer to the infrastructure that supports a rapidly emerging style for developing applications that rely on the Internet and WWW for portions of their functionality.
Prerequisite: either java or c#
CS 688 NETWORK SECURITY IN WIRELESS SYSTEMS (3.0Units)
This is the third in the Network Security series. A secure network is the fundamental requirement for network communication. Network security issues have become ever more important for any organization with network systems. This class mainly addresses the security issue in accessing the network, including the security in wireless access. Many new proposals and technology have been developed in this field. The objectives of the class are to teach students the fundamentals in cryptography, the concept of security, and the practical use of virtual private networks (VPN). Topics include IPSec (IP Security), Web Security, VPN, and wireless network security. Some important RFCs will also be covered for the students to understand its development process in the network industry.
Prerequisite: CS543
