Graduate Courses

Course:CS 2508 Information: Quantification, Representation and Manipulation
Description: File structures for use in database implementation. Measurement of information using discrete information theory; efficient representation of information through data compression and data compaction; costs and benefits of redundancy in information representation; the tradeoff between retention and recomputation. Information of order and placement in sequential, indexed and hashed file structures; file structures for growing files; multiple-key file structures for emulating associative memory; adaptation of information structures to dynamic usage patterns. Representation and manipulation of non-textual information: images, audio, facts, etc; distinguishing content from representation. Comparison of various file structures to computational models of information storage and processing in the human mind.
Prerequisites:The course assumes familiarity with basic concepts of computer science, mathematics, and programming.
Coordinator:Prof. Sevcik
   
Course:CS 2509 Data Management Systems
Description: The use, management and theory of databases, especially relational databases. Topics to be selected from the following: the relational model: relations, operations on relations, relational algebra and calculi; defining and manipulating data: SQL, embedded SQL, Query-by-Forms, database applications programming; query optimization: indices, algebraic optimization, hypergraph representation of queries, optimization algorithms; transaction management: concurrency, serializability, deadlocks, transaction protocols, time stamps, crash recover; design theory for relational databases: functional dependencies, normal forms, decomposition of relations; security and integrity of data; distributed databases.
Coordinator:Prof. Bonner
   
Course:CS 2510 Topics in Information Systems
Description: The topics discussed in this course vary from year to year.
Spring 2000 topic: Conceptual Modeling. This course is intended to teach conceptual modelling notations and how to use them.
The bulk of the course is dedicated to introductions of three different modelling notations and their features. These are the Unified Modelling Language (UML), CLASSIC, and KAOS. UML is an object-oriented modelling language, for modelling all aspects of a software system. CLASSIC is a description-based knowledge representation language which supports a tractable form of inference. KAOS is a formal requirements modelling language for specifying goals, entities, relationships, actions and agents.
In addition to covering in detail these three notations, the course reviews the history of conceptual modelling, and covers more advanced topics, such as modelling intentions and social settings.
Coordinator: Prof. Mylopoulos
   
Course:CS 2525 Research Topics in Data Integration
Description: Topics covered will include: data translation, exchange, and integration; data cleansing; schema matching, transformation, mapping, and integration; model management; catalog management; meta-data modeling, discovery, extraction and management. Configuration management, versioning and lineage will be covered as they relate to the management and maintenance of heterogeneous data.

This is an advanced graduate seminar. We will be reading and discussing recent research papers on data integration, along with a few classics. Students must have a solid background in data modeling and have taken CS2509 and (preferrably) either CS2510 or CS2531.

Prerequisites: Graduate standing and CS2509 (Data Management Systems) or equivalent.
Coordinator:Prof. Miller
   
Course:CS 2531 Advanced Topics in Data Management Systems
Description: Information Integration, Data Warehousing and OLAP: Review of relational databases and query languages. Conjunctive queries. Information integration. Data warehousing concepts. On-line analytic processing.
Coordinator:Prof. Mendelzon

Undergraduate Courses

Course:CS 486/2502 Knowledge/Representation and Reasoning
Description: Representing knowledge symbolically in a form suitable for automated reasoning, and associated reasoning methods: first-order logic, entailment, the resolution method, Horn clauses, procedural representations, production systems, description logics, in heritance networks, defaults and probabilities, tractable reasoning, abductive explanation, the representation of action, planning.
Prerequisites: CS384, MAT235Y/237Y/257Y
Course: CS 443 Database Management Systems
Description: Technology of a database management system: storage and memory management, query and transaction processing, parallel and distributed architectures. Modern application of database systems: data mining, data warehousing, OLAP, data on the web; object-oriented and object-relational systems.
Prerequisites: CS343, 378
Course: CS 434 Data Management Systems NO LONGER OFFERED -- REPLACED BY 343
Description: Concepts, approaches, and techniques in data base management systems (DBMS): data and information management; logical models of data bases: relational, network, and hierarchical DBMS's; operational requirements; implementation considerations; DBMS arch itecture; data base design.
Prerequisites: CS228, 378 Recommended preparation: proficiency in C
Course:CS 343 Data Management Systems
Description: Concepts, approaches, and techniques in data base management systems (DBMS): relational data bases, querying and updating a data base, query language SQL, data base constraints and data base design, elements of data base technology.
Prerequisites: CS263/265, CS209 and proficiency in C
Course:CS 228 File Structures and Data Management
Description: An introduction to techniques for storing, accessing and managing long-term data in computer systems. Hardware and software aspects of data processing: processors, storage devices, communications, file I/O control. Techniques for organizing and managin g files: serial files, direct files, indexed files, multikey files, integrated files, file systems. Introduction to data base management systems with emphasis on relational data base systems.
Prerequisites: CS 270