1 Prototyping as a Software Engineering Tool

Through CS 410 & 411W students are required to identify, formulate, refine, and reduce a broad societal problem.

During CS 410 you became domain experts on a selected problem. You designed a solution based upon your understanding of identified problem characteristics, and the needs of your customers (and end-users).

The solutions include hardware and software to support the development of the product. A large component of each product requires the engineering of software. You are now participating in software project management.

Prototyping is a fundamental first step.

You will be delivering a working system to your mentors at the end of CS 411W. Therefore, this system must be sustainable and functional. You will need to add a test harnedd (i.e., framework) to your prototype to test the core functionality, and show proof of concept. You must be able to answer the question: Does this solution really solve the problem in an efficient and effective manner? This will require stressing of the system, and in-depth analysis of data. We labeled this aspect the “test harness” last semester. The test harness will not (in the general case) be delivered to the customer.

Make sure to address the design and development of the throw-away parts of your prototype.