Software Engineering – (M.Sc.)

Contents

Course Content The focus of the course is on advanced engineering concepts and methods, as well as design issues for the development of high-quality complex software systems. These are explored using industrial strength technologies, such as the C++ and Java object-oriented programming languages and the UML modelling language.

The course will cover significant trends in systems development, including service-oriented architecture, open-source systems and XML-enabled interoperable services. The course is delivered by acknowledged experts in software engineering and draws on our world-class research in this area.

Course Structure 6 Core Module(s):

Advanced Databases

* Describe the different ways of representing and accessing data
* Discuss the importance and characteristics of distributed databases
* Describe the issues associated with interoperability of database systems
* Represent and manipulate data expressed in XML

Requirements Engineering

* Demonstrate an in-depth understanding of the range of problems which arise in requirement engineering
* Demonstrate an in-depth understanding of the state-of-the-art practices and leading academic research that are aimed at addressing the range of problems which arise in requirements engineering
* Demonstrate a systematic understanding of the differences between alternative requirements modelling techniques
* Apply start-of-the-art requirements methods and techniques to acquire, model and analyse requirements for complex systems

Research, Methods and Professional Issues

* Research activity in terms of the effectiveness of its approach and implementation
* Understand and apply a range of research methodologies such as inductive and deductive reasoning, explanation and prediction in the evaluation of published research
* Recognise and use a range of secondary data sources when performing a research task
* Communicate effectively with individuals and groups using a range of media
* Evaluate the legal, ethical and professional dimensions of typical information professions and information industry practices

Service Oriented Architectures

* Demonstrate deep understanding of the service orientation in business and software systems
* Demonstrate ability to device and deploy service oriented architectures
* Demonstrate deep understanding of enabling technologies and standards for service oriented systems
* Demonstrate deep understanding of service level agreements and their specification, negotiation and management

Software Systems Design

* Demonstrate a systematic understanding of software system design and its connections with requirements engineering, system analysis, system implementation and system verification
* Use UML as a software system design language
* Demonstrate a systematic understanding of software architectural styles and use them to create or transform software architecture models
* Use design patterns,object frameworks and formal specifications techniques in developing detailed system design model with provable properties

Systems Specification

* Demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the changing nature of software intensive systems and the range of new methods, tools and techniques available to develop these systems
* Demonstrate a systematic understanding of the challenges of requirements elicitation
* Demonstrate a systematic understanding of the fundamentals of software quality assurance techniques
* Apply the principles and concepts involved in object-oriented analysis and design and build object-oriented analysis and design models using the constructs of the Unified Modelling Language (UML)

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Business Enginering with ERP Solutions

* Explain the fundamental principles of ERP technology and second generation ERP systems, and evaluate their business and technical benefits in context
* Analyse the critical success factors for ERP system implementation in context
* Use Accelerated SAP (ASAP) methodology in solving complex problems
* Perform complex business process modelling using the EPC notation

Data visualization

* Create graphics and applications that reveal the structure in data sets
* Apply the seven stages of visualization to analyse and present data graphically
* Use 'Processing' -- the open source programming language and environment -- to develop interactive graphical applications for visualization

Open Source Systems

* Evaluate the usefulness of open source systems to solve real world problems, by drawing upon known case studies
* Critically analyse the open source software development process, its opportunities and problems in developing IT systems, with a particular focus on the individuals and organisations involved; compare and contrast open and closed source software development, by referring to established opportunites and difficulties in developing IT systems
* Assess open source systems from the legal, ethical and ideological perspectives

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Programming in C++

* Analyse substantial well-written C++ programs and adapt them to new requirements
* Design and create classes and programs in C++ that are correct, robust and capable of being understood, reused and modified by others
* Apply various object oriented features, including inheritance, multiple inheritance and genericity, to enhance software quality
* Demonstrate a systematic understanding of the core features of C++ and their application to programming problems

Programming with Java

* Create object oriented models of some aspect of the real world with a spatial context
* Break down a problem into logical steps (an algorithm)
* Interpret an existing Java program of moderate complexity by identifying its structure, state and behaviour
* Convert algorithms and object-oriented models into clear, well documented Java; develop and share Java code as part of a team