CS-110 is an introductory course in using personal computers and common PC software. The course includes: Hardware/software concepts, Internet services, OS commands, electronic presentations, spreadsheets, databases, programming concepts. No credit can be applied toward the Computer Science major.

This course is a basic computer literacy course for students who would like to learn something about how computers work, and the software most commonly used on PC's in business and everyday settings.

CS-110 is required in a number of majors, and is also popular with students who wish to acquire the hands-on basic skills of using personal computer software (Microsoft Office).

The course has no prerequisites.

CS-150: Interactive Programming with Java

The course covers the basic Java syntax and language features, compilation, interpretation, execution, class and object usage, graphical interfaces, program-user interaction, and the Java API. Problem-solving techniques and object-oriented programming are also covered.

This course is designed for students who have an interest in computer programming but no prior programming experience, who would like to learn how to create their own programs to enhance their Web pages or to perform useful personal tasks. CS-150 also provides a taste of computer programming for students who are considering computer science as a possible major, but who are not sure if they will like computer programming.

CS-150 is an optional course for the ISTeC interdisciplinary program. This course does not satisfy a degree requirement in the computer science major, but will count as a free elective (if it is taken prior to CS160).

CS-155 is an introductory course on the Unix operating system, covering Unix shell commands, utilities (editors, sorting, file management), shell scripting. Five week course, 1 sem. hr.

This course is either required or fulfills a requirement in several majors, notably, Physics, Mathematics, Mechanical Engineering. It is valuable for any student who will be using Unix or Linux in their school or work.

Since Computer Science majors learn these skills in the course of their major requirements, it is an elective course for CS majors. Even so, new CS majors might benefit from taking this course.

The course has no prerequisites.

CS-156 is an introductory programming course in the C programming language, covering basic elements of language structure, data types, expressions, program control flow, and modularity. Five week course, 1 sem. hr.

This course is useful for students especially in the sciences and mathematics who intend to write programs to solve mathematical problems. An understanding of the Unix operating system (such as is taught in CS155) is assumed. Taken without the follow-on C programming course (CS157) this course is a basic introduction to programming methods for those who are interested in learning a bit of programming.

Computer Science majors learn the topics as part of CS270.

CS-157 is a continuation of CS156, covering more elements of the C programming language. Topics include more basic data types, function usage and strings. Arrays, user-defined types and structures, enumerated types, recursion, dynamic storage allocation. Five week course, 1 sem. hr.

This course is intended to be taken with CS156 for students in science and engineering looking for a practical knowledge of C.

CS-160 is the first course in the CS curriculum, starting in Fall 2006. Topics include computer theory, programming and systems. Sets, functions, logic. Procedural programming in Java. Computer and data models. This is a technical introduction to programming and mathematical concepts used in computer science.

This course is a good choice for those who have done some previous computer programming, and are good at mathematics, and who are planning to major or minor in computer science, major in Applied Computing Technology, or major in Computer Engineering.

This course covers material much more in-depth than CS150, and is probably not a good choice for students who want to learn enough useful Java programming techniques to write programs for personal use. The target audience for this course is students who intend to take more computer science courses.