Course Schedule - Fall Semester 2024

     

Meeting location information can now be found on student schedules in ESTHER (for students) or on the Course Roster in ESTHER (for faculty and instructors).
Additional information available here.

COLL 125 001 (CRN: 17117)

INTRO TO MAINFRAME COMPUTING

Long Title: INTRODUCTION TO MAINFRAME COMPUTING (SID RICH)
Department: College Courses
Instructor: DAmato, Enzo
Meeting: 4:00PM - 4:50PM W (26-AUG-2024 - 6-DEC-2024) 
Part of Term: Full Term - No WL Purge
Grade Mode: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory
Course Type: Lecture/Laboratory
Language of Instruction: Taught in English
Method of Instruction: Face to Face
Credit Hours: 1
Course Syllabus:
Course Materials: Rice Campus Store
 
Restrictions:
Must be enrolled in one of the following Level(s):
Undergraduate Professional
Visiting Undergraduate
Undergraduate
Section Max Enrollment: 19
Section Enrolled: 4
Waitlisted: 0 (Max 99) 
Current members of the waitlist have priority for available seats.
Enrollment data as of: 30-DEC-2024 12:11PM
 
Additional Fees: None
 
Final Exam: No Final Exam
Final Exam Time:
13-DEC-2024  
9:00AM - 12:00PM F
 
Description: It is expected that students have at least one semester’s of programming experience (COMP 140/160/130, APCS, etc), and familiarity with basic programming concepts (variables, functions, loops, etc) will be assumed. Knowledge of any specific platform or programming language is not required. Mainframe computers are in use by two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies, 45 of the world’s top 50 banks, eight of the top 10 insurers, seven of the top 10 global retailers, and eight of the top 10 telecommunications companies. Despite this overwhelming prevalence in large corporations, there is a serious shortage of skilled mainframe experts, with 91% of companies with mainframes identifying skills shortages as a critical issue in their organizations, leading to an immense demand for programmers and administrators with mainframe skills. This course will be an introduction to the mainframe platform, first covering it’s origins, hardware and software architecture, and design principles. Building on this foundation, the course will then cover the principles of operation of the most common mainframe operating system: z/OS, the principles of the most common programming languages on the mainframe platform, and the usage of several mainframe-specific subsystems. Using the mainframe platform, this course will help students answer: What does software development and program design look like on platforms with different fundamental design tenants, and how do I apply my existing development skills to such a platform? Finally, students will use these skills, to work collaboratively to build a real-world application, using the mainframe architectural pattern, languages, and subsystems, with the goal of building the foundational skills needed by enterprise, and broadening student’s repertoire of design patterns and layouts.