95648 - Software Design and Development

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, the student will have a foundational understanding of programming paradigms for large-scale software development, such as the object-oriented and functional paradigms, key design patterns, and how these are implemented in modern programming languages and development frameworks. The student will be able to design and develop complete small-to-medium-sized applications using development processes and agile techniques, including the DevOps approach to project management.

Course contents

• Basic elements of object-oriented (OO) analysis, design, and programming
• The Java programming language (PL): overview and development tools
• Basic elements of OOPLs: classes, objects, methods, fields, and instantiation
• Polimorphism, inheritance, reuse: interfaces and abstract classes
• An overview of advanced aspects: generic programming, annotations, exceptions, elements of functional programming (lambda expressions)
• Basic libraries for program construction
• I/O handling
• Programming of graphical user interfaces (GUIs)
• Basics of concurrency
• Brief overview of design patterns and techniques of effective programming
• Development tools and basics of DevOps: JDK, IntelliJ Idea, git, Gradle, continuous integration

Readings/Bibliography

Reference book:

• Bruce Eckel. Thinking in Java -- Fourth Edition
  

Additional books:

• Joshua Block. Effective Java -- Second Edition
• Erich Gamma, Richard Elm, Ralph Johnson, John Vlissides. Design Patterns
  

The purchase of these books is not required for this course, as substitute slides will be provided.
The course will also rely on tutorials and documentation available on the Web.

Teaching methods

The pedagogical setup of the course will leverage lectures from the professor and practical activity at the lab.

In class, we will illustrate object-oriented programming techniques and details of the Java programming language, and conduct exercises to stimulate a critical attitude in students.

In lab, we will illustrate various development tools, and assign development tasks to exercise practical abilities of students, using active didactic approaches.

Assessment methods

The assessment will be based on the following:

Oral exam based on presentation of a cooperative project. In 3-persons teams, students build a software application in Java, producing documentation of requirements, design, and implementation. Assessment includes check of software quality and discussions of design choices.

Teaching tools

Learning material will be provided by the professor (in particular, slides and exercises). Lab activities will support learning of practical abilities. A tutor will support the students throughout the activity in lab.

Office hours

See the website of Gianluca Aguzzi

See the website of Angelo Filaseta