mse.doc.doc

School of Business Informatics and Software Engineering

MSc Software Engineering

PROGRAMME DOCUMENT

VERSION 1.0MSE v1.0

April 2006

University of Technology, Mauritius

La Tour Koenig, Pointe aux Sables, Mauritius

MSc SOFTWARE ENGINEERING v1.0

Tel: (230) 234 7624 Fax: (230) 234 1747 Email: [email protected]

website: www.utm.ac.mu

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________MSE v1.0/April 2006 Page 2 of 19


MSc SOFTWARE ENGINEERING

1 Programme Information

The MSc in Software Engineering is primarily intended for graduates of computing subjects who want an in-depth focused in the software engineering discipline. This programme is a basis for further study, research and acquiring skills and knowledge in areas like design patterns, intelligent agent technologies and other specialist fields. The course comprises of a six months industrial project where the student will apply acquired knowledge and skills to solve real-life problem.

This course also helps the students to be conversant with all the software challenges that exist and shows them the right path to delivering code to the highest levels of quality, reliability and maintainability at the lowest cost.

2 Programme Aims

The MSc Software Engineering programme prepares students to act project leaders. Furthermore, the students will be ready to join any public or private institution whether national or international where software development and maintenance are the main key activities.

This programme is also an important step towards research.



PART I

Regulations

1. Entry Requirements

The Regulations of the University of Technology, Mauritius require an applicant for this Masters degree to:(a)

(i) Be a recognised graduate and who has attained a standard at least equivalent to that of a Lower Second Honours Degree in a subject related to that of the proposed programme of study accepted by the Academic Council;

(ii) Have passed an examination including a professional qualification in such a subject at a standard equivalent to Level 3 or equivalent to an Honours Degree;

(iii) Have been deemed qualified for admission as candidate by the Academic Council on the recommendation of the School Board;

(iv) Be a candidate for Postgraduate Diploma, is permitted by the Academic Council to transfer to candidate for a Master’s Degree in the same subject

(b) Applicants should have a computing background with programming and system design as strengths.

Admission decisions will be made by the School of Business Informatics and Software Engineering on a case by case basis. The primary criteria for acceptance of an applicant are: his or her anticipated successful completion of the programme.

The assessment of an applicant’s likelihood of success can be carried out in a variety of ways e.g. entrance examination, interviews, etc. At the time of application, the student is expected to demonstrate his or her background in the field.

2. Programme Duration

Full-Time: 1 year Part-Time: 2 years

3. Semester

15 weeks (excluding exam period)

4. Academic Tutoring

Weekly 1 hour session between a maximum of two students and one lecturer.



5. Project on an industrial placement

The students will undergo a six months project in the industry. This project will be jointly supervised by an internal academic staff and an external representative from the industry local or overseas through UTM linkages.

6. Academic Resources

Selected modules will be delivered by foreign experts and professionals from the local industry.

7. Student Progress and Assessment

For the award of the Masters Degree, all modules taken must be passed overall with passes in the examinations, coursework and other forms of assessment.

All modules will be assessed as follows: Written examinations carrying 60 % of total marks and continuous assessment carrying 40 % of total marks. Continuous assessment can be based on seminars and/or assignments or class tests.

8. GradingGrade Marks x[%]A X ≥ 70A 65 ≤ x < 70B 60 ≤ x < 65B 55 ≤ x < 60C 50 ≤ x < 55C 45 ≤ x < 50D 40 ≤ x < 45F X < 40

A–D PassF Fail



9. DEGREE AWARD CLASSIFICATION

Overall weighted mark y (%) Classification

> 70 MSc with Distinction40 < y < 70 MSc

Minimum Credits Required for Award of:Master’s Degree: 39Postgraduate Diploma: 24Postgraduate Certificate: 15

Breakdown as follows:

(i) MSc Software EngineeringCore modules: 12 credits+Electives: 12 credits +Industrial Project: 15 creditsCandidates who obtain a mark of 70% and above will be awarded an MSc with Distinction.

