The pathway below represents an efficient and effective course taking sequence for this program. Individual circumstances might require some changes to this pathway. It is always recommended that you meet with an academic counselor to develop a personalized educational plan.
The courses have been intentionally placed and should be prioritized in
the order
in which they appear. If you are unable to take all the courses in
a semester, you
should prioritize enrolling in the courses in the order below.
Some courses have
been noted as “Appropriate for Intersession” 
. Should you need (or want) to take
classes
in the summer and/or winter intersessions,
the program recommends these courses as appropriate for the condensed
schedule of
the intersessions.
Some pathways combine a “Certificate of Achievement” and an “Associate
Degree”. If
you are pursuing only the Certificate of Achievement, you are only
required to take
the courses marked “Program Requirement” 
.
All pathways include at least one “Gateway Course” 
which introduces you to the program and/or field of study and helps you
decide if you want to continue with this Academic and Career Path.
Most Associate degrees (though not Associate Degrees for Transfer)
require satisfying the SMC Global Citizenship requirement. If the Program
Requirements do not include a “Global Citizenship course” 
, be sure to select a General Education course that also satisfies Global Citizenship.
Effective Fall 2023
This program develops the skills needed to design and build a database architecture as well as interact with modern database management systems locally, remotely or in the cloud. This program will provide an understanding on how to consistently design databases in an organized structure for storing and retrieving data. With increasing concerns over security, a database developer must also be able to write secure code that runs with minimum risk of attacks.
Upon completion of the program, students will:
- Upon completion of this program, students will demonstrate the ability to design, develop and populate databases locally, remotely and in the cloud. Upon completion of this program, students will demonstrate the ability to properly organize and structure information for storing and retrieving different kinds of data at industry scale.
Icon Key
-
Gateway Course
-
Program Requirement
-
General Education -
Appropriate for
Intersession
-
Available Online -
Global Citizenship
Semester 1
15-17 Units
This is a beginning course intended for students who plan to take additional computer science courses. The course covers an introduction to programming concepts such as designing, coding and testing. Other concepts such as computer hardware, operating systems, compilers and databases are also discussed. The Internet and an introduction to cybersecurity and cloud computing are also included.
should be taken in the intersession PRIOR to semester 1
This course covers the fundamentals of Project Management theory, implementation, and best practices. It is aimed at students who work mostly in the Technology sectors covering software and website development, and other areas of computer science or information systems. Students will learn the theory, as well as the use of Project Management software to plan, track and manage project resources. Topics covered include project life cycles, tasks, schedules, resources, and costs.
- Skills Advisory: CS 3 or
- Skills Advisory: CIS 1
MATH 18, 20, or higher level recommended
See the full list: SMC GE Area IV-B Course
This introductory course in rhetoric emphasizes clear, effective written communication and preparation of the research paper.
- Prerequisite: ENGL 21B or
- Prerequisite: ENGL 22
- Prerequisite: ESL 19B or
- Prerequisite: Group A on the Placement Test
- 1A: English Composition
- A2 - Written Communication
- Area IV-A: Language and Rationality (Group A)
This course will include a review of the concepts of structured programming, error checking, sorting, searching, data types, advanced array handling methods, pointers, and data structures. Applications in business, mathematics, and science will be discussed.
This course is recommended for preparation to complete the "Java Track"
- Advisory: CS 3
- Area IV-B: Language and Rationality (Group B) Option 2
Semester 2
15 Units
This course introduces the Python programming language. Students will learn how to write programs dealing in a wide range of application domains. Topics covered include the language syntax, IDE, control flow, strings, I/O, classes and regular expressions. Students may use either a PC (Windows) or a Mac (Linux) to complete their programming assignments.
- Skills Advisory: CS 3
- Area IV-B: Language and Rationality (Group B) Option 2
Java is a general-purpose language for writing platform-independent, robust, secure programs. This course is intended for students who have completed a course in C programming. Students will learn how to develop Java applications and applets. Topics covered include the Java programming language, object-oriented programming (OOP), the Java applications programming interface (API), and graphical user interfaces (GUI's).
