University of North Carolina Wilmington

Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science

We offer two programs of study leading to a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science.

Both options will prepare you to attend graduate school or to pursue career opportunities in computer science or closely related areas.

Both options follow the systems-based approach set forth by the Association for Computing Machinery and the IEEE Computer Society for undergraduate degree programs in computer science.

which is accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET), contains more thorough coverage of concepts in operating systems, scientific computing, and has more elective credit hours in upper-level computer science courses to allow you the flexibility to explore additional advanced topics.

Option 2 is designed to give you a sound background in computer science and the opportunity for in-depth study of a computer science application area.

To solve problems using computers you should be able to make the computer do what you want it to do, i.e., by programming it. Thus, the early part of the curriculum is focused the principles and the practice of programming.

Later, you will learn techniques and concepts specific to sub-areas like operating systems, computer networks, artificial intelligence, computer graphics, compiler construction, or databases.

Implementing the techniques you learn in these courses will require you to write computer programs.

Programming Languages

We currently use the programming languages Python and Java in the introductory 3 course sequence of CSC 131, CSC 231, and CSC 331.

Later courses may teach, or require you to learn, other languages. For instance, the operating systems course may use C or C++, the database course may introduce PHP, and a course on Artificial Intelligence might use Prolog.