Diploma in Computer Science and Visual Basic Programming via Online Distance Learning

Enrolment date: 26 April 2024

Benefiting from over 30 years’ practical skills training experience, Fitzwilliam Institute’s Online Diploma in Computer Science and Visual Basic Programming course features:

  • Comprehensive modules covering all aspects of both Computer Science and Visual Basic Programming: Computer Systems, Communication and Information, Microprocessor Systems, Operating Systems, Mathematics for Computing, Algorithms, Databases, Software Engineering, Computer Security, Introduction to Visual Basic Programming, Methods, Linq Programming, Persistent Data, and many more.
  • Interactive course expert support, advice and guidance from leading industry professionals. Always ready to help or answer any questions you might have throughout the course, all of our course experts are top industry professionals with many years of successful experience. Our Diploma in Computer Science and Visual Basic Programming contains the core and vital industry key skillset and, on completion, all of our students are industry-ready.
  • Real life Computer Science and Visual Basic Programming briefs. Fitzwilliam Institute’s Diploma in Computer Science and Visual Basic Programming offers practical and specific skills that can be applied in real world situations. You will gain exposure to invaluable toolkits and resources and prepare real life Computer Science and Visual Basic Programming briefs, which will enable you to improve your work portfolio.
  • Flexible online learning. Fitzwilliam Institute’s Diploma in Computer Science and Visual Basic Programming course can be completed in your own time, from the comfort of your own home, to suit your lifestyle. You will have full access to online resources and subject expert support for 6 months. However, you can complete the course in as little as 4-6 months, by dedicating 6-8 hours of study per week.
  • Jobs, Networking and Volunteer Opportunities. Benefiting from many years of industry experience, we are extremely well placed within the industry. Employers are always looking for Fitzwilliam Institute’s students and alumni. Our website features a comprehensive jobs and volunteer opportunities section.

Computer Systems

Computer Architecture; Machine Language; Program Execution; Arithmetic/Logic Instructions; Communicating with Other Devices; Other Architectures; Network Fundamentals; the Internet; the World Wide Web; Internet Protocols; Security; The History of a Computing Hardware; The History of a Computing Software;

Communication and Information

Managing Information; Thinking Machines; the Turing Test; Aspects of AI; Knowledge Representation; Semantic Networks; Search Trees; Expert Systems; Networking; Types of Networks; Internet Connections; Packet Switching; Open systems and protocols; TCP/IP; High- Level Protocols; MIME types; Firewalls; Information Retrieval; Organisation;

Microprocessor Systems

CPU Scheduling; Memory Process and CPU management; Batch Processing; Multiprocessor Operating Systems; Computers and Electricity; Gates 94; Gate 96; XOR gate 96; NAND and NOR gates 97; Transistors; Combinational Circuits; Adders; Multiplexers; Circuits as Memory; Integrated Circuits; CPU Chips; Individual Computer Components; Stored-program Concept; von Neumann Architecture; The Fetch-Execute Cycle; RAM and ROM; Secondary Storage Devices; Touch Screens; Embedded Systems; Parallel Computing; Parallel Hardware;

Operating Systems

The History of Operating Systems; Operating System Architecture; Coordinating the Machine’s Activities; Handling Competition among Processes; Security Roles of an Operating system; Memory Management; Process Management; Capabilities of the Hardware; Single User OS – Network OS; Real-time Operating Systems; Embedded Systems; Management of Input and Output; Processes and Scheduling; Threads; Synchronization; Semaphores; Monitors; Deadlock; Scheduling; Memory Management;

Mathematics for Computing

Numbers and Computing; Positional Notation; Binary; Octal and Hexadecimal; Arithmetic in other Bases; Power-of-2 Number Systems; Converting from Base 10 to other Bases; Binary Values and Computers;

Algorithms, Data Structures and Computability

The Definition of an Algorithm; The Role of Algorithms; The Science of Algorithms; The Concept of an Algorithm; Algorithm Representation; Unsolvable Problems; Analyzing Algorithms; Algorithms with Simple Variables; Composite Variables; Algorithm Discovery; Iterative Structures Recursive Structures; Efficiency and Correctness;

Databases

Spreadsheets; Spreadsheet Formulas; Circular References; Spreadsheets Analysis; Database Management Systems; the Relational Model; Relationships; Structured Query Language; Database Design; E-Commerce; The Ubiquitous Database; Database types; Advantages of Using a Database; Modelling the Data Domain; Building a relational Database from the Data Model; Normalisation; SQL; DDL; DML; Storied Procedures; Triggers; Data Integrity; Transaction Isolation Levels; Accessing the Database Programmatically;

Introduction to Computers and the Internet

Organization; Machine Languages; Assembly Languages and High-Level Languages; History of the Internet and World Wide Web; World Wide Web Consortium (W3C); Web; Personal; Distributed and Client/Server Computing; Hardware Trends; Object Technology; JavaScript: Object-Based Scripting for the Web; Browser Portability; C; C++ and Java; BASIC; Visual Basic; Visual C++; C# and ;NET; Software Technologies;

Web Browser Basics: Google Chrome

Introduction to the Google Chrome Web Browser; Connecting to the Internet; Features; Customizing Browser Settings; Searching the Internet; Keeping Track of Your Favorite Sites; File Transfer Protocol (FTP); Online Help; Other Web Browsers;

Understanding Web 2.0

What Is Web? Search; Content Networks; User-Generated Content; Blogging; Social Networking; Social Media; Tagging; Social Bookmarking; Software Development; Rich Internet Applications (RIAs); Web Services; Mashups; Widgets and Gadgets; Location-Based Services; XML; RSS; Atom; JSON and VoIP; Web Monetization Models; Web Business Models; Future of the Web; Where to Go for More Web; Information; Web Bibliography; Web Glossary;

Introduction to XHTML

Editing XHTML; First XHTML Example; W3C XHTML Validation Service; Headings; Linking; Images; Special Characters and Horizontal Rules; Lists; Tables; Forms; Internal Linking; meta Elements;

Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)

Inline Styles; Embedded Style Sheets; Conflicting Styles; Linking External Style Sheets; Positioning; Elements; Backgrounds; Element Dimensions; Box Model and Text Flow; Media Types; Building a CSS Drop-Down Menu;User Style Sheets; CSS 3;

JavaScript: Introduction to Scripting

Simple Program: Displaying a Line of Text in a Web Page; Modifying Our First Program; Obtaining User Input with prompt Dialogs; Dynamic Web Page; Adding Integers; Memory Concepts; Arithmetic; Decision Making: Equality and Relational Operators;

JavaScript: Control Statements

Algorithms; Pseudocode; Control Structures; if Selection Statement; while Repetition Statement; Formulating Algorithms: Counter-Controlled Repetition; Formulating Algorithms: Sentinel-Controlled Repetition; Formulating Algorithms: Nested Control Statements; Assignment Operators; Increment and Decrement Operators; Essentials of Counter-Controlled Repetition; for Repetition Statement; Examples Using the for Statement switch Multiple-Selection Statement; break and continue Statements; Labeled break and continue Statements; Logical Operators; Summary of Structured Programming;

Human Computer Interaction

Modularity; Tools of the Trade; Quality assurance; Documentation; The Human- Machine Interface; Neural Networks – Biological/Artificial Neural Networks; Natural Language Processing; Voice Synthesis; Voice Recognition; Natural Language Comprehension; Robotics; The Sense-Plan-Act Paradigm; Physical Components;

Fundamentals of Programming and Program Design

Computer Operations; Machine Language; Assembly Language; Expressing Algorithms; Generations of Languages; Compilers and Interpreters; Virtual Machines; Procedural Programming; Object- Orientated Programming; Scripting Languages; Functional Languages; Language Design; Language Syntax and Semantics;

Creating Java Applications

Introduction to Java Applications; Using the javac command to compile Java applications; Using the java command to run Java applications; Displaying Text with printf; Variables and Introducing Arithmetic Operators; Equality and Relational Operators;

Using Classes and Objects

Classes; Objects; Methods and Instance Variables; Declaring Class and Methods; Instantiating an Object of a Class; Declaring a Method with a Parameter; Instance Variables; set Methods and get Methods; Primitive Types vs; Reference Types; Initializing Objects with Constructors; Floating-Point Numbers and Type double;

Control Statements and Methods

"if" Single-Selection Statement; "if" ;;; else Double-Selection Statement; while Repetition Statement; Counter-Controlled Repetition; Sentinel-Controlled Repetition; Nested Control Statements; Compound Assignment Operators; Increment and Decrement Operators; Primitive Types; Essentials of Counter-Controlled Repetition; break and continue Statements; Logical Operators; Static Methods; static Fields and Class Math; Notes on Declaring and Using Methods; Method-Call Stack and Activation Records;

Arrays

Declaring and Creating Arrays; Examples Using Arrays; Enhanced for Statement; Passing Arrays to Methods; Multidimensional Arrays;

Classes and Objects and Inheritance

Classes and Objects; Inheritance: Constructors and Subclasses;

Polymorphism and Exception Handling

Polymorphism Overview; Creating Interfaces and Drawing with Polymorphism; Exception Handling;

Database and JDBC

Databases: SQL, MySQL, JDBC and Java DB;

