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Programme & Unit Catalogues


ES50171: Principles of programming and software engineering

[Page last updated: 02 August 2022]

Academic Year: 2022/23
Owning Department/School: Department of Economics
Credits: 10 [equivalent to 20 CATS credits]
Notional Study Hours: 200
Level: Masters UG & PG (FHEQ level 7)
Period:
Semester 1
Assessment Summary: CW 100%
Assessment Detail:
  • Exercise Sheets and Code review (CW 100%)
Supplementary Assessment:
Like-for-like reassessment (where allowed by programme regulations)
Requisites:
Learning Outcomes: At the end of this unit students should be able to:
* Describe the design of a computer program separately from its implementation;
* Explain the basic concepts of procedural and object oriented programming in the design and implementation of computer programs;
* Explain debugging and testing methods and how they contribute to robust code;
* Design, construct and evaluate simple data structures and algorithms;
* Plan, organise and implement program code to support reuse and maintainability of the software;
* Demonstrate an understanding of the principles of software development paradigms and their relationship to the appropriateness of eventual software solutions.

Aims:
* To introduce students to the development of computer software, including problem analysis, establishing requirements, designing, implementing and evaluating.
* To provide students with the terminology and concepts of programming, irrespective of the language being used. To provide practical skills at reading and writing programs and producing programs to solve real world problems.
* To make students feel confident about programming in the taught languages and about being able to learn different programming languages and programming paradigms.
* To develop an understanding of how the principles behind software development are much more important than the chosen programming language, and how specification, design choices and development methodology may have a major impact on the correctness and suitability of the final software solution.
* To develop a systemic understanding of software development paradigms for complex software system building.

Skills:
* Ability to use information technology
* Ability to solve problems
* Ability to think critically and communicate programs, code, and output effectively
* Choosing appropriate design techniques.

Content:
* Design of a computer program separately from its implementation;
* Basic concepts of procedural and object oriented programming in the design and implementation of computer programs;
* Debugging and testing methods and how they contribute to robust code;
* Simple data structures and algorithms;
* Program code to support reuse and maintainability of the software;
* Principles of software development paradigms and their relationship to the appropriateness of eventual software solutions.

Programme availability:

ES50171 is a Designated Essential Unit on the following programmes:

Department of Economics
  • THES-AFM30 : MSc Economics for Business Intelligence and Systems

Notes:

  • This unit catalogue is applicable for the 2022/23 academic year only. Students continuing their studies into 2023/24 and beyond should not assume that this unit will be available in future years in the format displayed here for 2022/23.
  • Programmes and units are subject to change in accordance with normal University procedures.
  • Availability of units will be subject to constraints such as staff availability, minimum and maximum group sizes, and timetabling factors as well as a student's ability to meet any pre-requisite rules.
  • Find out more about these and other important University terms and conditions here.