NUS Module Review: Year 2 Semester 2

Hi everyone! Sorry for not updating this blog more often (in fact it feels like it is never updated at all). Anyway, I finally gathered enough will to post a module review of modules I have taken in NUS. For clarity and organization purpose, I will divide the posts per semester. So here goes the last semester's module review!

CS2102 Database Systems
Lecturer: Stephane Bressan and Zhao Jin

This module is not very interesting, but it is quite useful. You will learn how to CREATE, ALTER, DROP tables, SELECT, UPDATE, and DELETE entries, and some simple joins through the WHERE clause (equality of columns). You will also learn a bit about tuple and relational calculus, relational algebra, functional dependencies, and normalizations. The topics I wrote above is not covered in depth to be useful in the real world, but I guess it gives you quite a good overview of what to expect in higher level database modules.

I mentioned that the module is useful because you get to develop a simple web application as the term project. The project's default configuration is to use vanilla PHP, but the lecturers give us freedom to choose other web framework. Of course, we have to write the SQL queries by hand (instead of relying on ORM like what most web frameworks offer). I used Django (as a friend of mine in the group is highly proficient in it), overriding all ORM methods to write our own queries, but we use Django admin for managing the database (which is the most difficult part if you use the default project configuration, I believe).  Luckily the grader did not say a word about it (or maybe he was not aware that we used it). Thanks to this project, I am not too clueless in my current internship, which is on web development.

CS2105 Introduction to Computer Networks

Lecturer: Zhou Lifeng

This module turned out to be very interesting (in my opinion, at least). We were taught the 5 layers of computer network protocol (Application, Transport, Network, Link, Physical, omitting Session and Presentation layers for some reason). There were 3 term assignments. The first one was to create a simple data transfer protocol on top of a reliable network. The second one was the most important one: to create a reliable data transfer protocol on top of an unreliable network. The last one was just to code out a simple encrypted network protocol using public key encryption.

I was really fascinated by how intricate and yet highly reliable the network protocols are, being built on top such unreliable channels. I am interested to take higher level modules in computer networks, but my friend (who knows better, supposedly) advised me not to. Have not decided whether to heed his advice or not.


CS2107 Introduction to Information Security

Lecturer: Chang Ee Chien

This module is usually taught by Hugh Anderson, but for some reason another lecturer takes over for last semester. He is not very good at teaching, though I can tell that he knows his stuff. The midterm was super easy, as opposed to the finals which require you to understand the things taught in lecture, and think critically what was possibly being compromised, . 

The "difficult" finals was to my relief, because I was so disappointed in the module for the whole semester as it felt so GEM-ish (general knowledge, not so into the CS aspect). To my pleasant surprise, the finals require me to apply what I know and give some creative answers (to some extent, because ultimately there will be a "correct" answer so that he can mark our paper objectively).

There will be an open-ended presentation at the second half of the semester. There will be topics provided, but you are free to propose your own. I took one of the given topic on TOR network. I'm glad I took it because I would not have learned about TOR if I did not. (I am lazy to learn new things if there is no benefit in the short run, unfortunately)

CS3241 Computer Graphics
Leturer: Alan Cheng Ho Lun

This module has been taught by him since forever, apparently. As the lecture notes, tutorials, and lab assignments are the same for the past few semesters. Regardless, this module is really good for various types of people: whether you are really interested into taking Visual Computing or Interactive Media focus area, just want to look around, or want to understand what those graphics settings in your games actually mean. I fall on the second and third category. The module goes for breadth instead of depth, which is why I said it is suitable for a wide range of people.

CS3243 Introduction to Artificial Intelligence
Lecturer: Low Kian Hsiang Bryan

I hoped this module to be more interesting, but as it turned out, it was not really. It is highly algorithmic on the first half and very logic- and statistics-based on the second half. The first half we were taught many graph-search algorithms (which is how most problems are modeled for AIs to solve in the past, like the Enigma machine problem and most turn-based games like chess) eg Minimax, Constraint Satisfaction Problem, and A-Star search. Second half would be about logical agents, and last topic is on supervised learning. Despite the syllabus arranged in that way, the term project was on Machine Learning (creating an AI for tetris), so you need to learn supervised learning in advance (before it is covered proper in lecture) anyway, which I find quite stupid.

The midterms and finals are all about tracing the algorithms instead of solving problems. Although I would not like it on normal circumstances, the fact that I overloaded that semester (I took 25 MCs) means I did not need to study too hard for this module to get a decent grade (I hope, the grade has not been released yet).

LAC3202 Chinese 4

Lecturer: Doris Chen Poju (Chen Boru? I dunno...)

Nothing much to say. If you are going to take this module, most probably you have taken the other lower level Chinese modules. They are basically the same, except you need to write longer essays as compared to Chinese 3.

For the benefit of those who never take Chinese before (perhaps because you took the placement test and got Chinese 4 straight away), you are basically following the textbook (新实用汉语课本2, 第二十到二十六课). Learn vocabs (if you don't know it already), practice the conversations in the textbook, learn sentence patterns (or as they call it, grammar, though I feel that Chinese does not have a grammar the way English does). Exams are similar to workbook questions, except they are a bit harder. There will be 2 口语 at the end of the semester, one is in the form of presentation about Chinese culture, and the other is conversational 口语.

CS3211 Parallel and Concurrent Programming (dropped with W grade)

Lecturer: Hugh Anderson

I took this module with expectation to be taught how to write codes that can run on different threads properly. As it turned out, it was more theoretical than I hoped. Also, the burden of taking 29 MCs has gotten into me so I decided to drop this module in week 6. The lecturer himself is pretty good (I mean, this is Hugh, come on!), but it's just that the course is too theoretical to my liking. But I guess I should have practised myself instead. Considering taking it again next year (only offered in sem 2 =/)

So that's all. Sorry if it got shorter as it progresses as I got exhausted after a while writing it haha. Maybe I will edit it in the future if I have the time and willingness (unlikely, so don't count on it, unless there is a demand for it).

Hopefully the next post will be more useful for my portfolio, or at least for my own knowledge.