University of Delaware
Department of Computer and Information Sciences
Ph.D. Preliminary Examination Reading List
(Updated November 14th, 2005)
The Ph.D. Preliminary Exam tests a student's breadth of knowledge in
computer
science. The exam is based on subject matters normally included in a
CIS
undergraduate major plus one year of full-time graduate study. It
includes
all Breadth Areas of our CIS MS program.
Part 1: Computer Systems
Area Computer
Architecture
Relevant Course CISC 662
David A. Patterson & John L. Hennessy, Computer Architecture: A
Quantitative Approach, 3rd Edition, Morgan Kaufman Publ. Co.,
2003. (Used
in CISC 662) Note: Chapter 8 will not be covered in
the exam.
Area Operating
Systems
Relevant Course CISC 663
Either of the following two books book can be used to prepare
for this area.
L. F. Bic and A. C. Shaw, Operating Systems Principles,
Prentice Hall, 2003. Chapters 1-8, 10, 11.
Andrew S. Tanenbaum, Modern Operating Systems (2nd Edition),
Prentice-Hall,
2001. Chapters 1-6, 9. (Used in CISC 663)
Area Networks
Relevant Course CISC 650
James F. Kurose & Keith W. Ross, Computer Networking: A Top-Down
Approach Featuring the Internet, Third Edition, Addison-Wesley,
2005. (Used in CISC 650)
Part 2: Software Systems
Area Computer
Graphics
Relevant Course CISC 640
Either of the following two books book can be used to prepare
for this area.
F. S. Hill, Jr.,
Computer Graphics Using OpenGL, Prentice Hall, 2nd edition, 2001.
Area
Compilers - Theory of
Translators
Relevant CoursesCISC 672
A. Aho, R. Sethi, and J. Ullman, Compilers: Principles, Techniques,
and Tools, Addison-Wesley, 1986. Chaps 1-10. (Used in CISC 672)
Andrew W. Appel, Modern Compiler Implementation in Java, Second
Edition, Cambridge University Press, 2002. ( For Sections 5.1,
13.1-13.3, 13.7, and chapter 14 only.)
Area
Artificial
Intelligence
Relevant Course CISC 681
Stuart Russell & Peter Norvig, Artificial Intelligence: A Modern
Approach, Prentice-Hall, 2003 (2nd edition). Chaps 3-9, 10.1, 10.2
through p.324, 10.3 through p.334, 11-14.4, and 18. (Used in CISC
681)
Part 3: Theory
Area Design and Analysis of
Algorithms
Relevant Course CISC 621
T. Cormen, C. Leiserson, R. Rivest, C. Stein, Introduction to
Algorithms,
2nd Edition, McGraw-Hill & MIT Press, 2002. (Used in CISC 621)
Area Theory
of
Computation
Relevant Course CISC 601
M. Davis, R. Sigal, E. Weyuker, Computability, Complexity and
Languages:
Fundamentals of Theoretical Computer Science, 2nd edition, Academic
Press,
New York, NY, 1994. Chaps. 1-6, 9-10. (Used in CISC 601)
Area Logic
in Computer
Science
Relevant Course CISC 604