CPSC 480-010 Software Engineering (SE) Fall 2023

Archive

• Week 5 Class 9 Tue Sep 26 Posted: Sep 26

  Announcements:

  • Tasks do not have names as titles. They are numbered.
  • Tasks have a (numbered) title, a description, and an (eventual) estimate. It is essential in software development to use proper terminology as much as possible.
  • Only estimates obtained by a team consensus using a planning poker process will be put on tasks (just like with user stories). From now on, any assignment or answer with an estimate not obtained via this process will receive a 0. This can be an exercise, a project, or a test question.
  • Tasks are not the process a user would go through. They are the parts of the implementation of the code.

  • Tasks should be brief. For one thing, they need to fit on a post-it note. Secondly, that extra detail does not help; you would never have enough.

  • Project 1: Requirements Report Due 11:59:59 pm Thursday, Sep 28

  Class

  • HFSD Chapter 4
  • HFSD Chapter 5
  • Exercise 18: Team User Story Estimates IV

  Unless stated otherwise, all exercises are due by 3:30 pm on Wed Sep 27

• Exercise 18: Team User Story Estimates IV Posted: Sep 25

  As a team, create estimates for the user stories by playing planning poker using the procedure described on pages 48-49 of the book.

  First, pick a user story that you have an estimates. Estimate each task for that user story. Indicate if the sum of the task estimates agrees with the previous user story estimate. Update the user story estimate if needed.

  When the team reaches a consensus for the estimate, place the estimate at the bottom of the User Story on a separate line, e.g., "Estimate: 1 day" or "Estimate: 3 days".

  Individually, each team member will turn in to Brightspace individual notes that include for each round of planning poker:

  • Title of the user story
  • Any questions on or confusions with the user story
  • Any assumptions that you made
  • Any interesting assumptions that other team members made
  • The spread of estimates, indicating which one is yours
  • The final estimate, which is a team consensus (if the team was able to reach one in this round)

  If the team cannot reach a consensus, table that User Story and go on to another one.

  Modify the above when you estimate a task instead of a user story.

  The notes are due by the end of class. They can be a PDF (print to file from a computing device) or a JPG (picture taken via phone). The notes are for today only. Do not start with the notes from the previous team meeting.

  The more you work with the user stories, the more you will find improvements to them. Be sure to make those improvements.

• Week 4 Class 8 Thu Sep 21 Posted: Sep 21

  Announcements:

  • Resume

    If you bring a printed copy of your resume to me during my Office Hours or Advising Hours on Tuesday, September 19, or Thursday, September 21, I will be happy to review it and provide suggestions for improvement. I am also available for one-on-one remote Teams meetings during these hours, although in-person students will be given priority.

  • Project 1: Requirements Report Due 11:59:59 pm Thursday, Sep 28

  Class

  • HFSD Chapter 4
  • Exercise 15: HFSD Chapter 4 Crossword
  • HFSD Chapter 5

  • Exercise 16: Tasks

    During your team meeting, assign the user stories evenly among the team members.

    Each team member will take the user stories they are assigned and create tasks. List them all in one document. Upload a PDF to Brightspace.

    This exercise is due by 3:30 pm on Monday, Sep 25.

    At no time are you to take home the user stories from the team folder.

  • Exercise 17: Team User Story Estimates III

  Unless stated otherwise, all exercises are due by 3:30 pm on Fri Sep 22

• Exercise 17: Team User Story Estimates III Posted: Sep 21

  As a team, create estimates for the user stories by playing planning poker using the procedure described on pages 48-49 of the book. Go through the estimation process at least one time.

  When the team reaches a consensus for the estimate, place the estimate at the bottom of the User Story on a separate line, e.g., "Estimate: 1 day" or "Estimate: 3 days".

  Individually, each team member will turn in to Brightspace individual notes that include for each round of planning poker:

  • Title of the user story
  • Any questions on or confusions with the user story
  • Any assumptions that you made
  • Any interesting assumptions that other team members made
  • The spread of estimates, indicating which one is yours
  • The final estimate, which is a team consensus (if the team was able to reach one in this round)

  If the team cannot reach a consensus, table that User Story and go on to another one.

  The notes are due by the end of class. They can be a PDF (print to file from a computing device) or a JPG (picture taken via phone). The notes are for today only. Do not start with the notes from the previous team meeting.

  The more you work with the user stories, the more you will find improvements to them. Be sure to make those improvements.

• Week 4 Class 7 Tue Sep 19 Posted: Sep 19

  Announcements:

  • Resume

    If you bring a printed copy of your resume to me during my Office Hours or Advising Hours on Tuesday, September 19, or Thursday, September 21, I will be happy to review it and provide suggestions for improvement. I am also available for one-on-one remote Teams meetings during these hours, although in-person students will be given priority.

  • GitHub (Repost) We use GitHub and GitHub Classroom in the class to manage source code for projects, exercises, and examples. You are required to have a GitHub account.

    Optionally, you can apply to the GitHub Global Campus and get a free GitHub Pro account.

    To apply, your account email can be a school account, or a personal account if you upload documents to prove your current enrollment status.

  • Estimates

    • Estimation in software development is not about gauging the minimum time it would take you to complete a user story. It's about understanding and predicting the genuine effort required in the context of your regular 5-day workweek and 50 weeks of work in a year. Remember, an estimate is not a speed challenge but rather a measure of how long it will realistically take to thoroughly implement a user story.
    • Avoid the trap of only considering the quickest or simplest implementation. Proper estimation requires thoughtful consideration of all possible complexities. Moreover, completing a user story quickly doesn't mean the rest of the day is free; there's always another user story waiting. This is not a class assignment or a lab exercise where once you are finished you are done for the day.
    • Refrain from using phrases like "All we have to do…” when discussing software tasks. Such assumptions often oversimplify the complexities inherent in coding.

  Class

  • Project 1: Requirements Report

  • Exercise 12: Project 1 Setup

    Sign into your GitHub account.

    Then, use the GitHub Classroom invitation link in Brightspace for Project 1 to create your repository.

  • HFSD Chapter 3
  • Exercise 13: HFSD Chapter 3 Crossword
  • HFSD Chapter 4
  • Exercise 14: Team User Story Estimates II

  Unless stated otherwise, all exercises are due by 3:30 pm on Wed Sep 20

• Project 1: Requirements Report Posted: Sep 19

  Project 1 is due 11:59:59 pm Thursday, Sep 28, in the file Requirements.md in a GitHub Classroom repository. You will need a GitHub account. Once you have an account, an invitation link to create the repository is on the Brightspace course page.

  Description

  At your place of work, you need to submit a formal report describing the project's current state. Write a report of your individual and team activities, including:

  • 1. User Stories
    • User Stories with title, description, estimate, and space for priority
    • This will be shown to the customer
  • 2. General Process
    • Details of the process and procedure that created the Estimates
    • This will be shown to the customer, so only data on the User Story cards should be mentioned.
  • 3. Background Data
    • Details on spread, assumptions, issues, etc.
    • How did the team interaction work, and what did and did not work well
    • This will not be shown to the customer. It is for your supervisor.

  In other words, all the work and processes followed while creating the user stories and their estimates. The details of the process and procedure and the general observations are in the form of a narrative, i.e., describe what you did, how you did it, and the result, ordered by time. The report's tone is professional, with a clear, consistent presentation.

  The team created the User Stories and Estimates, but this report is an individual project. In your account, make changes to User Stories if they do not follow the guidelines given in the book. These changes are especially crucial for the Title and the Description. Split User Stories if the Estimate is too large. Explain any changes in your report.

  Format

  • The report is in the plain-text formatting syntax Markdown. Markdown is an almost universal format for text formatting in software development. Due to its direct mapping to/from HTML, Markdown has replaced HTML and other plain-text formatting languages in SE.
  • Identify yourself clearly at the top of the page with your name, email, team name, and section
  • Do not address me at the top of the page
  • Do not sign it at the bottom
  • The entire report must be in a single, self-contained file: Requirements.md
  • The report is to look good both as raw Markdown and as a web page in GitHub
  • Plain text (no .pdf, .doc, .docx, etc.)
  • UTF–8 encoding Note: An ASCII document is a UTF–8 document

  Score

  The report content, format, and involvement in team activities are all considered for your score.

  Think very carefully about the presentation of the report, including how you are using Markdown. Remember, the User Stories are an unordered set not an ordered list.

