CS Course Guidesheet 2018-19 | Thomas J. Watson College of Engineering and Applied Science

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Students with AP credit for GenEd courses and a strong CS background may take CS 120 and CS 140 in the first semester. Students without prior programming experience should take CS 110 in Fall and either CS 120 or CS 140 in the Spring. Please consult a CS advisor before attempting CS 120 and CS 140 together.

These suggested course tracks are based on undergraduate requirements from the class entering in the 2018-19 academic year. These are only suggestions, refer to the University Bulletin for the official requirements for each major.

For official archived requirements refer to the University Bulletin. Select the desired year, then click Link to Resource under the heading View Online.

For more information on graduate-level requirements go here.

Take note of Pre- or Co-requisites

To receive the BS degree in computer science, the student must earn a minimum of 126 credit hours, including transfer credits, with an average of at least C (2.0 GPA), and a minimum of a C average in the major program.

Credit Requirements

A minimum of 126 semester credits of which:

a minimum of 60 credits must be in liberal arts and sciences courses
a minimum of 40 credits must be earned in Watson School courses

Area Requirements

Communications - 4 credits

One course that meets the Binghamton University General Education Composition requirement. CS 301. Ethical, Social and Global Issues in Computing.

Humanities/social science electives - 20 credits

Science - 12 or 14 credits*

*The total of the science and free elective credits should be 25 credits

Two course science sequence: BIOL 113, BIOL 114 and BIOL 115 or CHEM 107 and CHEM 108 or PHYS 131 and PHYS 1323
One science elective: chosen from courses that meet the General Education Laboratory Science requirement.

Mathematics - 20 credits

MATH 224/225. Differential/Integral Calculus
MATH 226/227. Integration Tech. & Appl/Infinite Series
MATH 314. Discrete Math. (or MATH 330. Number Systems)
MATH 327. Probability with Statistical Methods (or MATH 448. Mathematical Statistics)

One elective chosen from:

MATH 304. Linear Algebra
MATH 371. Ordinary Differential Equations
MATH 381. Graph Theory
MATH 386. Combinatorics
MATH 407. Introduction to the Theory of Numbers

Free electives - 11 or 13 credits*

*The total of the science and free elective credits should be 25 credits

At least four credits must be in liberal arts and science. At most one free elective in liberal arts and science may be taken pass/fail instead of a letter grade. At most 2 credits of activity/wellness may be used as free elective credit.

Computer Science - 57 credits

CS 101. Professional Skills, Ethics and CS Trends
CS 120. Programming and Hardware Fundamentals5
CS 140. Programming with Objects and Data Structures5
CS 220. Architecture from Programmer's Perspective
CS 240. Data Structures and Algorithms
CS 320. Advanced Computer Architecture
CS 350. Operating Systems
CS 373. Automata Theory & Formal Languages
CS 375. Design & Analysis of Algorithms
CS 471. Programming Languages

Four Computer Science electives chosen from A, B, C, and D below. At least one must be chosen from A and at least one from B. At most one can be taken from D.

CS 428. Computer Networks
CS 451. Systems Programming
CS 457. Introduction to Distributed Systems
CS 476. Programming Models for Emerging Platforms

CS 440. Advanced Topics in OO Programming
CS 442. Design Patterns
CS 445. Software Engineering
CS 472. Compiler Design

The following courses and CS 400-level courses approved for future catalog years

CS 338. Introduction to Multimedia Systems
CS 402. Software and Engineering Project Management
CS 424. Microcontrollers and Robotics
CS 426. Wireless Sensor Networks
CS 432. Database Systems
CS 433. Information Retrieval
CS 435. Introduction to Data Mining
CS 436. Introduction to Machine Learning
CS 441. Game Development for Mobile Platforms CS 443. Mobile Systems and Applications
CS 455. Introduction to Visual Info. Processing
CS 458. Introduction to Computer Security
CS 459: Science of Cyber Security
CS 460. Computer Graphics
CS 480. Any approved CS topics course Prerequisites vary by course

To count as a CS elective, must be taken for 4 credits

CS 395. Computer Science Internship. Prerequisites: CS 220, 240, junior or senior standing and CS Department approval
CS 396. Computer Science Co-op. Prerequisites: CS 220, 240, junior or senior standing and CS Department approval
CS 499. Undergraduate Research. Prerequisites vary by research area. Requires junior or senior standing and CS Department approval

General Education Requirements: Students must fulfill the General Education Requirements for Computer Science. Students normally complete these requirements within the 126-credit program described above. ___________________________ 1 Credits include the Communications course

Supplemental information regarding the BSCS Degree Requirements

The following information supplements that provided in the University Bulletin. It applies to students who matriculated Fall 2016 or after.

All required Computer Science courses, except CS 101, are offered every semester. The minimum grade in a required Computer Science course must be at least a C- to be allowed to take any Computer Science course, for which it is a prerequisite.

Calculus Topics are broken down as follows:

MATH 224. Differential Calculus
MATH 225. Integral Calculus
MATH 226. Integration Techniques and Applications
MATH 227. Infinite Series

Humanities/Social Science – May be filled by courses offered by the Division of Humanities, the Division of Social Sciences, the Psychology Department and HDEV courses offered by the College of Community and Public Affairs. Many of the courses taken to meet the General Education requirements will fulfill the Humanities/Social Science requirement.

Mathematics - Students who are strong in math are encouraged to take MATH 330 (Number Systems) instead of MATH 314 (Discrete Mathematics). Students with a strong math background may take MATH 381 (Graph Theory) as their Math elective. The following Binghamton University course can be substituted for MATH 327: MATH 448 (Introduction to Probability and Statistics II).

Free Electives – May be filled by extra courses from any of the areas listed above, SOM courses, or additional Computer Science courses. A maximum of 2 HWS credits may be counted as Free Elective credits. At least four of these credits must be in humanities, social sciences, arts and other disciplines (excluding computer science) that provide breadth of background. CS 110 counts as a free elective.

Prerequisites for Computer Science Courses

The MATH and CS pre-requisites must have a grade of at least C-.

Course Prerequisites

CS 101 - None
CS 110 - MATH 225
CS 120 - CS 110, MATH 225
CS 140 - CS 110, MATH 225
CS 220 - CS 120, 140
CS 240 - CS 120, 140, MATH 2261
CS 301 - CS 101, Gen Ed C course, CS 220/CS 240
CS 320 - CS 220
CS 338 - CS 212 or CS 240
CS 350 - CS 220, 240, 301
CS 373 - CS 140, MATH 314/330
CS 375 - CS 240, MATH 227, 314/330, CS 301
CS 402 - CS 220, 240
CS 424 - CS 350
CS 426 - CS 350
CS 428 - CS 350
CS 432 - CS 375
CS 433 - CS 375
CS 435 - CS 375, MATH 304, 327/448
CS 436 - CS 375, MATH 327/448
CS 440 - CS 240, 350
CS 441 - CS 140, 375
CS 442 - CS 140, 375
CS 443 - CS 320, 350
CS 445 - CS 350/375
CS 451 - CS 350
CS 455 - CS 375
CS 457 - CS 350
CS 458 - CS 350, 375
CS 459 - CS 375, MATH 327/4482,3
CS 460 - CS 375
CS 471 - CS 373, 375
CS 472 - CS 373, 375
CS 476 - CS 140, 320, 350