(ii) Postgraduate Diploma Software EngineeringCore modules: 12 credits + Electives: 12 credits

(iii) Postgraduate Certificate Software EngineeringCore modules: 9 credits + Electives: 6 credits



PART II

1. PROGRAMME STRUCTURE

MSc SOFTWARE ENGINEERING – Full TimeVersion 1.0

(Programme Director: J. Narsoo)

Semester 1 Semester 2Code Module L+P Code Module L+P

OSS5101 Unix Programming 2+2 SEM5201 Software Quality Assurance

3+0

SDT5101 Design Patterns 2+2 + 2 electivesSCG5120 Distributed Computing 2+2 PRJ5204 Industrial Project

+ 2 electives

MSc Software Engineering – Part TimeVersion 1.0

(Programme Director: J. Narsoo)


OSS501 Unix Programming

2+2 SEM5201 Software Quality Assurance

3+0

SDT5101 Design Patterns

2+2 + 1 elective

SCG5120 Distributed Computing

2+2


+ 2 electives + 1 electiveIndustrial Project

Note: Registered students are required to submit a list of the electives they wish to take well before

the programme starts. The University reserves the right not to offer a given elective if the critical number of students is

not attained and/or for reasons of resource constraints.



2. LIST OF MODULES

CORE MODULES

Code Module Hrs/Wk CreditsOSS5101 Unix Programming 2L+2P 3DST5101 Design Patterns 2L+2P 3SCG5120 Distributed Computing 2L+2P 3SEM5201 Software Quality Assurance 3L+0P 3

ELECTIVE MODULES

BLOCK ACode Module Hrs/Wk Credits

SEM5101 Software Project Management 3L+0P 3SEM5102 Software Metrics 3L+0P 3DBT5101 System Integration 2L+2P 3HCA5105 Embedded Systems 2L+2P 3ISM5101 Information Technology Economics 3L+0P 3MCT5101 Mobile and Pervasive Computing 2L+2P 3WAT5101 Service Oriented Architecture 2L+2P 3

Note : Sofware Project Management and Software Metrics are compulsory electives for those students not having covered these modules in their undergraduate programme.

BLOCK BCode Module Hrs/Wk Credits

PRG5106 Agent Technology 2L+2P 3SDT5203 Agile Programming Techniques 2L+2P 3ISM5102 Entrepreneurship 3L+0P 3OUT5101 IT Sourcing 3L+0P 3ISM5103 Strategic Information System 3L+0P 3ISM5104 Global IT Management 3L+0P 3

The above list is not a final elective list, other related electives can be considered.



3. MODULE SPECIFICATIONS

CORE MODULES

Module Code

Module Title Aims/ Learning Outcomes Module Outline

OSS5101 Unix Programming

Aims

The aims of this module are to give a hands-on contact on: Using standard UNIX

system call API's Concurrent

programming with processes and threads

Network programming, including the client-server paradigm

Writing shell scripts and portable application programs

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this module, students should be able to: Configure and manage

a UNIX system Program under the

UNIX environment Acquire programming

experience in the following: concurrent programming with processes and threads, network programming and shell scripting.

A Tour of UNIX and Linux. Versions of UNIX.

File I/O: File I/O, File Descriptors and Open File Descriptions, Symbols for File Permission Bits, open and creat System Calls, umask System Call, unlink System Call, Creating Temporary Files, Disk Special Files and File Systems, Hard and Symbolic Links, Pathnames, Accessing and Displaying File Metadata, Directories, Changing an I-Node

Terminal I/O: Reading from a Terminal, Sessions and Process Groups (Jobs),Setting Terminal Attributes, Terminal-Identification System Calls

Processes and Threads: exec System Calls, Implementing a Shell, fork System Call, exit System Calls and Process Termination, User and Group Ids, Setting User and Group Ids, Process Ids, chroot System Call, Priority

Interprocess Communication: Pipes, dup, Unidirectional Pipes and Bidirectional Pipes, FIFOs, or Named Pipes, Simple Messaging Interface (SMI), System V IPC (Interprocess Communication), System V Message Queues, Semaphores, File Locking

Networking and Sockets: Socket Basics, Socket Addresses, Socket Options, Simple Socket Interface (SSI), Socket Implementation of SMI, Connectionless Sockets

Signals and Timers: Signal Basics, Deprecated Signal System Calls, Realtime Signals Extension (RTS). Global Jumps, Clocks and Timers.

