Department of Mathematics & Computer Science

MC106 Software Engineering and Professional Practice

Explanation of Pre-requisites

Course Description

In this module we will be taking an introductory look at the many approaches that have been devised and developed to try to tackle these problems in the past 30 or more years, and trying to assess how successful they have been. These techniques have generally resulted in a more structured and controlled development lifecycle for software systems, and as a result the people involved have had to adopt a more professional attitude. The module examines what it means to be a professional in the software industry.

Aims

Objectives

• To gain a broad understanding of the development processes involved in producing a large software system;
• to be exposed to the typical problems inherent in large projects involving many people over extended periods of time;
• to be able to write clear and concise goals for projects, presenting the information in a well structured fashion suitable for measuring project progress;
• to be able to make reasoned choices among alternative development paths;
• to understand the need for quality assurance techniques, and gain the knowledge required to apply suitable strategies in simple cases;
• to understand what ``professionalism'' means in the context of the software industry;
• to be aware of the legal and ethical issues likely to affect every professional in the software industry.

Syllabus

Software development a brief history of software development; the problems of software development; the software development crisis; a solution -- software engineering.

The system development process developing large systems; the need for abstraction; the development process.

The system development cycle managing the development process; how software is produced; frameworks for system development.

Planning a software project describing project goals; evaluating project goals; choosing solutions to meet the project goals.

Quality assurance what is quality; the development cycle and QA; documentation requirements; validation and verification; reviews and inspections; measuring the development process.

Testing and maintenance testing the result; behavioural testing techniques; testing for quality.

The professional software engineer what is software engineering; professional practice; ethics; ensuring quality; standards and procedures; standards and procedures; tools for management.

Transferable Skills

• Improved analytical and problem solving skills.
• Improved ability to think and describe things abstractly.
• Emphasis on developing and presenting an argument.
• Research skills.
• Teamworking is required during problem classes.

Reading list

Essential:

R. Pressman, Software Engineering -- A Practitioner's Approach, European 4th edition, McGraw Hill, 1994.

R. Ayres, The Essence of Professional Issues in Computing, Prentice Hall, 1999.

Background:

T. Gilb, Principles of Software Engineering Management, Addison-Wesley, 1988.

I. Sommerville, Software Engineering, 5th edition, Addison-Wesley, 1996.

F. Bott, A. Coleman, J. Eaton, D. Rowland, Professional Issues in Software Engineering, 2nd Edition, UCL Press, 1995.

R.G. Epstein, The Case of the Killer Robot, John Wiley and Sons, 1997.

Details of Assessment

Author: S. J. Ambler, tel: +44 (0)116 252 3884
Last updated: 2001-09-20
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