Information, Data & Computers

Abstract

This course provides an introduction to computer science concepts that are foundational for later work in the CAS and MAS programme.

Objective

Students understand fundamental notions of computer science: information, data, computation, programming, algorithm, efficiency. Students learn about data representation and compression using binary numbers, computers as a concept, how computers fundamentally work, what parallel computing is and how it is used to deal with today's data sizes. Students understand the difference between information and data; students can convert numbers between decimal and binary format, can encode and decode information as data, design circuits to perform simple tasks, can explain simple efficient algorithms for data processing, understand the principles of parallel computing and some tools to make this work safely.

Content

We will cover how information is managed as data, and how we use computers to process data and generate new insights. Concrete questions that we will address are: what is data, and how does it represent information? What is a computer, and how does it work? What is a computer program? What is a programming language? What is an algorithm? How can we measure the efficiency of algorithms? What kind of computers do we have today, and why? Through this, we will build a fundamental understanding of how computers and algorithms enable today's information society.

Resources