COMPUTER SCIENCE

*COURSE INTRODUCTION*
Role of computer-related skills in Veterinary Sciences and Veterinary profession. Talking properly about computers. Distance learning systems. The teaching web portal of the University of Parma.

*COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE FUNDAMENTALS*
Computer system components. The program-in-memory principle. Von Neumann architecture. Instruction interpretation. Instruction set. Memory hierarchy. Moore's Law, CPU evolution and implications of ICT development. Data representation. Number system and alfanumeric representations.

*OPERATING SYSTEMS*
Operating systems definitions, classification and functions. Processor management. Main memory management. I/O peripherals managment. File management.

*SOFTWARE APPLICATIONS*
Algorithms and flow-charts. General architecture of software applications. User interface, business logic, and database roles. Spreadsheets. Open source software and its development model.

*COMPUTER NETWORKS AND THE WEB*
Introduction to computer networks. Internet: architecture and protocols. Wireless networks. Data transfer. Web navigation. E-mail. Newsgroups. Search engines. Advanced techniques for information search. Tools for bibliographic research, including Google Scholar, Pubmed and Mesh. Bibliographic databases for Veterinary Sciences. Safety and security issues in computer systems.

*MULTIMEDIA*
Introduction to HTML for designing personal web pages. Managing images, movie clips, and sound files.