Units

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Sample subject outline - Semester 2 2013

Note: Subject outlines often change before the semester begins. Below is a sample outline.

Rationale

This unit examines software architecture at the software component and enterprise levels, a combination which covers the essence of the emerging software architectures of the future. Increasingly competitive business environments require that software architecture and business become more closely aligned to allow coevolution in response to market pressures. The software architect must understand how software components can be utilised to construct applications rapidly and cost effectively, and how enterprise architectures add value to a business through the use of cooperating heterogenous applications. These architectural approaches are fundamental to the modern IT professional, and they must be known and understood by managers, software architects, designers, and developers alike.

Aims

This unit introduces you to the field of enterprise and component-based architecture. It provides a grounding in the knowledge and skills required by a software architect to address the future needs of business IT systems. These include a solid understanding of the IT challenges currently facing medium to large organizations, the theory and technologies used to address them, and an appreciation of the business needs that motivate their use. To enable you to address these challenges you will be exposed to system design methods, and the current technologies, that allow the resulting systems to be adaptive to changing business needs.

Objectives

On successful completion of this unit, you will should be able to:
1. Demonstrate knowledge of the challenges facing business in the area of enterprise architecture. (GC1)
2. Understand the need for component based development. (GC1)
3. Analyse, design and build component based systems. (GC1, GC2, GC3).
4. Analyse, design and build enterprise systems using the principles of Service Oriented Architecture. (GC1, GC2, GC3).

Key: Graduate Capabilities
GC1 - Knowledge and Skills
GC2 - Critical and Creative Thinking
GC3 - Communication

Content

The unit starts by examining the challenges of building modern enterprise systems. This will motivate the use of software components and service oriented architecture. The construction and use of software components will be considered in the context of the Java and .NET environments. XML Web services are introduced as a specific technology for implementing SOA in a web environment. Case studies are used to further investigage the challenges of implementing enterprise application integration solutions. Business process automation is introduced, reinforcing the importance of the business context and leading into workflow management.

Approaches to Teaching and Learning

Traditional lectures will be complemented with a number of guest lectures from industry experts providing state of the art and industry relevant perspectives. You will work in small groups on projects using both Java and .NET. The assignment is designed to give you practical expertise applying the architectures and technologies presented in lectures.

Assessment

Criterion-Referenced Assessment
Appropriate assessment criteria will be made available to students at the introduction of each item of assessment.The practical sessions can be used to obtain feedback on both practical exercises and progressive development of the assignment. The lecturer will also discuss common assignment problems in the lectures. The lecturers and demonstrators are also available by appointment and via email to answer your queries. Written feedback will be provided on the assignment prior to the final exam.

Assessment name: Project (applied)
Description: Use JavaBeans component framework to implement a software application developed in a component-oriented manner.
Relates to objectives: 3
Weight: 20%
Internal or external: Internal
Group or individual: Individual
Due date: Week 6

Assessment name: Project (applied)
Description: Design and implement a collection of inter-connected software services and front-end application(s) that showcase the principles of service oriented architecture. One of the important principles to showcase is service heterogeneity, i.e. variety in languages, frameworks and platforms.
Relates to objectives: 1, 3 and 4
Weight: 30%
Internal or external: Internal
Group or individual: Individual
Due date: Week 13

Assessment name: Examination (Theory)
Description: Final Examination
Relates to objectives: 1, 2, 3, 4
Weight: 50%
Internal or external: Internal
Group or individual: Individual
Due date: Exam Period

Academic Honesty

QUT is committed to maintaining high academic standards to protect the value of its qualifications. To assist you in assuring the academic integrity of your assessment you are encouraged to make use of the support materials and services available to help you consider and check your assessment items. Important information about the university's approach to academic integrity of assessment is on your unit Blackboard site.

A breach of academic integrity is regarded as Student Misconduct and can lead to the imposition of penalties.

Resource materials

Textbook
Enterprise SOA: Service-Oriented Architecture Best Practices, by Kirk Krafzig, Karl Banke and Dirk Slama, Prentice Hall, 2005

The relative importance of the textbook will be discussed in the first lecture. It covers only the second half of the unit, so we would recommend waiting until after the first lecture to decide whether to purchase this textbook.

No extraordinary charges or costs are associated with the requiremnets for this unit.

Risk assessment statement

There is minimal health and safety risk in this unit. It is your responsibility to familiarise yourself with the Health and Safety policies and procedures applicable within campus areas and laboratories.

Disclaimer - Offer of some units is subject to viability, and information in these Unit Outlines is subject to change prior to commencement of semester.

Last modified: 18-May-2012