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Software Engineering Curriculum, Software Testing

Topic 12 – Software Testing

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Why do I need to learn about software testing?

Just image that a user installs your application, opens it and “BOOM!”, it crashes. Is it good? In the worst case scenario, your software operating an airplane suddenly hangs up while the airplane is still flying in the sky. Can you image what may happen? How do you ensure that your application solves your customer’s problems? How do you know if your software meets its users’ requirements? How do you give your users’ confidence about the correctness, reliability and security of your software? In order to answer these questions adequately you need to learn about software testing.

What can I do after finishing learning software testing?

You will know how to design and write a test case, how to prepare test data, how to test software structurally and correctly, how to automate testing tasks, how to report bugs.

I am a programmer. I am not a tester. Do I really need to know how to test software?

Many application capabilities must be tested by a programmer. Many software testing tasks can only be done by a programmer. Therefore you have to master software testing knowledge.

Alright! What should I do now?

First, please read the two books below to learn the core concepts of software testing:

After that, please read the two books below to learn how to automate software testing tasks:

Terminology Review:

  • Test Cases.
  • Test Coverage.
  • Test Reports.
  • Bug Tracking Systems.
  • Black Box Testing.
  • White Box Testing.
  • Performance Testing.
  • Acceptance Testing.
  • Inspection.
  • Automated Testing.
  • Test Automation.

After finishing software testing, please click on Topic 13 – Introduction to Software Design to continue.

 

Software Construction, Software Engineering Curriculum

Topic 11 – Software Construction

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Why do I need to learn about software construction?

Knowing how to write code does not mean that you know how to create real-world software.

In real world projects, you will need to know how to manage your code, how to read the existing code, how to write code following standard styles, how to ensure that your code is working, how to automate your the process of building, testing and deploying your code, how to handle errors in your application, how to optimize your code for better speed, how to write secure code, how to avoid code duplication, how to create readable code, how to create code faster.

That’s why you need to learn about software construction.

What can I do after finishing learning software construction?

You will know how to create real world software with a team.

Hmm! Is it really useful?

If you doubt its usefulness then you can delay learning it until you are tasked to create a software system and you complete a half of it and are stuck there because when you add one more feature you will get tons of bugs due to the new code, or when you finish fixing 1 bug, you get 3 other bugs due to the code modification.

An other scenario is when it takes another person 2 weeks to read 1000 lines of the code that you wrote in order to fix a bug or to add a new feature because your code is unstructured.

Another scenario is when you are asked to improve some existing code for better performance or to refactor some code for clarity before adding a new feature but you do not know how to accomplish the task.

Alright! What should I do now?

First, please read this book to get familar with the core software construction activities: Steve McConnell (2004). Code Complete. Microsoft Press.

After that, please read one of the books belowto gain hands-on experience with using Git for managing source code versions:

Alternatively, you can read this book to gain hands-on experience with using Subversion for managing source code versions: Ben Collins-Sussman et al. (2011). Version Control with Subversion.

After that, please read this book to learn about continuous code integration: Paul M. Duvall et al. (2007). Continuous Integration Improving Software Quality and Reducing Risk. Addison-Wesley.

After that, please read this book to learn how to write readable, maintainable code: Robert C. Martin (2009). Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship. Pearson Education.

After that, please read the two books below to learn how to write and run unit tests:

After that, After that, please read the two books below to learn how to convert existing unstructured, hard-to-test code into readable and maintainable code:

If you have to work with legacy code, please read the two books below to learn how to read and maintain it in a structured way:

After that, you will need to learn:

If you are not familiar with .NET, please find equivalent books to complete the tasks using other technologies or frameworks.

After that, please read the two books below to learn how to use Docker and Kubernetes for deploying and operating software:

You can learn the basic concepts of Kubernetes from the books, and then try exploring its components using the official documentation if you encounter any issues with the example code.

After that, please read this book to learn how to use Terraform to provision resources for deploying and operating software: Yevgeniy Brikman (2022). Terraform – Up and Running. O’Reilly Media.

