CPEN 321: Software Engineering (Winter 2025)

1. Overview

The course explores engineering principles for building non-trivial software-intensive systems: requirements specification, design, implementation, verification, and maintenance. The course uses a group project as the basic learning vehicle, providing students with an environment for applying the learned principles in practice while coping with constraints encountered when working on a real team: uncertain requirements, tight deadlines, etc. Students are evaluated based on their understanding of software engineering principles and their ability to apply these principles in practice.

Learning Objectives

By the end of the course, students will learn several fundamental skills in modern software development:

• software engineering principles: requirements specification, design, implementation, verification, and maintenance of software;
• client-server application development paradigms, including mobile and cloud-based development;
• teamwork, inter- and intra-team communication;
• management of uncertainty in customer demands;
• ability to adapt quickly to new toolsets;
• strengths and weaknesses of modern generative AI technologies in assisting with software engineering tasks;
• efficient technical communication and presentation.

Course Format

• The class meets two times a week for lectures (2x1.5h) and once a week for a lab section (2h). All sessions are held in person and are not recorded.
• The grading is based on the development project, midterms, in-class quizzes, and participation marks. There is no final exam.
• Lectures focus on fundamentals of software engineering and interactive in-class activities and assignments.
• Labs focus on the course project and are facilitated by TAs. They provide:
  • the opportunity to present the current milestone to the TAs and to receive their feedback and assessment
  • the opportunity to ask clarification questions/get help with the next milestones
  • time for each team to meet and work on the milestone
• Teamwork and active participation in the course work is part of the grade.
• Two midterm exams will be held during two of the lectures.

Course Prerequisites

CPEN 221, CPSC 210, or equivalent.

Course Corequisites

CPEN 322 / CPEN 320 (Software Construction II).

2. Staff

Instructor	Prof. Julia Rubin Lectures: Mon. 4:30-6pm, FORW 303 Wed. 4:30-6pm, FORW 303 Office hours: Mon. 6-7pm, KAIS 4053 (or by appointment)
TAs	Masih Beigi, Fatemeh Khashei, Yingying Wang Labs: Wed. 1-3pm, MacLeod 4002 + 4006

3. Communication and Important Links

• Canvas is the main info hub. Full syllabus, assignments, lecture slides, tutorials, grades, etc. are available there: https://canvas.ubc.ca/
• Grades for the assignments will be posted throughout the term. Students are encouraged to check it frequently and let the staff know of any mistakes and inconsistencies.
• Discussions, Q/A, private messages to the course staff are on Piazza: https://piazza.com/ubc.ca/winterterm12025/cpen321
• Emails to course staff will not be answered.
• To encourage early engagement and ensure that last-minute answers do not unfairly disadvantage students who planned ahead, the teaching staff will not respond to questions about an assignment posted 24 hours prior to the assignment due date.
  • If you have questions about an assignment, plan to ask them as early as possible to avoid running into this 24-hour window.
  • Students are welcome to answer each other's questions within this (and other) time windows.
• Like most online services, Piazza is hosted outside Canada. If you have issues using Piazza, please email the instructor immediately and before the end of the first week of classes.

4. Project

A major part of the course is the development project. The project simulates real development settings, where development teams communicate with customers to implement software that satisfies the customers’ requirements. The intent of this project is to give you the opportunity to apply the course concepts to a real system.

Scope: You are required to develop a client-server software system with the client (front-end) running on a mobile device and the server (back-end) running in the cloud. Several examples of reasonably-scoped projects can be found here. More detailed scope specifications are provided in individual project milestones on Canvas.

Front-end: an Android/Kotlin mobile application

• Must run natively on Android (not in a browser).
• Must run on at least one real device and on a Pixel 7 emulator running Android Tiramisu (API 33).
• Must be written natively in Kotlin.
  • Using other frameworks, e.g., Expo, ReactNative, Xamarin, Flutter, etc. is not permitted.
• Must use Jetpack Compose (rather than Views) for Android UI.

Back-end: a Node.js/TypeScript server

• Must run on Node.js
• Must be implemented in TypeScript
• If your back-end uses a database, you may choose between MySQL and MongoDB.
• Must be deployed on a cloud (AWS, Azure, Google, IBM, etc.)
  
  • The back-end must be up and running when grading is conducted.
  • Most vendors, such as Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and IBM, provide free student/newcomer subscriptions.
  • The course staff also secured a limited number of pre-paid subscriptions to Microsoft Azure. To receive an allocation, please send a request to the instructors on Piazza with the title “Azure Access Request - Individual” (for M1) and “Azure Access Request - Group” (for all other milestones). In the body of the message, list (a) your first name, (b) your last name, and (c) your Microsoft account id, if available, or your UBC email, if no account is yet created, which will become your account id. If it is for a group project, list the information (a)(b)(c) of each group member, and (d) your project name. 
    