• Exercise 14: Team User Story Estimates II Posted: Sep 19

  Note: If your feedback for Team User Story Estimates states "Need more User Stories, " your team must create more user stories. So, split the current user stories into as fine-grained a user story as possible. Also, see what is missing. Use some of your Team Meeting to do this, but also have the team members take cards home and fill them out for the next meeting.

  As a team, create estimates for the user stories by playing planning poker using the procedure described on pages 48-49 of the book. Go through the estimation process at least one time.

  When the team reaches a consensus for the estimate, place the estimate at the bottom of the User Story on a separate line, e.g., "Estimate: 1 day" or "Estimate: 3 days".

  Individually, each team member will turn in to Brightspace individual notes that include for each round of planning poker:

  • Title of the user story
  • Any questions on or confusions with the user story
  • Any assumptions that you made
  • Any interesting assumptions that other team members made
  • The spread of estimates, indicating which one is yours
  • The final estimate, which is a team consensus (if the team was able to reach one in this round)

  If the team cannot reach a consensus, table that User Story and go on to another one.

  The notes are due by the end of class. They can be a PDF (print to file from a computing device) or a JPG (picture taken via phone). The notes are for today only. Do not start with the notes from the previous team meeting.

  The more you work with the user stories, the more you will find improvements to them. Be sure to make those improvements.

• Week 3 Class 6 Thu Sep 14 Posted: Sep 14

  Announcements:

  • Engineering, Engineering Technology, and Computing Career Fair September 26th (Tuesday) from 10am to 3pm in Student Union. Pre-registration closes at 8am on September 18th.

    If you bring a printed copy of your resume to me during my Office Hours or Advising Hours on Tuesday, September 19, or Thursday, September 21, I will be happy to review it and provide suggestions for improvement. I am also available for one-on-one remote Teams meetings during these hours, although in-person students will be given priority.

  • Exercise 10: Team User Stories II

  Class

  • HFSD Chapter 2
  • Exercise 9: HFSD Chapter 2 Crossword
  • HFSD Chapter 3
  • Exercise 11: Team User Story Estimates

  Unless stated otherwise, all exercises are due by 3:30 pm on Fri Sep 15

• Exercise 11: Team User Story Estimates Posted: Sep 14

  As a team, create estimates for the user stories by playing planning poker using the procedure described on pages 48-49 of the book.

  When the team reaches a consensus for the estimate, place the estimate at the bottom of the User Story on a separate line, e.g., "Estimate: 1 day" or "Estimate: 3 days".

  Individually, each team member will turn in to Brightspace individual notes that include for each round of planning poker:

  • Title of the user story
  • Any questions on or confusions with the user story
  • Any assumptions that you made
  • Any interesting assumptions that other team members made
  • The spread of estimates, indicating which one is yours
  • The final estimate, which is a team consensus (if the team was able to reach one in this round)

  If the team is not able to come to a consensus, table that User Story and go on to another one.

  The notes are due by the end of class. They can be in the form of a PDF (print to file from a computing device), or a JPG (picture taken via your phone).

  The more you work with the user stories, the more you will find improvements to them. Be sure to make those improvements.

• Week 3 Class 5 Tue Sep 12 Posted: Sep 12

  Announcements:

  • Exercise 7: Team User Stories

    The primary goal of user stories is to capture a specific need or goal of a user in the context of software development. It's about "what the user wants to do" or "achieve" with the software.

    Examples:

    • "Shopping Cart" "Add item to cart"

    • "Profile Settings" "Update profile settings"

    • Common Action Verbs: View, Create, Edit, Update, Delete, Remove, Add, Search, Find, Register, Sign up, Upload, Download, Share, Save, Submit, Purchase, Buy, Review, Rate, Filter, Sort, Select, Play, Pause, Stop, Invite, Sync

    Benefits of Action-Oriented Titles:

    • Clarity Action-oriented titles make it clear what the expected outcome or behavior of the system should be.
    • Focus on Value Emphasizing actions reminds the team to focus on delivering value and functionality rather than just creating artifacts.
    • Facilitates Testing Deriving test cases from action-oriented stories is easier.

  Class

  • Exercise 8: HFSD Chapter 2 p 47 Cubicle Conversation
  • HFSD Chapter 2
  • Exercise 9: HFSD Chapter 2 Crossword Due after next class meeting
  • Exercise 10: Team User Stories II

  Unless stated otherwise, all exercises are due by 3:30 pm on Wed Sep 13

• Exercise 10: Team User Stories II Posted: Sep 12

  

  Your team is to correct the current user stories and increase the number of user stories. Very carefully go over your user titles and descriptions. Add more user stories and see what you are missing.