Terminology Review:

  • Version Control.
  • Coding Standards.
  • Unit Tests.
  • Continuous Integration.
  • Refactoring.
  • Legacy Code.
  • Code Reading.
  • Data Providers.
  • Object/Relational Mapping (ORM).
  • Reporting Services.
  • Authentication.
  • Authorization.
  • OAuth 2.
  • Proof Key for Code Exchange (PKCE).
  • JSON Web Token (JWT).
  • OpenID Connect (OIDC).
  • The Backend for Frontend Pattern.
  • Performance.
  • Containers.
  • Container Images.
  • Container Image Layers.
  • Docker.
  • Docker CLI.
  • Dockerfiles.
  • Docker Volumes.
  • Bind Mounts.
  • Docker Compose.
  • Container Orchestrator.
  • Swarm.
  • Kubernetes.
  • Deployments.
  • ReplicaSets.
  • Pods.
  • Deployment Manifest.
  • ClusterIP Services.
  • LoadBalancer Services.
  • NodePort Services.
  • ExternalName Services.
  • headless Services.
  • Namespaces.

After finishing software construction, please click on Topic 12 – Software Testing to continue.

 

Software Engineering Curriculum, Software Requirements

Topic 10 – Software Requirements

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Why do I need to learn about software requirements?

Your software can only be successful if it helps people do their work better, faster, with lower cost. In order to achieve this objective, it must fulfill the need of various users. In order to fulfill users’ needs you need to be able to identify their context, problems and needs, then propose software solutions for their issues.

Your software solutions must be built based on its users’ requirements that help them solve their problems. So you need to be able to collect, document, manage and validate their requirements. Software requirements engineering will provide you knowledge for completing these tasks.

Do not waste your time to create software that NO ONE will use. Your software will only become useful if its requirements are correctly engineered.

What can I do after finishing learning software requirements engineering?

You will know how to elicit, document, manage and validate software requirements so that they can be used for creating your software.

Hmm! Is it really useful?

If you still have a doubt about its usefulness then you can delay learning about software requirements until you are tasked to create a software system but you do not know where to begin or what are the inputs for your coding.

Another scenario that may suggest that you should come back to this topic is when you create a software system but unfortunately you find that no one wants to use it.

Alright! What should I do now?

First, please read this book to learn how to develop enterprise software requirements step by step: Suzanne Robertson and James Robertson (2012). Mastering the Requirements Process. Addison Wesley Professional.

After that, please read this book to learn about techniques for engineering software requirements: Karl Wiegers and Joy Beatty (2013). Software Requirements. Microsoft Press.

After that, please read this book to learn how to use models for representing software requirements: Joy Beatty and Anthony Chen (2012). Visual Models for Software Requirements. Microsoft Press.

After that, please read this book to learn how to write use cases effectively: Alistair Cockburn (2001). Writing Effective Use Cases. Addison-Wesley.

After that, please review this standard so that you could create a quality software requirements specification for projects require high formal specification: ISO/IEC/IEEE 29148:2011(E).

After that, please read this book to learn how to use user stories for documenting and communicating requirements: Mike Cohn (2004). User Stories Applied: For Agile Software Development. Addison-Wesley Professional.

After that, please read this book to learn how to discover the real problems that need to be solved: Jeff Patton and Peter Economy (2014). User Story Mapping. O’Reilly Media.

After that, please read this book to learn how to manage and communicate requirements across large teams: Dean Leffingwell (2011). Agile Software Requirements. Lean Requirements Practices for Teams, Programs, and the Enterprise. Addison-Wesley Professional.

After that, please read this book to review the core concepts and gain insightful advice when facing challenges in discovering requirements: Karl Wiegers and Candase Hokanson (2023). Software Requirements Essentials. Addison-Wesley Professional.

After that, please read this book to learn how to manage requirements for large government projects: George Koelsch (2023). Hardware and Software Projects Troubleshooting – How Effective Requirements Writing Can Save the Day. Apress.

After that, please read this book if you want to obtain a PMI-PBA certificate: Project Management Institute (2015). Business Analysis for Practitioners – A Practice Guide. Project Management Institute.