- Skills Advisory: CS 19 or
- Skills Advisory: CS 50
- Area IV-B: Language and Rationality (Group B) Option 2
This course introduces modern database concepts while emphasizing the relational database model. Topics include design methodologies, normalization of tables to reduce redundancies, supertypes and subtypes to reduce nulls, data integrity, referential integrity, and using locks and other techniques for concurrency control in a multi-user database. Factors that should be balanced during the design of a database are described. To document databases, entity relationship diagrams, relational schemas, and data dictionaries are described. Principles are applied by performing exercises using MySQL or other database management system. SQL and other languages are used to create and fill tables, retrieve data, and manipulate it by stored programs.
- Skills Advisory: CS 3
This course introduces cloud computing which shifts information systems from on-premises computing infrastructure to highly scalable internet architectures. The course provides a solid foundation of cloud computing technologies and provides students with the understanding required to effectively evaluate and assess the business and technical benefits of cloud computing and cloud applications. Students analyze a variety of cloud services (storage, servers and software applications) and cloud providers. Case studies will be used to examine various industry cloud practices and applications. The course also surveys cloud careers and discusses industry demand for cloud skills.
- Prerequisite: CS 3
This course provides an exploration of intellectual, psychological, social and physical factors that impact lifelong learning, well-being and success. Topics include motivation and self-efficacy; critical thinking, academic integrity and active study strategies; health issues and lifestyle choices; relating to others as a global citizen; written and oral communication; time management; career exploration; and educational planning.
- E - Lifelong Understanding and Self-Development
ENGL 2 recommended for transfer options
See the full list: SMC GE Area III Course
Semester 3
15 Units
This course builds on a first level course in Python exposing students to more advanced topics and applications to industry. Topics cover object-oriented programming, creating classes and using objects, web applications, and some common libraries and their functions used for data manipulation. Students may use either a PC (Windows) or a Mac (Linux) to complete their programming assignments.
- Skills Advisory: CS 87A
- Area IV-B: Language and Rationality (Group B) Option 2
Java is a general-purpose language for writing platform-independent robust, secure programs. This course continues where CS 55 leaves off in developing mastery of the use of Java programming language and its extensive APIs. Topics covered include exceptions, multithreading, multimedia, Input/Output, Java Database Connectivity (JDBC), Servlets, Remote Method Invocation (RMI), and networking.
- Skills Advisory: CS 55
- Area IV-B: Language and Rationality (Group B) Option 2
Microsoft SQL Server is a popular midrange relational database management system (DBMS) that is used in client/server systems and as a personal DBMS. It can be accessed through the Internet. Topics covered in this course include installing the software, principles of relational databases; creating databases, tables, indexes, and views; inserting, deleting, and updating raw data; updating transactions; and querying the database. With the Transact-SQL extensions, topics include creating functions, procedures, and triggers stored in the database.
- Skills Advisory: CS 3
This course is a practical, hands-on overview of the Oracle Database Management System to store, retrieve, and manipulate data. Oracle is a widely used database that runs on PC¿s, minicomputers, and mainframes, and Oracle programmers and developers are very much in demand. Oracle's SQL is used to create and alter tables with various constraints. Data is retrieved and manipulated by using SELECTS that can group data and retrieve data from several tables by joining them or by using set operations. Views are created. PL/SQL, with its variables, symbolic constants, IF statements, and loops is used to program stored functions, stored procedures, and triggers. Cursors and error handling (exceptions) are introduced.
- Prerequisite: CS 3 and
- Prerequisite: one Programming class.
This course addresses cloud database management which supports a number of different approaches for storing data. In the course, students define, operate and scale both SQL and noSQL data storage solutions. This course considers factors that should be balanced during the design of a storage solution. Principles are applied by performing exercises using Amazon RDS and SQL to create and fill tables, retrieve and manipulate data. Object-based APIs are used to serialize objects to Amazon DynamoDB for noSQL solutions. Topics include automated backups, transaction logs, restoration and retention.
- Prerequisite: CS 79A
In this course, students will learn to deploy relational and non-relational databases in Azure. Students will define, operate and scale both SQL and noSQL data storage solutions. Principles are applied by performing exercises using the Azure SQL Database service as well as Azure Storage Explorer. Students will store, manage and analyze data in all the different storage options offered in Azure including blob storage, file storage, table storage, queue storage, Cognos DB and Azure Data Lakes.
- Skills Advisory: CS 79A
- Skills Advisory: CS 79Z
SMC GE Area II-B Course 3 units
SMC GE Area II-A Course 3 units
Elective Course 3 units
Semester 4
15 Units