Software Quality Assurance: CS 4712 Syllabus Schedule Assignments Links

Computer Science

Instructor	Charles Wallace (906) 487-3431 wallace@mtu.edu
Meetings	Fisher 231, Mon/Wed/Fri 9-10 Office hours: Rekhi 205, Mon 1-2, Wed 10-11
Pre/corequisites	CS 3141 (Team Software Project)

Course description

Building on previous exposure to the fundamentals of the software process, this course focuses on techniques for ensuring software quality. Here, quality assurance is viewed as an activity that runs through the entire development process: understanding the needs of clients and users; analyzing and documenting requirements; verifying and validating solutions through testing.

There are four major topics:

• Requirements elicitation and user-centered development. Communicating with customers, users, and other stakeholders about requirements. User-centered design. Evaluating usability of a software product.
• Requirements analysis. Software development as problem solving. Identifying, structuring, and classifying problems through Problem Frames. Building specifications from requirements.
• Verification and validation. Defining the testing mission. Test strategies. Techniques of conformance testing. Validating preliminary designs through prototyping.
• Quality management. Measuring software quality. Software quality standards.

Textbook

P. Ammann and J. Offutt. Introduction to Software Testing. Cambridge University Press, 2008. ISBN 978-0-521-88038-1

Course requirements and grading

Since this is an upper-level undergraduate course, a high degree of student participation in lectures is expected. It is essential that you read the assigned material before lecture and be prepared to participate in the class discussion. By now you probably have a good deal of experience developing software, through coursework or extracurricular activities like co-ops. You should bring this experience to bear in reading and evaluating the material.

The course work consists of the following:

• Homework assignments (counting for 10% of the final grade): On days when a homework assignment is due, the class discussion will center around the problems raised in the homework. The assignments will be graded on a "good faith effort" basis: If you demonstrate a reasonable amount of effort and care in your answers, you will receive full credit, even if you don't get the "right answer" to everything. You may discuss homework problems among yourselves, but you should do your write-ups individually.
• In-class assignments (10%): In class, we will perform several exercises, typically in pairs. The written portions of these exercises will be turned in at the end of the class period.
• Team projects (40%): Two projects in which you will apply the ideas discussed in the course to a particular software problem. You will work in teams of 3-4 on these projects; the teams will be chosen by me.
• Exams (40%): Two in-class, closed-book examinations evaluating your grasp of the material.

All written assignments done outside of class must be typed. Please use PDF whenever possible.

No late assignments will be accepted, and no extra credit will be awarded. So it is important to concentrate on getting the regularly assigned work done, on time.