Terminology Review:

  • Elicitation Techniques: Interviews, Questionnaires, Group Meetings, Personas, Brainstorming, Document Analysis, Apprenticing, Observations, User Interface Analysis, System Interface Analysis, Reverse Engineering.
  • Business Requirements.
  • Stakeholders.
  • Sponsors.
  • Customers.
  • Users.
  • Business Analysts.
  • Terminologies, Terms.
  • Problems.
  • Business Goals.
  • Evaluator Pitch.
  • Work Context Diagrams.
  • Executive Summary.
  • User Requirements.
  • Glossary.
  • Business Rules.
  • Business Use Cases.
  • Scenarios, Business Workflows, Business Processes.
  • Storyboards.
  • Process Flows.
  • Activity Diagrams.
  • Swimlane Diagrams.
  • The Brown Cow Model.
  • Business Rules.
  • Domain Models.
  • Business Data.
  • Entity Relationship Diagrams.
  • Data Flow Diagrams.
  • State Models.
  • Features.
  • Feature Model.
  • Feature Tree.
  • Project Vision.
  • Software Requirements.
  • Functional Requirements.
  • Use Cases.
  • Non-Functional Requirements.
  • Software Requirements Specification.
  • User Stories.
  • Business Values.
  • Story Map.
  • Product Backlog.
  • User-Interface Prototypes.
  • User Interface Flow Diagrams.
  • ISO/IEC/IEEE 29148:2011(E).

After finishing software requirements, please click on Topic 11 – Software Construction to continue.

 

 

Android Programming, iOS Programming

Topic 9 – Introduction to Mobile Application Development

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Why do I need to learn about mobile application development?

Desktop applications are very useful but their deployment and updating are daunting. Web applications overcome many limitations but you still need a workstation to work with it. This is often a PC or MAC that is too large and heavy to bring on-the-go.

Nowadays most of us always bring a mobile device with us everywhere. It’s very convenient if we could use our daily software inside our mobile devices. In order to  leverage our mobile devices we need to develop software for them.
Therefore you need to learn mobile programming.

What can I do after finishing learning mobile programming?

You can create applications like WhatsApp, Instagram or games like Temple Run, Angry Birds, Fruit Ninjia.

How interesting! What should I do now?

Mobile programming requires a lot of reading. You have to master at least a programming language and a mobile platform. Currently, there are 2 major platforms for mobile development: Android and iOS. There are 3 options for developing a mobile application:
– native Android application or
– native iOS application or
– hybrid mobile application.

The first option for learning mobile programming is Android programming.
If you are not familiar with the Kotlin language, please first read this book to learn the core concepts of Kotlin: Josh Skeen and David Greenhalgh (2018). Kotlin Programming – The Big Nerd Ranch Guide. Pearson Education.

After that, please read this book to learn how to use Android frameworks and libraries to create interactive mobile applications: Bill Phillips et al. (2019). Android Programming – The Big Nerd Ranch Guide. Big Nerd Ranch Guides.

After that, please read the two books below to learn about Java concepts, as Java is still widely used in many Android frameworks, libraries, and legacy systems:

The second option for learning mobile application development is iOS programming.
Please first read one of the following books to learn how to use iOS frameworks and libraries to create interactive mobile applications:

After that, please read one of the following books to learn how to create more sophisticated iOS applications:

The Objective-C language is still used in many legacy frameworks, libraries, and systems, as well as for accessing low-level APIs. Please read one of the following books to learn the core concepts of Objective-C:

The third option for developing mobile applications is either

(i) to leverage C# language and the Xamarin framework; please read this book: Charles Petzold (2016). Creating Mobile Apps with Xamarin.Forms; or

(ii) to leverage HTML/CSS/Javascript language and the Ionic framework; please read this book: Jeremy Wilken (2015). Ionic in Action: Hybrid Mobile Apps with Ionic and AngularJS; or

(iii) to leverage HTML/CSS/Javascript language and the React Native framework; please read the books below:

(iv) to leverage Dart language and the Flutter framework; please read this book: Priyanka Tyagi (2021). Pragmatic Flutter. CRC Press.

Mobile is a great environment for games because of its mobility. If you are interested in developing games for Android please read this book: Jayme Schroeder and Brian Broyles (2013). AndEngine for Android Game Development Cookbook.

If you already have a background in C or C++ and want to develop games for both Android and iOS, please read one of the following books:

It seems that there are many topics to learn. I am completely new to mobile programming. What essential knowledge should I focus on to reduce my learning time?

