Computer Science Liberal Program - Core Science Component (B.Sc.) (45 credits)
Offered by: Computer Science (Faculty of Science)
Degree: Bachelor of Science
Program credit weight: 45
Program Description
This program provides an introduction to the principles of computer science and offers opportunity to get insight into some of its sub-areas. Having only 45 credits, it allows students to combine it with minor or major concentrations in other disciplines.
Degree Requirements — B.Sc.
This program is offered as part of a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) degree.
To graduate, students must satisfy both their program requirements and their degree requirements.
- The program requirements (i.e., the specific courses that make up this program) are listed under the Course Tab (above).
- The degree requirements—including the mandatory Foundation program, appropriate degree structure, and any additional components—are outlined on the Degree Requirements page.
Students are responsible for ensuring that this program fits within the overall structure of their degree and that all degree requirements are met. Consult the Degree Planning Guide on the SOUSA website for additional guidance.
Required Courses (18 credits)
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| COMP 202 | Foundations of Programming. 1 | 3 |
Foundations of Programming. Terms offered: Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Introduction to computer programming in a high level language: variables, expressions, primitive types, methods, conditionals, loops. Introduction to algorithms, data structures (arrays, strings), modular software design, libraries, file input/output, debugging, exception handling. Selected topics. | ||
| COMP 206 | Introduction to Software Systems. | 3 |
Introduction to Software Systems. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Comprehensive overview of programming in C, use of system calls and libraries, debugging and testing of code; use of developmental tools like make, version control systems. | ||
| COMP 250 | Introduction to Computer Science. | 3 |
Introduction to Computer Science. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Mathematical tools (binary numbers, induction,recurrence relations, asymptotic complexity,establishing correctness of programs). Datastructures (arrays, stacks, queues, linked lists,trees, binary trees, binary search trees, heaps,hash tables). Recursive and non-recursivealgorithms (searching and sorting, tree andgraph traversal). Abstract data types. Objectoriented programming in Java (classes andobjects, interfaces, inheritance). Selected topics. | ||
| COMP 251 | Algorithms and Data Structures. | 3 |
Algorithms and Data Structures. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Data Structures: priority queues, balanced binary search trees, hash tables, graphs. Algorithms: topological sort, connected components, shortest paths, minimum spanning trees, bipartite matching, network flows. Algorithm design: greedy, divide and conquer, dynamic programming, randomization. Mathematicaltools: proofs of asymptotic complexity and program correctness, Master theorem. | ||
| COMP 273 | Introduction to Computer Systems. | 3 |
Introduction to Computer Systems. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Number representations, combinational and sequential digital circuits, MIPS instructions and architecture datapath and control, caches, virtual memory, interrupts and exceptions, pipelining. | ||
| MATH 240 | Discrete Structures. | 3 |
Discrete Structures. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Introduction to discrete mathematics and applications. Logical reasoning and methods of proof. Elementary number theory and cryptography: prime numbers, modular equations, RSA encryption. Combinatorics: basic enumeration, combinatorial methods, recurrence equations. Graph theory: trees, cycles, planar graphs. | ||
- 1
Students who have sufficient knowledge in a programming language do not need to take COMP 202 Foundations of Programming., but it must be replaced with an additional computer science complementary course.
Complementary Courses (27 credits)
3 credits from each of the groups A, B, C, and D.
Group A
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| MATH 222 | Calculus 3. | 3 |
Calculus 3. Terms offered: Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Taylor series, Taylor's theorem in one and several variables. Review of vector geometry. Partial differentiation, directional derivative. Extreme of functions of 2 or 3 variables. Parametric curves and arc length. Polar and spherical coordinates. Multiple integrals. | ||
| MATH 323 | Probability. | 3 |
Probability. Terms offered: Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Sample space, events, conditional probability, independence of events, Bayes' Theorem. Basic combinatorial probability, random variables, discrete and continuous univariate and multivariate distributions. Independence of random variables. Inequalities, weak law of large numbers, central limit theorem. | ||
| MATH 324 | Statistics. | 3 |
Statistics. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Sampling distributions, point and interval estimation, hypothesis testing, analysis of variance, contingency tables, nonparametric inference, regression, Bayesian inference. | ||
Group B
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| MATH 223 | Linear Algebra. | 3 |
Linear Algebra. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Review of matrix algebra, determinants and systems of linear equations. Vector spaces, linear operators and their matrix representations, orthogonality. Eigenvalues and eigenvectors, diagonalization of Hermitian matrices. Applications. | ||
| MATH 318 | Mathematical Logic. | 3 |
Mathematical Logic. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Propositional logic: truth-tables, formal proof systems, completeness and compactness theorems, Boolean algebras; first-order logic: formal proofs, Gödel's completeness theorem; axiomatic theories; set theory; Cantor's theorem, axiom of choice and Zorn's lemma, Peano arithmetic; Gödel's incompleteness theorem. | ||
| MATH 340 | Discrete Mathematics. | 3 |
Discrete Mathematics. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Discrete Mathematics and applications. Graph Theory: matchings, planarity, and colouring. Discrete probability. Combinatorics: enumeration, combinatorial techniques and proofs. | ||
Group C
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| COMP 330 | Theory of Computation. | 3 |
Theory of Computation. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Finite automata, regular languages, context-free languages, push-down automata, models of computation, computability theory, undecidability, reduction techniques. | ||
| COMP 350 | Numerical Computing. | 3 |
Numerical Computing. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Computer representation of numbers, IEEE Standard for Floating Point Representation, computer arithmetic and rounding errors. Numerical stability. Matrix computations and software systems. Polynomial interpolation. Least-squares approximation. Iterative methods for solving a nonlinear equation. Discretization methods for integration and differential equations. | ||
| COMP 360 | Algorithm Design. | 3 |
Algorithm Design. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Advanced algorithm design and analysis. Linear programming, complexity and NP-completeness, advanced algorithmic techniques. | ||
Group D
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| COMP 302 | Programming Languages and Paradigms. | 3 |
Programming Languages and Paradigms. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Programming language design issues and programming paradigms. Binding and scoping, parameter passing, lambda abstraction, data abstraction, type checking. Functional and logic programming. | ||
| COMP 303 | Software Design. | 3 |
Software Design. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Principles, mechanisms, techniques, and tools for object-oriented software design and its implementation, including encapsulation, design patterns, and unit testing. | ||
An additional 3 credits may be selected from Group A or B.
The remaining complementary credits must be selected from any COMP courses at the 300 level or above except COMP 396 Undergraduate Research Project..