OVERVIEW

The course provides an introduction to some tools/frameworks and services useful for software development and management, with the aim of training professionals who contribute to the implementation of software projects while also being aware of management needs.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The primary purpose of the course is to increase students' awareness of the tools and services used in software development and management. In addition, it aims to provide them with practical skills for the effective use of such resources. The course will also delve into the fundamental concepts of the software lifecycle and illustrate how these tools can be integrated to optimize the software development and management process.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

This teaching takes up some tools for software development and management already introduced during the degree course (for example IDE and versioning systems, such as Git) and integrates them with other tools and services that can be used for managing and monitoring software projects, performing automated builds, carrying out continuous code integration (CI) and deployment, and optimizing the software development process.

The teaching is practical and has the educational objective of introducing students to modern software development as it is carried out in a real workplace.

At the end of the course, the student will be able to:

• Use a tool for software project management and monitoring (such as Jira or Azure Boards), planning work into tasks to be executed according to an Agile methodology (like Scrum or Kanban), optimizing workflows through automated tools, and using key monitoring tools; 
• Use an IDE (e.g. Eclipse IDE or Visual Studio Code) to perform some tasks, such as: create a software project, import/export a project, run and debug a program, refactor the code, manage dependencies, run a test suite of unit test cases;
• Use a version control system (such as Git) and perform continuous integration of the code via web platforms such as, for example, GitHub or GitLab;
• Automate the different phases of the software lifecycle, from compilation to testing and finally to deployment through CI tools such as, for example, Jenkins or GitHub Actions;
• Use engineering metrics, such as DORA metrics, to optimize the software development process, utilizing data available in project management and monitoring systems (like the aforementioned Jira or Azure Boards) and on web platforms that host software projects (such as GitHub or GitLab);
• Create, maintain and use containers (e.g. Docker containers) and deploy a container on a node automatically. Containers are a technology used to bundle an application with all the necessary files into a single runtime environment. The container can be easily deployed and run on different operating systems.

PREREQUISITES

• Knowledge of programming fundamentals;

• Knowledge of an object-oriented programming language (e.g. Java and/or C#) or scripting langiages (e.g. JavaScript e/o Python);

• Basic knowledge of Software Engineering. It is useful to have some knowledge and understanding of software engineering terminology and basic techniques of software development process management, software design and verification and validation.

TEACHING METHODS

Practical laboratory lessons carried out in small teams (2/3 students). Each instrument treated will be accompanied by immediate practical experimentation, in order to quickly acquire confidence and dexterity. The laboratories will be guided and the supplementary activities will be made available on AulaWeb.

AulaWeb will be used for three purposes: as a repository of course material; as a channel for bureaucratic communications, explanations and discussions concerning the course; and finally to facilitate teamwork.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

The teaching, which is of a practical nature, introduces some of the following tools/environments and services for software development and management (and at different levels of detail):

• Software project management tools (e.g., Jira or Azure Boards);   
• Integrated development environments (e.g Eclipse IDE or Visual Studio Code);
• Version control systems (e.g. Git);
• Hosting services for software projects (e.g. GitHub or GitLab);
• Tools to automate developer workflow, such as continuous integration and testing (e.g. Jenkins or GitHub Actions);
• Engineering metrics to optimize the software development process;
• Tools for creating and using containers (e.g. Docker);

At the end of the course the student will possess advanced specialist knowledge in the field of development and management of modern software systems. In particular, he will be able to:

•     select some of the most popular tools for software development and management;
•     effectively set up software development, testing and maintenance processes based on advanced mechanisms of continuous integration

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Documentation available online of the various selected tools and services.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

CRISTIANO SPADARO (President)

MAURIZIO LEOTTA

FILIPPO RICCA (President Substitute)

LESSONS

LESSONS START

In accordance with the teaching calendar approved by the Council of Study Programs in Computer Science and Computer Science.

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

The objective of the verification procedure is to quantify, for each student, the level of achievement of the previously indicated educational objectives. The verification procedure consists in the evaluation of some guided laboratories and in a written test.

The exam consists of the following activities

    Laboratory activities
    Written

Laboratory activities

The course includes laboratory activities to be carried out in groups. For some of these activities, the delivery of the work performed will be required. For others, student participation will simply be monitored. Alternative activities to be delivered via AulaWeb will be proposed to those (e.g. working students) who are unable to attend the laboratory activities.

Written

The written test will consist of multiple choice questions. The questions will be both theoretical and practical and will focus on the topics/tools covered in class. During the lessons some examples of possible questions and exercises for each topic will be discussed, so that at the end of the course the type of test will be clear.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The laboratory activity aims to ascertain: (1) the knowledge of the proposed tools and (2) the collaborative skills in solving problems within the topics addressed in the course.

The written has the dual objective of verifying the knowledge of the basic aspects of the discipline and ascertaining the participation of the students in the guided laboratories. In both tests the specific knowledge of the subject and the ability of critical reasoning will be considered.

Exam schedule