ENGINEERING TRIPOS PART IIA - 2012/2013

Project GF2 - Software

Leaders: Dr A.H. Gee email: ahg

Project Type: Group
Project Category: Design
Prerequisites: None
Timing: Fridays 11-1pm, Tuesdays 9-11am plus afternoons

SUMMARY

The aim of this project is to develop a Logic Simulation program using the programming language C++. The project introduces students to all major phases of software engineering practice, viz. specification, design, implementation, testing and maintenance.

The project is organised in the form of a 'real life simulation'. You are asked to imagine that you have just joined a software development company. You have been assigned to a team of programmers who have just begun work on a contract to develop a Logic Simulation Program. You are given the 'client's' original requirements document and asked to produce a detailed specification for part of the system. Following this you move onto the design stage. You are told that the program has been divided into 8 functional modules and your team has been given the responsibility for designing and implementing 4 of them. When you have completed these, you have to integrate them with the remaining 4 modules of the system and test it. Finally, the client requests some changes to be made to the program and you are asked to implement these.

AIMS

• To introduce students to various issues in the development of large software systems.
• To develop and test a logic simulator in C++.

FORMAT

Students work in groups of three, sharing the work. Each student in the group will write different parts of a large software system, test them independently and then integrate into a complete simulator.

ACTIVITIES and TIMING

Week 1: Revision exercises in C++, Lecture on Logic Circuit Specification using a Grammar, Parsing and some concepts in Software Engineering.

Week 2: Design of specification grammar, familiarising with some modules that already exist, estimating and splitting the work involved and start work on individual modules.

Week 3: Software design and testing (continued)

Week 4: Integration and testing the complete system. Modification to system and final report.

ASSESSMENT

Format: Submission Date - Marks

Interim report 1: 2pm Tuesday 21 May 2013 - 15 marks (all group)

Interim report 2:  11am Friday 31 May 2013 - 15 marks (7 group, 8 individual)

Final report: 4pm Thursday 6 June 2013 - 50 marks (all individual)

Last updated: November 2012