How to Ace KTU Computer Science Engineering S7
Everything you need to know about APJ Abdul Kalam Kerala Technological University Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) Semester 7. We will discuss different theory subjects, lab, honours degree, seminar, project and study tips.
Let us look deep into semester 7of KTU in Computer Science and Engineering(CSE) for the 2015 scheme. Just like any course, Semester 7 has an important role in shaping your career. S7 is also one of the toughest and hectic semesters in an engineering career.
Why this article?
Most of the students are clueless about what they are studying ever since they have started college life. Some of them lose interest soon, or some gradually.
The major reason is like lack of guidance/mentorship. Knowing why and what you study these subjects up to an extent can reduce up your burden. It is the only student who knows the problem they face. Students must themselves come forward in helping each other. Seniors do have an important role to play in guiding and helping juniors.
Apart from rote learning, getting the right materials can push up your grades and reduce effort. Also, with pandemics affecting and plaguing the education system as well as your studies.
Overview of S7
Congratulations on completing 3 years of B. Tech in CS and reaching the final year. I know that’s not easy and you have done commendable work till now.
S7 is the continuation of S6 and you won’t feel like you have entered a new year. This sem will have a lot of core papers and also those subjects which will be helpful for your career in computer science. You will also have some subjects will be added like a peripheral course in your degree.
This year there will be a slight change in the QP pattern. Section A will have compulsory 10 questions of 4 marks each with questions from all six modules asked. Section B and C will have 3 questions of 15 marks each of which you are expected to choose to answer any two. Section B and C will include questions from Module 1&2 and 3 &4 respectively. Section D will have six questions from Module 5&6 of which you can two questions of three with each question having 20 marks.
S7 will comprise 6 theory subjects like usual. Unlike previous semesters you will have only one lab. Also, for honours, you will have one more subject and MOOCs.
The fourth-year is like winding up of the course at the same time you will learn few subjects which you yourself will find something to explore later on. You are hereby going to enter a place that is filled with only CS subjects and no other subjects. Also in the coming two semesters, you will be working on your Seminar, B. Tech Project, Placements and what not. So you have two power-packed semesters ahead.
Theory Subjects Overview
S7 will have few subjects which may be challenging and require care from an exam point of view.
Computer Graphics
This subject is the most important of this year as this one has four academic credits. As the name specifies, this subject will give you an overall idea of graphics in Computers. This subject will explain to you how images are processed, interpreted, stored and displayed.
The first module will full be about various types of displays, hardware display devices, and the basic terminologies of computer graphics. Familiar topics like arrays, image, resolutions, CRT, LCD, LED, etc.
The second module will include the display of lines, shapes, polygons etc. and various display algorithms. The third module will include image operations. A good amount of mathematical aptitude is needed for the second and third module, which includes basic geometry, arithmetic, matrices and linear algebra.
The fourth will talk about polygons and three-dimensional objects. Class 11 and 12, 3D Coordinate Geometry (Lines and Planes) is important. The fifth module comprises projection and surface detection ie. conversion from one dimension to its lower dimensions.
The computer screen as you know is a 2D matrix, so it can only display 2D figures but real-life objects do need representation. So we have to convert them and projections are used. Then comes surface detection to distinguish various surfaces of a given object.
The sixth and final module will be a full glimpse of Digital Image Processing, which itself is a big field and you are lucky if you are going to learn that subject for your elective. There are tons of youtube videos that will help you score well.
Overall Computer Graphics is a 50% theory and 50% problems subject. Although numerical may not be asked, problems can be derivations, analysis, conceptual etc. Theory questions are often repeated only. Overall the subject rating is easy to moderate.
Programming Paradigms
This subject deals with various programming methodologies and techniques involved. For the past three years, you have been learning various programming languages, now it's time to understand some basic paradigms to aid your coding.
The main essence of this subject is to teach you those programming techniques that remain the same across various languages. The main languages covered are C++, Java, Ada, Python etc. You can explain the concepts in any language of your choice unless specified.
The first module talks about variables, their scopes and bindings. It's a straightforward topic and scoring area. Most things are already learnt before themselves. There will also be a small section on control flow which indicates the flow of a program like sequential, iteration, conditional etc.