You could focus on these topics first:

  • How to install necessary tools and create a Hello World application.
  • What is the physical structure of a project and how to build it using both IDE and command line?
  • How to deploy an application to Play Store or App Store.
  • How to create UIs, transfer data between UIs, compose new UI using existing UIs using SDK features or frameworks.
  • How to use built-in or 3rd party libraries to interact with camera, microphone, media player, GPS device, local files, local databases, external databases and external services.
  • How to call native code libraries to improve performance or access low-level features.

Terminology Review:

  • Android.
  • iOS.
  • Native Apps.
  • Hybrid Apps.
  • Build Tools.
  • Views.
  • Controls.
  • Layouts.
  • Game Programming.
  • Game Development.
  • Native Development Kit.
  • Google Play Console.
  • App Store Connect.

After finishing mobile application development, please click on Topic 10 – Software Requirements to continue.

 

Software Engineering Curriculum, Web Application Development

Topic 8 – Introduction to Web Application Development

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Why do I need to learn about web application development?

Desktop applications are very powerful and convenient but their development, deployment and maintenance are daunting.

The reason is that the platform dependency makes it very expensive to create a desktop application working on different versions of different operating systems, such as Windows, Linux and Mac OSX.

Deployment and updates of desktop application typically require high privileges access to a computer machine, causing a problem for companies requiring high security.

Fortunately, you can overcome these limitations by creating a web application running on a browser. To create a web application you need to learn about web application development.

What can I do after finishing learning web application development?

You will be able to create web applications like The BBC News, The WordPress Blog or The White House Website.

This is exactly what I want to learn! What should I do now?

Web application development requires a lot of reading. You have to master networking concepts, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, a programming language and a database management system for web.

First, please read the two books below to get familiar with web application development concepts, and gain hands-on experience with HTML and CSS.

After that,  please read the two books below to learn in-depth about HTML and CSS.

JavaScript is the language for web development because it is implemented in most of the web browsers. Strong knowledge of JavaScript will ease your web development learning very much. Please read the books below to learn about JavaScript.

Single page application is the default front-end choice for most of new web development projects.
Please read the books below to learn how to create a single page application (SPA).

After that, please read the books below to learn how to create micro-frontends.

After that you will have 4 main options. You can choose one of them. We STRONGLY recommend that you choose only ONE option.

You should NOT learn all of them at the beginning. You could save your time by digging into only one option. After mastering the selected technology, you will realize that all of them are very similar in the sense of use.

One note is that although their concepts are similar to one another but it still takes us much time to learn how to apply an approach to real world web application.

When developing a real world web application, you often use only one or two of these 4 approaches. If you cannot make your own selection then we recommend you
– a combination of the first and second option, or
– a combination of the first and third option, or
– a combination of the first and fourth option.

The first option is PHP world.  Please read one of the following books to learn how to create web applications using PHP:

After that, After that, if your projects use WordPress, you may read this book: Brad Williams et al. (2015). Professional WordPress: Design and Development. Wrox.

The second option is ASP.NET. Please read the two books below to learn how to create web applications using ASP.NET:

A complementary part for this option is ASP.NET Web Forms that is a technology that you need to master if you are maintaining a legacy project. Please read this book to learn about ASP.NET Web Forms: Imar Spaanjaars (2014). Beginning ASP.NET 4.5.1 in C# and VB. Wrox.

The third option is Java world. If you are not familiar with Java language then please read the two books below first:

After that, please read one of the following books to learn how to create web applications using Java.

After that, please read this book to learn how to speed up Java web application development using Spring Boot framework: Mark Heckler (2021). Spring Boot – Up and Running – Building Cloud Native Java and Kotlin Applications. O’Reilly Media.

The 4th option is Node.js world. Please read the books below to learn how to create web applications using Node.js:

There are also several other options that you may consider if you are required to learn them for maintening a project.
These options include:
– Ruby on Rails, please read this book: Michael Hartl (2020). The Ruby on Rails Tutorial. Addison-Wesley Professional,
– Flask, please read this book: Miguel Grinberg (2018). Flask Web Development: Developing Web Applications with Python. O’Reilly Media,
– Django.

