All computer science majors participate in a senior year capstone experience by enrolling in Software Engineering I and II. This course sequence affords students the opportunity to apply the diverse skills they have acquired at Siena to a real-world problem. This experience requires students to apply the technical skills they have developed as CS majors (e.g. programming, algorithms, database management, complex problem-solving), as well as their liberal arts foundation (e.g. critical thinking, written and oral communication, ethical judgment and integrity, creativity, ability to work in diverse teams with differing viewpoints).
Students are assigned a client/project and work in teams to design and develop an appropriate information system to meet their client's needs. The software engineering sequence provides students the opportunity to manage a software project from requirements gathering to software implementation and verification.
The first semester (Software Engineering I) is spent designing and developing the specifications of the new information system. Teams work with their client to identify and document system needs. Students will be introduced to principles of software engineering, including techniques for planning, specification, and system design.
The second semester (Software Engineering II) involves employing software engineering methodologies to implement the system designed in Software Engineering I. Students continue to work together with their clients as they complete the design, testing, implementation, and verification of the information system. Teams present and demo the competed systems at the end of the spring term to their clients and the CSIS faculty.