INSY 541

Software Engineering I

Winter, 1996

Instructor:      Ron Vyhmeister
E-Mail:          vyhmeisr@andrews.edu
WWW:             http://www.andrews.edu/~vyhmeisr
Office:          CSH 215A, 471-3458
Home:            473-3732 (before 10 pm)
Office Hours:    Mondays,Tuesdays from 2:00-5:00 pm, else by appointment.

Course description

Design and implementation of large software systems. Includes systems analysis, design and requirements; data collection, analysis, organization and documentation; feasibility analysis; humanSmachine interface analysis; logical design specifications; input/output design; data file and database design; program design and processing control design; implementation; testing; and maintenance and security issues. Prerequisites: INSY481, and prior involvement in a major programming project.

Textbook:

Pressman, Roger S. Software Engineering: A Practitioners Approach, 
        3rd ed.  New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc. 1992.

Objectives and Content:

This course is intended to be a first course in software engineering primarily for students in the areas of computer science, software engineering or information systems. This course examines the processes and methodologies associated with the systematic production and maintenance of software products used in commercial, educational, industrial, real time, and scientific environments. It will survey the basic concepts and major issues related to software engineering, with an emphasis on the later stages of the life cycle.

Grading and course policies

Grades will be assigned based on the following scale:

A       95%             Midterm Exam                    30%
A-      90              Final Exam                      35%
B+      87              Assignments, quizzes 
B       83                   & Participation            35%
B-      80              
C+      76
C       70

Late work receives a grade of 0. I will grade it for your edification, if you would like. If you must be late to (or miss) some class period or test, please make arrangements before-hand. I do not make arrangements after the fact, and missing a test or quiz means a 0. Quizzes will only be handed out to those who are there at the beginning of the quiz. If you are late, you will not be given the opportunity to take the quiz. Quizzes may or may not be announced. You are responsible at any time for the material covered the last class period, as well as the assigned reading for the current period.

Except when specifically told otherwise by the instructor, everyone should work on their own. If you do work with a friend, make sure that your work is not a copy of theirs. If cheating does occur, a grade of "F" will be assigned for the course.

Homework submission may be required in electronic format. You should own at least two (2) 3.5" HD disks for your work and backups.

Assignments

Article Reviews

Three journal article reviews will be required. Each article chosen should be current and correspond to the topics being covered in the course. Each review should be one or two pages of word processed text. The review should contain a critical analysis of the article and your personal thoughts on the article. The articles reviewed should be from academic journals such as CACM, Transactions on SE, or other such journals. They are not to be from trade journals merely describing a situation. For a detailed description of what I want to see, see http://www.andrews.edu/~vyhmeisr/reviews.html

Assignments in Class

There will be regular assignments in class. The due date will be announced as they are assigned. Each student is responsible for all material covered in class, as well as knowing what assignments are made.

Course Schedule

Following is a tentative schedule. Please note that this may change at any time. Please keep tuned to your e-mail and/or in-class announcements.