IIf you need to convert a web application from one platform to another or create a web application framework, please read the two books below to learn about the architecture of web applications:

It seems that there are many topics to learn. I am completely new to web programming. What essential knowledge should I focus on to reduce my learning time?

You could focus on these topics first:

  • How to install necessary tools and create a Hello World application.
  • What is the physical structure of a project and how to build it using both IDE and command line?
  • How to deploy an application to a cloud virtual machine and access it via an URL.
  • How to create UIs, transfer data between UIs, compose new UI using existing UIs using frameworks and libraries.
  • How to use built-in or 3rd party libraries to interact with external databases and external services.
  • How to integrate with other web services using standards.

Terminology Review:

  • Networking
  • HTTP
  • HTML
  • Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)
  • CGI
  • Web Applications
  • Multiple Page Application
  • Single-Page Application (SPA)
  • RESTful APIs
  • gRPC APIs
  • GraphQL APIs
  • XML
  • SOAP APIs
  • Web Application Frameworks
  • Portal Frameworks
  • Content Management System (CMS)
  • Payment Gateways

After finishing web application development, please click on Topic 9 – Introduction to Mobile Application Development to continue.

 

Database Management Systems, Software Engineering Curriculum

Topic 7 – Introduction to Database Management Systems

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Why do I need to learn about database management systems?

Your software must help users to do their work. The most important part of the users’ work is the information. You need to learn about database management systems to store, manipulate, retrieve and secure this information.

The database is the heart of any software system, especially enterprise systems. Poor database design will eventually cause a system to fail. Designing enterprise databases requires both specific domain knowledge and a deep understanding of database design principles. This is another reason why learning about database management systems is essential.

What can I do after finishing learning database management systems?

You will be able to design and implement database part for software systems. These systems may include airlines and railways, banking, education, telecommunications, digital libraries and digital publishing, finance, sales, health care information systems, e-commerce system, content management system.

You will be able to decide when to use a relational database management system and when to use a NoSQL database management system, as well as how a database system works internally.

You will also know how to build a data warehouse. You will know how to design a relational database and write SQL code PROPERLY (i.e. for specific purposes) too.

You will also be able to design databases for scalable and highly available software systems.

It sounds interesting! What should I do now?

Learning about database management systems requires a lot of effort. First you need to learn how to use database management systems.

First, please read one of the following books to learn the core concepts of relational database management systems and gain hands-on experience working with them:

After that, please read this book to learn how to write SQL code efficiently: Stephane Faroult and Peter Robson (2006). The Art of SQL. O’Reilly Media.

After that, please read these books to learn about normal forms and the relational theory behind relational databases, which will help you create more efficient logical designs for your databases:

After that, please read these books to learn how to build a data warehouse:

After that, please read these books to learn the core concepts of NoSQL database management systems and gain hands-on experience working with them:

Terminology Review:

  • Databases.
  • Flat Files.
  • Database Management Systems.
  • Relational Databases.
  • (Oracle) Tablespaces, Datafiles, and Objects.
  • (Oracle) Databases, Instances, Schemas.
  • Tables, Rows, Columns, Primary Keys, Foreign Keys.
  • Normal Forms.
  • Relational Model: Relations, Tuples, Primary Keys, Foreign Keys, Constraints.
  • Data Manipulation Languages (DMLs): Relational
    Algebra, Relational Calculus.
  • Relational Algebra: σ Select, π Projection, ∪ Union, ∩ Intersection, – Difference, × Product, ⋈ Join.
  • Data Models: Entity-Relationship (ER) Model, Relational Model, Object-Oriented Model, NoSQL Model.
  • Schemas.
  • Entity-Relationship Model.
  • SQL, TSQL.
  • Stored Procedures.
  • Functions.
  • Queries.
  • Aggregates (AVG, MIN, MAX, SUM, COUNT), ANY_VALUE, GROUP BY, HAVING, LIKE (Strings).
  • Output Redirection.
  • ORDER BY, ROW_NUMBER, RANK.
  • Subqueries.
  • Views.
  • Common Table Expressions.
  • Indexes.
  • Recovery.
  • Replication.
  • Data Warehouse.
  • Dimensional Modeling.
  • NoSQL.
  • Key-Value Databases.
  • Document Databases.
  • Column-Family Databases.
  • Graph Databases.
  • Array (Vector, Matrix, Tensor) Databases.

