Professional software practice coursework

The coursework assignment is based on 2 tasks detailed below and in the 'deliverables' section. Task 1: Case Study Jane works as a project manager for a company that produces medical equipment. She has worked for several years on software that will run in a suite of intensive care equipment. The software monitors heartbeat, breathing rate and so on and records these in a log. More importantly it also triggers an alarm when the patient’s condition becomes unstable or critical. The software has been developed over a long period but is particularly error-prone. It now appears to be functioning correctly but, from looking at the amount of testing that has been carried out and the number of errors that were uncovered, Jane estimates that the software still contains a significant number of faults. When she reports this to her manager at the end of the testing cycle she is informed that no more testing is to be carried out and that the equipment will soon be on the market as an upgrade to the company’s existing intensive care equipment. When Jane protests about this and points out that errors could have fatal consequences she is informed that the decision has been taken and that it is no longer her responsibility. Nevertheless she is extremely worried about the possibility of errors occurring when the machines are in service and wonders whether she should do more to prevent this. (scenario taken from “The Essence of Professional Issues in Computing??, Ayres, R., 1999, page 176.) ## Deliverables 1) Complete and fully-functional working program(s) in executable form as well as complete source code of all work done. 2) Deliverables must be in ready-to-run condition, as follows (depending on the nature of the deliverables): a) For web sites or other server-side deliverables intended to only ever exist in one place in the Buyer's environment--Deliverables must be installed by the Seller in ready-to-run condition in the Buyer's environment. b) For all others including desktop software or software the buyer intends to distribute: A software installation package that will install the software in ready-to-run condition on the platform(s) specified in this bid request. 3) All deliverables will be considered "work made for hire" under U.S. Copyright law. Buyer will receive exclusive and complete copyrights to all work purchased. (No GPL, GNU, 3rd party components, etc. unless all copyright ramifications are explained AND AGREED TO by the buyer on the site per the coder's Seller Legal Agreement). 3) Write a report and self assesment as needed and described for the coursework. Deliverable for task 1: You have to submit a report (2,000 words) that is worth 60% of the final mark. Your report should focus on discussing and critically assessing the scenario on the following topics: •The ethical software practitioner •Professional codes of conduct and practice •Data protection In discussing the above issues, you are expected to investigate appropriate literature regarding these issues and cite this literature appropriately. You must correctly cite your references within the text, e.g. (Smith, 2002), and also provide full references at the end of your document. Use the Harvard style for referencing. It is also important that your report presents BALANCED arguments. In discussing the above issues, you may also need to make assumptions where the case study does not provide sufficient information. In these cases, you MUST clearly state these assumptions. Format of Report The report must be presented in a professional manner. The report should clearly identify and discuss the issues in a balanced manner and consist of the following elements: •Introduction •Main body of the report •Conclusions •References Task 2: Research Project Plan You will prepare a research plan (500 words) that would be adequate for the development of a research project. The requirement of this coursework is that you identify a research topic within your scheme of studies (Computer Science) and select a problem within it that you will develop a research plan for. You will need to discuss this in enough depth to explain what you will plan to do. You will then identify an appropriate issue/s (aim/s) and outcomes that you could measurably demonstrate to have achieved at the end of the course (objectives). Alongside this, you will have to scope your research to an appropriate level, determining what you plan to do, and what you do not intend to do; for example, this might include the development of a part of the software to demonstrate how this aspect might work, but that you will not develop the complete system that your planned software architecture specified. Following the description of the planned research, you will need to carry out a basic literature review of the area. This may include material from books, journals, conference proceedings, and (only) where highly relevant, websites. You will then need to describe the research methodologies and/or methods that you plan to use in developing the project. These should be appropriate to the domain and explained in sufficient detail to demonstrate that you understand their use. Outside the 500 word limit, you will need to reference the material that you have cited in the report. This section must be correctly formatted, using an appropriate referencing technique, such as the Harvard system. ## Platform The program needs to run on windows XP. I will send the main details once I have accepted a bid. This will include a proper version of what is required from this coursework as this is just the shortened version, I have tried to include as much of the information as possible. I will also send the assessment criterion and the proposal form.