This course offers an introduction to software engineering, spanning a broad array of topics and employing a problem-based learning approach. Central to the course is a practical group project, where students apply modern software development principles and tools. The course discusses the software development lifecycle, with an exploration of Agile methodologies and DevOps practices. Students will gain a foundation in software design principles, such as abstraction mechanisms and design patterns, and how they are realized in procedural, object-oriented and functional programming paradigms. A strong emphasis is placed on quality assurance, equipping students with robust techniques for software testing, debugging, and maintaining high code reliability. The course examines program analysis and verification through both static and dynamic analysis methods. Advanced topics, such as AI-driven development tools and automated program repair, expose students to contemporary software engineering research.

Date	Materials	Assignment
February 17, 2025	Course Overview Introduction to Software Engineering UNIX Shell Assessment Tasks & Marking Criteria	Form groups of three by February 24
February 20, 2025	Software Development Lifecycle Agile Methods
February 24, 2025	Git Q&A	Finilize group selection, access coursework repository, plan team collaboration.
February 27, 2025	DevOps	Discuss branching model and merge policy with your teammates. Optionally, setup GitHub actions.
March 3, 2025	Docker Modus Q&A
March 6, 2025	Modeling	Experiment with Mermaid diagrams to model important parts of your project.
March 10, 2025	Design Principles Q&A	Restructure your code according to studied design principles.
March 13, 2025	Abstraction Mechanisms Visitor	Identify relevant abstraction mechanisms in your langauge of choice to support design principles.
March 17, 2025	Creational & Structural Patterns Q&A	Apply appropriate creational and structural patterns to your code.
March 20, 2025	Behavioral Patterns	Apply appropriate behavioral patterns to your code.
March 24, 2025	Parsing Example: Java + ANTRL Example: Python + Lark Example: Recursive Descent Example: Parser Combinators Q&A	Implement a parser of your choice.
March 27, 2025	Functional Programming Patterns	Optionally, apply functional programming patterns in your code.
March 31, 2025	Testing xUnit Q&A	Create unit tests for your project.
April 3, 2025	Property-Based Testing Symbolic Execution	Optionally, apply property-based testing and symbolic execution to test your project.
April 7, 2025	Dynamic Analysis & Fuzzing Q&A	Optionally, apply fuzzing to your project.
April 10, 2025	Debugging Error Handling
April 14, 2025	Mutation Testing Q&A	Optionally, apply mutation testing to your project.
April 17, 2025	Code Smells & Anti-Patterns	Analyze your code for the presence of smells and anti-patterns.
April 21, 2025	Code Style & Documentation Q&A	Maintain coding style compliance and write system documentation where necessary.
April 24, 2025	UNIX Environment
April 28, 2025	Software Security (tentative), Q&A
May 1, 2025	-
May 5, 2025	-
May 8, 2025	AI in Software Engineering (tentative)
May 12, 2025	Prof. Earl Barr's Invited Lecture, Q&A
May 15, 2025	Automated Program Repair (tentative)
May 19, 2025	LLM Agents (tentative), Q&A
May 22, 2025	Static Program Analysis (tentative)
May 26, 2025	Static Program Analysis Continued (tentative), Q&A
May 29, 2025	Verification (tentative)
June 2, 2025	Verification Continued (tentative), Q&A
June 6, 2025	Software Engineering Research (tentative)