Comp 343-001/443-001, Computer Networks, Summer 2026

Peter Dordal, Loyola University Chicago Dept of Computer Science.

This class is online, and meets via Zoom on Wednesdays from 6:30 to 9:00.

The text will be An Introduction to Computer Networks, second edition, written by myself and available for free online. Note that the book is updated regularly.

My general course groundrules are here. Exams will count for between 60% to 70% of your grade, with homework and programs making up the rest.

The midterm will be the week of Wed July 1, and will be on Sakai (probably Thursday to Friday). The final will be on or after August 5.

Most of the course materials and assignments will be on Sakai.

Normal office hours: via Zoom, as necessary

Accessibility: contact the Student Accessibility Center if you have an issue.

Title IX: I am required contractually and legally to report certain kinds of current misconduct. More here.


Study guides and materials


Course calendar

Week 1: May 20 (hwk 1 assignment) Week 2: May 27
Week 3: June 3
Week 4: June 10 Week 5: June 17
Week 6: June 24
Week 7: July 1  Week 8: July 8
Week 9: July 15                
Week 10: July 22 Week 11: July 29 Week 12: August 5




Java simpletalk examples

TCP: server, clientthreaded server
UDP: server, client


Demos

A viewer for the Internet: http://as2914.net. A galaxy-visualization tool is used to display all ISPs (as stars) and links between them.


Programming Projects

You are to do one of the following. These are tentative. Details will be provided later.

Option 1: HUMP client.

Option 2: Mininet.



Summary of coverage, from An Introduction to Computer Networks

An Overview of Networks
Ethernet
Other LANs
Wireless, Wi-Fi in particular
Links: briefly
Packets: briefly
Abstract Sliding Windows
IP version 4
IPv4 Companion Protocols
IP version 6 (selections)
Routing Update Algorithms
Large-scale IP Routing
UDP
TCP
More TCP
TCP Reno and Congestion Management
TCP Dynamics
Miscellaneous topics

Learning outcomes

Students will understand how the Internet is constructed, how LANs are built and managed, how data is routed to its destination, how connections are managed and implemented, how congestion is handled, and how security can be addressed.