CSE 8317 (Spring, 2005): Homework Assignments
Assignment #1: Literature Research
Use the online
resources for software engineering/quality literature
as your guide,
search some journals/magazines/proceedings to find
some articles on software quality/reliability/safety,
and do the following:
-
Browse through at least 3 recent
(no more than 10 years old under most circumstances,
and typically within the last 5 years)
periodical/proceeding issues
where some of the relevant papers in the subject
area appear.
-
List related papers for each issue
by the following topic areas:
- software reliability engineering
- software safety engineering
- general discussion about software quality
-
For papers on other topics (other than the above three),
there is no need to list them individually,
just indicate the total number.
-
If you choose to do an individual study presentation,
choose your paper, and let me know of your desired presentation date.
-
In addition, if you plan to do a "literature survey" type of
project,
indicate which paper(s) will be among your candidate papers.
Notice: You may want to use some of the more recent papers
from our textbooks and online papers/references as index
into selected periodical/proceedings issues.
However, this may work better for older issues instead of newer ones.
Due Date for hw#1
- In-class students: 1/26/05.
- Video/NTU students: Post-mark by 2/7/05.
Assignment #2: Paper Summary/Critique
Select one paper about software reliability from homework #1
or from other sources
and write a short summary, analysis, and critique.
You summary/analysis/critique should be around 3 or 4 double-spaced
pages of text.
Pay special attention to its relevance to CSE 8317.
Some specifics about this assignment are listed below:
-
The summary should be your own summary, based on your understanding of the
paper, not the authors' summary.
-
The analysis and critique is an important part of your essay,
which may include, among other things,
an analysis based on what we covered in class on related topics,
your subjective assessment of the paper,
what you would do differently,
practical impact of the reported work.
It is desirable if you can make it relevant to what you are doing at work.
-
Give full citation details (for example references,
see the online bibliography file for the
Tian/SQE book),
and provide a copy of the original abstract.
If the paper was not publicly available
(e.g., internal report) or hard to track down
(e.g., regional or industry specific conference),
you need to include a copy of the paper(s) with your homework submission.
Due Date for hw#2
- In-class students: 2/9/05.
- Video/NTU students: Post-mark by 2/21/05.
Assignment #3: Paper Summary/Critique
Repeat assignment #2 for a software safety related paper.
Due Date for hw#3
- In-class students: 3/23/05.
- Video/NTU students: Post-mark by 4/4/05.
Assignment #4: Preparing for the Final Quiz
In preparation for the final quiz,
as well as to review and summarize the course material for your own learning,
I suggest the following questions:
- Sample final quiz from Spring 2003.
- Problems from Tian/SQE book: 2.3, 2.4, 15.1, 15.3, 15.4,
16.7, 16.8, 16.9, 22.1, 22.2, 22.4, 22.6.
Due Date for hw#4: (None, but see note below.)
Nothing need to be turned in for this homework.
However, for your own benefit, you should try to finished it before
our last class on 4/27/05, when all these problems will be briefly
discussed/reviewed as part of the review for the final quiz.
For video/NTU students, you should finish hw#4 before viewing the
DVD/broadcast for the 4/27/05 class.
Alternatively, you can treat hw#4 as an on-going self-evaluation
assignment, and finish the questions as we go along throughout the
semester when relevant topics are discussed in class.
Individual Study Presentation
Notice: You may choose either of the above papers for hw#2 and hw#3
as the paper for your individual study presentation.
Prepared by Jeff Tian
(tian@engr.smu.edu).
Posted: Jan. 10, 2005.
Last update: Jan. 12, 2005.