  Remember to split any user stories that you can. Apply the "and" rule.

  • For this exercise, every invalid user story title will result in a deduction from the overall score. E.g., For 2 invalid user stories titles, I will deduct 20%.
  • I want a lot of user stories. Do not make any judgments on whether they are worthwhile or not. Generate as many as you can
  • The User Stories do not belong to an individual team member. They belong to the team. So feel free to make changes to stories, even if you are not the original author.
  • For this assignment, no User Story should have a title that includes "Login" or similar terms. Assume that they have already logged in or (much better) do not have to log in. Any User Story with the title of "Login" or a similar term will result in a penalty of 50%
  • You have not performed an estimation process. Do not fill in the estimate with some random number. Any estimates filled in with a value that is not the result of the estimation process will deduct from your overall score.

• Week 2 Class 4 Thu Sep 07 Posted: Sep 07

  Announcements:

  • Exercise scores updated in Brightspace
  • App Idea was a description

  Class

  • HFSD Chapter 1 (continued)
  • Excerise 5: HFSD Chapter 1 Crossword
  • HFSD Chapter 2
  • Exercise 6: HFSD Chapter 2 p42 User Story Interview
  • Exercise 7: Team User Stories

  Unless stated otherwise, all exercises are due by 3:30 pm on Fri Sep 08

• Exercise 7: Team User Stories Posted: Sep 07

  

  Each Team is assigned a separate App with the description in Brightspace.

  As a Team, create as many User Stories as you can for that app. For now, this is just the Title and the Description. The Title is just an action that a user can perform. The Description is from 1 to 3 sentences that describes what that action is. Follow the examples given in the book.

  The User Stories are written on the provided index cards. I will provide a folder for you to put the cards in as I will collect the cards at the end of class.

  • I want a lot of user stories. Do not make any judgments on whether they are worthwhile or not. Do not stop at 6 or some specific number. Generate as many unique user stories as you can.
  • You do not "own" a user story. The user story is part of the project. If you leave the project, the user stories do not go with you.
  • For any assignment in this class, no user story should have a title that includes "Login" or any similar terms. Assume that they have already logged in or (much better) do not have to log in.

• Week 2 Class 3 Tue Sep 05 Posted: Sep 05

  Special Announcement

  We meet in our regular classroom from this class meeting on.

  Announcements:

  • Scores The App Idea scores will be posted for next class
  • Office Hours In my office
  • Archive
  • Class Survey Results
  • TA

  Class

  • HFSD Chapter 1
  • Exercise 4: HFSD p7 Sharpen Your Pencil Answer 3 is required, but you can answer it after class
  • Excerise 5: HFSD Chapter 1 Crossword Will be due on Friday
  • Exercise 6: Team Composition

  Unless stated otherwise, all exercises are due by 3:30 pm on Wed Sep 06

• Exercise 5: Team Composition Posted: Sep 05

  Form a team of 3 or 4 members. The final team composition is at the discretion of the instructor.

  After forming a team, your team needs to decide on a name. The choices are one of the Three Stooges (Moe, Larry, Curly, Shemp, Curly Joe), one of the Marx Brothers (Chico, Harpo, Groucho, Gummo, Zeppo), or one from Star Wars. Pick at least 4 names.

  Email Dr. Collard and the TA the following:

  • Use the following email link to get the right subject: CPSC480-010 Team
  • Make sure to CC all members of the team using their UA email address
  • The first part of the message is a list of the team members. The second part of the message is a prioritized list of 4 team names (most wanted to least wanted)
  • The list of the team members in CSV (Comma-Separated Values) format and includes (in this order)
    1. First name
    2. Last name
    3. UA email
  • The email is to have no other content

  Example content of the email (but don't indent):

  John,Doe,johndoe@uakron.edu
  Jane,Doe,janedoe@uakron.edu
  Brian,Doe,briandoe@uakron.edu
  Suzy,Doe,suzydoe@uakron.edu
  
  Harpo
  Moe
  Yoda
  Zeppo
  

  The purpose of a team is not just to divide the work but also to raise the overall quality. More than one person should check any team assignment in this course. You, as a team, are responsible for these directions. Any emails sent as part of an assignment (including exercises) must have the correct subject and CC list. Exercises are not accepted and do not receive points if they do not have the proper form and content.