Shell programming



Module Code


DST5101 Design Patterns

Aims

The module aims to look into software development processes including an object-oriented approach which can be used to deal with issues which arise in real-world software. The main overall themes are reusability and coping with change. The aim of this module is also to develop the ability to apply and justify the use of patterns in software engineering.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this module, students should be able to: Analyse the importance

of patterns in software development.

Represent Patterns using UML

Design and develop software using existing patterns.

Review of software development processes Object Oriented modelling Using UML Introduction to Design Patterns Examples of design patterns:Singleton,

Façade, Factory, Adapter, Bridge, Composite, Decorator, Flyweight, Proxy, Builder, Prototype, Interpreter, Template, Chain of responsibility, Command, Iterator, Mediator, Memento, Observer, State, Strategy, Visitor

SCG5120 Distributed Computing

Aims

The aims of this module is to examine the forces shaping the evolution of distributed architectures and to develop a conceptual model for understanding and evaluating distributed systems and its constituent components

Learning OutcomesOn successful completion of this module, students should be able to: Set up a development

environment Design and implement

software and web services in a distributed environment

Introduction to Distributed Systems Setting up your Development Environment Developing Distributed Applications Kernels, Process, and Threads Interprocess communication (IPC) Client-Server Architecture Concurrency Control Distributed Objects and Object-based

Systems Web Services Distributed Security Distributed File Systems Distributed Databases Transaction Management



Module Code


SEM5201 Software Quality Assurance

Aims

The module approaches the issue of quality assurance in the software development process at an advanced level. This includes a rigorous account of the strategies for software testing and quality control. The module is focussed around the notion of software process improvement.

Learning Outcomes On successful

completion of this module, students should be able to:

Understand how quality issues affect each aspect of the software development life-cycle

Know appropriate strategies for software testing and validation and how to implement them

Implement a software quality assurance plan

Relate quality to the current standards for process improvement.

Quality : Differentiating between Quality Assurance, Quality Control and Testing, importance of quality, the cost of quality, two views of quality, Quality attributes, Quality audits

Quality and the Organisation : Management commitment to quality, Organisational structure, Placement within the organization, Quality coordination, Setting quality standards

Software Quality Assurance and CMMI: Process and product quality assurance, quality assurance goals, Processes for each goal

Risk identification and management Software Quality Management and ISO

9001: Management responsibility, Internal quality audits, Control quality records, Document and data control, Training, Corrective and Preventive actions

Quality Tools: Tools for ideas and information, numbers, presentation

Software Quality Assurance Plan (SQAP): Relationship of SQAP to SQA program, SQAP components, Purpose, Reference documents, Standards, practices, and conventions, Reviews and audits, Problem reporting,Tools, techniques, and methodologies, Code control, Media control, Supplier control, Records collection, maintenance, and retention

Implementation of SQAP: Management acceptance, Acceptance by development personnel, Planning for SQAP implementation, Resources, Scheduling, Risk Assessment, Training, Distribution of SQAP, Execution of SQAP

ELECTIVES MODULES_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________MSE v1.0/April 2006 Page 11 of 19


Module Code

Module Title Aims/ Learning Outcomes

Module Outline

SEM5101 Software Project Management

AimsThis module aims to prepare the students to make good use of project management principles in software development projects.

Learning OutcomesOn successful completion of this module, students should be able to: Set up a project team,

plan and schedule tasks and monitor project

Understand the nature of software and be able to deal with the different issues related to software maintenance

Know the standards used in project management.

Be able to devise an appropriate structure for an IT department for different contexts

Understand the issues related to outsourcing of the IT function

Project planning and management, Project Management Plan (IEEE Std 1058.1)

Product development life cycles, Software life cycles, Development life cyles

Software maintenance, Life cycles incorporating software reuse, How to pick the appropriate life cycle?

Software development processes, Process concepts, Process maturity (CMM), Process Interaction (IEEE Std 1074), Supporting or interfacing processes

Marketing, Activity planning and scheduling

Cost and resource estimating, Resource management

Determining project status, Contracting and outsourcing

Organisational strategies, Managing teams, Environmental and social factors

OUT5101 IT Sourcing AimsThis module aims at sensitising students on the need for a proper IT sourcing strategy for an efficient use of funds and an effective contribution of IT to overall business performance.

Learning OutcomesStudents are expected to understand the processes involved in sourcing of IT and to deal with the resulting issues for optimal use of IT by the organization.

IT Services IT Alignment to business Outsourcing - Economic point of view Outsourcing - Resource-based view Risk Management Contract Management Insourcing / Back sourcing Transformational Outsourcing Offshore software development Business Process Outsourcing International Trends



Module Code


SEM5102 Software Metrics

AimsThis module aims at describing software metrics and its measurement theory, models of software engineering measurement, software products metrics, software process metrics and measuring management.

Learning OutcomesOn successful completion of this module, students should be able to:

Understand Measurement theory

Be familiar with Software product and process measurements

Understand Measurement management

Goal-based framework for software measurement: Software measure classification, Goal-based paradigms: Goal-Question-Metrics (GQM) and Goal-Question-Indicator-Metrics (GQIM), Applications of GQM and GQIM

Empirical investigation: Software engineering investigation, Investigation principles, Investigation techniques, Formal experiments: Planning, Formal experiments: Principles, Formal experiments: Types, Formal experiments: Selection, Guidelines for empirical research

Measuring internal product attributes: size: Software size, Software Size: Length (code, specification, design), Software Size: Reuse, Software Size: Functionality (function point, feature point, object point, use-case point), Software Size: Complexity

Measuring internal product attributes: structure: Software structural measurement, Control-flow structure, Cyclomatic complexity, Data flow and data structure attributes, Architectural measurement,

Measuring software reliability: Reliability concepts and definitions, Software reliability models and metrics, Fundamentals of software reliability engineering (SRE), Reliability management models

Software test metrics: Test concepts, definitions and techniques, Estimating number of test case, Allocating test times, Decisions based on testing, Test coverage measurement, Software testability measurement, Remaining defects measurement

Object-oriented metrics: Object-Oriented measurement concepts, Basic metrics for OO systems, OO analysis and design metrics, Metrics for productivity measurement, Metrics for OO software quality

Module Code

Module Title Learning Outcomes/ Aims Module Outline



PRG5106 Agent Technology

On successful completion of this module, students should be able to have: An understanding of the

variety of applications of intelligent agents, and the strengths and limitations of the current methods.

An understanding of some of the technology and algorithms that are used to construct intelligent agents.

Practical experience of building intelligent agents.

AimsThis module aims at preparing the student to build intelligent agents, that is, intelligent software programs that can act by themselves in some part of the human world. The kinds of tasks that an agent could be useful for and also the underlying designs, techniques, and algorithms for implementing such agents, will also be considered.

Introduction to agent and agent-based system

Difference between agents and existing software paradigms (such as objects and expert systems)?

Types of application for which an agent-based solution is appropriate

Major applications of agent technology, benefits of agent technology

Main obstacles and pitfalls in the way of the agent system developer

MCT5101 Mobile and Pervasive Computing

On successful completion of this module, students should be able to: Show their understanding

of Mobile and Pervasive computing

Know the different technologies used in the national and international markets

Design and build application for mobile devices

AimsThe aim of this module is to provide a general understanding of the Mobile and Pervasive computing field, get the student to think about the mobile computing field in a national and international context as well as giving the students hands on experience in mobile computing technologies currently used in Industry.