GUI Programming

Computer Graphics and Modelling; Computer Rendering and Animation;

Software Engineering

The Software Lifecycle; Methodologies, Ownership and Liability; Reading a Software License; Software Disasters;

Computer Security 

Ethics Theories; Intellectual Property; Privacy; Encryption; Viruses; Worms and Trojan Horses; Hackers; Can Computers kill?; Information Security; Preventing unauthorized Access; Malicious Code; Antivirus Software; Security attacks; Passwords; CAPTCHA; Fingerprint Analysis; Cryptography; Security and Portable Devices; WikiLeaks;

Visual Basic Programming

Overview of Microsoft Visual Basic.Net Programming; Overview of the Visual Studio tools for building VB.NET applications;

Introduction to Visual Basic

Basic Concepts of Programming; Visual Basic Timeline; An Overview of Visual Basic; Computer Programming; Generations of Computer Programming Languages; Procedural and Object Oriented Programming; IDE; Test Driving a Visual Basic Application; Object Technology & UML;

Visual Basic IDE

Visual Studio Express; Starting with Visual Studio; Menu Bar & Toolbar; Menu Bar Descriptions; Solution Explorer; Creating a Simple Program;

Introduction to Visual Basic Programming

Console Applications; Projects & Procedures; Creating a Visual Basic Express Program; Using the Text Editor; The Parameter Info Window; Debugging; Visual Basic Keywords; Contextual Keywords; Console; Writeline; Command Prompts; Using the Command Prompt to Run the Program; Mistyping Code; Variables; Procedure Level Variables; Module Level Variables; Global Variables; Declaring Variables; Implicit & Explicit Declaration; Integers; Memory; Arithmetic; Arithmetic Operator Precendence; Equality and Relational Operators; The Message Box; Using a Message Dialog to Display a Message

Introduction to Classes and Objects

What is a Class; Classes and Objects; Declaring a Class with a Method; Instantiating an Object of a Class; Fields and Properties; Methods and Events; Encapsulation; Inheritance; Polymorphism; Object Oriented Programming; Instantiation; UML Classes; Value Types and Reference Types; Constructors and Destructors; Validating Data with Set Accessors.

Control Statements

Defining Algorithms; Pseudocode; UML Activity Diagrams; UML Activities & Actions; Action Constraints; Control Flow; Start & Final Nodes; Object & Object Flows; Control Structures; If...Then Selection Structures; If...Then...Else Selection Structures; Nested Statements; Select...Case Selection Structure; Loop Structures; Do While Loop; Do Loop; Counter Controlled Repetition; Sentinel Controlled Repetition; Counter Controlled Repetition; For...Next Header; Type Inference; Method MessageBox; Messageboxicon Constants; Messageboxbutton Constants; Calculating Compound Interest - Visual Basic Example; Controlling Expressions; Case else; With Statment Block; Do...Loop while Statements; Do...Loop Until Statements; Exit Do; Exit For; Exit While; Continue Statement; Continue Do Statement; Continue For Statement; Continue While Statement; Truth Tables; The And Operator; The Or Operator; AndAlso; OrElse; Xor; Not Operator; Logical Operators; State Machine Diagrams;

Methods

Methods & Subroutines; Public & Private Methods; Methods That Return a Value; The Return Statement; Declaring and Using Methods; Calling a Method; Sub Statement; End Sub Statement; Const Statement; Dim Statement; Declaration Statement; Executable Statement; Shared Methods; Method Call Stack and Activation Methods; LIFO; Arguments; Pass by Value; Pass by Reference; Basic Scopes; Argument Conversions; Option Strict & Data Type Conversions; Value & Reference Types; Framework Class Library Namespaces; Overloading; Identifying Class Operations;

Arrays

Collections & Arrays; Declaring & Allocating Arrays; Creating an Array; Creating two 10-Element Integer Arrays; Using Arrays to Analyse Survey Results; Passing an Array to a Method; Using For Each.. Next with an Array; Sorting an Array with a Method; Methods for Performing Linear Search; Linear Search of an Array; Binary Search of an Array; Rectangular Arrays; Mested Loops and Arrays; Creating Variable Length Paramter Lists; Initializing a Jagged Array; ReDim Statements; Passing an Array Reference with ByVal & ByRef;

LINQ

Structured Query Language; Language Integrated Query; LINQ to Objects using an Integer Array; Writing a LINQ Query; 3 Stages of a Query Operation; Querying an Array Using LINQ; Using LINQ to Query an Array of Objects; LINQ Select Clause; Collections; Resizing a List Object Dynamically;

Classes and Objects

Class Scope; Demonstrating Object Initializers; Class Default; and Paramterless Constructors; Overloaded Constructors and Optional Arguments; Overloading Constructors; Partial Classes; Composition; Using the Me Reference; Garbage Collection; Shared Class Members; Const and ReadOnly Members; Object Browser; Creating Class Libraries; Extension Methods; Using Delegates to Pass Functions as Arguments; Delegates; Lambda Expressions; Using Anonymous Types.

Inheritance

Inheritance; Base Classes; Derived Classes; Class Hierarchy; Inheritance Hierarchy; Uniheritable Classes; Limitations with Inheritance; Object Class; Protected Class;  Access Modifiers; Access Levels; Declaration Context; Overriding; Subtyping; Relationship between Base Classes & Derived Classes; Constructors in Derived Classes; Software Engineering with Inheritance; Friend Members.

Polymorphism

Polymorphism; Static Polymorphism; Dynamic Polymorphism; Abstract Classes and Methods; Class Hierarchy Using Polymorphism; Polymorphic Variations; Notoverridable Methods and NotInheritable Classes; Interfaces; Creating and Using Interfaces; Common Interfaces of the .NET Framework Class Library; Inheritance Based Polymorphism; Abstract Classes;

Exception Handling

Exceptions; Exception Handling; Try...Catch; Unstructured & Structured Handling; Catch Clause; Catch...As; Catch...When; The Exception Object; Creating Exceptions for Structured Exception Handling; Unstructured Exception Handling; On Eror Statement; Resume Statement; Error Statement; Integer Division without Exception Handling; Dividing by Zero without Exception Handling; Enclosing Code in a Try Block; Catching Excpetions; Uncaught Exceptions; The Exception Assistant; Termination Model of Exception Handling; .NET Exception Hierarchy; Finally Block; The Using Statement; Exception Propoerties; Stack Unwinding;

Graphical User Interfaces with Windows Forms

Graphical User Interface; GUI Controls; Control Basic; Common Controls; Properties of Visual Basic.NET Controls; Events of Visual Basic.Net Controls; Buttons; Text Boxes; Labels; Prefixes; Windows Forms; Components and Controls for Windows Forms; Common Form Properties; Event Handling; Delegates and the Event Handling Mechanism; Locating Event Information; Anchoring; Control Layout Properties; Snaplines; GroupBoxes and Panels; Creating Panels with Scrollbars; Checkboxes and Radio Buttons; Using Checkboxes to Change Font Style; ToolTips; Mouse-Event Handling; Keyboard Event Handling; LinkLabel Control; ListBox Control; CheckedListBox Control; ComboBox Control; TreeView Control; TabControl; Multiple Document Interface Windows; Visual Inheritance; User Defined Controls.

Windows Presentation

Windows Presentation Foundation; Advantages of WPF; Introduction to XML; XML Basics; Structuring Data; XML Namespaces; Uniform Resource Identifier; Uniform Resource Name; Uniform Resource Locator; Default Namespaces; Declarative GUI Programming using XAML; Layout Containers; Creating a WPF Application in VB Express; Canvas Control Routed Events; Commands and common Application Tasks; WPF GUI Customization; Using Styles to Change the Appearance of Controls; Using Timers; Customizin Windows; Data Driven GUIs with Data Binding;

On successful completion of this course you will receive a Professional Diploma qualification that is certified and awarded by the ICM (Institute of Commercial Management).

The Institute of Commercial Management was founded in 1979 and is one of the leading Professional Examination and Certification Bodies in the world today. Fitzwilliam Institute have developed and provided practical skills training courses in liaison with the Institute of Commercial Management qualifications and certifications framework for over 25 years. The Institute of Commercial Management certifications and continual professional development training awards are recognised by leading industries, bodies and professions.

next start date: 26th April 2024

Duration: You will have full access to online resources and subject expert support for one calendar year. However, you can complete the course in as little as 4 - 6 months, by dedicating 6-8 hours of study per week.

Course Fees: 995.00 EUR

To secure your place on the course the full fee is required. All fees must be paid in full before the course begins. Please note, the full course fees are inclusive of all course materials and certification costs.

Enrolment intake is strictly limited on this course. Early application is advised. Places are allocated on a first come first served basis.

Fitzwilliam Institute closes on Bank Holidays and for a number of days at Christmas and New Year. Fitzwilliam Institute reserves the right to postpone, cancel or alter courses without notice or to change any of the details in this brochure. Fees are not refundable unless the course is cancelled by Fitzwilliam Institute. Distance Learning courses are provided by Fitzwilliam Institute BGLS Ltd.

Year on year, we have the pleasure of training students from top Ireland and international companies. See where our most recent students come from and find out what they have to say.