After finishing database management systems, please click on Topic 8 – Introduction to Web Application Development to continue.

 

Desktop Application Development, Software Engineering Curriculum

Topic 6 – Introduction to Windows Programming

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Why do I need to learn about Windows programming?

Because Windows is the most popular OS and most companies use it for their daily work. So your software must run on Windows in order to help users do their work.

What can I do after finishing learning Windows programming?

You will know how to create Windows applications that are similar to Notepad, or Paint, or Calculator.

You could also create a dictionary application or an application for storing and searching for books.

It sounds interesting! What should I do now?

Windows  programming is a very big topic. You need to master at least 3 specific technologies: Windows API, Windows Forms and Windows Presentation Foundation.

First, please read the books below to learn about Windows APIs:

After that, please read this book to learn about Windows Forms: Chris Sells and Michael Weinhardt (2006). Windows Forms 2.0 programming. Addison-Wesley.

After that, please read this book to learn about Windows Presentation Foundation: Chris Sells and Ian Griffiths (2007). Programming WPF: Building Windows UI with Windows Presentation Foundation. O’Reilly Media.

Can I learn Java stuff instead of Microsoft stuff for Windows programming?

Yes, you can. However please remember that Microsoft is the one who created and has been developing Windows. Therefore we believe that the good approach for learning programming for Windows is to learn Microsoft technologies.

Can I create a desktop application that can run in Windows, macOS and Linux using one code base?

Yes, you can.  Please consider one of the tools below:

Terminology Review:

  • Windows, Menus, Panels, Tabs.
  • Buttons, Text Boxes, Combo Boxes, Images, Trees.
  • Windows API.
  • Windows Forms.
  • Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF).
  • Graphics Device Interface (GDI).
  • Dynamic-Link Library (DLL).
  • Processes.
  • Threads.
  • Shared Memory.
  • Windows Sockets 2 (Winsock).
  • Windows Services.
  • Office Add-ins.

After finishing windows programming, please click on Topic 7 – Introduction to Database Management Systems to continue.

 

Object-Oriented Programming, Programming Languages, Software Engineering Curriculum

Topic 5 – Object-Oriented Programming

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Why do I need to learn about object-oriented programming?

Because most of modern software are written using object-oriented programming languages. Using object-oriented programming as a tool and more importantly as a problem solving approach will save you a lot of time and cost when you create modern software systems.

What can I do after finishing learning object-oriented programming?

You will be able to write a program to allow a user
– to draw a picture, save it, then load it, or
– to play ping-pong game, or
– to store and search for an employee’s CV.

Alright! What should I do now?

First, please read this book to gain a fundamental understanding of object-oriented programming with intuitive examples, and to distinguish object-oriented concepts from procedural programming concepts: Jim Keogh and Mario Giannini (2004). OOP Demystified. McGraw-Hill.

After that, please read this book to learn how to apply object-oriented concepts to creating real world software using a specific object-oriented programming language (i.e. C# language): RB Whitaker (2017). The C# Player’s Guide. Starbound Software.

After that, please take a quick look at one of the books below so you can refer to a specific topic that requires further study when developing real-world software:

I hear that there are many object-oriented programming languages, such as C++, C#, Java, PHP, Objective-C, Swift, Python, and Ruby. How many object-oriented programming languages do I need to learn?

You should learn as many as possible. However, at this stage, we recommend that you focus on learning only C++, C#, or Java.

C++ is the most widely used language for developing high-performance software systems, including games, operating systems, compilers, database management systems, web browsers, graphics editors, and medical or engineering applications.

Java and C# are the most widely used languages for developing enterprise systems.

If you are required or prefer to learn C++, please read this book to learn the core concepts of object-oriented programming with C++ implementation and specific features: Bjarne Stroustrup (2013). The C++ Programming Language. Pearson Education.

If you are required or prefer to learn Java, please read this book to learn the core concepts of object-oriented programming with Java implementation and specific features: Herbert Schildt (2019). Java: The Complete Reference. McGraw-Hill Education.

You should focus on mastering the core object-oriented principles such as encapsulation, inheritance, polymorphism, and abstraction, rather than trying to learn every OOP language. Once you understand these principles well, you can apply them across different languages with relatively little effort.

