Lecture Note Reflections (SECP1513)
CHAPTER 1 (INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, THE INTERNET, AND YOU)
The first chapter presents the fundamental skills and concepts that students will need to succeed in today's digital world. The first chapter covers information systems and how the various parts of technology interact. Students will learn about the components of an information system, the differences between system software and application software, and the various types of system software programs in this chapter. This chapter also includes a section on general-purpose, specialised, and mobile applications, as well as sections on computer types and hardware, networking, and obviously, data and files. This chapter was quite beneficial because it provided me with a lot of information about computers and information systems.
CHAPTER 2 (THE INTERNET, THE WEB, AND ELECTRONIC COMMERCE)
The origins of the Internet and the web, as well as how to access it and various web services, are covered in Chapter two. This chapter also provides an overview of various internet connections, e-commerce, cloud computing, and the Internet of Things (IoT). This chapter was enjoyable since it allowed me to learn more about cloud computing and the Internet of Things, which is an important topic for our first semester. I learned something about cloud computing from this chapter, and it helped me prepare for my AWS Academy Cloud Foundation course.
CHAPTER 3 (APPLICATION SOFTWARE)
Application software, which includes word processors, spreadsheets, presentation programs, and database management systems, is discussed in the third chapter which is this one. Specialized applications, mobile apps and app stores, and of course, software suites are all covered in this chapter. This chapter explained to us about application software, which was really useful for Software Engineering students like myself. This provided us, the software engineering students with a basic understanding of the kind of software applications we will be developing in the future.
CHAPTER 4 (SYSTEM SOFTWARE)
The differences between system software and application software are discussed in Chapter four. This chapter is nearly identical to Chapter three, however, it focuses primarily on system software. System software programs, mobile operating systems, and utilities come in a number of different types. This chapter explained the differences between system software and application software for me. Despite their differences, as a Computer Science (Software Engineering) student, I must understand both of these chapters since I should be skilled in all sorts of software if I want to be a good software developer.
CHAPTER 5 (THE SYSTEM UNIT)
Chapter five focuses on the System unit and is, by far, my favourite of all the chapters in the course. The differences between basic types of system units such as system boards, microprocessors, memory, slots, cards, power supply, buses, and slots are discussed in this chapter. There's also a segment on how computers read data, as well as encryption and binary. The chapter was straightforward and self-explanatory but learning it was enjoyable.
CHAPTER 6 (INPUT AND OUTPUT)
This chapter covers Input and Output or in other words means data that a computer uses and processed data, respectively, and various sorts of input devices such as keyboards, pointing devices, scanning devices, and image/audio input devices, as well as many types of output devices such as monitors, printers, and audio/video devices. Ergonomics is also another topic covered inside the chapter, and I learned that in order to use computers effectively and securely, we must sit and position ourselves correctly to avoid physical injury.
CHAPTER 7 (SECONDARY STORAGE)
The following chapter, which is chapter seven, explains to students about primary and secondary storage, as well as secondary storage's key characteristics. Cloud storage, SSD, HDD, flash memory, USB drives, and mass storage are also all covered in this chapter. This chapter taught me a lot, especially regarding cloud storage, and I also learned quite a bit about disk partitioning.
CHAPTER 8 (COMMUNICATIONS AND NETWORKS)
Furthermore, connectivity, wireless revolution, communication systems, physical and wireless channels, connection devices, types of networks, network architecture, and Internet technological challenges are all covered in Chapter eight. This chapter is extremely fascinating because it covers a wide range of topics, including network security. Firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and virtual private networks are three technologies that are often utilized to protect network security, according to what I have studied in this chapter.
CHAPTER 9 (PRIVACY, SECURITY, AND ETHICS)
There is a lot of subtopics covered in this chapter such as the people's concerns about computer technology, primary privacy issues, privacy laws, the impact of massive databases, methods to protect computer security, and the most essential component, computer ethics, which are all provided in this chapter. Everyone should be aware of computer ethics in order to navigate the internet and use computers securely and responsibly. Computer ethics can be described as rules for using computers in an ethically acceptable manner in our community. This chapter, in my opinion, should be taught to the public more often since everyone should be aware of the value of computer ethics.
CHAPTER 10 (INFORMATION SYSTEMS)
The functional view of an organisation, management levels and informational needs for each level in an organisation, how information moves throughout an organisation, computer-based information systems, and of course the distinction between data workers and knowledge workers are all discussed in Chapter ten. This chapter is crucial for students to have a basic understanding of what their future workplace could be like. This chapter has inspired me to work hard in the future and open up my own start-up company as I was exposed to how organisation works which makes me want to also be involved in the business world.
CHAPTER 11 (DATABASES)
Then there's Chapter eleven, which is all about databases. Databases and database models, physical and logical views of data, data organisation, batch and real-time processing, strategic database uses, and security considerations are all covered in this chapter. I gained a lot of knowledge about data, how to acquire it, share it, and secure it. This chapter also assists me in completing Assignment 4, in which my groupmates and I must manipulate data to create an online dashboard page and display the data in the form of a graph, chart, and table.
CHAPTER 12 (SYSTEMS ANALYSIS AND DESIGN)
The analysis of existing information systems and the feasibility of alternative systems are discussed in Chapter twelve, as well as the six phases of the systems life cycle. Preliminary study, systems analysis, systems design, systems development, systems implementation, and systems maintenance are the six phases of the system life cycle. Computer experts known as systems analysts utilize this six-phase systems life cycle in organisations. What this chapter helped me to understand is about, how a system is created, designed, and maintained. I also learned a lot about how an organization's systems work, and it provided me with a basic overview for my future job.
CHAPTER 13 (PROGRAMMING AND LANGUAGES)
Here we finally are, the final chapter of the SECP1513 course. The concept of programming and the six steps of programming are covered in Chapter 13, as well as various design tools such as top-down design, pseudocode, flowcharts, and logic structures, program testing and tools for finding and removing errors, CASE tools, object-oriented software development, and five generations of programming languages. As I have some programming experience, this chapter is quite easy as I can say myself. Nonetheless, the chapter was useful for students, and I was able to refresh my memory on how programming works and the fundamentals of programming itself.