CS 4301 -- Software Engineering Project Management

Spring 1999

Instructor: W. Michael McCracken, mike@cc.gatech.edu, CoC 205, (404) 894-6172
Office Hours: by appt. - email gwen@cc.gatech.edu, CCB 264, (404) 894-8358
TA: Idris Hsi, idris@cc.gatech.edu, CoC 226b, office hours by appt
Newsgroup: git.cc.class.4301
Textbook: McConnell, Steve, The Software Project Survival Guide,Microsoft Press, 1998.

For Future Instructors - Class Postmortem

Introduction

This course covers the organization, operation and management of the information industry and in particular the management of software projects. We will also cover software companies, and issues of privacy, ethics, security and the impact of information systems on the work place.

Assessment Criteria

The course assessment will be based upon:

(15%): A first project report. This will consist of your plan of activities for your project, including, the overall outline, the detailed weekly plan as well as the goals and objectives of the project.
(20%): A midterm examination.
(20%): A midterm review and presentation of your project to the class. In addition, a gift to me of your project write up, as of this date.
(25%): Your final project presentation to the class and the write up of the project results.
(20%): A final examination.

Notes for the Uninitiated

This course is based on reality, that is, you are the workers and I am the big boss who sits in his chair and smokes cigars and criticizes everything you do. The course is to be run as a group learning process with me learning as well as you. What this means is a lot of group interaction and no formal class room lectures with me standing at the board and you falling asleep. You are Georgia Tech students and I expect that you are self motivated, and capable of self management and possess the skills that allow you to understand a problem and formulate a solution. As far as discussions with your classmates, I assume you have accounts on the appropriate machines and thus, you can have mail discussions with me and your fellow students.

If you donít have a background in software engineering (i.e., CS 3302), get out of this class.

Rules of the Road

The only rule is have a good time. If you arenít having a good time with this class, I suggest you look for another class.

Class Schedule

Date	Topic	Deliverables	Reading Assignments
March 30	Introduction and Project Assignments (Process Models and Organizations)
April 1	Planning
April 6	Process Models and Process Assessment	HW1
April 8	Management 101		Chapters 1-4, 5, 7
April 13	Management 101
April 15	Project Origins (RFPs, SOWs, Business Plans)	Project Plan
April 20	Work Decomposition (Sometimes called planning)	HW2
April 22	Resources and Risk Analysis (Permute Known and Unknown)
April 27	No Class
April 29	*Midterm*
May 4	More Rot (Cost and Schedule Estimating - and The Mythical Man Month)
May 6	Process Metrics (How many dynes per SLOC?)
May 11	Midterm discussion
May 13	Total Quality Assurance
May 18	More QA	HW3	Chapter 9
May 20	Risk Management & What Can Go Wrong
May 25	Organizing software development groups
May 27	Project Planning and Management Summary
Week of May 31	Project Presentations
June 7	*Final Exam - 11:30 - 2:20*

Homeworks

HW1 - Due: April 6 - Pick and document a major activity in a software process. State its preconditions and postconditions and be prepared to defend the importance of this activity in class.
HW2 - Due April 20 - Team construction. There are two parts to this assignment. The first is a self-assessment. Using the criteria outlined in class on April 13 that discussed the criteria of good team members, perform a self-assessment. What are your strong points and what are your weaknesses in regards to those critiera. Secondly, using the stock market example as a guideline, assume you have been chosen to be the lead project manager for a particular phase of the project (design, requirements gathering, testing, etc.) and you have been asked to put together a team of 5-6 people. What characteristics would those team members have? How would you select people to complement your strengths and compensate for your weaknesses? Describe the different characteristics of these people. Be honest and realistic. Don't just put together a dream team of super programmers.]
HW3 - Due May 25 - Quality Assurance. Pick a real, commercial, off-the-shelf, application. Consider the attributes of reliability, complexity, and maintainability. Describe how those attributes should manifest themselves in this application. Now choose 3 phases in the software development process. Describe how you would supplement the phases such that you ensured that these 3 quality attributes were built into the final product.

The Project

Useful Links

Classroom 2000 Recordings of Lectures for Fall 1998
Fall 97 Webpage and class notes
Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie Mellon University.
The CMM Questionnaire
The On-Line CMM Questionnaire

Contact Information:

webmaster@cc.gatech.edu

College of Computing

Georgia Institute of Technology

Atlanta, GA 30332-0280

CS 4301 -- Software Engineering Project Management

Spring 1999

Class Schedule

Homework Assignments

Project Groups

Final Deliverable Guidelines

For Future Instructors - Class Postmortem

Introduction

Assessment Criteria

Notes for the Uninitiated

Rules of the Road

Class Schedule

Homeworks

The Project

Useful Links

Contact Information: