CSCE 4543 Software Architecture – Spring 2009

Tentative Syllabus

General Information

• Time and Place:  TR8:00-9:20 - JBHT 234
• Instructor:  Craig Thompson, http://csce.uark.edu/~cwt/, phone:  479-575-6519, email:  cwt@uark.edu
• Course Catalog:  A study of software architecture through the use of case studies drawn from real systems designed to solve real problems from technical as well as managerial perspectives. Techniques for designing, building, and evaluating software architectures. 
• Prerequisite:  CSCE 3313 Algorithms and CSCE 4513 Software Engineering.
• About the course:  This course will teach students how to reason about and develop large software systems.  At a high level, such systems can be viewed as nodes and connectors.  At a low level, technologies like web services connect one subsystem to another.  In between systems can be described as implementing middleware design patterns.  Case studies we will consider are client-server, peer-to-peer, web systems, database management systems, workflow systems, agent systems, grid systems, service-oriented architectures (SOAs), RFID edgeware, and virtual worlds.  We will also consider end-to-end aspects of architectures including security, reliability, understandability/maintainability, evolvability, and survivability.
• Term projects will vary - several will involve virtual world scalability.
• A graduate section is available to CSCE grad students who are permitted to take "up to three" 4000-level courses, 590V or transfer courses outside the department total. 

Assignments/Evaluation & Topics/Schedule

The course grade will be based on

• 25% - Participation in class
• 75% - Term project – Demos updates in class 2/5, 3/5, 4/2, 4/14. Term project is due the week of 4/28 and 4/30 with demos in class plus a deliverable zip file containing a final report and code emailed to the instructor by class 4/30

Topics and schedule:

• Tuesdays = lecture/reading/discussion on topics:
• SL demos, virtual worlds, Second Life, SL recent progress, SL website, tutorials, research, building, scripting, scripting, scripting
• software architecture, abstraction, separation of concerns, architecture description languages, design patterns, middleware, proxy, wrapper
• distributes computing, RPC, client-server, peer-to-peer
• service-oriented architectures, web services (WSDL, SOAP, UDDI), managed objects, Object Management Group
• virtual machine
• pervasive computing, agent, EiA, soft controllers, RFID middleware, RFID links
• database management systems, ODBC, OLE DB, spatial DBMS, OODB
• grid computing, workflow, grid workflow, grid DBMS, relationship to agents
• aspect-oriented architectures - security, reliability, scalability, evolvability, and survivability
• Web – web browser, HTTP, HTML, XML, XSLT, search engines, Web 2.0, Web 3.0
• Email – SMTP, POP, IMAP, MIME
• artificial intelligence – problem solving, natural language processing, metadata, knowledge representation, ontology
• the future of software architecture
• other topics depending on class interest and time -
• Thursdays = discussion on term projects – focus on virtual world scalability
• Spring Break 3/17-19/08
• Engineering Career Fair 2/9 2-6pm & 2/23 2-6pm + Business Career Fair 2/10 11-3pm

Course Policies

Course Web Page and Email List – Class announcements will be posted on the course syllabus (this page) and/or the course email list. Watch for frequent updates.

Conduct - Come to class on time as a courtesy to your professor and fellow students. 

Homework and Programming Due Date Policy - Homework (including homework assignments and programming assignments) is due in class on the dates specified in the course schedule. Homework is worth full credit when turned in at the beginning of the class on the due date. A 10% penalty per day will be incurred for late homework.  No submissions will be accepted after the solutions are posted.

Academic Integrity – The work you submit for this class is expected to be the result of your own work in your own words. You are free to discuss course material and general approaches to problems with others but you should never misrepresent someone else's work as your own. It is also your responsibility to protect your work from unauthorized access. If you quote, be sure to use quotation marks.

Accommodation for Disability – If you have a disability that will impact your work in this class, please contact me to discuss your needs.

Inclement Weather Policy – If the University announces closure due to inclement weather (which is announced on http://www.uark.edu), then we will not have class that day.  Even if the University is open:

• if the instructor (who lives on a hill) cannot make it to class (due to ice), then he will send an email to class members and also post a note on this web page BY 7AM indicating NO CLASS TODAY (<DATE>) and any instructions for assignments.  He will also alert the CSCE Department staff (but that will be after the office opens at 8am)
• if a student feels it is unsafe to come to class due to inclement weather, then s/he should (at earliest convenience) send an email to the instructor indicating the reason for missing class.
• In the above cases, any assignments due that day will be due the next class period.