Computer Science (COMP) 489

Distributed Computing (Revision 4)

Status:

Open

Delivery mode:

Individualized study online. Delivered via Brightspace.

Credits:

Area of study:

Science

Prerequisites:

(COMP 347 or COMP 348) and (COMP 272 or COMP 308)

Course start date:

If you are a:

Self-funded student: register by the 10th of the month, start on the 1st of the next.
Funded student: please check the next enrolment deadline and course start date.

Precluded:

None

Challenge:

COMP 489 is not available for challenge.

Faculty:

Faculty of Science and Technology

Notes:

Students who are concerned about not meeting the prerequisites for this course are encouraged to contact the course coordinator before registering.

This course is a prerequisite for COMP 495 and COMP 496 CIS project courses. It provides students with the opportunity to engage in guided individual work prior to taking on a more independent project course.

Outline

Unit 0: Setting up Your Development Environment
Unit 1: Introduction to Distributed Systems
Unit 2: Developing Distributed Applications in Java
Unit 3: Thread, Process, and IPC
Unit 4: Networking in Java
Unit 5: Concurrency Control
Unit 6: Distributed Objects and Object-based Systems
Unit 7: Distributed Databases and the Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) API
Unit 8: Distributed Security and Java Security
Unit 9: Web Services

Learning outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, you should be able to

analyze the essential features and reference model in distributed systems.
identify the capacity requirements for distributed systems.
design distributed application models in object-oriented approaches.
write multi-threaded programs in Java.
apply concurrency control and mutual exclusion mechanisms to programs.
write code using Java networking packages in distributed applications.
write code to access relational database systems using JDBC API.
examine the security issues in distributed application and write code using Java Security API.
implement an integrated distributed application in a Java environment.

Evaluation

To receive credit for COMP 489, you must achieve a course composite grade of at least D (50 percent), including an average grade of 50 percent on all coursework and at least 50 percent on the final examination.

The weighting of the composite grade is as follows:

Activity	Weight
Assignment 1	15%
Assignment 2	20%
Assignment 3	20%
Quiz	5%
Final Exam	40%
Total	100%

The final examination for this course must be requested in advance and written under the supervision of an AU-approved exam invigilator. Invigilators include either ProctorU or an approved in-person invigilation centre that can accommodate online exams. Students are responsible for payment of any invigilation fees. Information on exam request deadlines, invigilators, and other exam-related questions, can be found at the Exams and grades section of the Calendar.

Athabasca University reserves the right to amend course outlines occasionally and without notice. Courses offered by other delivery methods may vary from their individualized study counterparts.

Opened in Revision 4, August 17, 2023

Updated August 17, 2023

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Computer Science (COMP) 489

Overview

Outline

Learning outcomes

Evaluation

Materials

Important links