After that, please read the two books below to deepen your understanding of OOP concepts and to learn how to design software more efficiently using this approach:

Terminology Review:

  • Abstraction.
  • Encapsulation.
  • Class-based Inheritance.
  • Prototype-based Inheritance.
  • Polymorphism.
  • Types.
  • Method Variables (C++ Function Pointers, C# Delegates).
  • Concurrency.
  • Collections.
  • Object-Oriented Analysis.
  • Object-Oriented Design.
  • Object-Oriented Programming.

After finishing learning about object-oriented programming, please click on Topic 6 – Introduction to Windows Programming to continue.

Algorithms, Software Engineering Curriculum

Topic 4 – Introduction to Data Structures and Algorithms

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Why do I need to learn data structures and algorithms?

Your software should address real-world problems. While knowing a programming language is important for writing software, it doesn’t help you leverage existing solutions to save time and effort when building a system.

Many real-world problems have already been solved, and their solutions are documented as data structures and algorithms. It’s important to learn these so you don’t reinvent the wheel, enabling you to apply them to your specific problems, thereby reducing time and effort, or optimizing your solutions.

Additionally, learning algorithms and data structures will help you develop algorithmic thinking and problem-solving skills, which are essential for any software developer.

What can I do after finishing learning algorithms and data structures?

Given a problem, you’ll be able to choose the appropriate data structures to represent concepts in a computer.

You’ll be capable of writing a program that instructs the computer to:
– store and search for data efficiently,
– sort information,
– compute irrational numbers,
– find the shortest path between two locations, or
– encrypt and decrypt sensitive information.

When examining source code, you’ll also be able to determine which program will run faster.

That sounds useful! How can I learn algorithms and data structures?

First, please read this book to gain intuitive understanding of data structures and algorithms: Jay Wengrow (2020). A Common-Sense Guide to Data Structures and Algorithms. Pragmatic Bookshelf.

After that, please read this book to learn about graph theory: Richard J. Trudeau (1993). Introduction to Graph Theory. Dover Publications.

After that, please read this book to learn how to formally define, implement, and evaluate data structures and algorithms: Thomas H. Cormen et al. (2022). Introduction to Algorithms. The MIT Press.

Alternatively, please audit this course and read its lecture notes to learn the core data structures and algorithms through interactive explanations: MIT 6.006 – Introduction to Algorithms, Fall 2011, (Lecture Notes).

After that, you can audit this course and read its lecture notes to delve deeper into the design and analysis of data structures and algorithms through interactive explanations: MIT 6.046J – Design and Analysis of Algorithms, Spring 2015 (Lecture Notes).

Terminology Review:

  • Arrays.
  • Selection Sort.
  • Invariant Reasoning.
  • Order of Growth, Big O, Big Theta.
  • Insertion Sort. Complexity: O(n²).
  • Merge Sort, Recursion Tree. Complexity: O(nlgn).
  • Bubble Sort. Complexity: O(n²).
  • Quick Sort. Complexity: O(nlgn).
  • Counting Sort. Complexity: O(n + k).
  • Radix Sort. Complexity: O(nlogₙk).
  • Sets.
  • Stacks.
  • Queues.
  • Lists, Linked Lists, Doubly Linked Lists, Sorted Lists.
  • Trees, Binary Trees, Heaps.
  • Heapsort. Complexity: O(nlgn).
  • Hash Tables, Maps, Dictionaries: Chaining, Division Method, Multiplication Method, Open Addressing, Linear Probing, Double Hashing, Cuckoo Hashing.
  • Linear Search.
  • Binary Search.
  • String Matching: Karp-Rabin Algorithm, Rolling Hash ADT.
  • Binary Trees: Depth, Height, Traversal Order.
  • Binary Search Trees (BST).
  • AVL Trees, Rotations, AVL Sort.
  • Sequence Binary Trees.
  • Red-Black Trees.
  • 2-3 Trees.
  • B-Trees.
  • B+ Trees.
  • Comparison Model of Computation, Decision Tree, Search Lower Bound, Sorting Lower Bound.
  • Hierarchical Structure.
  • Karatsuba’s Algorithm.
  • Newton’s Method for Computing Square Roots.
  • Graphs: Complete Graphs, The Handshaking Lemma, Identical Graphs, Graph Isomorphism,  Adjacency Lists, Implicit Graphs, Adjacency Matrix, Incidence Matrix.
  • Breadth-First Search: Shortest Paths.
  • Depth-First Search: Tree Edges, Nontree Edges (Back Edges, Forward Edges, Cross Edges), Cycle Detection, Job Scheduling, Topological Sort.
  • Dijkstra’s Algorithm.
  • Bellman–Ford Algorithm.
  • Single-source Single-target Dijkstra.
  • Bi-Directional Search.
  • A* Algorithm.
  • Dynamic Programming: Subproblems, Guessing, Recursion and Memoization, Bottom-up, Topological Order, Original Problem and Parent Pointers.
  • Dynamic Programming Examples: Fibonacci Numbers, Text Justification, Parenthesization, Edit Distance.
  • Computational Difficulty: P, NP, EXP, R.
  • Hardness and Completeness: NP-hard, NP-complete, EXP-hard, EXP-complete.