The second module is easy and comprises data types and rules based on that. Data types, Type checking, references, records, arrays, structures, unions etc. are asked. The third module is solely on Subroutines, which are also called functions or methods. Error types & exceptions, coroutines are frequently asked questions.
The fourth module is a bit challenging, ie. Functional and Logical programming through lambda calculus and Prolog. This part is purely logic-based like Discrete Maths or Theory of Computation. Prolog is a popular logical programming language and that also will be covered here in-depth.
The fifth module is easy and scoring. You will learn about OOPs and scripting languages. C++ is the main OOP language so that will be the centre of focus. Inheritance, polymorphism, data abstraction, encapsulation, classes and objects, visibility rules, constructors and destructors, overloading and overriding will be looked into. Then are the basic features of scripting languages.
The sixth module is purely concurrency and threading. Whatever you have learnt in OODP, and OS will be relooked here. JAVA is the main focus here. Thread creation and management in JAVA is important. Various concurrency control methods and semaphores. In Run time Management, JVM and JIT will fetch you close to 10–20 marks on every paper, no way you can miss it.
As the subject is Programming, you need a fairly good understanding of programming and logic. Whatever subjects you have learnt before like OS, OODP, Python, C, C++ will all be helpful at the same time you need to practise a lot of questions and stay focused.
The toughness of the subject depends on the question paper. By syllabus, it is easy and scoring. There are hundreds of tutorials and explanations on the web to help you. Overall the subject rating is moderate to tough.
Computer Systems and Architecture
If you are a hater of Computer Hardware Architecture subjects (just like me), you are going to have a tough time. Fear not, we can decode it easily. As the name says, we will deal with the Architecture of various computer systems.
Just like Computer organisation and Microprocessors, you have tons of diagrams to learn and it's going to be challenging. The best way to learn is to draw and learn instead of merely reading. You need an open to accept the needed concepts.
The first module is all about Parallel Computing. Lots of divisions and a lot of formulas to learn. You can be asked to explain as well to do numericals. Flynn’s classification is what you will mainly cover here and then Amdahl’s law. You can score well here if you can solve numerically and learn the law.
The second module is about processor hierarchy, CISC and RISC, scalar and vector computers. The third module covers multiprocessor and multicomputer systems, memory hierarchy and interconnection systems. Both these modules have a lot of diagrams, architectures, comparisons etc.
Module five is about Pipeline Instructions and various mechanisms involved in the same. Fetch, Decode, Execute should be the golden words that you should remember. The last module six will be solely on multithreading architecture and caching. Both are highly conceptual and analytical modules.
Just like you have dealt with other Hardware subjects like Comp Architecture, Microprocessors, etc. This subject is highly diagrammatic, with a lot to memorise and a lot to draw. One advantage here is the question papers are often similar and have repeated questions asked every year. Just by learning previous years’ questions, you can score really well. Overall the subject rating is moderate to tough.
Distributed Computing
In this pandemic, we use multiple web and mobile applications from different parts of the world. The systems will have distributed hardware and working. Despite all complexities, we are able to use them hassle-free. The concept behind this massive idea is nothing but Distributed Computing(DC).
What does a typical DC have? A proper hardware system, a well-defined architecture, communication protocols, a proper file system, database and concurrency control. Each module in this subject will cover each of these in detail.
The first module is very easy, purely theory based as well as few model-based diagrams. You will learn about the features of DC, the design of DC, the architecture of DC, etc. The second module is about various DC system models, various patterns, security, failure handling model, etc.
The third model is Inter-Process Communication, how processes communicate with each other, different communication protocols, IP multicast, RPC, Overlay networks and also the detailed working of Skype. Most of these concepts are from Computer Networks.
The fourth module is about various File Systems (FS) used in DC. The two important questions asked from this area is SUN NFS and Andrew FS. Their architecture, differences, comparison etc. The last part here is to learn about DNS which is very easy and something which we always know about.
ACID properties, various transaction states, scheduling, serializability, concurrency control, deadlock avoidance and control, locks, etc. All these concepts which you have learnt in DBMS and OS. So this section is something which you have already learnt before.
