M.J. Lutz

The push to make software engineering respectable

A recognized engineering profession must have an established body of knowledge and skill that its practitioners understand and use consistently. After 30 years, there is still a wide gap between the best and the typical software engineering practices. To close this gap, we need a deeper partnership among industry, academia, and professional societies. We have spent some time considering the reasons for SEs immaturity. All of us are heavily involved in both industry and academia and have been active in professional societies that aim to promote SE as a profession. Promotion efforts are by no means limited to the US, but because our experience is primarily with US activities, that is our focus in this article. Our main goal is to explore, from a multifaceted perspective, why we are where we are now and how we can move forward.

Integrating Agile Practices into Software Engineering Courses

Agile software development methodologies are gaining popularity in industry although they comprise a mix of accepted and controversial software engineering practices. It is quite likely that the software industry will find that specific project characteristics will determine the prudence of using an agile or a plan-driven methodology – or a hybrid of the two. Educators must assess the value and applicability of these emerging agile practices and decide what role they have in software engineering curricula. This paper provides a brief overview of several agile methodologies, including a discussion of evaluative research of agile practices in academia. The paper also considers instructional issues related to agile methods and the impact of agile methodologies on existing curricular references such as SWEBOK.

Undergraduate software engineering

Addressing the needs of professional software development.

Crafting a baccalaureate program in software engineering

In the fall of 1996. The Rochester Institute of Technology admitted the first students to its new B.S. program in Software Engineering. The program, which evolved from elective sequences in computer science and computer engineering, is significant for several reasons. First, to the best of our knowledge, it is the only such program offered in the U.S. Second, the program is jointly supported by two colleges of RIT, each with a unique culture, perspective, and mission. Finally, our goal from the outset was to design a curriculum that could be eventually accredited as an engineering program. While the paper briefly outlines the rationale for developing a new, specialized program, the focus is primarily on how the curriculum was developed, what it comprises, and why it is structured the way it is. We hope that others contemplating or actively developing such a program will profit from our experiences.

The road less traveled: a baccalaureate degree in software engineering

In the fall of 1996, RIT admitted the first students to a new undergraduate program in software engineering. Our goal in creating the program was to provide for the education of a new type of engineer: the software engineer. This paper presents the rationale for developing such a program, the process we followed in its design, and an outline of the distinctive features it possesses.

Testing tools (software)

After a brief overview, separate presentations are given on tools that support the testing process in a variety of ways. Some tools simulate the final execution environment as a way of expediting test execution, others automate the development of test plans, and still others collect performance data during execution. The tools address three aspects of the testing process. They provide a controlled environment in which testing can take place as well as test-data control, and some tools actually perform the tests, capturing and organizing the resulting output. The tools covered are: RUTE (Real-Time Unix Text Environment); Xray/DX; TDC (Testing and Debugging Concurrent) Ada; T; Mothra; Specification Analyzer; and Test inc.<<ETX>>

Guidance for the development of software engineering education programs

Abstract In this paper, we discuss issues and ideas that can improve the undergraduate education of software engineers. We submit that a key impediment to the advancement of software engineering education is the lack of guidance and support for the development of new courses and curricula. We discuss the work and results of a project to create a set of Guidelines for Software Engineering Education . We outline the content of the Guidelines , describe how they relate to recent and current professional activities to improve the practice of software engineering, and discuss future plans for their development.

Software engineering on internet time

For Internet-style software development to succeed, developers must adapt and apply classical software engineering principles and practices to the Web environment.

Software engineering course materials workshop

Workshop Summary This workshop will provide participants with an opportunity to discuss and critique software engineering course materials being developed as part of the SWENET project. SWENET is an NSF project designed to create a Web-based community of software engineering education. A key activity in the project is to create, collect, and share software engineering course materials within the context of current accreditation guidelines and curricular models.

Developing undergraduate software engineering programs

This workshop provides a forum for discussing issues related to the development of undergraduate software engineering programs. Participants discuss means by which software engineering concepts can be incorporated in either new or existing baccalaureate programs.