Software Design and Programming

• Credit value: 15 credits at Level 7
• Module convenor and tutor: Roman Kontchakov
• Prerequisites: Programming in Java and Fundamentals of Computing, or equivalent
• Assessment: a three-hour examination (80%) and coursework portfolio of programming assignments (20%)
  

This module provides you with the necessary skills for developing software using object-oriented and functional programming paradigms. This ranges from learning object-oriented concepts, designing object-oriented software using a proven methodology and tools, to learning how to program in an object-oriented and functional style. The module provides a detailed examination of software design patterns and the emerging functional features of current day object-oriented programming languages (e.g. Java).

indicative module content

• The object model and how it is realised in various object-oriented languages (e.g. Kotlin, JavaScript, C#, Java, Scala, Swift)
• Further development of the ideas of inheritance, polymorphism and abstraction
• Language features, nested classes, closures, higher-order functions, meta-objects, etc.
• The functional paradigm; abstract data types, polymorphic types, static typing and type inference; recursion and induction; list processing; higher-order functions; eager and lazy evaluation; imperative features; signatures, structures, functors, type classes
• Test driven design (TDD) and behavioural driven design (BDD)
• The use of an integrated development environment (IDE) for software development, e.g. editing, debugging, compilation
• Modularity, versioning, packaging and managing the build process
• Design patterns and anti-patterns and their application to software design
• The SOLID principles (Single responsibility, Open-closed, Liskov substitution, Interface segregation and Dependency inversion) approach to object-oriented programming and design
• Code refactoring and analysis
• Leveraging concurrency and asynchronous processing

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

• write programs in an object-oriented and functional language
• write appropriate unit tests and understand their place in the software development process
• utilise object oriented and functional programming principles to create extendible and reusable software applications
• design medium-scale applications
• collaborate on team projects
• review and critique software requirements
• review software designs and code.