This course is particularly appropriate if you are working professionally with software (either directly or indirectly) as a developer, as a user or in a management capacity. It explores the advanced concepts and techniques used throughout the software life cycle, for the effective production and management of large, complex, and long-lived software systems. It provides a holistic perspective of technical and non-technical factors involved in developing useful and safe software systems in ... READ MORE

This course is particularly appropriate if you are working professionally with software (either directly or indirectly) as a developer, as a user or in a management capacity. It explores the advanced concepts and techniques used throughout the software life cycle, for the effective production and management of large, complex, and long-lived software systems. It provides a holistic perspective of technical and non-technical factors involved in developing useful and safe software systems in complex social and organisational contexts. You will gain hands-on experience of software engineering practices, in both individual and team-working contexts. To study this module you will need to have completed Software development (M813), or have equivalent professional software development knowledge.

Computers are now such an integral part of most organisations and they are critically dependent on the software. You will study how complex software systems fit into organisations, from procurement to maintenance and development. You will also gain an understanding of the business context of any proposed software, in order to elicit and analyse software requirements. The course is divided into four blocks: Block 1: Software in context; Block 2: Software engineering process; Block 3: Software evolution; Block 4: Requirements engineering. During the module, you will have an opportunity to use a number of different software engineering tools, including process simulation tools, configuration management systems and requirements recording tools to address the software engineering challenges associated with realistic business problems. While some of these activities will be undertaken individually, there will also be elements that involve you working with others to produce a requirements specification. You will be required to complete 3 Tutor-marked assignments (TMAs) and an examination.