UIT2201: CS & the IT Revolution
Term Paper (Spring 2003)
(Due: 11 April 2003, 11:59am)
Term Papers (Due: 11-April 11:59am)
Your term paper will be based on your selected topic.
You should use the web, the library and other sources to make a
careful study of your topic and organize your material.
Write a report of about 20-25 pages (fontsize 12, 1.5 spacing)
on your selected topic.
IMPORTANT:
- While the report should contain facts, dates, and figures
that can be obtained from the web-sites, books, or related sources,
you should NOT copy pages (wholesale) from the sources.
Doing so would have a negative impact on your grades.
- It is also important that in your report,
you should also include some of your own views and comments
and not just regurgitate the reports/comments of others.
- Be sure to accurately cite the sources of your material in the
"List of References" at the back of your report.
You should submit the report
in both hardcopy to my office AND softcopy via email.
Possible Topics for Term Paper
- Term Paper on "Storage Mediums as Virtual Machines" -- (individual, max 3)
- Term Paper on "Specialized Programming Language" -- (individual, max 3)
- Term Paper on "Local IT-based Company Case Study" -- (individual, max 3)
- Term Paper on "IT in Banking: A Case Study" -- (individual, max 3)
- Term Paper on "IT in Entertainment: A Case Study" -- (individual, max 3)
- Term Paper on "IT in Geography: A Case Study" -- (individual, max 3)
- Term Paper on "IT in HealthCare: A Case Study" -- (individual, max 3)
- Term Paper on "IT in Hotel/Hospitality Sector: A Case Study" -- (individual, max 3)
- Term Paper on "IT in Music: A Case Study" -- (individual, max 3)
- Term Paper on "IT in Voluntary Organizations: A Case Study" -- (individual, max 3)
Storage Mediums as Virtual Machines
This term paper explores how we view the various storage media including
floppy disks, fixed/hard disks and compact disks.
In particular, all of these storage media can be viewed as virtual machines.
First, investigate how floppy disks, fixed/hard disks and compact disks store data.
You can refer to Section 5.2.2 of [SG] and Section 1.3 of [Brookshear] for info.
In addition, the following references are useful:
Your term papers can be organized into sections that
may be based on the answers to the following questions:
-
While these storage media might be very different storage devices
(in terms of speed and storage capacity), what techniques and
physical characteristics allow for them to be treated in a similar
manner?
-
What functionality would computer users expect when
manipulating data files?
(For example, what operations relating to files would users
perform when using "Windows Explorer" in Win9x?)
-
An operating system must implement the functionality (given above)
by relying on more basic operations provided in Q1.
Explain briefly what schemes must be in place for the concept of
files to materialize from data in disk.
-
How do disks and files relate to the concept of virtual machines
as covered in the lectures?
Credit for the four parts will be roughly 3:2:2:3 but this is not rigid.
Specialized Programming Languages
Many popular programming languages such as Java, C/C++, Pascal, Perl, Basic,
Scheme, ML, LISP are commonly used and taught to computer science majors.
However, the are also many specialized "programming languages" used in
other specialized domains: Maple, Mathematica, REDUCE that does symbolic
computations (used in enginnering, mathematics, computer science),
APL based on matrix manipulation (for mathematicians and engineers),
SNOBOL (SPITBOL) for string manipulation, and so on.
In this term paper, you will choose one or more such specialized programming
language and write a report on it/them. Your report should include at least
the following areas:
- The history of programming language, the domain of specialization,
the user base, some key applications written in the language
(or famous success stories, if any) and
the development (evolution) of the language since its invention.
- Distinguishing Features: the key features of the language
the makes it different from languages such as Java, C/C++.
Explain also how these features are key to the target domain
of consideration.
- Discuss briefly, how these key features may be implemented
-- what kind of basic operations must be provided and what kind
of higher level interfaces should be present to support these
key distinguishing features.
- Finally, discuss (in your own opinion) the strengths and
weaknesses of the language as a general programming tool
to be used for all kinds of applications.
If it is suitable, explain how so. If not, explain what
areas it is not suited for -- and how these shortcoming
may be addressed if you have a choice on how it can be modified.
Credit for the three parts will be roughly 3:2:2:3 but this is not rigid.
Local IT-based Company Case Study
Using information from the web and other sources, make a case study of a
local IT-based company.
The report on the company should cover the following parts:
- The history of the enterprise: the concept of the IT enterprise,
its development over the years and its current state.
- Technology content: the way the enterprise deploys particular
parts of CS and IT to earn income and make profit (hopefully).
- How it fits into the scene: its current business environment,
like the customer base, competitors, impact on the economy and
everyday life, etc.
Credit for the three parts will be roughly 4:3:3 but this is not rigid.
IT in "Some Sectors": A Case Study
In this term paper, you will choose a sector (Banking, Entertainment,
Geography, Healthcare, etc)
and write a report on the use and pervasiveness of IT in that sector.
Your report should include at least the following areas:
- A historical trace of the sector -- starting with the before-IT era
and its evolution to today. A brief description of the general types
of activities in the sector: those that are replaced by IT as well
as those that are not.
- Key Activities that use IT in the "Sector":
more details on the activites that uses IT or have been exclusively
replaced by IT. For each, explain in some detail how IT is used in
the activity and discuss the advantages/disadvantages of the
adoption of IT. (Note that your focus should not be restricted to
dollars and cents, but also to human aspects and others).
- Finally, discuss (in your own opinion) what other areas in which
IT can be used to further strengthen the use of IT in the sector.
For each, explain briefly how this can be done and also, suggest
in your opinion, why it have not been done yet.
- Given a general overall assessment of whether or not IT adoption
has transformed the sector for the better or for the worse.
Identify two or three most significant changes for the better that
IT adoption have brought to the sector.
Credit for the three parts will be roughly 2:3:3:2 but this is not rigid.
UIT2201: CS & IT Revolution; (Spring 2003); A/P Leong HW