Module Details

Module Code: COMP9055
Title: Software Agility
Long Title: Software Agility
NFQ Level: Expert
Valid From: Semester 2 - 2020/21 ( January 2021 )
Duration: 1 Semester
Credits: 5
Field of Study: 4814 - Computer Software
Module Delivered in: 2 programme(s)
Module Description: Competitive and technical disruption drives teams and individuals to innovate and deliver more effectively. Traditionally, software architects were responsible for the solution design, architecture and technical decisions throughout the software development process. The rise of agile and adaptive practices changed how software is delivered with an increased focus on the customer, responsiveness to change, localised decision making and valuable, quality outcomes. In this module, students will be introduced to the principles of agility across the software development and delivery lifecycle and investigate its evolution since the application of the waterfall model in the 1970s. Students will examine the challenges that architects, developers and testers face when adopting more agile ways of working and discuss strategies and best practices for minimising development risk while maximising the value of software delivered.
 
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module the learner will be able to:
# Learning Outcome Description
LO1 Discuss how software agility concepts, approaches and techniques can help an organisation achieve its strategic objectives.
LO2 Critically assess how traditional software-oriented roles are impacted by the technological, cultural and digital transformations
LO3 Evaluate and apply best practices in achieving software agility including technical excellence, lean start-up, automation, concurrent testing practices, Development and Operations (DevOps) and scaling.
LO4 Evaluate and apply best practices to the refactoring of code as part of a Test Driven Development (TDD) approach to the development of software.
LO5 Assess a wide range of real-world challenges which can be solved through the application of software agility.
Dependencies
Module Recommendations

This is prior learning (or a practical skill) that is strongly recommended before enrolment in this module. You may enrol in this module if you have not acquired the recommended learning but you will have considerable difficulty in passing (i.e. achieving the learning outcomes of) the module. While the prior learning is expressed as named MTU module(s) it also allows for learning (in another module or modules) which is equivalent to the learning specified in the named module(s).
Incompatible Modules
These are modules which have learning outcomes that are too similar to the learning outcomes of this module. You may not earn additional credit for the same learning and therefore you may not enrol in this module if you have successfully completed any modules in the incompatible list.
No incompatible modules listed
Co-requisite Modules
No Co-requisite modules listed
Requirements

This is prior learning (or a practical skill) that is mandatory before enrolment in this module is allowed. You may not enrol on this module if you have not acquired the learning specified in this section.
No requirements listed
 
Indicative Content
Agile and Agility
Principles of agile methodology and the agile manifesto. Value and the voice of the Customer. Agile Methods and Frameworks - Extreme Programming (XP), Scrum, Feature Driven Development (FDD), Lean Software Development, Kanban, Scrum. Practices in Agile – Continuous Testing, Automation, XP practices, Development-Operations (DevOps) and Tooling, Lean Start-Up, Scaling across the Enterprise. Culture and Mindset.
Leadership and Management
Traditional project management approaches vs Agile Project planning. Self organising teams. Decentralised decision-making. Lean Portfolio Management. Metrics, measures and OKRs.
Software Development Processes
SDLC. Process models - waterfall, prototyping, iterative, rapid, structured, object-oriented, agile
Roles and Responsibilities
The changing roles of software architects, developers, testers, business analysts and manager. New ways of working across teams and programs. Design Integrity and Solution Intent. Agile ceremonies across all levels of the organisation.
Development Operations
What is DevOps? Deployment Architecture - design for continuous delivery and integration, build automation, continuous test management; release management, cross platform support, extensibility, source control management, versioning, dependency management.
Software Estimation and Planning
Estimation techniques. Agile sizing approaches - numeric sizing, t-shirt sizes, the Fibonacci sequence, dog breeds. Factors that affect effort - story size, complexity, velocity, development cost etc. Product backlog creation and grooming.
Technical Debt
What is technical debt? Classification of technical debt. Dealing with technical debt in legacy projects. Philosophies in dealing with technical debt. Technical debt quadrant – reckless, prudent, inadvertent. Strategies and tactics for avoiding and removing technical debt. Software quality versus business reality. Measuring debt. Communicating debt consequences.
Code Refactoring
Definition. Origins. Common pitfalls. Benefits of code refactoring. Relationship to Test Driven Development (TDD). Code duplication. Identification where to apply which refactoring. Assessing impact of refactoring on quality. Refactoring techniques. Formalisms techniques - program slicing, formal improvement theory, software metrics etc. How code refactoring fits into software engineering process. Regression testing.
Continuous Testing
Benefits and limitations of automated testing. Role of tester and developer. Challenges in automated tests for testers and developers. Test design and analysis. Test execution and review. Automated Test Tooling.
Module Content & Assessment
Assessment Breakdown%
Coursework100.00%

