COMP 208/214/215/216 LECTURE 1

2017-18

INTRODUCTION

GROUP SOFTWARE PROJECTS

• MICHELE ZITO (ASHTON 3.06)• COURSE CO-ORDINATOR• LECTURER, PROJECT MONITOR, PROJECT REVIEWER

• SEBASTIAN COOPE, KEITH DURES, RIDA LARAKI, STUART THOMASON, PRUDENCE WONG• PROJECT REVIEWERS• PROJECT MONITORS

• PHIL JIMMIESON, DAVE SHIELD• TECHNICAL SUPPORT/ADVICE

AIMS OF THE COURSE• TO GIVE EXPERIENCE OF WORKING AS PART OF A TEAM TO DEVELOP

A SUBSTANTIAL PIECE OF SOFTWARE

• BOTH OF THESE ASPECTS ARE IMPORTANT:• BUILDING A LARGE PIECE OF SOFTWARE PRESENTS DIFFERENT

PROBLEMS FROM COURSEWORK EXERCISES• ALMOST ALL WORK IN THE REAL WORLD IS DONE BY TEAMS.

SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT IS USUALLY NOW A TEAM EFFORT

• REDHAT GNU/LINUX 7.1• 30 MILLION SOURCE LINES OF CODE (SLOC)• 8,000 PERSON-YEARS EFFORT• COST (IF DEVELOPED CONVENTIONALLY) > US $1 BN (2000 DOLLARS)

• MICROSOFT WINDOWS • WINDOWS SERVER 2003: 50 MILLION SLOC

• APPLE MACINTOSH• MAC OS X 10.4: 86 MILLION SLOC

• DEBIAN GNU/LINUX 5.0• 324 MILLION SLOC.

SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA: “SOURCE LINES OF CODE” (CONSULTED 2013-1-16)

THIS IS YOUR PROJECT• THE PROJECT GIVES AN OPPORTUNITY TO SHOW

INITIATIVE AND TO TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR LEARNING• AS A GROUP YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR:• CHOOSING THE APPLICATION AREA• FINDING WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW• PLANNING THE PROJECT• PROGRESSING THE PROJECT• DELIVERING THE PRODUCTS ON TIME

OF COURSE, ALL OF THIS WILL BE DONE WITHIN THE GUIDELINES LAID DOWN.

2U

SOFTWARE REQUIRED: 208

• TYPICALLY (BUT NOT NECESSARILY!) A DATABASE APPLICATION IN AN AREA DETERMINED BY YOU, WHICH, AS A MINIMUM:• SUPPORTS USERS AND ADMINISTRATORS• IS OF REASONABLE COMPLEXITY• CONTAINS NON-TRIVIAL INFORMATION• SUPPORTS A RANGE OF SENSIBLE QUERIES AND

TRANSACTIONS.• ALTERNATIVE PROPOSALS WITH A MORE

SIGNIFICANT ALGORITHMIC/PROBLEM SOLVING COMPONENT ARE ENCOURAGED

SOFTWARE: 215-216

• PROJECTS FOR COMP215-216 COULD HAVE A REFINED WEB OR MOBILE INTERFACE • TYPICALLY INVOLVE A DATABASE IN AN AREA

DETERMINED BY YOU, WHICH, AS A MINIMUM:• SUPPORTS USERS AND ADMINISTRATORS• IS OF REASONABLE COMPLEXITY• CONTAINS USEFUL INFORMATION• SUPPORTS A RANGE OF SENSIBLE QUERIES AND

TRANSACTIONS.• SHOULD HAVE A NON-TRIVIAL BUSINESS

COMPONENT (E.G. PAYROLL SYSTEMS, BUSINESS ACTIVITIES MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS, ACCOUNTING SYSTEMS).

SOFTWARE REQUIRED: 214

• TYPICALLY THE AIM OF THE PROJECT WILL BE TO CREATE A COMPUTER SYSTEM CAPABLE OF UNDERTAKING AN INTELLIGENT SEARCH OF THE SOLUTION OF A GIVEN COMPUTATIONAL PROBLEM

• YOU WILL NEED TO STRUCTURE AND REPRESENT THE KNOWLEDGE SPECIFIC TO THE GIVEN PROBLEM AND IMPLEMENT A SEARCH ALGORITHM ACROSS IT. SUGGESTED APPLICATION AREAS INCLUDE:• TIMETABLING, OR• GROUP ALLOCATION SYSTEMS• ROLE GAME WITH NON-TRIVIAL AI COMPONENT

