SOFTENG 701 : Advanced Software Engineering Development Methods

Engineering

2020 Semester One (1203) (15 POINTS)

Course Prescription

Advanced studies in methods and techniques for developing complex software systems including topics in software engineering environments, advanced software design, tool construction and software architectures. The core taught skills are extended by individual projects in which independent research is undertaken to address challenging software system problems.

Course Overview

The motivation for SOFTENG 701 is to make you a better object-oriented programmer, by teaching you some advanced Software Engineering development topics. These topics are considered advanced because a certain degree of experience in software development is needed to fully appreciate their value; being aware of these topics will prove invaluable in the development of complex applications. The course covers 2 themes to address this goal, as outlined below.
Advanced Software Engineering development methods includes many topics, ranging from how to generally develop software with good characteristics (e.g. getting a working system quickly or getting a system that has low maintenance costs) through to how to work with a large team to develop software. This course will look at topics from either end of this spectrum. The first theme investigates common issues involved in working in large software teams, while the second theme is an investigation into what "good design" means and how we might produce good designs.

Theme 1: Working in (Large) Software Teams
Today’s software development projects are becoming increasingly large and complex. On large projects, it is usually impossible for any one individual or even a small group of individuals to fully understand all details of the system being developed. When projects become large, it is necessary to divide the development work among several teams of developers. This can create efficiency by allowing teams to work in parallel. Software that has been broken into small components to be developed independently by many teams or developers must eventually be integrated into one deliverable software system. There are often many dependencies between the various components. In order for the end system to function correctly, the components must work together properly. This means, developers often must work together even when they are working independently. The goal of this part of the course is to learn about the intricacies involved when you are working on large software projects where some form of coordination is required. More specifically, we will learn how to:
• use some more complex git commands,
• work with legacy code,
• write code that is easy to understand,
• perform code reviews, and
• manage technical dependencies, coordination, and
• foster an inclusive environment.
Coursework for this theme will consist of: contributing code to a large software project with many other contributors, participating in code reviews, analyzing dependencies in code, and writing a report on inclusiveness issues.

Theme 2: Good Design
It is an article of faith among many software developers that "Design Matters" - that the choice of design of the software can make a difference to various aspects of a software system. This belief is indicated by slogans such as "Gotos considered harmful", "Favor object composition over class inheritance", and "Design Patterns Rule!" (to paraphrase many things said about Design Patterns). The problem is, mostly these slogans aren’t followed: everyone uses gotos all the time, many use inheritance when they could use composition, and very little code that’s written follows a design pattern. So what’s going on? The problem with slogans is that they are necessarily simple and the truth is almost always very complex so the slogans are not enough to really help us do "Good Design". The primary goal of this part of the course is to go beyond the slogans to investigate what good design might mean, and improve our understanding of what it should mean. More specifically, we will:
• Learn a little bit of history of thinking on good design - where did some design ideas come from and are they still valid
• Learn some new ideas about how to do good design - what other cool ways are there to do designs
• Learn a little bit on how to evaluate how good a design is - we have a design, but how do we know it is any good
• See a few bad designs - how to recognise known bad designs.
Coursework for this theme will consist of some or all of the following: writing code, reading lots of code, reading research papers and writing reports on all of the above.

Course Requirements

Prerequisite: COMPSYS 302 or SOFTENG 306

Capabilities Developed in this Course

Capability 1: Disciplinary Knowledge and Practice
Capability 2: Critical Thinking
Capability 3: Solution Seeking
Capability 4: Communication and Engagement
Capability 5: Independence and Integrity
Capability 6: Social and Environmental Responsibilities

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, students will be able to:
  1. Learn and use complex git commands (Capability 1 and 2)
  2. Develop and demonstrate ability to work with legacy code, write code that is easy to understand, and perform code reviews. (Capability 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6)
  3. Develop and demonstrate ability to manage technical dependencies, coordination, and cultural differences. (Capability 1, 4, 5 and 6)
  4. Learn a little bit of history of thinking on good design - where did some design ideas come from and are they still valid. (Capability 1 and 2)
  5. Learn and apply some new ideas about how to do good design - what other cool ways are there to do designs (Capability 1, 2 and 3)
  6. Learn and apply how to evaluate how good a design is and how to recognise known bad designs. (Capability 1 and 2)

Assessments

Assessment Type Percentage Classification
Assignments 80% Group & Individual Coursework
Test 20% Individual Test
Assessment Type Learning Outcome Addressed
1 2 3 4 5 6
Assignments
Test

Workload Expectations

This course is a standard 15 point course and students are expected to spend 10 hours per week involved in each 15 point course that they are enrolled in.

