Re: Software Engineering Education

[agate!spool.mu.edu!yale.edu!qt.cs.utexas.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!ca en!uflorida!screamer!stelmack@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (Gregory M. Stelmack)]

Most of the classes here at USF use varied methods for grading programs, but
in general a program with no comments and no structure will not get a very
high grade. Most (perhaps all) look at the code as well as the answer.

In our Intro class, the grading is much more strict (the old "teach 'em right
the first time" trick). All programs (written in Ada) must be fairly
completely commented, including variants/invariants on all loops and
pre-/post- conditions for all functions/procedures. Plus, documentation that
includes test cases must be handed in along with the programs. Any part
missing or incomplete results in a lower grade.

In our Software Engineering class, we do one big program in a group that must
be completely documented, including user's guide and all design documentation.
The code itself may or may not be graded, but the student finds out quickly
that writing well-commented, structured code makes it that much easier to
produce the required documentation.

Most other classes just look for some sort of commenting, mostly to make sure
that you really knew what you were doing when you wrote the code and didn't
just copy it from some book somewhere. That's good for us students -- we
usually spend most of the couple of weeks allowed for the assignments just
trying to get them running, and don't have time to make it look pretty. Of
course, after that Intro class, habit forces the code that does get written to
look pretty good the first time.

-- Greg Stelmack (stelmack@eggo.csee.usf.edu)