Okay, I simply cannot resist asking the question: how did you get into a class where you are studying advanced topics like intrusion detection systems (I think that is what IDS stands for) without knowing how to open a file, read the text, chop it up, and then compare strings? In my college you had to take at least one programming course (it was C) before you were allowed to get into networking classes for this reason. Is this a college level course?