13 January 2000
CIS/I&MSE 553 Software Development Project
Specifications:
Write a program to play 2-handed casino (alternatively spelled "cassino")
against the user. Rules available.
This project will be graded to an (arbitrary) total of 100 points. As
specified by the syllabus, those points will represent 30% of your course
grade. All members of a team will receive the same number of points unless
a written document signed by all team members proposes a different apportionment.
Major criteria:
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ability of software to perform the above functions correctly
"Of all the requirements that we might place on a program, first and
foremost is that it be correct."2
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ability to detect faulty input and guide the user in correcting it
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quality of HCI [human-computer interface]
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ease of learning and use.
Secondary criteria:
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niceties of user interface
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ease of future maintenance and enhancement (my subjective assessment).
"When executives want to change procedures, they are told they cannot
do that because the computer cannot make the change. Giant insurance companies
have to resort to processing claims by hand after a change in government
regulations. What is wrong?"3
Deliverables: (due April 13 unless otherwise stated):
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your team roster (due January 27)
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a typewritten document specifying your software design (due February 17)
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a disk (or CD-ROM) containing an executable file
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a listing of source code with in-line comments
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a user’s guide
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a report describing:
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what you learned from this assignment
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the team approach and "division of labor" your team used
to produce the deliverables
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your assessment of how well or poorly the assignment fit
the course objectives, and how it might be improved when I (or a colleague)
teach this class again.
The user and requester will be available to you for consultation. (See
Exercise 3.3, page 73 of Pressman: in this case, the "customer" and the
"end user" are "one and the same.")
In this business, I don't wish you "Good luck!" I wish
you good design
and good coding and good testing — in that order!
1Morehead, Albert H., editor. 1968. The Official Rules
of Card Games, 55th edition. Cincinnati, Ohio: The United
States Playing Card Company.
2Weinberg, Gerald M. 1971. The Psychology of Computer
Programming. New York, New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, page
17.
3Martin, James, and Carma McClure. 1983. Software Maintenance:
The Problem and its Solutions. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall,
Incorporated, page 3.