Master of Computer Applications
Master of Computer Applications is a postgraduate academic master's degree. This degree is offered in various countries. The maximum duration of this degree is 3 years (6 Semesters) , however various universities decide the tenure as per their own regulations. MCA is designed to provide computer science, computer applications and business skills. MCA is an internationally well acclaimed Post Graduate course. The preliminary eligibility for this degree is to have a graduate degree (Bachelor Degree) in Mathematics or Computer Science.
MCA is very popular in India. Most of the Indian Universities offer 3 year MCA. As per AICTE. -MCA is a three year (6 semester) course. The students entering MCA must have a B.C.A./B.Sc./ B.Com/B.A. degree with Mathematics as one of the subjects at 10+2 level or at graduation. Of the 6 semesters one semester is to be spent in an industry developing a software system. The MCA programme is planned to have 5 theory subject plus two laboratories each semester. The curriculum has a strong core covering information technology, business management and mathematics. [1]
Course Curriculum
The MCA program focuses on providing a sound theoretical background as well as good practical exposure to students in the relevant areas. It is intended to provide a modern, industry-oriented education in applied computer science. It aims at producing trained professionals who can successfully meet the demands of the information technology industry. [2]Though every university defines their own curriculum but most of the universities cover following components
Mathematical Components
Mathematical components include both pure and applied mathematics. Maths is a strong part of computation. Few of the subjects which most of the universities include are Discrete Mathematics, Numerical Analysis, Statistical Methods, Computational Algebra etc.
Computer Science Components
These components include core of computer science such as operating systems, programming, data structures, theory of computation, database management, optimisation theory, algorithms, computer networks, artificial intelligence, compiler design, system programming, software engineering , Computer Graphics, Internet and web etc.
Computer Application Components
Under this students are introduced to the application world. Here the theoretical learning converts into applications. Universities include C, C++, JAVA, PHP kind of programming languages. For RDBMS Oracle or MySQL is included in most of the universities. Most of the universities have covered web technologies such as HTML, CSS and Javascript as well.
Business and Professional Components
MCA course is designed to provide both business and technical skills. Organisational Behaviour, Management Information Systems, Accounting and Financial Management, operations research are few of the subjects.
Internship
Most of the universities include a long internship as a final semester of this course. Under this internship students work with enterprises to learn the real world challenges of IT.
Similar Courses
MCA and courses like MCA are offered in different names in different degrees. However a 3 years MCA is considered much more richer since most of the Master's programs run for 2 years. Few of them are -
- Master of Computer Science (MCS)
- Master of Science in Computer Science (MSc- CS)
- Master of Information Technology (MIT)