After finishing learning about data structures and algorithms, please click on Topic 5 – Object-Oriented Programming to continue.

 

Programming Languages, Software Engineering Curriculum

Topic 3 – Introduction to Programming

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Why do I need to know a programming language?

Because you will develop your software using a programming language.
A programming language is a language that both you and a computer will understand.
It’s a tool for you to express what you want a computer to do.
It’s a tool for you to write the instructions of your computer programs.
Without knowledge of a programming language, you cannot develop software.

I hear that there are many programming languages such as C, C++, C#, Objective-C, Java, Swift, Ruby, Python, JavaScript, PHP, F#, Kotlin, Clojure, Go, and Lisp.
How many programming languages should I know?

As many as possible. However, at this stage, you should first learn about the structure of a computer program and a procedural language (e.g., C or C++).

What can I do after finishing learning programming language?

You will be able to write programs that tell a computer to:

  • perform calculations,
  • count the occurrences of a string,
  • store and search for a string,
  • sort a list of numbers, or
  • display an image.

What should I do now?

Please read this book to learn programming using the C language: Stephen Prata (2011). C Primer Plus. Pearson.

Alternatively, you can read this book to learn programming using the C++ language: Stephen Prata (2012). C++ Primer Plus. Pearson.

Alternatively, you can read these books to learn programming using the Python language:,

Alternatively, you can read this book to learn programming using the Ruby language: Chris Pine (2013). Learn to Program: The Facets of Ruby Series. The Pragmatic Bookshelf.

Alternatively, you can read these books to learn programming using the Go language:

After that, if you would like to study system programming in depth, please read one of the following books:

After that, if you would like to build your vocabulary and gain in-depth knowledge of programming, especially the relationship between mathematics and programming, as well as the ideas of functional programming and logic programming, then please read the book or the notes below:

Terminology Review:

  • Computer Programs.
  • Compilers.
  • Just-In-Time Compilers.
  • Interpreters.
  • Structured Programming.
  • Procedural Programming.
  • Object-Oriented Programming.
  • Functional Programming.
  • Declarative Programming.
  • Logic Programming.
  • Primitive Types: int, float, double, string, date/time, null.
  • Basic Constructs: variables & assignments, pointers, declarations, functions, macro.
  • Control Flow: if/else, while, switch, for, break, continue, recursion, exception, parallelism, signal, jump.
  • User-defined Types: struct, class, type.
  • Data Structures: Arrays, Lists, Linked Lists, Dictionaries.
  • Object-Oriented Programming: abstraction, encapsulation, class-based inheritance, prototype-based inheritance, polymorphism.
  • Functional Programming: first-class and higher-order functions, no side effects, recursion.
  • Modularity: files, packages, namespaces, libraries, modules.
  • Concurrency: processes, threads, locks, channels, timers, callbacks, events, promises, event loop.
  • Type system: static type, dynamic type.
  • Error handling: try/catch.
  • Metaprogramming: reflection, template programming, DSL.
    • Clojure.
    • Garbage Collection: Cheney’s Algorithm, Baker’s Algorithm.

    After finishing programming, please click on Topic 4 – Introduction to Data Structures and Algorithms to continue.