DIT345 Fundamentals of Software Architecture, Fall 2022-2023 lp1 HT22 (7.5 hp)

Bachelor’s level. The course is offered online to GU students by the CSE Department at Study Period 1, Fall 2022.

Contact details

Teacher/Examiner:

Sam Jobara (jobara@chalmers.se)

Teaching Assistants

Alexander Nikolic gusnikalc@student.gu.se

Emilie Anthony gusanthem@student.gu.se

Alexandre Rancati-Palmer gusrancal@student.gu.se

Program Teacher

Weixing Zhang weixing@chalmers.se

Student representatives:

Labiba Karar Eshaba guseshka@student.gu.se

Sejal Ulhas Kanaskar guskanase@student.gu.se

Anna Törngren gusolsang@student.gu.se

Anton Golubenko gusgoluan@student.gu.se

Shahd Metwally gusmetwsh@student.gu.se

Tentative Class Schedule

Course purpose

The aim of this course is to equip students with basic knowledge and skills about software architecture design and its role in the development and maintenance of
software systems. The Mantra for this course is Authentic Quality, we expect authentic learning and authentic original deliverables, with best possible quality.
This course covers various definitions of software architecture. We discuss the role and relevance of software architecture at different stages of development projects; we discuss the relation of architecture to requirements and system implementation; we discuss software architecture quality attributes; we discuss various architectural styles and tactics; we discuss general software design principles; we discuss how to document and how to evaluate software architectures. Moreover, we also draw attention to practical market needs, stakeholders, and the economy of software architecture.

Requirements

To be eligible for this course, students must have successfully completed the course DIT045 Requirements and User Experience, 7.5 credits, or equivalent.

Course literature

The main references for this course are these two books:

1. [BCK03]: Software Architecture in Practice (3rd Edition) (SEI Series in Software Engineering) by Len Bass, Paul Clements, Rick Kazman, Publisher: Addison-Wesley.

2. [RF20]: Richards, M., and Ford, N., 2020. Fundamentals of Software Architecture: An Engineering Approach. O'Reilly Media, Inc.

This book may help for the Assignment:

3. [WM03] Wirfs-Brock, R. and McKean, A., 2003. Object design: roles, responsibilities, and collaborations. Addison-Wesley Professional.

In addition to these main references, the lectures slides are the main reference, please make sure to use it to guide your class review roadmap.

4. We also provide and encourage students to review published papers on specific subjects to complement their knowledge with current research issues

The lectures will be delivered in person at Alfons hall at Lindholmen campus, we also post the lecture slides on Canvas. No lectures recording will be available.

We strongly recommend lectures attendance, for optimal learning experience, especially for those who aspire for 5-VG grade :)

Assignments

Along with the lectures, students are required to finish (with a pass or fail grades) three mandatory assignments. These assignments are based on practical case study and a team-based research effort. They are focused on analysis, design, and research-learning experience. Assignments are announced on Canvas and should be done in teams, with close mentoring from the course supervisors. Details about teams formation will be announced in the first lecture.

Please, make sure to attend the first lecture that will introduce the course and the assignments and explain, in detail, the course requirement. In lecture-3

I will provide more details on the assignments, so I highly recommend everyone attendance for this lecture.

Please, take note that the final exam will cover all lectures material/presentation, in addition to the learning experience of the research paper of assignment-3.

Learning outcomes
On successful completion of the course the student will be able to:

Knowledge and understanding
- describe the role of an architect in a software development project, and what may be expected from such a person
- explain common quality requirements, such as performance, security, and modifiability
- describe different architectural styles and how they relate to specific quality attributes of the architecture

Competence and skills
- document architectures using established methods
- solicit requirements from stakeholders and describe these as quality attributes
- express quality attributes using quality scenarios
- create an architectural design of a system based on a case description in natural language

Judgement and approach
reason about how different architectural styles, tactics or design alternatives meet the quality goals of a system

Course Syllabus

Sub-Courses

1. Written examination (Skriftlig tentamen), 4.5 credits Grading scale: Pass with distinction (5), Pass with credit (4), Pass (3) and Fail (U)
2. Assignments (små projekt): 3 credits with Grading scale: Pass (G) and Fail (U)

Examination form

The examination of the course consists of:

A written exam: this exam will test theory understanding and design skills. The exam has two parts: multiple choices and essay questions.
Three assignments: First two to focus on the analysis and design of a navagation-control system, and the third on a research paper-project.
For both second and third assignments, we have a team report as well as an individual report that should be submitted on due time.

The supervision sessions are scheduled throughout the course, and they will be available to discuss and answer questions related to these assignments. We strongly advise you to consult with your supervisor to get feedback on your assignment prior to final submittal to ensure that you on the right track.

Important

all assignments are compulsory and contribute to the student's final pass grade.
both the exam and all assignments (each one) must have a passing grade in order to pass the entire course.
The research project experience is going to be part of the course material that students would be responsible in the final exam.
Please, make sure to monitor canvas posting, I will post in Canvas announcements, assignments, guidelines, literature, and more.
In addition you will receive emails when there is a need to announce or explain important matters.
You can email me directly if you have any questions or concerns, please, use your own university email (not Canvas email), with subject stating the issue.
I will make best effort to communicate all important details over Canvas page, and sometimes via direct email. If you need further details contact me via direct email.