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SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

OFFICE OF THE VICE-PRESIDENT, ACADEMIC

MEMORANDUM

7,2

Senate Committee on Academic Planning

Subject: ?

Faculty of Applied Sciences -

Curriculum revision

Date: ?

December 11, 1996

Action undertaken by the Senate Committee on Undergraduate Studies and the

Senate Committee on Academic Planning gives rise to the following motion:

Motion:

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"that Senate approve and recommend approval to the Board of

Governors, the new Specialist Program in Software Engineering

as set forth in S.97-2

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A Proposal for Specialist Program in Software Engineering

What Is a Specialist Program?

specialist program is

essentially an extended major program. Two specialist programs, in

Software Engineering and Multimedia Computing, are being proposed. The B.Sc. degree (as well

as the B.A. degree) with a major in Computing Science will continue to exist. They will be called

the

general program,

as distinguished from the specialist program. The differences between the

two are as follows:

A specialist program has at least all lower division course requirements as the general

program. In case of Multimedia Computing, there are additional lower division course

requirements due to its multidisciplinary flavor.

A specialist program has a separate list of required/elective upper division courses, in lieu of

current depth and breadth requirements of the general program.

The requirement of liberal arts electives remains the same for general and specialist

programs. In case of Multimedia Computing, the Contemporary Arts courses taken can be

used to fulfill this requirement.

Students in either the general program or a specialist program will graduate with a B.Sc.

(Computing Science) which is recognized in the degree diploma. They will be recognized in their

•

transcript as majors in Computing Science. For graduands of a specialist program, the name of

the specialist program will be printed on the transcript as well. In the diagram below, the

wording at the top level will be shown in the diploma and that in one of the three boxes at the

bottom level will be shown in the transcript.

B.Sc. (Computing Science)

What is Software Engineering?

We define Software Engineering (SE) in a broader sense than many people do. This

encompasses the entire software development cycle, in terms of both process and techniques.

This is in line with most of the SE programs in Canadian CS departments, and what the industry

comes to expect from a university graduate in SE. Indeed, this broad-based definition is

consistent with all engineering disciplines in universities.

Why Specialist Program in Software Engineering?

It is almost universally recognized that the computer software/hardware scene is constantly

changing. What is new is that the pace of change is accelerating. These changes have

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profoundly impacted the development of a software system. Five years ago, it was not

uncommon to find large teams of in-house programmers developing mainframe/dumb-terminal

applications using traditional programming languages. Now, a typical software system runs on a

PC, is equipped with an easy-to-use graphical user interface (GUI) and accesses remote

databases over the LAN/WAN. In the near future, most software systems will have to be

network-enabled over a mail/messaging/telephone system and/or the Internet. A software

developer has to understand the fundamentals of a slate of GUI, database, networking and other

system components with which his/her application must interact.

The system development process has also changed drastically. Rapid prototyping is often the

norm. Companies find it difficult to proceed with multi-year projects as it becomes next to

impossible to predict short-term changes in computer industry, and indeed, the business the

company is in.

Clearly we have to adapt our curriculum in view of the revolutionary changes in the development

of software systems. We added a course in rapid prototyping last year. This year, two new

courses are being proposed, in advanced software engineering (largely process-oriented) and

networking respectively. Without a doubt, more curriculum changes in relation to SE will be

forthcoming. It is therefore. desirable to package these related courses for update and

maintenance purposes, which is one of main reasons for establishing a specialist program in SE.

In view of an unusually large number of upper division courses on the calendar, it would be

difficult to keep track of them without a convenient packaging.

Visibility is another main reason. It would attract some prospective students who are interested

in software engineering jobs. For those students pursuing an intense study of software

engineering courses, a formal recognition as such is highly desirable.

Similar Programs in other Canadian CS departments

Many CS departments across Canada have begun to implement programs that focus on SE. Most

of these programs are implemented as options for their majors/honors programs. A specialist

program in SE was established by the CS department at Toronto in May 1995. It has already

attracted 61 students over a period of 9 months, out of a total 290 majors (i.e. Honors in the

Ontario system). University of Waterloo likewise has established an SE option in the CS

department jointly with Electrical Engineering Department. At UBC, the CS department is actively

recruiting more faculty in SE. Continuing Studies at UBC has been offering a certificate program

inSE for several years. Computing Science department at University of Alberta has just

introduced three SE courses. The CS department in University of Calgary are looking for 4 faculty

members in various areas of SE in support of their NSERC industrial chair in SE. The list goes on.