• Second Week Posted: Sep 03

  Class meetings return to our regular classroom starting this week.

• Week 1 Class 2 Thu Aug 31 Posted: Aug 31

  Special Announcement

  Our Second Class Meeting on Thursday, Aug 31 will also be online through Microsoft Teams.

  We will return to the classroom starting next week.

  Announcements:

  • Scores I posted the feedback and scores in Brightspace for Exercises 1 & 2
  • Office Hours Message me (through Teams or email) and we can meet in Teams
  • Notes The class notes have a bunch of default and custom hot keys. Type a "?" to see a list.
  • Class Survey Results

  Class

  • Notes: Context

  • Exercise 3: App Idea - Submit via Brightspace in PDF form. Due by 3 pm on Mon, Sep 4

    All applications start with an idea or a need. In the role of a user, write a description of an application. The description includes who would use it and its features. The application can be one that you create yourself or an existing program.

    Guidelines:

    • The description must be at least 350 words long
    • Include a name for the app at the top
    • Do not identify yourself in the description
    • Assume this is a smartphone app
    • The description should be of the what not the how. Do not include any discussion of programming languages, libraries to use, or software design. Do not talk about how easy or difficult it would be to create the app.
    • If the application already exists, be creative with your name and description

    Comments:

    • If you have a great app idea, this is not the place for it. Your writeup may be shared with others in the class, or discussed (anonymously) in front of the entire class.
    • This is not the app that you or your future team will work on.
  • Notes: Roots

• Week 1 Class 1 Tue Aug 29 Posted: Aug 29

  After Class

  • Our Second Class Meeting on Thursday, Aug 31 will also be online through Microsoft Teams.

    We will return to the classroom starting next week.

  • I revised the posted information on the GitHub accounts

  Special Announcement

  Our First Class Meeting on Tuesday, Aug 29 will be online through Microsoft Teams.

  I am in Isolation for COVID and cannot come onto campus.

  You can participate from anywhere, or even from the classroom.

  Announcements

  • Syllabus

  • GitHub We use GitHub and GitHub Classroom in the class to manage source code for projects, exercises, and examples. You are required to have a GitHub account.

    Optionally, you can apply to the GitHub Global Campus and get a free GitHub Pro account.

    To apply, your account email can be a school account, or a personal account if you upload documents to prove your current enrollment status.

    You will need your GitHub account for Thursday's class.

  • O'Reilly Online Learning The course textbooks are available in O'Reilly Online Learning.

    You do not have to be on the campus network (e.g., via VPN) to access O'Reilly Online Learning.

    To access content, click the "Institution not listed?" link below the dropdown and enter your UA email. You will then create an account and use that account from now on.

    For more information: Library LibGuide

  Exercises

  • Exercise 1: SE Survey

  • Exercise 2: Software Development Diagram

    Draw the Software Development Diagram that I present in class. Upload a PDF or JPG into Brightspace.

  • Notes: Context

  • For next class: Read Chapter 1 of the HFSD (Head First Software Development) book.

  All exercises are due by 3 pm on Wed Aug 30

• Special Announcement Posted: Aug 28

  Our First Class Meeting on Tuesday, Aug 29 will be online through Microsoft Teams.

  I am in Isolation for COVID and cannot come onto campus.

  You can participate from anywhere, or even from the classroom.

• Welcome Posted: Aug 17

  Greetings and welcome to CPSC 480 Software Engineering (SE) for Fall 2023.

  • Syllabus The draft syllabus for the course is on the main course page. I will finalize the syllabus before our first class meeting.
  • Survey The first exercise is to fill out the class survey. The survey is due after our first class meeting, but you can complete it before.
  • Textbook There are two textbooks for the course. We start with the Head First Software Development (HFSD), available from Safari Books Online, from a link at the bottom of the main course page.
  • GitHub We use GitHub and GitHub Classroom in the class to manage documents and source code for projects and examples. You are required to have a GitHub account. The account email (not necessarily the account name) should be your @uakron.edu email address. If it is, you can apply for the Student Github Developer Pack and get a free GitHub Pro account.

  See you on Tuesday, Aug 29 at 9:15 - 10:30 pm in Arts & Sciences (CAS) room 143