BEWARE OF “TRITE” CHOICES

• IN 2013 WE HAD 30 PROJECTS

• THE PROJECT TOPIC DISTRIBUTION WAS ALLARMINGLYSKEWED• (6) SPORT CENTRE / HOTEL / FLIGHT / TOUR / GYM BOOKING SYSTEM• (5) SHOP MANAGEMENT (E.G. RESTAURANT, SALES + STOCK CONTROL)• (3) STAFF & STUDENT UNIVERSITY SYSTEM• (3) GAMES (DIDN’T QUITE WORK)• (2) HOTEL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM• (2) COMPUTER CONFIGURATION / ONLINE IT HELPDESK

“MORE” DOES NOT ALWAYS MEAN “BETTER”

• SOME DB APPLICATIONS CAN BE QUITE EXTENSIVE, BUT NOT VERY CHALLENGING

• COMP208 – 2011: AN INTERESTING EXAMPLE, THE

FORMULA STORE§ CHALLENGING IDEA

§ SOFTWARE INTEGRATION

§ GOOD TEAM WORK

INTERESTING PROJECTS PROPOSALS

• I’VE COLLECTED A FEW PROPOSALS HERE (ALSO AVAILABLE ON VITAL)

• WE ARE ONE OF THE LEADING DEPARTMENTS IN THE COUNTRY FOR CS RESEARCH: TALK TO COLLEAGUES! TALK TO YOUR THIRD YEAR COLLEAGUES! COME UP WITH RESEARCH-LINKED PROJECTS

• DISCUSS YOUR IDEAS WITH US IF IN DOUBT. WE ARE HERE TO HELP

RESOURCES

• MODULE WEB PAGE ON• HTTP://VITAL.LIV.AC.UK• ANY QUESTIONS: PLEASE EMAIL ME AT:

MICHELE [AT] LIVERPOOL.AC.UK

• BOOKS• LECTURES• THE WEB• YOUR GROUP PROJECT SUPPORT TEAM.

VITAL

BOOKS• THOMAS CONNOLLY AND CAROLYN BEGG: DATABASE

SOLUTIONS (2ND ED), ADDISON-WESLEY, 2004.• THIS BOOK GIVES A STEP BY STEP GUIDE TO DEVELOPING A

DATABASE APPLICATION. THIS BOOK WILL SERVE AS A"PROJECT HANDBOOK". IT IS ESSENTIAL THAT EACH TEAM INCOMP208 HAS ACCESS TO A COPY OF THIS BOOK.

• CHRISTIAN W. DAWSON: PROJECTS IN COMPUTING AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS: A STUDENT'S GUIDE, ADDISON-WESLEY, 2009. • THIS BOOK GIVES GOOD ADVICE ON ALL ASPECTS OF HOW TO

SET ABOUT COMPUTING PROJECTS. EVERY TEAM IN ALL MODULES SHOULD HAVE ACCESS TO A COPY OF THIS BOOK.

• OF COURSE, YOU CAN MAKE USE OF OTHER BOOKS AND THE WWW IF YOU WISH.

LECTURES• THERE WILL BE LECTURES ON THIS COURSE,

PLUS SOME GUEST SESSIONS. • LECTURES COVER:

• INTRODUCTION • TRANSFERABLE SKILLS: MEETINGS, PLANNING, QUALITY

ASSURANCE, PRESENTATIONS, WRITING REPORTS• INFORMATION ABOUT THE ASSESSMENTS: REQUIREMENTS,

DESIGN, DEMONSTRATION, FINAL PORTFOLIO• GROUP WORKING SKILLS• THIRD YEAR PROJECTS INTRODUCTION

PROJECT SUPPORT TEAM�YOUR MODULE CO-ORDINATOR.�EACH TEAM IS ASSIGNED A PROJECT MONITOR.

THE PROJECT MONITOR WILL:• CHECK PROGRESS ON THE PROJECT• ACT AS A POINT OF CONTACT FOR QUERIES AND

PROBLEMS.• OCCASIONALLY ASSESS YOUR WORK

�COMPUTER SCIENCE HELP-DESK

PROJECT PHASES• DETAILED PLANNING IS UP TO YOU. BUT YOU

MUST FOLLOW THE FOLLOWING PHASES:• PHASE 1: REQUIREMENTS, WEEKS 1-3 (12%)• PHASE 2: DESIGN, WEEKS 4-7 (15%)• PHASE 3: IMPLEMENTATION AND TESTING, WEEKS 8-

10• PHASE 4: DEMO AND PORTFOLIO, WEEKS 11-12

(65%)• EACH PHASE WILL PRODUCE ASSESSED DELIVERABLES:

DETAILS OF WHAT IS REQUIRED AT EACH STAGE CAN BE FOUND ON VITAL.