    • Please note that no credit will be applied retroactively and no refunds can be made for money paid.

Using third-party libraries, services, and frameworks:

• You should implement the major functionalities of your project using Kotlin for the front-end and Node.js for the back-end.
• Using third-party services, such as Firebase, MongoDB Atlas, Realm, AWS Amplify, Azure Functions and App Service, Azure Supabase, Parse Platform, etc., to implement major project functionality, e.g., database management, authentication, and critical application operations, is strictly forbidden.
• An exception to this rule is Firebase's push notification support, which is required and permitted.
• If you plan to use any third-party library or service not listed here to support a major functionality of your project, please check with the instructors beforehand, to make sure the use of the specific library is allowed and the functionality will be considered as part of your work.
  • Examples of the libraries/frameworks that were permitted in the past (and do not require an additional approval) can be found here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Cz-UIpMLJYtjjR11V8SGYnLVf5yvEJLo9gelDcNCF-Y/edit?usp=sharing

Code review and testing tools:

The following tools will be used for automated code review and testing of your projects. While you are not required to use these tools prior to M4, it is a good idea to explore how to integrate them into your development pipeline early on, e.g., the automated code review tool, so you write clean code from the start.

1. Codacy (https://www.codacy.com/) – an automated code review tool.
   • Specific instructions on how to configure the tool for Kotlin and TypeScript checks will be available in M4.
2. Jest (https://jestjs.io) – a testing framework for TypeScript.
3. Jetpack Compose Testing APIs (https://developer.android.com/develop/ui/compose/testing) – a testing framework for Android Compose screens and components.
4. UI Automator (https://developer.android.com/training/testing/other-components/ui-automator) – a testing framework for Android cross-app functional UI (to perform operations such as opening the Settings menu or the app launcher on a test device).
5. GitHub Actions (https://docs.github.com/en/actions) – an automated continuous integration pipeline.

Front-end and back-end tutorials: Introduction videos for front-end and back-end development are available on Canvas.

Code Management:

• All development artifacts must be stored in GitHub - a popular platform and cloud-based service for software development and version control using Git.
• All code of each project (front-end and back-end) should be stored in one GitHub repository
  • Well-structured internally
  • Yes, you can make it work in one repository! https://www.wired.com/2015/09/google-2-billion-lines-codeand-one-place/
• Your repository should be public (to use various free GitHub services later on). If you make your repository private, you might need to pay for some services. No funding will be provided.
• If you do not want to use your GitHub account, feel free to create a throw-away/anonymous GitHub account for this course.
• You must give all TAs explicit write access to your repository (even if you make it public). The GitHub IDs of the TAs are: @Masihbr, @fatteme, @dorawyy. 
• Use the Atlassian Git Introduction, which can get you started with Git. A shorter, less formal, guide is also available.

Milestones and Deliverables: The course project has multiple milestones, which are described in the Grading section. The detailed specification for each milestone deliverable is attached to the Canvas assignment. The milestone submission schedule is also outlined in the Course Schedule table.

Project Groups: Besides the first milestone, the project is implemented in groups of 4 students.

• Use Piazza “Search for Teammates” page to find team members.
• Choose your team members wisely as they contribute to the success of your team; no changes will be permitted.
• If you do not have a team organized by the Tuesday, September 16, 3pm PT deadline, we will assign you to a team randomly.
• We will “fill up” all teams to have 4 members, potentially “breaking” teams of 3 or less to multiple teams.

5. Use of AI Technology

In recent years, Generative AI (GenAI), the latest advancement in artificial intelligence, has transformed many aspects of our lives, including Software Engineering. As the efficient and responsible use of GenAI has de facto become a business necessity, exploring how to use these tools effectively, understanding their strengths and limitations, learning strategies for overcoming limitations, and identifying skills necessary for future software engineers are important educational objectives of this course.

To achieve these educational objectives, the use of GenAI tools (such as chat systems, IDE-embedded agents, and CLI tools) is permitted (but not required) in the scope of this course. Use of AI tools is optional and students may decide not to use them. However, if a student chooses to use AI, all usages must be explicitly declared and thoroughly documented. Unreported and undocumented use is considered an academic integrity violation and will be treated accordingly.  

Accountability. Students are ultimately accountable for the work they submit. Responsibility cannot be delegated to AI tools and errors cannot be attributed to them.

Required Reporting When Using GenAI Tools. For any course assignment where GenAI tools are used, students must submit the following materials on Canvas:

1. PDFs of all GenAI conversations conducted by each student (individually or as part of the group).
2. A description of the workflow each student followed when interacting with GenAI tools (which tools, which tasks, for what purposes, how often, etc.)
3. A critical analysis of strengths and weaknesses of GenAI for each task.

