General description
The construction of software on an industrial or commercial scale involves far more than writing programs. Specification, design and project management are essential elements of software development; this module introduces students to the best traditional practices in these areas and gives students the opportunity to experience these practices through a group project.

Aims
This module aims to introduce students to the basic principles of software engineering and to give them experience of developing a software system in a team. Specifically, it aims to:

• introduce students to the best traditional practices for the specification, design, implementation, testing and operation of large software systems;

• provide a framework for the more detailed material on design which is taught in other courses;

• involve students in the development of a piece of software which approximates as closely as possible in the university environment the software development conditions found in industry.

Learning outcomes
On successful completion of this module students should:

• understand the approach and obligations of the professional engineer and the analogies between software and other branches of engineering;

• have an appreciation of the software life cycle, and the management issues involved in software development;

• be aware of the need for quality assurance and know how it is applied in the software industry;

• understand the concept of configuration management and be able to use a version control system and the make tool;

• be able to produce the key deliverables of the software life cycle;

• have an appreciation of the use of CASE tools in software engineering.

Syllabus
1. Introduction - 1 Lecture
The approach and the obligations of the professional engineer. Software as an engineering artifact. Analogies between software and other branches of engineering.

2. The Software Life Cycle - 2 Lectures
Description of the phases of the software life cycle and the major deliverables and activities associated with each phase.

3. Project Management - 2 Lectures
Planning and cost estimation. Progress monitoring. Team structure and team management.

4. Quality Management - 3 Lectures
Validation, verification and testing. Quality plans. Walkthroughs, code inspections and other types of review. Role of the quality assurance group. Standards (international, national and local).

5. Configuration Management - 2 Lectures
Baselines. Change control procedures. Version control. Software tools to support configuration management: sccs and make.

6. Requirements Specification - 2 Lectures
The IEEE standard for requirements specifications. Validation of requirements by e.g., prototyping. Deficiencies in the traditional approach to requirements.

7. Design - 2 Lectures
Outline (architectural) design and detailed design. Use of abstraction, information hiding, functional and hierarchical decomposition at levels higher then the individual program. Contents of design documentation. (Note that other modules cover particular design methods.)

8. Implementation and Testing - 2 Lectures
Importance of suitable programming languages and a good support environment. Testing strategies. Testing tools: static and dynamic analysers, test harnesses and test data generators, simulators. Performance testing Regression testing. User documentation and training. Cutover. Post-implementation reviews.

9. Tools - 1 Lecture
How CASE tools can aid the software engineer. Upper and lower CASE. Meta CASE tools.

10. The Capability Maturity Model - 1 Lecture