The last module is all about few algorithms that help in Distributed Mutual Exclusion. You only have to learn three very easy algorithms namely Ring-based, Maekawa’s Voting, and Election algorithm. If you know them and how to implement them, then it is very easy to score.
This is an extremely easy subject. You can easily understand everything and you just have to relate it to real-life examples and you can score well. This subject is very useful if you are going for product-based companies, the IT industry and also for working in cloud industries.
Cryptography and Network Security
The most important aspect of online applications or anything that is connected over a network is the security aspect. How do applications keep their data secure, how to the message we share stay confidential, what and how is encryption and decryption? What are the security aspects of Electronic transactions? This subject will answer all of these questions.
This subject has four modules of Cryptography and two modules of network security. Cryptography is nothing but converting a plain text message into a ciphertext which is then transmitted across the channel. This text is then decrypted at the receiver’s end.
The entire process is done using a key that is used for conversion. Key can either be public or private or may include both. This is the most important and fundamental concept. So, you will just have to remember this throughout the semester. Cryptography is implemented using algorithms that may range over several rounds and be complex.
The first module comprises basic terminologies and definitions, which should be remembered throughout. Then we come into basic cryptographic methods, the history, block cipher methods, polyalphabetic ciphers etc. Last you will learn about DES.
The second module includes International DEA (IDEA), Advanced ES (AES), RC4 and SHA. This is a part where you will have a lot to cramp up, filled with diagrams and numbers. Just understand the basic working, then try to learn what happens per each round and automatically you will be able to figure out each algorithm.
The third module is based on Number Theory and its various applications in cryptography. The difference between public and private key, modular arithmetic, Euclid's algorithm and functions, Fermat’s little theorem, Euler’s theorem and a lot more. RSA algorithm is the most important and scoring section followed by the Diffie-Hellman key exchange algorithm. This module is purely mathematical and you need a strong arithmetical understanding.
Authentication is the fourth module, where you learn about various authentication techniques and functions. Then important things like Digital Signatures, MAC, Secure Hash Functions, etc. This module is relatively easier and easy to learn. The cryptography section generally ends here.
Network security is what we cover in the fifth module. Whatever is possible to ensure the security of the messaging channel and the network. The type of various attacks possible, security mechanisms, namely ISM. Then other topics like Email security, PGP and its working, SMIME, and finally a broad and vast topic, ie IP Security.
The final module is Web Security which is about securing websites, content on the internet that people access, etc. The most important topics include Secure Socket Layer (SSL) and Transport Layer Security(TLS); architecture and protocols for both. Then we have another important area Secure Electronic Transactions (SET) which is banking transactions that happen over the internet especially credit cards. Last but not least we have types of firewalls, their functions and working.
Just remember that the first two modules are diagrammatic which requires practice by hand. The third module is numerical and has scope for problems. The fourth one is theoretical and conceptual. The fifth and sixth are direct theory and straightforward concepts asked for the exam.
Personally, this is a subject despite difficulties, this subject was interesting to me. This is a useful one indeed with a lot of real-life applications, which we can relate to and use every day. If you proceed with that mindset you will find this enjoyable and grasp the concepts easily. Overall the subject rating is moderate to tough.
Digital Image Processing
As discussed above in Computer Graphics, DIP is a subset of the same. This is a scoring paper, with a lot of direct questions as asked for the exam that too, a lot of repeated questions. You will learn in detail regarding what you will learn in the last module of computer graphics.
DIP deals with Computer Images and various steps involved in the processing of digital images. This subject will cover the basics of image representation, terminologies, image types, storage, image transforms, image filtering, image operators, edge detection etc.
Module one includes a basic introduction to digital images and few basic definitions. Module two is all about to transform both Cosine and Fourier transforms, both of which have a wide range of applications in science and technology. Module three is comprised of filters, transformation functions, histogram processing, contrast, etc.
Module four contains domain conversions, filters, etc. Module five has Edge detection techniques, thresholding, region splitting and merging. Module Six, the final module talks about image representation, display, splitting and merging algorithms, boundary algorithms and a lot more.
Basic understanding of class 11 and 12 mathematics and minimal computer knowledge is actually what you need to learn this subject. The mathematics needed is Linear Algebra, Trigonometry, Linear Transforms, Fourier and Laplace transforms. There are tons of youtube videos that will help you score well. Algorithms need a proper understanding of writing and drawing. Overall the subject rating is easy to moderate.