This reporting must be included with each milestone submission and will be graded.

Tool Selection. When choosing tools, ensure that your interactions (chats, logs of agent activity, etc.) can be easily exported to PDF for submission on Canvas. Based on current experience:

• Exporting is difficult in GitHub Copilot and JetBrains Junie (manual copying or screenshots are required).
• Exporting is straightforward in browser-based chat tools (ChatGPT), CLI tools, Cursor, Augment Code, and RooCode.

Future of SE education. In an effort to better understand and further improve Software Engineering education in the age of AI, after the course is completed, instructors might contact you to follow up on your experience and perspectives. They might also document the experience in a report, which should be of interest to software developers and educators. More communication on this, including the means that will be taken to protect student privacy and ways to opt out, will follow.

Privacy and information security when using GenAI tools. Please be aware that most, if not all, existing GenAI tools require subscription and collect certain personal information, which is not stored in Canada. Please refer to UBC resources for further information on this topic: 

https://privacymatters.ubc.ca/sites/default/files/PIA%20Guidelines%20for%20Third-Party%20Hosted%20Generative%20AI%20Tools.pdf

https://ai.ctlt.ubc.ca/privacy-impact-assessments-for-generativeai-instructional-use-at-ubc/

6. Topics and Schedule

Note that this is a tentative week-by-week guide and thus is subject to change.

	Date	Topic	Major deadlines  (Friday, 11pm, unless stated otherwise)
W1	Wed, Sept 3, 2025	Intro, SE in the Era of AI, Software Lifecycle
W2	Mon, Sept 8, 2025	Development Processes
	Wed, Sept 10, 2025	UML	M1 - App Deployment and Improvements: individual
W3	Mon, Sept 15, 2025	Requirements	Assignment: group formation Due Tuesday, Sept 16, 3 pm
	Wed, Sept 17, 2025	Requirements
W4	Mon, Sept 22, 2025	Architecture, Design
	Wed, Sept 24, 2025	Design, REST, Microservices	M2 - Project Idea, Requirements, High-level Design, Project Presentation: group/p>
W5	Mon, Sept 29, 2025	Project presentations
	Wed, Oct 1, 2025	Project presentations
W6	Mon, Oct 6, 2025	Recap, preparation for midterm 1
	Wed, Oct 8, 2025	Midterm 1
W7	Mon, Oct 13, 2025	Thanksgiving Day
	Wed, Oct 15, 2025	Teamwork, Advanced Version Control
W8	Mon, Oct 20, 2025	Code Reviews, Anti-patterns
	Wed, Oct 22, 2025	Testing	M3 - (Requirements), Design, MVP: group
W9	Mon, Oct 27, 2025	Testing
	Wed, Oct 29, 2025	Verification and Validation, Analysis
W10	Mon, Nov 3, 2025	Verification and Validation, Analysis
	Wed, Nov 5, 2025	Recap, preparation for midterm 2	M4 - (Requirements, Design, Implementation), Code Review, Testing: group
W11	Mon, Nov 10, 2025	Midterm break
	Wed, Nov 12, 2025	Midterm break
W12	Mon, Nov 17, 2025	Midterm 2
	Wed, Nov 19, 2025	Free to work on Final Release (no class)
W13	Mon, Nov 24, 2025	Continuous Integration, DevOps, MLOps, Vibe Software Engineering
	Wed, Nov 26, 2025	Recap, Q/A, preparation for final project presentation	M5 - Final Release: + the chance to recover 50% of lost marks for each course component: group
W14	Mon, Dec 1, 2025	Open to topics of interest / Guest Speaker
	Wed, Dec 3, 2025	Top project presentations and awards ceremony

 

The timeline of the course milestones and midterms is as follows:

7. Grading

Grading for this course is based on six components:

• Project – 60 points
• • M1 - App Deployment and Improvements: individual, 10 points
  • M2 - Project Idea, Requirements, High-level Design, Project Presentation: group, 10 points
  • M3 - (Requirements), Design, MVP: group, 15 points
  • M4 - (Requirements, Design, Implementation), Code Review, Testing: group, 10 points
  • M5 - Final Release: + the chance to recover 50% of lost marks for each course component: group, 15 points
    (assessed based on both the quality of the final deliverable and the quality of the SE process followed)

* The grade of each group milestone is multiplied by iPeer assessment

• Midterm 1 – 15 points
• Midterm 2 – 15 points
• In-class quizzes: 5 points
• Lab checkpoints: 5 points
• Constructive participation in classes, labs, helpful answers to piazza questions – up to 2 bonus points

Grade Appeals

You can appeal your milestone grade by submitting a private post on Piazza (to all instructors), with the subject “<Mx> grade appeal”, where Mx can be one of the milestones, e.g., M1.

