Computer Science

S. Rice-Snow, Chairperson

bsu.edu/cs

Computer science is the study of information and computation and their application in computer systems. Computer science majors start by learning the fundamentals of programming, algorithms, and discrete mathematics, while upper-level courses focus on specializations such as software engineering, programming languages, theory, web and mobile platform development, operating systems, networking, and databases. The ubiquitous application of computer science necessitates that majors be broadly educated and have excellent analytical and communication skills.

The department also offers two minors:

• The computer science minor allows students with other majors to learn the foundations of traditional computer science.
• The computer security minor explores modern issues in computer and information security such as digital forensics and encryption.

Computer Science majors taking classes at the 200-level and above will be required to own a laptop computer and may be expected to bring the laptop to such classes. Computer ownership for students in 100-level courses is encouraged but not required. Some classes will require running software under Windows, but a MacIntosh with Parallels will work well for such software.