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In this Subject Spotlight, Dr Razvan-Ioan Dinita presents the fascinating topic: Decoding Social Media: An Exploration of Programming and Platforms. He begins by offering an introduction to what programming actually is, and thinking about the building blocks behind it. Razvan then considers how to program a platform like Facebook, including the ethical considerations of building such a vast social media platform, and a deeper dive into the tech behind it. Razvan then presents TikTok as a case study for considering software architecture, what makes it so successful, and finally an analysis of the data and a journey through the backend. You will then complete a matching activity based on everything you have learnt.
Dr Razvan-Ioan DinitaAnglia Ruskin UniversityComputer science
All episodes
1. Introduction to programming
2. Social media: behind the curtain
3. Case study: TikTok
4. Activity: Thinking critically about program architecture
About the university
Anglia Ruskin University
Anglia Ruskin University is an innovative global university with students from 185 countries at our campuses in Cambridge, Chelmsford, Peterborough and Writtle. These students are at the heart of our University, and we're delighted that our final-year undergraduates are positive about their educational experience. Our community is also incredibly important to us, and we're proud of the role we play in our cities and the wider region – including the positive effect on jobs and the local economy. It is this impact that helped us become the THE University of the Year 2023, a prestigious award that recognises our success in delivering high impact projects focused on the difference we make in the region and communities where we’re based as well as the contributions our students and graduates make to society.
Anglia Ruskin University profile →Meet the academic
Dr Razvan-Ioan Dinita
Dr Razvan-Ioan Dinita is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Computing and Information Science within the Faculty of Science and Engineering. Razvan has many years programming experience, with knowledge ranging from server/backend to client/frontend languages, and a keen interest in general software engineering, web and app development, security, and cloud computing from a software perspective. Razvan has received his degree in Computer Science and Internet Technology, and a PhD in Cloud Computing, from Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK. He is currently Senior Lecturer of Computer Science and Cloud Computing and the Course Leader for the Computer Science undergraduate courses. His research is focused on Web and Cloud Computing Software and Security. He has published works in this field and has delivered a number of international talks on Software Approaches to Cloud Computing Optimisation. Razvan is an active Member of the IEEE and IES. He has been involved in several knowledge exchange programs (KEEP and KEEP+) with a range of companies. Razvan also has extensive understanding, and is a highly versatile user of HTML/CSS, JavaScript/TypeScript, web MVC frameworks, PHP, MySQL, NoSQL (MongoDB), Java, Scala, C#, C/C++, Bash, and Git version control. Using this knowledge, he's recently developed a modular PHP MVC framework from the ground up, featuring dynamic modules, an HTML5 templating system, and SQL and NoSQL support. Razvan is interested in generating external income through EU projects, delivery of short training courses, knowledge transfer schemes, and consultancy contracts in the areas of Web Frameworks, General Software Engineering and Security, and Cloud Computing Security and Optimisation.
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