Appeals can be submitted within 5 days after the milestone grades are posted and should include:

• The criterion for which marks were deducted
• Your understanding of the criterion (1-2 sentences)
• Explanation for why your assignment satisfies the criterion (1-2 sentences)
• Evidence (screenshots, network traffic, etc.) demonstrating how your assignment satisfies the criterion

Notes:

• An appeal is not an opportunity to argue about the grading scheme (e.g., this item should not be worth this number of points or this item should not be included in the rubric). It is a chance to address situations where the grading scheme was applied incorrectly to your assignment.
• Appeals without proper reason/explanation or that do not follow the rules (e.g., submitted after the appeal deadline) will not be considered.

Late Deliverables

• Each group is given 6 grace days per term in total that can be used for milestones M2-M4.
  • You can use the grace days as you wish, i.e., all days on one deliverable, distribute across deliverables, etc.
  • Grace days are counted as integers, i.e., if you are even one minute late, that counts as one grace day.
  • Once all grace days are used, late submissions will be deducted 30% for each late day (which also count as full integers).
• There are no grace days for M1 and M5. Late submissions for these milestones will be deducted 20% for each late day (counted as full integers).

In exceptional circumstances, to make up for a missed grade, you must submit a request for APSC's academic concession here and provide all the necessary documentation. Requests not submitted through this mechanism will not be considered.

8. Academic Integrity

The academic enterprise is founded on honesty, civility, and integrity. As members of this enterprise, all students are expected to know, understand, and follow the codes of conduct regarding academic integrity. At the most basic level, this means submitting only original work done by you and acknowledging all sources of information or ideas and attributing them to others as required. This also means you should not cheat, copy, or mislead others about what is your work. Violations of academic integrity (i.e., misconduct) lead to the breakdown of the academic enterprise, and therefore serious consequences arise and harsh sanctions are imposed. For example, incidences of plagiarism or cheating may result in a mark of zero on the assignment or exam and more serious consequences may apply if the matter is referred to the President’s Advisory Committee on Student Discipline. Careful records are kept in order to monitor and prevent recurrences.

For more information, see here.

9. APSC and UBC-wide Policies

Academic Concession

The University is committed to supporting students in their academic pursuits. Students may request academic concession in circumstances that may adversely affect their attendance or performance in a course or program. Students who intend to, or who as a result of circumstance must, request academic concession must notify their instructor, dean, or director as specified in the link below.
https://www.calendar.ubc.ca/vancouver/index.cfm?tree=3,329,0,0

Students seeking academic concession due to absence from the final exam for any reason must apply to Engineering Academic Services (EAS) within 72 hours of the missed exam. This is a standard practice for all final examinations at UBC. For more information, see: https://academicservices.engineering.ubc.ca/exams-grades/academic-concession/

Health and Wellness

UBC provides resources to support student learning and to maintain healthy lifestyles, while recognizing that challenges and crises can arise for students. There are resources in ECE and at UBC where students can find help and support, including wellness, equity, inclusion and indigeneity, resources for survivors of sexual violence, and health. Some frequently used resources are as follows:

• ECE Wellness Hub: https://ece.ubc.ca/student-life/student-wellness/
• ECE has an EDI.I committee whose goals are to improve equity, diversity and inclusion in the ECE Department, and support the UBC Indigenous Strategic Plan. The committee welcomes feedback from all students, and can be contacted by emailing help@ece.ubc.ca.
• Central resource for supporting student success (medical and crisis support, Centre for Accessibility, and support for survivors of sexual violence): https://senate.ubc.ca/vancouver/policies-resources-support-student-success/
• UBC Office of the Ombudsperson for Students: https://ombudsoffice.ubc.ca/how-we-can-help/

UBC values respect for the person and ideas of all members of the academic community. Harassment and discrimination are not tolerated nor is suppression of academic freedom. UBC provides appropriate accommodation for students with disabilities and for religious, spiritual and cultural observances. UBC values academic honesty and students are expected to acknowledge the ideas generated by others and to uphold the highest academic standards in all of their actions. Details of UBC’s respectful environment policies, which all students, staff and faculty are expected to follow, can be found here: https://hr.ubc.ca/working-ubc/respectful-environment

University Policies

UBC provides resources to support student learning and to maintain healthy lifestyles but recognizes that sometimes crises arise and so there are additional resources to access including those for survivors of sexual violence. UBC values respect for the person and ideas of all members of the academic community. Harassment and discrimination are not tolerated nor is suppression of academic freedom. UBC provides appropriate accommodation for students with disabilities and for religious, spiritual and cultural observances. UBC values academic honesty and students are expected to acknowledge the ideas generated by others and to uphold the highest academic standards in all of their actions. Details of the policies and how to access support are available here.