Honours Subject- Machine Learning
As everyone knows, Machine Learning stands as the core of Artificial Intelligence. It refers to the technique of teaching Machines how to think and make decisions based on past data. As per the curriculum, this is an elective subject, often chosen as an alternative to Digital Image Processing. ML has a wide range of applications in many fields across multiple domains.
The first module as always is an introduction, basic terminologies and few notable applications. You will also learn types of learning, classification, regression, and VC dimension. Module two covers, mode selection, overfitting and underfitting, types of data sets, selection etc.
The third module dives deeper into selection techniques, validation, ROC curve, confusion matrix, Bayes Theorem, Naive Bayes Classifier and density functions. Module four is the continuation of the previous module and starts with entropy, decision trees, algorithms- ID3 and CART followed by Artificial Neural Networks which you have studied in the Soft Computing subject.
These modules are highly numerical and have the scope for a lot of arithmetic problems.
Support Vector Machines, linear and non-linear data, SVM algorithms and kernel functions are there in the fifth module. While on the other hand, the last module includes clustering methods which are K-fold clustering and the DBSCAN clustering.
ML is an important subject if that's going to be a focus for you. Good conceptual understanding is needed in first two modules, while in the middle modules you need to practice numericals and have a strong mathematical foundation. While the last two modules are algorithm-based which need logical thinking and practice. Overall the subject rating is moderate to tough.
Machine Learning was the subject of my honours. I found it tough compared to DIP. Although if ML is your interest go ahead. It will also help you in your Data Mining Paper next semester. A basic understanding of ML will also help you in ML-based programming and career options. Youtube videos are there in Machine Learning.
Laboratory And Practicals
This sem you will have only one lab and that will also be the last lab of your B.Tech CS. In S8 you will be engaged with your Project.
The only lab you will have to deal with is Compiler Design Lab which is based on your S5 Theory of Computation and S6 Compiler Design. Personally, this was really hard. But if you have a good understanding of programming and a proper idea of Compiler Design subject you should find it easy. Else you will have to depend on a lot of online resources not only for the logic but also for the code.
The syllabus includes two types of programs, one that you will have to code in C while the other in lex and yacc. The subject will include basic programs like NFA, DFA, parser, operator generator, epsilon closure etc.
Having a proper idea of the subject as well as appropriate programming logic is necessary to pass the exam. Always stay prepared for Viva. The subject matter will be common for both.
Seminar
In the fourth year, you are expected to present a seminar on any topic of the field, as part of the curriculum. You will be evaluated based on that. Usually, since online classes dominated the semester. The seminar will be conducted as a webinar.
The student is expected to select a Research Paper and present it as a small seminar/webinar. After that, you will have to submit the seminar report which has to be made using the latex software. You will be awarded marks based on both presentation and report but weightage is any way for the presentation.
Project
This is the most important part of your curriculum. Along with your subjects, it's important that you should be able to make a project following all the principles of Software Engineering and combining whatever you have learnt till now in solving day to problems or contributing to the industry.
Although the main phases of a project implementation come in S8, you need to form groups, select a topic and work on project preliminary and that will indeed be considered in S7. So stay alert and make up your mind and start working. I will surely be making a blog on B.Tech Project in detail in future.
Materials
Choosing the right material is not only important for you to ace the exams but also to understand the subject to the core. It’s not just needed that you pass the exam. You can refer to online notes or slides which your teachers provide or even reference books. The only thing you remember is to understand whatever you learn wholeheartedly. Also, refer to previous sample papers for the type and style of questions asked. Often questions get repeated every year.
The most important part of the fourth year and S7 are placements that are outside the curciullum. whether to participate or not is totally your wish. But have a goal in your mind. Never let your studies affect the placements and vice versa. I have also made a placement guide for engineering students mainly aimed at the IT industry, CS and EC students do refer to that too.
If you find this useful do share this with your classmates and whomsoever will find it useful. Also, do let me know your concerns on CS, or S7 or any particular subject in the comments section. Do refer to all the CS semester guides from S3 to S6 as well.
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