Starting with an overview of information systems on multiple levels (basic hard- and software-components of computer systems, operating system software, user interfaces, software development infrastructure, network environments), we will explore the fields Security/Privacy, Open Source software development and Intellectual Properties, Machine Learning/AI/Data Science, Visualisation/Computer Graphics, Embedded Systems, and responsible use of Information Technology.

List of topics covered:

• What is a digital system?
• Basic computer architecture (Storage, CPU, Memory, I/O, Network)
• Types of computing: Desktop / Client-Server / Cloud / Edge
• Basic processor architecture - execution of machine language, interpreters/compilers to translate from high-level programming languages to machine language
• What is an Operating System and why/when is it necessary?
• Basic structure of a program, libraries/frameworks, UI toolkits
• Different ways of thinking about and formalising a problem (procedural, object-oriented, functional, logic-based)

- Class room attendance is required

- Active participation / contribution to discussions

- Exam at the end of the semester

No previous knowledge is required. It is recommended to attend “Introduction to Coding” in parallel to this course.

Students from other faculties or universities will be given a place on the course subject to room capacities.