Wireless Transmission Telecommunication Networks J2ME .NET for mobile devices Bluetooth WIFI Wireless Security Pervasive Computing Advances in Mobile and Pervasive

Computing

Module Code


WAT5101 Service Oriented

AimsThis module aims is to

Service-Oriented Architecture in the enterprise: response to change and



Architecture examine the service oriented architecture and the different types of services that can be implemented.

Learning OutcomesOn successful completion of this module, students should be able to: Understand the

concepts of service oriented architecture

Design and implement webservices and other service oriented applications

transformation, The evolution of the service idea, Managing upside and downside risk

SOA and Business Process Management: Service-oriented government and business, Line-of-business services and service domains, Service-level abstractions, Reusable business vs. technical services

Fundamentals of service-oriented architecture: Architecture focus, the concepts of the service contract, Enabling infrastructure

The Enterprise Architecture perspectives, The Zachman Framework and SOA, Process and use-case views, Data and information views, Logical view, Contract view, Implementation view

Service-oriented prerequisites: Security, Service management, Process and composition, Metadata management

Key components for implementing SOA: SOA Meta model – Understanding the role of the service contract, Policy-based services, Service-oriented processes, Atomic services and composite services

Building a service and managing the business side: Granularity, Context/domain dependency, How to identify services (processes), How to differentiate services

Enabling Technologies and Standards: What are the current platform vendors offering, How are emerging startups filling the gap? The standards state-of-the-art

Developing the SOA Roadmap: What are the right starting points? Prioritizing service development and infrastructure expenditures, Making the right organizational changes, Governance and using SOA to increase visibility

ISM5103 Strategic Information System

AimsThis module aims at developing the managerial skills for the formulation of strategic IS/IT plan.

Learning Outcomes On successful


Analyse case studies Identify business

strategies Apply strategic

framework to formulate IS

Connectivity: Strategic, Physical, Organisational

Contingency Plan and Business Impact Analysis

Strategic IS/IT Frameworks From Strategy to Architecture to

Infrastructure Organising and Controlling IS Processes –

Outsourcing Strategies Knowledge Management IS/Business Strategies Alignment

Module Code


DBT5101 System Aims Sources: Data Warehouses, Temporal,



Integration This module enables students to have knowledge and skills of handling very large volumes of data in a variety of database applications.

Learning OutcomesOn completion of this module students will be able to: provide a critical

understanding of principal concepts and techniques for handling very large volumes of data.

evaluate and apply different techniques used to manipulate, search and analyse very large data sets, especially business oriented data sets.

discuss applications of very large databases related techniques, such as Distributed Database Management Systems, Data Warehousing and Data Mining etc.

explain the effect of different query evaluation strategies upon the performance of a very large database.

discuss the role of the World Wide Web as a very large database and use of appropriate techniques to developing web-database applications using Object Oriented Database System.

Scientific, The Web Sources and Storage: Distributed

Databases, Data Warehouses, The Web.

Manipulation: Data Mining, Online Analytical Processing (OLAP), Visualisation for Exploration.

Web Browsers and Search Engines, Optimisation, Recover and Backup, Database Connectivity technologies.

Module Code


ISM5102 Entrepreneurship AimsThis module provides an overview of developing,

The small business decision, Developing and defining the business concept, Identify



planning, financing and launching new businesses in software development. Consideration is given of the opportunities and issues specific to software development in small business ventures during pre-startup, launch and initial growth stages.

Learning Outcomes Upon the successful


Grasp and assess new business ideas.

Understand the business structures, stages of growth and profit

Develop a business plan for a new business.

Identify key launch process and timeline points and identify market niches.

Business opportunities Methods of starting a business,

Forms of business organisation, Financing, Start up strategy, Mission Statements

Product life cycle, Stages of business growth

Development of a business plan, Case studies, Risk Management: Finance and Controls, Business Tax

Measuring success, Future Trends and Issues

SDT5203 Agile Programming Techniques

AimsThis module aims at providing the students with skills and knowledge required to build and deliver high quality software in a rapid and regular way.

