Subject Description Form

Subject Code COMP3211

Subject Title Software Engineering

Credit Value 3

Level 3

Pre-requisite / Pre-requisite: COMP2011/COMP2013

Co-requisite /
Exclusion

Objectives The objectives of this subject are to:

1. familiarise students with the concepts, theories, and techniques concerning

various aspects of software development; and

2. provide students with opportunities to apply the theories and techniques to the
development of software systems.

Intended Upon completion of the subject, students will be able to:

Learning
Outcomes Professional/academic knowledge and skills

(a) appreciate the importance of software engineering;

(b) become familiar with software engineering concepts, theories, and techniques;

(c) apply software engineering theories and techniques at various stages of the
software development lifecycle;

Attributes for all-roundedness

(d) work with others as a team to develop serious software systems; and

(e) communicate both verbally and in writing about important aspects of software
development.

Dec 2023
Subject Topic
Synopsis/
Indicative 1. Introduction to Software Engineering
Syllabus
Importance of software engineering, software engineering diversity, software
engineering ethics.
2. Software Processes
Software process models, software process activities, coping with changes,
process improvement.

3. Agile Software Development

Agile methods, agile development techniques, agile project management,
scaling agile methods.

4. Requirements Engineering
functional and non-functional requirements, requirements engineering
processes, requirements elicitation, specification, validation, and change.

5. System Modeling
Context models, interaction models, structural models, behavioural models,
model-driven architecture.

6. Architectural Design
Architectural design decisions, architectural views, architectural patterns,
application architectures.

7. Object-Oriented Methodology
Object-oriented analysis, object-oriented design, object-oriented
programming.
8. Software Testing
Development testing, test-driven development, release testing, user testing.
9. Software Evolution
Evolution processes, legacy systems, software maintenance, software
configuration management.
10. Advanced Topics in Software Engineering

Teaching/ Lectures focus on introduction and explanation of key concepts and techniques.
Learning Tutorial/lab sessions provide students with opportunities to apply the theories and
Methodology techniques in selected software engineering scenarios. Assignments, in-class
exercises/quizzes, and the examination will be used to assess the students’
understanding of the learned knowledge. The project requires the students to work
in groups and apply the theories and techniques to solve problems in the development
of serious software systems.

Dec 2023
Assessment
Specific assessment % Intended subject learning outcomes to
Methods in
methods/tasks weighting be assessed
Alignment with
Intended
a b c d e
Learning
Outcomes Continuous Assessment

1. Assignments  
60%
2. In-Class   
Exercises/Quizzes

3. Project   

Examination 40%  

Total 100%

Explanation of the appropriateness of the assessment methods in assessing the

intended learning outcomes:

Assignments, in-class exercises/quizzes and the examination will be used to assess

students’ understanding of the concepts, theories, and techniques in software
engineering.

The project will provide students with opportunities to apply the theories and
techniques to the development of serious software systems. Students can develop
their analytical and problem-solving skills and practise teamwork in the project. The
students can also improve their presentation and communication skills through the
project presentation.

Student Study Class contact:

Effort Expected
 Lecture 39 Hrs.

Other student study effort:

 Assignments, Project and Self-study 66 Hrs.

Total student study effort 105 Hrs.

Reading List Textbook:

and References
1. Sommerville, I., Software Engineering, 10th Edition, Pearson, 2015.

Reference Books:
1. Pressman, R., Software Engineering: A Practitioner’s Approach, 8th Edition,
McGraw-Hill, 2014.

2. Grady Booch, Robert A. Maksimchuk, Michael W. Engle, Bobbi J. Young, Jim

Conallen, Kelli A. Houston, Object Oriented Analysis & Design with
Applications, 3rd Edition, Addison-Wesley, 2007.

Dec 2023
 3. Jacobson, I., Booch, G. and Rumbaugh, J., The Unified Software Development
Process, Addison-Wesley, 1999.

4. Pierre Bourque, Richard E. Fairley, Guide to the Software Engineering Body of

Knowledge, IEEE Computer Society, 3rd Edition, 2014.

Dec 2023