Fall 2012 BCS Program Changes

The BCS curriculum is changing as of Fall 2012. To understand how these changes affect you, you need to know your catalog year (also sometimes called your calendar year). This is the year that you started your BCS, or, if you’ve made a major change to your BCS program, the most recent year you did that. A major change is either switching streams, or switching between Honours and the Major.

If you are you are unsure of your catalog year, consult your academic audit.

New students. This applies to you if the start of your BCS program is Fall 2012 or later. Your catalog year is 2012/13, and you don’t need to read the rest of this document. The current calendar applies to you. You can also consult our course patterns to see a typical year-by-year grouping of BCS course requirements.

Other students with catalog year 2012/13. This applies to you if you started your BCS program before Fall 2012, but made a major change to your program after May 1, 2012. Making such a change automatically updates your calendar year to 2012/13. The current calendar applies to you. However, it is very important that you read the section “Updating your catalog year to 2012/13” below which explains how the courses you’ve already taken can be used in the new curriculum.

Catalog year 2011/12 or earlier. This applies to you if you started your BCS before Fall 2012, and did not make a major change to your program after May 1, 2012. The new curriclum does not apply to you. However, the curriculum changes involve some course deletions and renumberings that will affect how you complete your program. You should understand these changes before registering in any further BCS courses. It is very important that you read the section “Course changes affecting catalog years before 2012/13” below.

All catalog years. The BCS programs are given in full detail in the Carleton University calendar. When using the calendar, be sure to use the correct year. The current calendar is for catalog year 2012/13. The calendar website has archives for previous versions of the calendar (see the links on the left side of the calendar page). Please also consult

BCS requirements and course patterns

which gives detailed BCS requirements along with the changes needed for older catalog years.

Course changes affecting catalog years before 2012/13

• COMP 2003 no longer offered. Some of the material in this course is being redistributed to other courses. If you have not already taken COMP 2003, you can take any COMP course at the 2000-level or above in its place.

• COMP 2405 renumbered to COMP 2406. The number is changing because the material is being significantly updated. If you are in a BCS stream that requires 2405, and you have not already taken it, take 2406 instead. For the purposes of degree requirements and prerequisites, COMP 2405 and COMP 2406 are considered equivalent.

• COMP 2805 renumbered to COMP 3803. The course content is not changing at all. The course is being moved to third year because that’s its level at most other universities. If you have not taken COMP 2805 yet, simply take 3803; this will fulfill the COMP 2805 requirement. The prerequisites have not changed, so you can still take 3803 in second year if you like.

• New prerequisite for COMP 3804. Although the new prerequisite, COMP 2804, may be listed in the calendar earlier, it will not be enforced, or needed, until Fall 2014. If you take 3804 before Fall 2014, you do not need to take 2804. However, if you take COMP 3804 in Fall 2014 or later, you will need to have first taken COMP 2804, a new second-year course in algorithms. Please note that COMP 2804 will not be offered until 2013/14.

Updating your catalog year to 2012/13

If your catalog year is earlier than 2012/13, you have the option of switching to the new curriculum. This is called updating your catalog year (or “calendar year”) and can be done using the form “Change of Program to New Calendar Requirements” available at the School or the Registrar. Most continuing students will not want to do this.

Please note that whenever you change your stream, or change between Honours and the Major, your catalog year is automatically updated.

If you update your calendar year, you will be subject to all of the BCS program requirements in the new 2012–13 calendar, with one exception, as noted below under COMP 2804. Also, once you have updated, it is not possible to return to your old catalog year.

If you do update your catalog year, here is how it will affect you.

• COMP 2003 no longer required. If you have already taken 2003, it will count as if you had taken an extra 2000-level COMP course. It could fulfill the “0.5 credit in COMP at the 2000-level or above” requirement that appears in some streams, or it could be a free elective.

• COMP 2805 no longer required. If you have already taken 2805, it will be an extra course, as with 2003 above. (2805 in our program is being replaced by COMP 2804, a completely different course.)

• COMP 2804 now required. This is a new second-year algorithms course that will be required for all BCS students. If you have taken COMP 2805 before Fall 2012, then you can substitute it for 2804. However, starting in 2014/15, COMP 3804 will have COMP 2804 as a prerequisite, so if you will not be taking 2804 then you should make sure to take 3804 in 2013/14 or earlier.

• COMP 2406 now required. This is a modification of the existing course COMP 2405, and will be required for all BCS students. If you have already taken 2405, then you have satisfied this requirement. For the purposes of degree requirements and prerequisites, COMP 2405 and COMP 2406 are considered equivalent.

One reason you might want to update to the new calendar is that you haven’t taken 2003 or 2805, and find 2406 and 2804 more appealing. However, note that 2804 will not be offered until the 2013/14 academic year.

For your reference, below are the descriptions of the two new courses.

COMP 2406 (0.5 credit)

Fundamentals of Web Applications
An introduction to Internet application development that emphasizes the computer science fundamentals of the technologies underlying web applications. Topics include: scripting and functional languages, language-based virtual machines, database query languages, remote procedure calls over the Internet, and performance and security concerns in modern distributed applications.
Prerequisite: one of COMP 2401, COMP 2001 or SYSC 2006.
Precludes additional credit for COMP 2005 and COMP 2405.
Lectures three hours a week and tutorial one and a half hours a week.

COMP 2804 (0.5 credit)

Discrete Structures II
A second course in discrete mathematics and discrete structures. Topics include: counting, sequences and sums, discrete probability, basic statistics, recurrence relations, randomized algorithms. Material is illustrated through examples from computing.
Prerequisites: COMP 1805.
Lectures three hours a week.
[Not offered until 2013/14]