Complex networks in the higher education

Recent investigations in the field of complex networks include the analysis of distributions of connections in particular networks and the clustering properties of networks. In the first part of my presentation I analyse a network: the dependency graph of the software packages of the Ubuntu distribution of GNU/Linux. It is a directed acyclic graph, and I analyse the degree distribution of the graph for in-degrees (connections directed into a node, the dependent packages), out-degrees (connections directed away from a node) and plain-degrees. I also analyse the clustering properties of the graph. In the second part, I discuss the teaching of these topics at the college level. Using the NetworkX modul for the Python programming language students can easily investigate these properties of the package dependence graph.