This course is about the implementation (construction) phase and test phase of the software construction process.It develops students' skills in programming at the pragmatic level and at an increased level of abstraction. Students will create individual practical assignments on the small scale, and read, critique, and modify medium scale software systems, in part through two major assignments over the whole semester. The system is closely specified and designed around a strong architectural structure, exemplifying abstraction and design patterns, and a graphical user interface. During the course students learn to improve their own software development practices by following the Personal Software Process to learn time management, planning, and quality control.
The following topics are covered: working with larger software systems; code review and inspections; test planning and unit testing (derived from specification and design documents); object-oriented (Java), and scripting (Bash) languages; recursive data structures; graphical user interfaces; the Personal Software Process; build tools (Make and Ant) and version control (Subversion); use of external code libraries; introductory software design patterns.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:
On completing this course students are expected to be able to:
- Construct and modify small to medium scale computer programs
- apply all aspects of software construction for a representative variety of small to medium scale object-oriented programs up to around 300 lines of code containing up to 7 classes;
- make modifications (including source code design, implementation, and testing) within a moderate-sized Java program system (1000 - 10000 lines of code), given a documented specification, design and implementation of the system
- have elementary or better competence with standard software development tools and methods: text editor, compiler, integrated software development environment, command line scripting, automated build tools, version control, unit test design, code review
- use and analyse a personal software process in constructing small computer programs
- Compare several forms of abstraction in object-oriented software design and construction: inheritance, generic types, polymorphism, procedural abstraction, abstract recursive data structures (including abstract syntax trees); and to apply them appropriately in constructing programs.
- Use common programming knowledge resources to find, understand, and apply online manuals and tutorials for software tools, programming language components, and software libraries
- Describe the underlying principles of three major aspects of software construction and to apply the appropriate tools:
- version control (using the Subversion tool)
- unit testing (using the JUnit tool)
- automatic build process (using the Make or Ant tool)
Indicative Assessment
Lecture preparation (12%); Weekly practice (48%); Final Exam (practical 20%, theory 20%)
The ANU uses Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. While the use of Turnitin is not mandatory, the ANU highly recommends Turnitin is used by both teaching staff and students. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website.
Workload
Thirty one-hour lectures and six two-hour tutorial/laboratory sessions.
Requisite and Incompatibility
Prescribed Texts
There is no required textbook for COMP6442, but a Java reference book is strongly recommended.
Assumed Knowledge
Programming in an object oriented language to level of designing and implementing programs with several classes, with simple inheritance.
Fees
Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.
If you are a domestic graduate coursework or international student you will be required to pay tuition fees. Students continuing in their current program of study will have their tuition fees indexed annually from the year in which you commenced your program. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.
- Student Contribution Band:
- 2
- Unit value:
- 6 units
If you are an undergraduate student and have been offered a Commonwealth supported place, your fees are set by the Australian Government for each course. At ANU 1 EFTSL is 48 units (normally 8 x 6-unit courses). You can find your student contribution amount for each course at Fees. Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.
| Units | EFTSL |
|---|---|
| 6.00 | 0.12500 |
Course fees
- Domestic fee paying students
| Year | Fee | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1994-2003 | $1980 | |
| 2014 | $2952 | |
| 2013 | $2946 | |
| 2012 | $2946 | |
| 2011 | $2946 | |
| 2010 | $2916 | |
| 2009 | $2916 | |
| 2008 | $2190 | |
| 2007 | $2088 | |
| 2006 | $2088 | |
| 2005 | $2088 | |
| 2004 | $2088 |
- International fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 1994-2003 | $3450 |
| 2014 | $3762 |
| 2013 | $3756 |
| 2012 | $3756 |
| 2011 | $3756 |
| 2010 | $3750 |
| 2009 | $3618 |
| 2008 | $3618 |
| 2007 | $3618 |
| 2006 | $3618 |
| 2005 | $3534 |
| 2004 | $3450 |
Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links
ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to small teaching activities / tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage.
Class summaries, if available, can be accessed by clicking on the View link for the relevant class number.
First Semester
| Class number | Class start date | Last day to enrol | Census date | Class end date | Mode Of Delivery | Class Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3875 | 17 Feb 2014 | 07 Mar 2014 | 31 Mar 2014 | 30 May 2014 | In Person | N/A |