For this course, you can expect 3 hours of lectures and 7 hours of work on assignments and/or test preparation.

Digital Resources

Course materials are made available in a learning and collaboration tool called Canvas which also includes reading lists and lecture recordings (where available).

Please remember that the recording of any class on a personal device requires the permission of the instructor.

Academic Integrity

The University of Auckland will not tolerate cheating, or assisting others to cheat, and views cheating in coursework as a serious academic offence. The work that a student submits for grading must be the student's own work, reflecting their learning. Where work from other sources is used, it must be properly acknowledged and referenced. This requirement also applies to sources on the internet. A student's assessed work may be reviewed against online source material using computerised detection mechanisms.

Learning Continuity

In the event of an unexpected disruption we undertake to maintain the continuity and standard of teaching and learning in all your courses throughout the year. If there are unexpected disruptions the University has contingency plans to ensure that access to your course continues and your assessment is fair, and not compromised. Some adjustments may need to be made in emergencies. You will be kept fully informed by your course co-ordinator, and if disruption occurs you should refer to the University Website for information about how to proceed.

Class Representatives

Class representatives are students tasked with representing student issues to departments, faculties, and the wider university. If you have a complaint about this course, please contact your class rep who will know how to raise it in the right channels. See your departmental noticeboard for contact details for your class reps.

Inclusive Learning

All students are asked to discuss any impairment related requirements privately, face to face and/or in written form with the course coordinator, lecturer or tutor.

Student Disability Services also provides support for students with a wide range of impairments, both visible and invisible, to succeed and excel at the University. For more information and contact details, please visit the Student Disability Services’ website at http://disability.auckland.ac.nz

Special Circumstances

If your ability to complete assessed coursework is affected by illness or other personal circumstances outside of your control, contact a member of teaching staff as soon as possible before the assessment is due.

If your personal circumstances significantly affect your performance, or preparation, for an exam or eligible written test, refer to the University’s aegrotat or compassionate consideration page: https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/academic-information/exams-and-final-results/during-exams/aegrotat-and-compassionate-consideration.html.

This should be done as soon as possible and no later than seven days after the affected test or exam date.

Student Feedback

At the end of every semester students will be invited to give feedback on the course and teaching through a tool called SET or Qualtrics. The lecturers and course co-ordinators will consider all feedback and respond with summaries and actions.

Your feedback helps teachers to improve the course and its delivery for future students.

Class Representatives in each class can take feedback to the department and faculty staff-student consultative committees.

Student Charter and Responsibilities

The Student Charter assumes and acknowledges that students are active participants in the learning process and that they have responsibilities to the institution and the international community of scholars. The University expects that students will act at all times in a way that demonstrates respect for the rights of other students and staff so that the learning environment is both safe and productive. For further information visit Student Charter (https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/forms-policies-and-guidelines/student-policies-and-guidelines/student-charter.html).

Disclaimer

Elements of this outline may be subject to change. The latest information about the course will be available for enrolled students in Canvas.

In this course you may be asked to submit your coursework assessments digitally. The University reserves the right to conduct scheduled tests and examinations for this course online or through the use of computers or other electronic devices. Where tests or examinations are conducted online remote invigilation arrangements may be used. The final decision on the completion mode for a test or examination, and remote invigilation arrangements where applicable, will be advised to students at least 10 days prior to the scheduled date of the assessment, or in the case of an examination when the examination timetable is published.

Published on 14/02/2020 02:43 p.m.