Learning OutcomesOn successful completion of this module, students should be able to: Understand the concepts

and techniques Design and implement

software using agile programming technique.

Test Driven Development: Test Driven Development Rules, The TDD Development Cycle, TDD as a Design Technique, TDD as Documentation, TDD Benefits, Unit Testing Patterns / Anti Patterns, Unit Testing Legacy code, Managing Suites of Unit Tests, Refactoring Unit Test Code, Unit Testing Legacy Code, TDD of GUI applications, TDD multi-threaded applications, Dealing with legacy applications

Refactoring: Unit Testing Support, Introducing the Refactoring catalogueRefactoring Legacy Code, Idioms, Refactorings and Design Patterns, Metrics

Automated Acceptance Testing: Automating acceptance testing as executable requirements, Creating an automated acceptance testing environment

Placing it in Context: eXtreme Programming, XP Values, Principles and Practices, TDD and Refactoring within the context of eXtreme Programming.

Module Code




ISM5101 Information Technology Economics

AimsThe module aims at assisting the students to understand the application of economic analysis to the market of information technology infrastructure.

Learning OutcomesOn successful completion of this module, students should be able to:

Identify, quantify and evaluate the costs and benefits of existing and proposed IT systems.

Critically assess methods for evaluating the return on investments in IT.

Employ appropriate economic qualitative and quantitative measures of the impact of IT in various business context.

Economic charateristics of Digital Products and Services: Distinctive economic and organisational characteristics of Digital Products and Services, What is information product?, What is virtual product? What is different about services? What are different digital product types and categories?

Cost Structure of Virtual/Information/IT Products and Services: What should we know about costs from Microeconomics and what are the specifics of the cost structure of IT Products? Costs of production, Fixed costs, Variable costs, Costs of distribution - transaction costs, Costs of consumption - Search costs, Switching costs.

Market Structures, Competition and Regulatory Policy in the IT: From cost structure and consumer demand to market structure, Consumer demand and differentiated quality, Cost structure and differentiated quality, Imperfect competition in virtual product markets, Monopolistic competition and zero marginal costs

Pricing of Digital Products and Services. Product Choices and Discriminatory Prices: Monopolistic pricing, Price discrimination, Bundling, Versioning

Management, Business strategies, Advertising, Feasibility and Efficiency of IT projects: Intersection with the marketing discipline (advertising), Intersection with the accounting discipline (managerial and capital accounting), Business planning, feasibility and efficiency analysis based on economic characteristics of IT products, market structures and prevailing pricing mechanisms.

Electronic Monetary Instruments and Electronic Payment Systems: Monetary Economics Perspective

Economic Aspects of Copyright Protection: Information products are easy to reproduce – easy to copy illegally! Banning/regulating vs proper marketing and managing

Module Code




HCA5105 Embedded Systems

AimsThis module aims at preparing the students to learn the applicability of embedded systems in the real world and understand all the design and implementation issues involved when contructing an embedded system.

Learning OutcomesOn successful completion of this module, students should be able to: Understand the

architecture and application of embedded system.

Design and implement embedded systems

Design and implement device drivers and interfaces

Understand the concepts of a real-time operating system

Microprocessor/Microcontroller Architecture

Hardware/Software Co-design Hardware/Software Partitioning Device Drivers Real-Time Operating Systems Scheduling Algorithms Control Theory Interfacing

ISM5104 Global IT Management

AimsThis module aims at sensitising and providing students with knowledge on global IT management.

Learning OutcomesStudents are expected to understand the processes involved in global IT management and design and implement a proper framework.

Global information technology environment

Framework for building national information structure

International business opportunities on the information superhighway

Problem of data quality in a developing economy

How can information technology enable developing countries to integrate into the global economy?

Information technology planning and architectures for networked global organizations

Information systems resource structure and management in multinational organizations

Issues in Global Outsourcing Global software outsourcing Global management support systems Strategic application of information

technology in global businessDeveloping and implementing global information systems


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