Robert Rolsma - Academic Information

You have reached the academic information page of Robert Rolsma. I am a recent graduate of Harvard University, where I studied computer science. This page contains a partial list of my coursework.

Computer Science courses I've completed:

• Fall 2003

  Web Development Using XML

  This course focused on using XML technologies in website development. The first part of the course covered fundamental XML technologies (XML, XPath, XSL, XSLT, XSLFO, XML Schemas, DTDs, and DOM) and open-source web-based XML publishing frameworks such as Cocoon. The second part of the course covered specific markup languages (applications of XML) relevant to website development (XHTML, SVG, RDF, RSS, DocBook, and WML), with an emphasis on developing dynamic, data-driven sites that deliver content in a variety of media types (HTML, text, PDF, graphics) to a variety of devices (desktop and handheld computers, WAP-enabled cellular phones) and audiences. In addition, XML-based web services were surveyed.

  Practical Perl

  Perl is described as the "Swiss army knife" of programming languages. This course emphasized practical applications of Perl: data manipulation and analysis, report generation, web programming, and integration of databases for use in these applications. Emphasis was on writing idiomatic, correct, and maintainable Perl in a UNIX environment. Other topics included the Apache web server and its mod_perl extension, XML, HTML::Mason, and performance analysis.

• Summer 2003

  Communication Protocols and Internet Architectures

  This course provided a structured technical approach to the design, analysis, and implementation of Internet protocols and network architectures. I studied various protocols, including TCP/IP, WWW/HTTP, LAN protocols, and client/server protocols. The course also discussed new areas of work, including voice and video over the Internet, network QoS, and enterprise network management.

  Database Management Systems

  This course introduced the concepts of database design and the techniques for manipulating data structures via database management systems. Throughout the course I worked on a case study to gain experience in mapping the information needs of an organization to a database. This included a discussion of the different database software currently used by organizations and issues pertaining to their use such as concurrency, deadlock, recovery, distribution, security, and integrity. I acquired familiarity with the different database models with special emphasis on the relational model, as well as experience in using both the intuitive and normalization approaches for database modeling and design, and SQL and QBE for data manipulation. Also included was a discussion of client-server architecture and trends and future directions in database systems, including a discussion of the object-oriented model.

• Spring 2003

  .NET System Programming

  This course was designed to enable me to effectively write software for the middle tier using the .NET framework. Topics included: writing robust multithreaded .NET components, leveraging COM+ services including transactions, application recycling, partitions, queued components, object pooling and MSMQ with .NET, effectively using ADO.NET for database access, .NET security including creating an extensible security framework using .NET interception, writing distributed applications using .NET remoting and web services.

  Distributed and Enterprise Computing

  This course offered an in-depth study of the practice of building enterprise systems within the Java programming environment and Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) framework. The course progressed through a series of units (basic tools of the trade, distributed objects, data and directory services, distributed components), covering along the way many of the key application programming interfaces (APIs) and tools used to develop enterprise applications. The APIs covered included servlets, JavaServer pages, remote method invocation, Enterprise JavaBeans, XML, JDBC, and Java naming and directory interface. Programming assignments also allowed me to gain hands-on experience with these tools of the trade, and the final project provided a chance to engage in a more involved system design using these tools.

• Fall 2002

  Java for Distributed Programming

  This course comprised a rigorous study of the core Java programming language, followed by an inquiry into its most promising area of application, building distributed systems. The first part covered classes and inheritance, abstract classes, interfaces, exceptions, threads, packages, events, reflection, and Javadoc. The second part explored the use of Java to implement three-tier architectured systems. By providing support for security, networking, and threads as part of the language specification, and by offering complete portability through its virtual machine, Java is the ideal language for building applications whose objects are distributed on a network. Both major distributed object protocols, common object request broker architecture (CORBA) and Java's remote method invocation (RMI), were surveyed.

  Programming in C# with Visual Studio .NET

  The course introduced Microsoft's new C# language using the Visual Studio 7 (.NET) development environment on Windows. Its use in practical applications for Windows GUI programming, services, and web offerings was covered. The C# language specification that was presented includes: C# types, variables and parameters, statements, memory management, classes, interfaces, object-oriented programming concepts, events and delegates, namespaces, pre-processing directives, exception handling, and pointer use ("unsafe" contexts). I learned how to develop console applications, create Windows forms (GUI programming), and write web-based applications with ASP.NET, and develop database applications with ADO.NET.

• Summer 2002

  Intensive Introduction to Computer Science using C++  (Course switched to Java in 2003)

  Intended as a fast-paced first course in computer science for students who plan to take more advanced courses in the field or to work extensively with computers. Covered fundamental data structures (arrays, files, stacks, queues, linked lists, trees, graphs), control structures (including recursion), algorithms (sorting, searching, pattern matching), and their implementation in both UNIX and PC-based environments using the programming language C++. Features of the C++ language such as classes, templates, and operator overloading were used where appropriate, but the emphasis was on fundamentals of software design rather than advanced features of the language.