YOU MAY AIM TO COMPLETE THESE PHASES MORE QUICKLY, BUT EACH PHASE MUST PRODUCE ITS DELIVERABLE(S) BY THE STIPULATED TIME.

ASSESSED WORK

• MEETINGS• EACH TEAM MUST MEET FORMALLY (TYPICALLLY ONCE A WEEK). RECORD

OF EACH MEETING MUST BE MADE AVAILABLE ON VITAL WITHIN 1 WEEK. (MORE ON MEETINGS LATER ON)

• REQUIREMENTS• REVIEW WITH PROJECT REVIEWER IN WEEK 4

• DESIGN• REVIEW WITH PROJECT REVIEWER IN WEEK 7

• DEMONSTRATION• GIVEN TO PROJECT REVIEWER IN WEEK 11

• PORTFOLIO• SUBMITTED AT END OF WEEK 12.

More detailson the webpage and inlater lectures

NEW THIS YEARVIDEO PITCHING

WE WOULD LIKE TO ASK STUDENTS, ON A COMPLETELY VOLUNTARY BASE, TO MAKE VIDEOS OF THEIR DEMO PRESENTATION. THE BEST CONTRIBUTIONS WILL BE SHOWCASED ALONG WITH SIMILAR VIDEOS FOR A FEW FINAL YEAR PROJECTS ON AN XJTLU/LIV WEBSITE.

IMPORTANT POINTS:1. YOUR VIDEO WILL BE PUBLIC, THROUGH THE UNIVERSITY WEB-PAGES.2. THE EXERCISE IS ENTIRELY VOLUNTARY, YOU DO NOT HAVE TO DO IT!3. THE EXERCISE HAS NO EFFECT ON THE PROJECT MARK. 4. IT IS A VALUABLE EXPERIENCE (IT WILL DEFINITELY STAND OUT ON

YOUR CV)5. YOU WILL GET FEEDBACK ON YOUR VIDEO PRODUCTION FROM US

MORE ON THIS LATER IN THE COURSE

SUBMISSION DEADLINES(FOR SUPPORTING MATERIAL)

• REQUIREMENTS DOCUMENTS: FRIDAY 2018-02-16• DESIGN DOCUMENTS: FRIDAY 2018-03-16• DEMO MATERIAL FRIDAY 2018-04-27• GROUP PORTFOLIO: FRIDAY 2018-05-11• INDIVIDUAL SUBMISSION: FRIDAY 2018-05-11

• ALL SUBMISSIONS DUE AT 12 NOON.• SUBMIT ON VITAL (PRECISE SUBMISSION

INSTRUCTIONS IN DUE COURSE, ON VITAL)

WHAT’S NEXT?

PHASE 1 - REQUIREMENTS• PLANNING

• CHOOSE AN AREA FOR YOUR SYSTEM

• DETERMINE ITS OBJECTIVES AND AIMS

• SYSTEM DEFINITION• DECIDE WHAT WILL BE IN THE SYSTEM AND WHAT WON’T

• IDENTIFY CATEGORIES OF POTENTIAL USER

• REQUIREMENTS COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS• SPECIFY THE REQUIREMENTS FOR EACH CLASS OF USER.

WHAT TO DO• CHOOSE YOUR APPLICATION AREA:

• E.G. SPORTING INFORMATION: PLAYERS, TEAMS, MATCHES, COMPETITIONS

• E.G. MUSIC INFORMATION: MUSICIANS, BANDS, ALBUMS, RECORD COMPANIES, CHARTS

• E.G. PRODUCT INFORMATION: MODELS, BRANDS, MANUFACTURERS, OUTLETS

• NOT A VIDEO/MUSIC/GAME SHOP – THAT IS THE CASE STUDY IN THE TEXTBOOK

• PLAN YOUR PROJECT• READ CONNOLLY AND BEGG TO FIND OUT WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE• IDENTIFY THE TASKS THAT WILL ACHIEVE THESE THINGS• DECIDE WHO WILL CARRY OUT THE TASKS.• MORE ON PLANNING IN LECTURE 3.

FINALLY...

• THIS COURSE IS DIFFERENT TO YOUR OTHER COURSES. • YOU WILL NEED TO TAKE AN ACTIVE ROLE RIGHT AWAY!• TEAM WORK IS REQUIRED• YOU WILL BE ASSESSED BOTH IN WRITING AND ORALLY• YOU WILL BE ASSESSED INDIVIDUALLY AND AS A TEAM

• IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE COURSE, PLEASE DO ASK ME. I PREFER E-MAIL.

• I HOPE YOU WILL FIND THE COURSE INTERESTING AND ENJOYABLE.