Boston University Department of Computer Science

CAS CS-103: Introduction to Internet Technologies and Web Programming

Fall 2007 Course Information

 

Lectures: 3:00-3:50pm Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays

CAS Room 316, 725 Commonwealth Avenue

[Students must also register for a lab section: A2 (Thurs 11:00am), A3 (Thurs 12:00pm), or A4 (Thurs 3:00pm)]

 

Online syllabus: http://cs-people.bu.edu/behoppe

Online class forum: http://websciencemoodle.net (Registration required)

Online lab syllabus: http://websciencemoodle.net/mod/resource/view.php?id=3

Online Intro to Network Math: http://webmathematics.net

Required textbook: Six Degrees by Duncan Watts (Story of the science of networks)

Optional textbook: Web 101 by Wendy Lehnert (Comprehensive Internet introduction in a book)

 

Instructor Bruce Hoppe, behoppe@bu.edu

Department of Computer Science           

64 Cummington Street, Room 228C

617-358-2362

            Office hours: TBA

 

Teaching Fellow: TBA

 

CS-103 Graders: TBA


 

Course Summary:

CS-103 provides a multi-disciplinary introduction to Internet technology and web programming, focusing on (1) principles of the Internet as a network that mediates group behavior, and (2) practical basics for web-builders. Each student will create his/her own website over the term and learn how to use web science (the power behind Google and Amazon) to be more effective web users. This class has no prerequisites; it is intended for non-technical students interested in the Internet and Internet-savvy students interested in mathematics and sociology. CS-103 satisfies Math/CS Divisional Studies Credit.

 

Throughout the course, we will consider the Internet from three different perspectives:

  1. Modeling the Internet: The Internet is an example of a network. Mathematicians use graph theory to study networks of all kinds. In CS-103 lectures and homeworks, we will study graph theory and how it helps us to understand and use the Internet.
  2. Internet Programming: The Internet connects computers running many different kinds of programs. In CS-103 labs we will learn HTML and JavaScript, two of the most popular ways of Internet programming.
  3. Using the Internet: We will use many kinds of websites during the semester, including search engines, blogs, social bookmarks, wikis, and discussion boards. This class will draw on those experiences to inform discussions and essays about issues facing everyday web-surfers.

Preliminary Course Outline:

  1. Online safety and web basics< xml="true" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" prefix="o" namespace="">
    1. Viruses, worms, privacy, trust
    2. Web hosting, file transfers
  2. Friend of a friend online social networks
    1. Facebook
    2. MySpace
  3. Clustering
    1. Grokker
    2. Clusty
  4. Social bookmarking
    1. del.icio.us
    2. StumbleUpon
  5. Network structure
    1. Google
    2. Technorati
    3. Google analytics
  6. Networked action
    1. Wikipedia
    2. Digg 

 Preliminary Lab Outline: