A general introduction to computer science for science and engineering students interested in majoring in computer science or engineering. Covers fundamental concepts of computer science, algorithmic problem-solving capabilities, and introductory Java programming skills. Assumes no prior programming background. Columbia University students may receive credit for only one of the following two courses: 1004 or 1005.
An interdisciplinary course in computing intended for first year SEAS students. Introduces computational thinking, algorithmic problem solving and Python programming with applications in science and engineering. Assumes no prior programming background.
Peer-led weekly seminar intended for first and second year undergraduates considering a major in Computer Science. Pass/fail only. May not be used towards satisfying the major or SEAS credit requirements.
Essential data structures and algorithms in Python with practical software development skills, applications in a variety of areas including biology, natural language processing, data science and others.
Data types and structures: arrays, stacks, singly and doubly linked lists, queues, trees, sets, and graphs. Programming techniques for processing such structures: sorting and searching, hashing, garbage collection. Storage management. Rudiments of the analysis of algorithms. Taught in Java. Note: Due to significant overlap, students may receive credit for only one of the following three courses: COMS W3134, COMS W3136, COMS W3137.
C programming language and Unix systems programming. Also covers Git, Make, TCP/IP networking basics, C++ fundamentals.
Logic and formal proofs, sequences and summation, mathematical induction, binomial coefficients, elements of finite probability, recurrence relations, equivalence relations and partial orderings, and topics in graph theory (including isomorphism, traversability, planarity, and colorings).
Regular languages: deterministic and non-deterministic finite automata, regular expressions. Context-free languages: context-free grammars, push-down automata. Turing machines, the Chomsky hierarchy, and the Church-Turing thesis. Introduction to Complexity Theory and NP-Completeness.
Fundamentals of computer organization and digital logic. Boolean algebra, Karnaugh maps, basic gates and components, flipflops and latches, counters and state machines, basics of combinational and sequential digital design. Assembly language, instruction sets, ALU’s, single-cycle and multi-cycle processor design, introduction to pipelined processors, caches, and virtual memory.
The fundamentals of database design and application development using databases: entity-relationship modeling, logical design of relational databases, relational data definition and manipulation languages, SQL, XML, query processing, physical database tuning, transaction processing, security. Programming projects are required.
Modern programming languages and compiler design. Imperative, object-oriented, declarative, functional, and scripting languages. Language syntax, control structures, data types, procedures and parameters, binding, scope, run-time organization, and exception handling. Implementation of language translation tools including compilers and interpreters. Lexical, syntactic and semantic analysis; code generation; introduction to code optimization. Teams implement a language and its compiler.
Design and implementation of operating systems. Topics include process management, process synchronization and interprocess communication, memory management, virtual memory, interrupt handling, processor scheduling, device management, I/O, and file systems. Case study of the UNIX operating system. A programming project is required.
Introduction to computer networks and the technical foundations of the Internet, including applications, protocols, local area networks, algorithms for routing and congestion control, security, elementary performance evaluation. Several written and programming assignments required.
An introduction to computer architecture and distributed systems with an emphasis on warehouse scale computing systems. Topics will include fundamental tradeoffs in computer systems, hardware and software techniques for exploiting instruction-level parallelism, data-level parallelism and task level parallelism, scheduling, caching, prefetching, network and memory architecture, latency and throughput optimizations, specialization, and an introduction to programming data center computers.
Introduction to computer graphics. Topics include 3D viewing and projections, geometric modeling using spline curves, graphics systems such as OpenGL, lighting and shading, and global illumination. Significant implementation is required: the final project involves writing an interactive 3D video game in OpenGL.
Introduction to the theory and practice of computer user interface design, emphasizing the software design of graphical user interfaces. Topics include basic interaction devices and techniques, human factors, interaction styles, dialogue design, and software infrastructure. Design and programming projects are required.
Design, development, and evaluation of 3D user interfaces. Interaction techniques and metaphors, from desktop to immersive. Selection and manipulation. Travel and navigation. Symbolic, menu, gestural, and multimodal interaction. Dialogue design. 3D software support. 3D interaction devices and displays. Virtual and augmented reality. Tangible user interfaces. Review of relevant 3D math.
Advanced security. Centralized, distributed, and cloud system security. Cryptographic protocol design choices. Hardware and software security techniques. Security testing and fuzzing. Blockchain. Human security issues. Note: May not earn credit for both W4182 and W4180 or W4187.
Introduces fundamental ideas and algorithms on networks of information collected by online services. It covers properties pervasive in large networks, dynamics of individuals that lead to large collective phenomena, mechanisms underlying the web economy, and results and tools informing societal impact of algorithms on privacy, polarization and discrimination.
Prerequisites: (COMS W3134 or COMS W3136COMS W3137) and (COMS W3203) Introduction to the design and analysis of efficient algorithms. Topics include models of computation, efficient sorting and searching, algorithms for algebraic problems, graph algorithms, dynamic programming, probabilistic methods, approximation algorithms, and NP-completeness.
Introduces classic and modern algorithmic ideas that are central to many areas of Computer Science. The focus is on most powerful paradigms and techniques of how to design algorithms, and how to measure their efficiency. The intent is to be broad, covering a diversity of algorithmic techniques, rather than be deep. The covered topics have all been implemented and are widely used in industry. Topics include: hashing, sketching/streaming, nearest neighbor search, graph algorithms, spectral graph theory, linear programming, models for large-scale computation, and other related topics
An introduction to modern cryptography, focusing on the complexity-theoretic foundations of secure computation and communication in adversarial environments; a rigorous approach, based on precise definitions and provably secure protocols. Topics include private and public key encryption schemes, digital signatures, authentication, pseudorandom generators and functions, one-way functions, trapdoor functions, number theory and computational hardness, identification and zero knowledge protocols.
Team project centered course focused on principles of planning, creating, and growing a technology venture. Topics include: identifying and analyzing opportunities created by technology paradigm shifts, designing innovative products, protecting intellectual property, engineering innovative business models.
Prior knowledge of Python is recommended. Provides a broad understanding of the basic techniques for building intelligent computer systems. Topics include state-space problem representations, problem reduction and and-or graphs, game playing and heuristic search, predicate calculus, and resolution theorem proving, AI systems and languages for knowledge representation, machine learning and concept formation and other topics such as natural language processing may be included as time permits.
Computational approaches to natural language generation and understanding. Recommended preparation: some previous or concurrent exposure to AI or Machine Learning. Topics include information extraction, summarization, machine translation, dialogue systems, and emotional speech. Particular attention is given to robust techniques that can handle understanding and generation for the large amounts of text on the Web or in other large corpora. Programming exercises in several of these areas.
Advanced course in computer vision. Topics include convolutional networks and back-propagation, object and action recognition, self-supervised and few-shot learning, image synthesis and generative models, object tracking, vision and language, vision and audio, 3D representations, interpretability, and bias, ethics, and media deception.
Computational techniques for analyzing genomic data including DNA, RNA, protein and gene expression data. Basic concepts in molecular biology relevant to these analyses. Emphasis on techniques from artificial intelligence and machine learning. String-matching algorithms, dynamic programming, hidden Markov models, expectation-maximization, neural networks, clustering algorithms, support vector machines. Students with life sciences backgrounds who satisfy the prerequisites are encouraged to enroll.
Topics from generative and discriminative machine learning including least squares methods, support vector machines, kernel methods, neural networks, Gaussian distributions, linear classification, linear regression, maximum likelihood, exponential family distributions, Bayesian networks, Bayesian inference, mixture models, the EM algorithm, graphical models and hidden Markov models. Algorithms implemented in MATLAB.
Embedded system design and implementation combining hardware and software. I/O, interfacing, and peripherals. Weekly laboratory sessions and term project on design of a microprocessor-based embedded system including at least one custom peripheral. Knowledge of C programming and digital logic required.
Selected topics in computer science. Content and prerequisites vary between sections and semesters. May be repeated for credit. Check “topics course” webpage on the department website for more information on each section.
Selected topics in computer science. Content and prerequisites vary between sections and semesters. May be repeated for credit. Check “topics course” webpage on the department website for more information on each section.
Selected topics in computer science. Content and prerequisites vary between sections and semesters. May be repeated for credit. Check “topics course” webpage on the department website for more information on each section.
Selected topics in computer science. Content and prerequisites vary between sections and semesters. May be repeated for credit. Check “topics course” webpage on the department website for more information on each section.
Selected topics in computer science. Content and prerequisites vary between sections and semesters. May be repeated for credit. Check “topics course” webpage on the department website for more information on each section.
Selected topics in computer science. Content and prerequisites vary between sections and semesters. May be repeated for credit. Check “topics course” webpage on the department website for more information on each section.
Selected topics in computer science. Content and prerequisites vary between sections and semesters. May be repeated for credit. Check “topics course” webpage on the department website for more information on each section.
Selected topics in computer science. Content and prerequisites vary between sections and semesters. May be repeated for credit. Check “topics course” webpage on the department website for more information on each section.
Selected topics in computer science. Content and prerequisites vary between sections and semesters. May be repeated for credit. Check “topics course” webpage on the department website for more information on each section.
Selected topics in computer science. Content and prerequisites vary between sections and semesters. May be repeated for credit. Check “topics course” webpage on the department website for more information on each section.
Selected topics in computer science. Content and prerequisites vary between sections and semesters. May be repeated for credit. Check “topics course” webpage on the department website for more information on each section.
Selected topics in computer science. Content and prerequisites vary between sections and semesters. May be repeated for credit. Check “topics course” webpage on the department website for more information on each section.
Selected topics in computer science. Content and prerequisites vary between sections and semesters. May be repeated for credit. Check “topics course” webpage on the department website for more information on each section.
Selected topics in computer science. Content and prerequisites vary between sections and semesters. May be repeated for credit. Check “topics course” webpage on the department website for more information on each section.
Continuation of (COMS W4111), covers the latest trends in both database research and industry. Programming projects in Python are required.
Topics in Software engineering arranged as the need and availability arises. Topics are usually offered on a one-time basis. Since the content of this course changes, it may be repeated for credit with advisor approval. Consult the department for section assignment.
Human–computer interaction (HCI) studies (1) what computers are used for, (2) how people interact with computers, and (3) how either of those should change in the future. Topics include ubiquitous computing, mobile health, interaction techniques, social computing, mixed reality, accessibility, and ethics. Activities include readings, presentations, and discussions of research papers. Substantial HCI research project required.
Computational imaging uses a combination of novel imaging optics and a computational module to produce new forms of visual information. Survey of the state-of-the-art in computational imaging. Review of recent papers on omnidirectional and panoramic imaging, catadioptric imaging, high dynamic range imaging, mosaicing and superresolution. Classes are seminars with the instructor, guest speakers, and students presenting papers and discussing them.
Inter-disciplinary graduate-level seminar on design and programming of embedded scalable platforms. Content varies between offerings to cover timely relevant issues and latest advances in system-on-chip design, embedded software programming, and electronic design automation. Requires substantial reading of research papers, class participation, and semester-long project.
Topics to help CS/CE and EE graduate students’ communication skills. Emphasis on writing, presenting clear, concise proposals, journal articles, conference papers, theses, and technical presentations. Credit may not be used to satisfy degree requirements.
Selected topics in computer science (advanced level). Content and prerequisites vary between sections and semesters. May be repeated for credit. Check “topics course” webpage on the department website for more information on each section.
Selected topics in computer science (advanced level). Content and prerequisites vary between sections and semesters. May be repeated for credit. Check “topics course” webpage on the department website for more information on each section.
Selected topics in computer science (advanced level). Content and prerequisites vary between sections and semesters. May be repeated for credit. Check “topics course” webpage on the department website for more information on each section.
Selected topics in computer science (advanced level). Content and prerequisites vary between sections and semesters. May be repeated for credit. Check “topics course” webpage on the department website for more information on each section.
Selected topics in computer science (advanced level). Content and prerequisites vary between sections and semesters. May be repeated for credit. Check “topics course” webpage on the department website for more information on each section.
Selected topics in computer science (advanced level). Content and prerequisites vary between sections and semesters. May be repeated for credit. Check “topics course” webpage on the department website for more information on each section.
Selected topics in computer science (advanced level). Content and prerequisites vary between sections and semesters. May be repeated for credit. Check “topics course” webpage on the department website for more information on each section.
Selected topics in computer science (advanced level). Content and prerequisites vary between sections and semesters. May be repeated for credit. Check “topics course” webpage on the department website for more information on each section.
Selected topics in computer science (advanced level). Content and prerequisites vary between sections and semesters. May be repeated for credit. Check “topics course” webpage on the department website for more information on each section.
Selected topics in computer science (advanced level). Content and prerequisites vary between sections and semesters. May be repeated for credit. Check “topics course” webpage on the department website for more information on each section.