1 Course Description

This course explores the software development process. It will discuss the major activities common to software development processes, and some of the ways in which those activities are organized and managed, with particular emphasis on how to successfully work together within a team.

Heavy emphasis will be placed on the day-to-day skills required during software construction. The course will explore lessons and tools offered by major successful agile and open-source software efforts.

The course requires each student to participate as a member of a team in a significant team project. Each student will be required to demonstrate proficiency in several software development tools.

2 Basic Course Information

2.1 Instructors

If you are registered for CRNs 25472, 25473, or 25474:

If you are registered for CRNs 34161 or 34162:

2.2 Meeting Times and Delivery Method

Students must register for both a lecture section and a recitation section.

• Lectures: No regularly scheduled meetings

  Lecture materials for this course will be available on-line, primarily in printed/text form.

  Attendance is optional, but recommended.

• Recitations: Check your schedule to see when you are registered.

  • Tues 9:00-11:00AM
  • Weds 9:00-11:00AM
  • Weds 4:00-6:00PM
  • Weds 6:15PM-8:15PM
  Attendance is mandatory during the scheduled weeks.

Recitations will be conducted by network conferencing (Zoom). Recordings will not be available.

2.4 Course Pre-requisites

2.5 Required Text

Readings from the Internet will be assigned from the course website.

2.6 Computer Accounts

Students will need two network accounts to participate in this class:

2.7 Hardware & Software Requirements

Students will need frequent access to a PC capable of hosting software development activities or of connecting remotely to CS Dept servers where such activities can be performed.

Students will be attending network conferences requiring the use of a microphone. Webcams are optional.

For both remote access to CS Dept servers and for network conferencing, a good-quality internet connection is important.

The course will introduce students to a wide variety of software packages. All of these are open-source, free software, but students may need to install some of these on their chosen development machine (whether their own PC or in their account on the CS network).

3 Course Policies

3.1 Recitation Attendance

Project review sessions will be scheduled for selected weeks during the recitation periods. Attendance at these is mandatory. Failure to attend will result in substantial grade penalties for that portion of the project.

Attendance at other scheduled recitation sessions, as announced in the course outline, is also mandatory. Failure to attend may result in grade penalties.

3.2 Due Dates and Late Submissions

Programming-style assignments that are automatically graded will be accepted one day late at a 10% penalty, two days late at a 20% penalty, but not accepted after that.

Otherwise, late assignments and make-up exams will not normally be permitted.

Exceptions to this and other grading policies will be made only in situations of unusual and unforeseeable circumstances beyond the student’s control. Arrangements must be made prior to the due date in any situations where the conflict is foreseeable.

“I’ve fallen behind and can’t catch up”, “I’m having a busier semester than I expected”, or “I registered for too many classes this semester” are not grounds for an extension.

3.3 Academic Honesty

Everything turned in for grading in this course must be your own work, or, for team projects, the work of your own team. Opportunities for teamwork will be clearly identified as such.

3.3.1 Self-Reporting and Peer Evaluation

This course is heavily based upon a group project, and an integral aspect of the project involves students tracking their work completed and evaluating themselves and their teammates.

Whether in direct communication with the instructor or when working with the surveys and project tracking tools provided for the course, students are required to be honest in their reporting.

Claiming someone else’s work as your own will be considered a violation of the ODU Honor code.

Claiming to have completed more work than you actually performed will be considered a violation of the ODU Honor code.

3.3.2 Use of Online Resources

You may not post details of course assignments, projects, or tests at online Forums, Bulletin Boards, Homework sites, etc., soliciting help.

You may use information that you have not solicited but have located, subject to the following restrictions:

• If you use someone else’s ideas in your your writing or in your code, you must cite your sources appropriately. Within code, such citations appear in comments.

  Example:

  ⋮
  double x = 23.0;
  double xsqrt = sqrt(x);
  // Search algorithm based upon code by S Zeil at
  // https://www.cs.odu.edu/~zeil/cs361/latest/Public/functionAnalysis/index.html#orderedsequentialsearch
  int loc = 0;
  while (loc < arraySize && numbers[loc] < xsqrt)
  ⋮
  

• If you use someone else’s words, in your writing or in your code, you must cite your sources appropriately and mark the quoted text. Within code, such citations appear in comments.

  Example:

  ⋮
  double x = 23.0;
  double xsqrt = sqrt(x);
  
  // Begin quoted code from  S Zeil at
  // https://www.cs.odu.edu/~zeil/cs361/latest/Public/functionAnalysis/index.html#orderedsequentialsearch
  int loc = 0;
  while (loc < listLength && list[loc] < searchItem)
  {
      ++loc;
  }
  // End quoted code
  
  ⋮
  

• Failure to appropriately cite any such “found code” will be taken as evidence of plagiarism.

• Use of ChatGPT or similar AI-enhanced search engines is considered to fall in the “located” information category. Any such material employed in submitted work must cite the engine used and quote any exact text used, as described above.

  Students must retain a precise copy of the prompt material supplied to the AI engine, and must supply that prompt upon request by the instructor.

• The overall principle stated in the first sentence of this section remains in effect. “Everything turned in for grading in this course must be your own work.” If the bulk of your assignment, code, paper, etc., are copied, even with appropriate citation, to the degree that, in the judgment of the instructor, you have not demonstrated your own knowledge of the course material, you will receive a zero for that exercise.

  • In other words, you only be graded on what you have written.

3.4 Grading

We will drop the lowest assignment score and the lowest project phase score.

3.5 Assignment Grading

Assignments will be submitted via GitHub, with the exception of phases 1 and 2 of the team project, which will be submitted via Canvas and OpenProject, respectively.

The last submission prior to the due date will be the one graded. If you believe an earlier submission might have scored higher, it is up to you to recover that earlier submission from git and to commit and push the earlier code.

5 Semester Project - Civility among Team Members

You will be working with your team for many weeks, and there will be a lot of communication expected among team members.

6 Educational Accessibility

Old Dominion University is committed to ensuring equal access to all qualified students with disabilities in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Office of Educational Accessibility (OEA) is the campus office that works with students who have disabilities to provide and/or arrange reasonable accommodations.

• If you experience a disability which will impact your ability to access any aspect of my class, please present me with an accommodation letter from OEA so that we can work together to ensure that appropriate accommodations are available to you.

• If you feel that you will experience barriers to your ability to learn and/or testing in my class but do not have an accommodation letter, please consider scheduling an appointment with OEA to determine if academic accommodations are necessary.

7 General University Policies