Placement Test for Computer Science

Systems and Architecture

Topics:

- Computer architecture
- Operating systems
- Concurrency control
- Parallel programming

As for references, consider

1. Computer Architecture, by John Hennessy and David Patterson.

2. Operating Systems Concepts, by Abraham Silberschatz, Peter Galvin and Greg
Gagne.

Programming

Topics:

- Abstract data structure

- Inheritance
- Explicit memory management
- Modularity
- Recursion
- Implementation of basic data structures
- Templates
- Libraries

Knowledge and practice of programming in C++ is assumed. For references, consider

1. The C++ Programming Language, 4th Edition, Bjarne Stroustrup.

2. How to Program, 9th Edition, Deitel and Deitel.

Data Structures and Algorithms

- Search methods
- Sorting
- Trees, heaps, sets, and lists
- Algorithm complexity (big O)
- Hashing
- Divide and conquer
- Dynamic programming
- Introductory graph algorithms such as depth-first search
For reference, consider

1. Introduction to Algorithms by Thomas Cormen, Charles Leiserson, Ronald

Rivest and Clifford Stein.

Linear Algebra

- Systems of equations
- Vector spaces
- Basis and dimension
- Rank of a matrix
- Determinants
- Eigenvalues and diagonalization
- Positive definite matrices
- Orthogonal and unitary matrices and transformations
- Orthogonal projections methods

For reference, consider

1- Advanced engineering mathematics, 9th Edition, 2006, Author: Erwin Kreyszig,

2- Advanced engineering mathematics, Zill and Cullen
3- Advanced engineering mathematics, Greenberg
4- Introduction to Linear Algebra, Gilbert Strang

Probability

- Basic probability models

- Combinatorics
- Random variables
- Discrete and continuous probability distributions

For reference consider

DeGroot, Morris H., and Mark J. Schervish. Probability and Statistics. 3rd ed. Boston,
MA: Addison-Wesley, 2002. ISBN: 0201524880.

Discrete Mathematics

- Logic notation
- Induction
- Elementary graph theory
 - Integer congruences
- Asymptotic notation and growth of functions
- Permutations and combinations, and counting principles
- Boolean (switching) functions

For reference consider

1- Concrete Mathematics, Graham, Knuth and Patashnik

2- Discrete and Combinatorial Mathematics by Ralph Grimaldi.

Automata and Theory of Computing

- Finite automata
- Circuits and decision trees
- Turing machines and computability
- Efficient algorithms and reducibility
- The P versus NP problem
- NP-completeness

For reference consider

1- Formal Languages, Automata and Complexity. Glenn Brookshear

2- Languages and Machines: An Introduction to the Theory of Computer Science,
Thomas A. Sudkamp
3- Introduction to Automata Theory, Languages, and Computation, John E.
Hopcroft, Rajeev Motwani and Jeffrey D. Ullman