Software Engineering at SFU

In this School, there have been talks from time to time about establishing a 4004evelcourse in SE.

We made SE as the top area for recruiting faculty, but the hiring freezing has put a stop to our

recruitment efforts. It is unlikely we may have a SE faculty champion in place for at least another

year. We can no longer afford doing nothing in the area of SE. While Engineering Science at SFU

is not yet in the position to offer their own software engineering option, other BC universities will,

notably the new Technical University of BC which is actively looking for unique degree programs

to offer. To deliberate our SE strategies, a UCC sub-committee was set up for this purpose. We

have also consulted Wolfgang Strigel, the head of Software Productivity Centre, and his

colleagues Geoff Flamank and Kai Toth on SE curriculum issues.

The first priority of the Subcommittee is a full-fledged degree program in software engineering

funded by new monies from the University and/or the Province. This will be jointly offered by the

Schools of Computing Science and Engineering Science. Unfortunately, this is not an immediately

achievable goal, especially under the current fiscal climate. There is also the question of

obtaining provincial approval for such a new degree program. Under these circumstances, the

committee recommend that while we should proceed immediately with a plan to pursue a full-

fledged SE program with joint CS and ES participation, we should consider a short-term, more

modest action-plan, which does not entail a major relocation of resources within CS. This plan

includes an addition of a 400-level course in SE and establishment of a specialist program in SE,

which is focused on software, particularly systems-level software. A new networking course is

being introduced at the same time, which will provide a good understanding of various aspects

of modern networking applications, such as messaging systems and security. Incidentally, the

CS Industrial Advisory Board has strongly recommended the establishment of this course.

Program Requirements (Upper Division):

At least 45 semester hours of CMPT upper division courses, which should include the CMPT

required/elective courses and ENSC 351

Principles for selecting courses on the

required/elective

lists

• By the very definition of a specialist program, it should focus on its specialty and not be wide

open. In the context of a software engineering specialist program, this implies that the

required courses and electives must be limited to those which are directly related to the

entire software development cycle, in terms of both process and technique. This is in

accordance with one of the prime motivations of the program: visibility.

• On the process side, courses that are directly directed to SE are those which emphasize on

SE methodologies and process.

• On the technique side, courses that are directly related to SE are those which provide basic

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fundamentals of modern software systems/components that applications program must

interact (i.e. operating system and middle-layer system). In particular:

• System-oriented courses are preferred. That is, courses that emphasize on the

understanding of how the whole system works are more suitable than those which

emphasize on design of a particular set of algorithm(s) that belong to some narrow

aspects of the system.

• Broadly based courses are preferred, in comparison with more specialized courses

in the same area.

Required

Courses (7):

CMPT 300-3 Operating Systems I

CMPT 307-3 Data Structures and Algorithms

CMPT 320-3 Social Implications of a Computerized Society

CMPT 354-3 Database Systems I

CMPT 363-3 User Interface Design

CMPT 371-3 Data Communications and Networking

CMPT 475-3 Software Engineering II (New Course)

At least five of the following electives: (at least 3 must be at 400 level)

CMPT 301-3 Information System Management

CMPT 370-3 Information System Design

CMPT 379-3 Principles of Compiler Design

CMPT 383-3 Comparative Programming Languages

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CMPT 401-3 Operating Systems II

CMPT 402-3 Operating System Software Laboratory

CM PT 454-3 Database Systems II

CMPT 470-3 Advanced Application Development Tools

CMPT 471-3 Networking II (New Course)

CMPT 487-3 Software Engineering Tools and Environments

ENSC 351-4 Real Time and Embedded Systems

JJLO5

Simon Fraser University

• ?

School of Engineering Science

MEMORANDUM

TO: ?

Wo-Shun Luk, Director

School of Computing Science

FROM: ?

Albert M. Leung, Director

School of Engineering Science

DATE: ?

July 4, 1996

SUBJECT: ?

Proposal for Specialist Program in Software Engineering

I am writing to indicate our strong support of the proposed Specialist Program in Software

Engineering. I believe this program is of significant interest to local industry, and can prepare

many students for an exciting career.

Software Engineering is an area in which Computing Science and Engineering Science have a lot

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in common, both in interest and expertise. In addition to Professor John Dill, who is currently

working with your group in the design of this new program, there are several others here who are

also very interested in this initiative. I hope our collaboration will continue to grow and would

like to see a strong Software Engineering Program mature in a few years time as a result of the

joint effort of the two schools.

cc: ?

John Dill

AML: Ics