CS/COE 1530 Course Syllabus

                                   Fall Term 2004

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Course instructors
 

	Name	Office	Email	Office Hours
Professor	Markus U. Mock	6407 SENSQ	mock@cs.pitt.edu	MW 4 – 6pm and by Arrangement
T.A.	Ricardo Villamarin	6406 SENSQ	rvillsal@cs.pitt.edu	H 5:45-7:45pm

Time and Place:
 

Lectures

MWF

11:00 -11:50

5129 SENSQ

Course description:

The goal of CS1530 is to teach sound software development practices beyond programming. Topics include capturing of requirements, testing, project management, software development approaches and effort estimation.

The major part of the course is a large software project to provide practical application of the techniques and tools

taught in the course.

Course prerequisites:

CS 0445 Data Structures.

Textbooks:

Required	Software Engineering Theory and Practice by Shari L. Pfleeger, Prentice Hall 2nd
Additional recommended reading	The Cathedral and the Bazaar by Eric Raymond Code Complete 2nd edition by Steve McConnell

 

Policies:                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

• Each student/team is expected to do his/her own work.   A student/team caught collaborating/cheating in any way  (including giving someone their program) will receive a zero for the exam/homework/project in question for the first offense.  In the event of a second offense, the student/team will receive an F for the course and may be subject to stronger action.
• Students are expected to attend all lectures, which frequently include material that is not directly taken from the text.   If a student misses a lecture, he/she is still responsible for the material covered and is advised to copy the notes from a classmate. I do not give out my notes.
• An abundance of information, including announcements, handouts, review sheets and solutions will be posted on the CS1530 Web page (and the TA's as well) throughout the term.  Students are expected to be aware of all information that is posted on the CS1530 web pages, and should access them frequently.  
• All graded materials that a student receives back should be saved in a safe place until after the term has ended and he/she has received and accepts his/her final grade.  In this way, any grade discrepancies can be easily resolved.    
• All assignments have to be turned in by the deadline. Late assignments receive zero credit. Written Assignments:

Written Assignments

There will be a number of written assignments.  The purpose of the assignments is to reinforce theoretical material of the course. Spending time on the written assignments will pay off on the exams. Assignments will be turned in, in hard copy, to the TA. (or his mailbox).

Programming Project:

• There will be a large programming project done in groups of 3-4 people. You will be designing, documenting and implementing a large software project. Other groups in the class will act as your customers. You will be implementing your project in a language of your choice, although we strongly suggest that you use the latest Java SDK that supports generics. The lectures about the project will assume you implement your project in Java and will discuss tools you may find useful in this context. If you choose a different language you may need to find comparable tools on your own. The project will be handed out in the second week. It will have several deadlines (milestones) that will be evaluated. The project will start There will be 5 programming assignments assigned throughout the term. 
• The programming project is the major part of this course

Examinations:

There will be one midterm examination and a final. The midterm date is to be determined.  The final will be on TBD (the class room). There will be no early or make-up exams.

Students are expected to be present for all exams.   Make-up exams will only be given in the event of an emergency, and only if I am informed in advance. If you cannot contact me directly, send me email or call the CS department  (624-8490) and leave me a message.  Failure to notify me prior to missing an exam will result in a zero for the exam.  

Grading:

Your grade will depend on your performance in the course---there is no predetermined curve. It is impossible to pass the course without doing the programming assignments. The relative weight of the components of your grade will be approximately:
 

Written assignments & instructor's discretion	5%
Course project	50%
Midterm	20%
Final	25%

Handouts and Lecture Notes:

In addition to being passed out in class, handouts will be available on-line on the class home page. Lecture notes will also be available on the web page by 5pm on the day before the class. If you want hard copies of the notes for class, you must print the copies yourself.

Readings:

The material presented in class will correspond roughly but not exactly to the material covered in the readings. The assigned readings will be updated as the term progresses.

Home Page

The class home page for the course is http://www.cs.pitt.edu/~mock/cs1530/. All course handouts, answers to frequently asked questions, lecture notes, and updates on assignments will be posted. Please check the home page and mailing list regularly for important course information. Students are responsible for changes to assignments posted on the home page.

Important Dates: