| Module Code | CSU33012 |
| Module Name | Software Engineering |
| ECTS Weighting [1] | 5 ECTS |
| Semester Taught | Semester 1 |
| Module Coordinator/s | Goetz Botterweck & Saif Ur Rehman Malik |
Module Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module, students will be able to:
LO1: Explain and compare the key concepts of the waterfall, and agile/extreme programming lifecycle models.
LO2: Apply strategies for the gathering of software requirements and the generation of software specification.
LO3: Compare and apply techniques for managing software projects and teams.
LO4: Collaborate in practical teams utilising software engineering practice.
LO5: Develop a personal software development practice.
Module Content
This course provides students with a solid grounding in various aspects of software engineering process related to building large software systems.
The overall aim of this course is for students to learn the fundamental skills for building large, software systems. This entails (i) to recognise the general software lifecycle and its stages from domain analysis to maintenance, (ii) to analyse software in the problem domain, (iii) to identify the fundamental approaches to managing software projects and teams, (iv) to distinguish the roles of stakeholders in a software project in general and in software teams in particular, (v) to recognise architectures for building large-scale distributed software systems.
This course covers various aspects related to building software systems ranging from the use of software lifecycle models, to project management, to large-scale software architectures. Specifically, software lifecycle models, including variations of the waterfall and spiral models as well as extreme programming and agile, are introduced along with concepts that are relevant to the specific model stages. These concepts include domain analysis, requirements and specification analysis, testing and debugging, and version control. Moreover, strategies for managing large software projects and their contracts as well as project teams are presented and contrasted.
Teaching and Learning Methods
Lectures that cover theoretical and practical aspects of software engineering. Students complete a significant amount of practical software development work focused on software engineering analysis and development of a personal software development practice.
Assessment Details
Practical Development Work Students are assessed exclusively by a series of practical development and written submissions.
| Assessment Component | Brief Description | % of Total | Week Set | Week Due |
| Practical Programming Task 1 | Practical tasks based on material in lectures, e.g., design and implementation of a simple microservice | 5% | 2 | 3 |
| Practical Programming Task 2 | Practical tasks based on material in lectures, e.g., design and implementation of a simple microservice | 5% | 3 | 4 |
| Midterm 1 | In-class test | 10% | 6 | 6 |
| Midterm 2 | In-class test | 10% | 11 | 11 |
| Group Project | Develop an application using agile development practices. Students will be marked based on group and individual involvement | 50% | 4 | 12 |
| Individual Contribution to Group Project | Develop an application using agile development practices. Students will be marked based on group and individual involvement | 10% | 4 | 12 |
| In-class Tasks | In-class tasks during lectures, e.g., mini quizzes | 10% | 1-12 | 1-12 |
Reassessment Details
A practical and/or written individual task will be set, with a deadline of the end of the reassessment period. There will be no written examination.
Contact Hours and Indicative Student Workload
| Contact Hours (scheduled hours per student over full module), broken down by: | 33 Hours |
| Lecture | 22 hours |
| Laboratory | 0 hours |
| Tutorial or seminar | 0 hours |
| Other | 11 hours |
| Independent Study (outside scheduled contact hours), broken down by: | 72 hours |
| Preparation for classes and review of material (including preparation for examination, if applicable) | 6 hours |
| Completion of assessments (including examination, if applicable) | 66 hours |
| Total Hours | 105 hours |
Recommended Reading List
Online materials and references will be given as the module proceeds.
Module Pre-requisites
Prerequisite modules: none
Other/alternative non-module prerequisites: Students should have reasonable experience with a modern programming language. Students should be prepared for significant personal software development work: this module has a strong practical focus and requires constant and regular input.
Module Co-requisites
N/A