Instructors

• Professor Richard N. Taylor and the Software Faculty
• Electronic Mail: taylor@ics.uci.edu
• Office: ICS2-203
• Office Phone: (714) 824-6429
• Fax: (714) 824-4056
• Mailing Address:
  Department of Information and Computer Science,
  University of California, Irvine
  Irvine, California 92697-3425

Overview and Prerequisite Knowledge

From the UCI Catalog:

Study of the concepts, methods, and tools for the analysis, design, construction, and measurement of complex software-intensive systems. Underlying principles emphasized. State-of-the-art software engineering and promising research areas covered, including principles of software engineering, requirements analysis, design, implementation, testing, and project management.

This class is a graduate survey of software engineering topics. The instructors assume background in software engineering, as well as some experience in developing software systems. For example, the course assumes knowledge of the basic ideas of: software development phases (e.g., requirements engineering, design, implementation), software development processes (such as the spiral model and the waterfall model), software design methodologies (such as design based on information hiding), software testing and analysis strategies, and project management issues (e.g. chief programmer teams). Students new to this area are advised to take ICS 121, as this course will not repeat basic material, but rather will be focused on issues at the frontier of software engineering. At the end of the class students should be knowledgeable about what key problems are currently being pursued by software researchers, what the key approaches are, and who are many of the leading researchers.

The vehicles for learning about the topics are readings from the textbook, readings from the technical literature, lectures, and classroom discussion. The class is co-taught by the software faculty in order for specialty topics to be presented in depth.

Readings

• Fundamentals of Software Engineering, by Carlo Ghezzi, Mehdi Jazayeri, and Dino Mandrioli, 1991. Prentice-Hall.

Schedule

Assignments and Assessment

• Paper/topic summaries. For each paper assigned during the class (expectation: about 10-12) you are required to submit a two-page (appx. 800 word) summary and evaluation. One page should summarize the key points or contributions of the paper. The second page should assess the applicability of the ideas, problems in applying the ideas, or provide other critical evaluation. In aggregate these summaries will account for 40% of your grade.
• Term paper. Accounting for 30% of your grade, the term paper is an in-depth exploration of some current topic in software engineering. (The paper must be new for this class, not a warmed-over paper written for some other ICS class.) This paper may be largely survey in character. Substantial latitude will be allowed in choosing the topic, but all topics must be approved in advance by the instructor.
• Class attendance and participation is critical. This will account for 10% of your grade.
• Final exam. A final exam, worth 20%, will allow you to demonstrate your understanding of the papers and topics covered in class.

Enrolled Students

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