CSci Courses for Non Majors

The Computer Science and Engineering Department offers a number of courses for non majors. This page contains a list of those courses, as well as related information:

1. List of CSci courses for non majors
2. Which course should I take?
3. Courses’ intended audiences
4. Catalog description of CSci courses for non majors

List of CSci courses for non majors

• CSCI 1001, Overview of Computer Science
• CSCI 1103, Introduction to Computer Programming in Java
• CSCI 1113, Introduction to C/C++ Programming for Scientists and Engineers
• CSCI 1121, Introduction to the Internet
• CSCI 3003, Introduction to Computing in Biology
• CSCI 3921W, Social, Legal, and Ethical Issues in Computing
• CSCI 4921, History of Computing

Which course should I take?

If you are a non-computer science major interested in an introduction to Computer Science, consider

• CSCI 1001, Overview of Computer Science
• CSCI 1103, Introduction to Computer Programming in Java
• CSCI 1121, Introduction to the Internet

If you are interested in taking a computer science class to fulfill liberal education requirements, consider

• CSCI 1001, Overview of Computer Science (fulfills the Math core requirement and Citizenship and Public Ethics theme)
• CSCI 3921W, Social, Legal, and Ethical Issues in Computing (fulfills the Citizenship and Public Ethics theme, and is an upper level writing intensive course)

If you are an IT student who needs to take a CSci computing course, check with your major’s requirements and your advisor to see which of these courses you should take. It will probably be one of

• CSCI 1103, Introduction to Computer Programming in Java
• CSCI 1113, Introduction to C/C++ Programming for Scientists and Engineers

If you want to take a course to see if Computer Science might be a good major for you, but do not have any computing background, consider

• CSCI 1001, Overview of Computer Science
• CSCI 1103, Introduction to Computer Programming in Java
• CSCI 1121, Introduction to the Internet

If you are a CS major, none of the courses for non majors fulfill CS course requirements, although they can be used as free electives. CS majors should see the CS Undergraduate Guide for a list of CS degree requirements.

If you are interested in the Information Technology minor, you will need to take 2 of the following 3 courses to fulfill the CS portion of that minor

• CSCI 1001, Overview of Computer Science
• CSCI 1103, Introduction to Computer Programming in Java
• CSCI 1121, Introduction to the Internet

If you are interested in a CS minor, you should take CSci required courses rather than the courses for non majors listed here. See the “Computer Science Minor” section in the CS Undergraduate Curriculum Guide for additional information.

If you are interested in learning how to use specific software such as Excel, Windows, SAS, Dreamweaver, etc., see the University Technology Training Center page. Many similar courses are also offered outside the University (for example, through Community Education).

If you are interested in other CSci classes, see the CSE course information page for additional course information, including a list of all CSci courses: non major, major, and graduate.

Courses’ intended audiences

• CSCI 1001, Overview of Computer Science: any student interested in an overview of computer science.
• CSCI 1103, Introduction to Computer Programming in Java: students with no previous programming background who are interested in an introduction to programming.
• CSCI 1113, Introduction to C/C++ Programming for Scientists and Engineers: IT students and other interested in learning the programming language C++.
• CSCI 1121, Introduction to the Internet: any student interested in an introduction to the Internet and creating web pages.
• CSCI 3003, Introduction to Computing in Biology: students in biology majors
• CSCI 3921W, Social, Legal, and Ethical Issues in Computing: any student interested in learning about social, legal and ethical issues in computing.
• CSCI 4921, History of Computing: any student interested in the history of computing.

Catalog description of CSci courses for non majors

CSCI 1001 - Overview of Computer Science (MATH, C/PE) (4.0 cr; Prereq-None; spring, every year) Foundations/limits of today’s computing/information technology. How to reason about applications and technological advances. Policy issues. Algorithms for automating solutions. Abstraction in design/problem solving. Concepts of computer databases, networks, expert systems human-computer interaction, Internet, Web, desktop software, and personal computers.

CSCI 1103 - Introduction to Computer Programming in Java (4.0 cr; fall, every year) Programming and problem solving fundamentals. Significant portions of Java programming language. Students design/write Java programs relating to various subjects. Substantial programming projects, integral weekly lab.

CSCI 1113 - Introduction to C/C++ Programming for Scientists and Engineers (4.0 cr; Prereq-Math 1271 or Math 1371; fall, spring, summer, every year) Programming for scientists/engineers. C/C++ programming constructs, object-oriented programming, software development, fundamental numerical techniques. Exercises/examples from various scientific fields.

CSCI 1121 - Introduction to the Internet 1 (4.0 cr; A-F or Aud, fall, every year) Concepts of the internet, analog vs digital communication, networking, packet switching, software protocols. E-mail, search engines, file transfer (ftp), remote login (Telnet). Creating Web pages using HTML and Cascading Style Sheets. Advanced programming concepts such as Java, Perl, and CGI.

CSCI 3003 - Introduction to Computing in Biology (3.0 cr; Prereq-1002H or Biol 1002 or 1009H or Biol 1009 or equiv or #; fall, every year) Emphasizes computing tasks common in biology. Programming techniques: variables, flow control, input/output, strings, pattern matching, arrays, hash tables, functions, subroutines. Concepts in computing: algorithms, complexity, documentation, regular expressions/grammars, local variables, encapsulation. Students complete lab projects in Perl language.

CSCI 3921W - Social, Legal, and Ethical Issues in Computing (C/PE, WI) (3.0 cr; Prereq-At least soph or #; spring, every year) Impact of computers on society. Computer science perspective of ethical, legal, social, philosophical, political, and economic aspects of computing.

CSCI 4921 - History of Computing (3.0 cr; =[HSCI 4321]; fall, in alternate years) Developments in last 150 years; evolution of hardware and software; growth of computer and semiconductor industries and their relation to other businesses; changing relationships resulting from new data-gathering and analysis techniques; automation; social and ethical issues.