Assessments

Coursework
Assessment Type Written Report % of Total Mark 30
Timing Week 8 Learning Outcomes 1,2
Assessment Description
An example assessment would be to evaluate how the evolution of lean-agile and DevOps methodologies have impacted the software development lifecycle and the role expectations when working within a team-focused environment
Assessment Type Project % of Total Mark 70
Timing Sem End Learning Outcomes 1,2,3,4,5
Assessment Description
In this written project, the student will be asked to shape and define a customised, practical agility approach to be applied within an organisation which is struggling with slow, inconsistent deployments, poor product quality, low test environment availability and a high-level of post-production defects. Example focus areas include guardrails, OKRs, DevOps and tooling adoption, agility frameworks / methods and value tracking.
No End of Module Formal Examination
Reassessment Requirement
Coursework Only
This module is reassessed solely on the basis of re-submitted coursework. There is no repeat written examination.

The University reserves the right to alter the nature and timings of assessment

 

Module Workload

Workload: Full Time
Workload Type Contact Type Workload Description Frequency Average Weekly Learner Workload Hours
Lecture Contact Lecture underpinning learning outcomes. Every Week 2.00 2
Lab Contact Lab supporting content delivered in class. Every Week 2.00 2
Lecturer-Supervised Learning (Contact) Contact Independent study. Every Week 3.00 3
Total Hours 7.00
Total Weekly Learner Workload 7.00
Total Weekly Contact Hours 7.00
Workload: Part Time
Workload Type Contact Type Workload Description Frequency Average Weekly Learner Workload Hours
Lecture Contact Lecture underpinning learning outcomes. Every Week 2.00 2
Lab Contact Lab supporting content delivered in class. Every Week 2.00 2
Independent & Directed Learning (Non-contact) Non Contact Independent study. Every Week 3.00 3
Total Hours 7.00
Total Weekly Learner Workload 7.00
Total Weekly Contact Hours 4.00
 
Module Resources
Recommended Book Resources
  • Len Bass. (2015), DevOps: A Software Architect's Perspective, 1st. Addison-Wesley Professiona, [ISBN: 9780134049847].
Supplementary Book Resources
  • Kim, Gene, Behr, Kevin, & Spafford, George. (2013), The phoenix project: A novel about IT, DevOps, and helping your business win, IT Revolution Press, [ISBN: 9780988262591].
  • Derby, Esther, Larsen, Diana, Schwaber, Ken. (2006), Agile Retrospectives: Making Good Teams Great, [ISBN: 978097761664].
  • Gerritt Beine. (2017), Technical Debts: Economizing Agile Software Architecture, Walter de Gruyter, [ISBN: 9783110462999].
  • Martin Fowler, Kent Beck, John Brant, William Opdyke, Don Roberts, Erich Gamma. (1999), Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code, Addison-Wesley Professional, [ISBN: 9780201485677].
  • Robert C. Martin. (2008), Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship, Prentice Hall, [ISBN: 9780132350884].
  • Len Bass, Ingo Weber, Liming Zhu. (2015), DevOps: A Software Architect's Perspective, SEI Series in Software Engineering, [ISBN: 9780134049847].
  • Cohn, Mike. (2005), Agile Estimating and Planning, [ISBN: 978013147941].
Recommended Article/Paper Resources
Other Resources
 
Module Delivered in
Programme Code Programme Semester Delivery
CR_KARIN_9 Master of Science in Artificial Intelligence 1 Elective
CR_KSADE_9 Master of Science in Software Architecture & Design 1 Mandatory