Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uflorida!mephisto!gatech!galbp!samna!jeff
From: jeff@samna.UUCP (jeff)
Newsgroups: comp.edu
Subject: Re: Software Engineering/Group Projects
Message-ID: <210@samna.UUCP>
Date: 15 Mar 90 17:22:57 GMT
References: <1175@dftsrv.gsfc.nasa.gov>
Reply-To: jeff@samna.UUCP ()
Organization: Samna Corporation, Atlanta
Lines: 26

In article <1175@dftsrv.gsfc.nasa.gov> xrtnt@amarna.gsfc.nasa.gov writes:
>[ Scheme to have different classes of students working together
  on a project described ].

>There are a few interesting things that you can do with such a program...
>you could teach the importance of reuse (same project thread for the series...
>code you worked on as a sophmore could be used when you are a senior),
>maintainablity, readablity, good high level design, etc.  I think that if you
>can make these points early students are more likely to use them as
>professionals.  After all if you get burned by sloppy code you wrote as a
>sophmore when you a junior or senior you are less likely to do it in real life.

This is an interesting idea but if you're going to require that code from
last year be re-used, I think you need to start with a little more
experience.  Code I produced after nothing but a couple of introductory
courses and a basic data-structures course was, I'm sure, not very pretty.
I don't think I would've wanted to get stuck maintaining it - I'd have
ended up wasting too much time rewriting my sophomore-level code.

(Note: I don't want to start a sophomores-can-write-good-code-too
flame-war - I'm only speaking for myself).

I find the concept interesting though (I never had course involving a group
software project when I was in school).

Jeff