Robert Vizzini. Curriculum Guidelines for Undergraduate Degree Programs in Computer Science

Cover art by Robert Vizzini
Printed in the United States of AmericaISBN: 978-1-4503-2309-3
DOI: 10.1145/2534860
Web link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/2534860
ACM Order Number: 999133Curriculum Guidelines for
Undergraduate Degree Programs
in Computer Science
December 20, 2013
The Joint Task Force on Computing Curricula
Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
IEEE Computer SocietyACM and IEEE-Computer Society have a long history of sponsoring efforts to establish
international curricular guidelines for undergraduate programs in computing on roughly a tenyear cycle, starting with the publication of Curriculum 68 [1] over 40 years ago. This volume is
the latest in this series of curricular guidelines. As the field of computing has grown and
diversified, so too have the curricular recommendations, and there are now curricular volumes
for Computer Engineering, Information Systems, Information Technology, and Software
Engineering in addition to Computer Science [3]. These volumes are updated regularly with the
aim of keeping computing curricula modern and relevant. The last complete Computer Science
curricular volume was released in 2001 (CC2001) [2], and an interim review effort concluded in
2008 (CS2008) [4].
This volume, Computer Science Curricula 2013 (CS2013), represents a comprehensive revision.
The CS2013 guidelines include a redefined body of knowledge, a result of rethinking the
essentials necessary for a Computer Science curriculum. It also seeks to identify exemplars of
actual courses and programs to provide concrete guidance on curricular structure and
development in a variety of institutional contexts.
The development of curricular guidelines for Computer Science has always been challenging
given the rapid evolution and expansion of the field. The growing diversity of topics potentially
relevant to an education in Computer Science and the increasing integration of computing with
other disciplines create particular challenges for this effort. Balancing topical growth with the
need to keep recommendations realistic and implementable in the context of undergraduate
education is particularly difficult. As a result, the CS2013 Steering Committee made
considerable effort to engage the broader computer science education community in a dialog to
better understand new opportunities and local needs, and to identify successful models of
computing curricula – whether established or novel.