FIT2101 - Software engineering process and management - 2019

6 points, SCA Band 2, 0.125 EFTSL

Undergraduate - Unit



Information Technology

Chief examiner(s)

Dr Xin Xia

Unit guides



  • Second semester 2019 (On-campus)


  • Second semester 2019 (On-campus)


(ENG1003 and ENG1060) or one of FIT1045, FIT1048, FIT1051 or FIT1053


A disciplined process is vital to the success of any major software development project. In this unit, students learn essential skills for managing software development efforts and for working within coordinated teams. Students will learn how to decide upon and document their team's structure and their process model. They will be expected to follow the process model they have documented, and to evaluate its effectiveness.

There are many factors that can potentially cause a software project to fail. This unit will equip students with techniques to identify and manage these risks, and will take a risk-focused approach to project organisation.



  1. describe the nature and purpose of a software engineering process, including the historical evolution of the concept, and describe the major features of the most common process models;
  2. document a software process in a project management plan, including process model, team organisation, risk management, and time management;
  3. identify relevant risks for a small-to-medium size software project, analyse their impact and likelihood, identify appropriate mitigations, and document these in a risk matrix.;
  4. elicit functional and non-functional requirements for a small-to-medium size software project from stakeholders through interview and/or document analysis techniques, capture these using appropriate methods for the given process model (including user stories and use cases), and analyse these requirements for completeness including test-ability;
  5. apply a lightweight process to the development of a small software project in small groups, including the use of software engineering tools such as revision control and issue tracking systems, analyse their strengths and weaknesses and make recommendations for improving the process based on experience and observation.



Examination (2 hours): 40%; In-semester assessment: 60%

Workload requirements

Minimum total expected workload equals 12 hours per week comprising:

  1. Contact hours for on-campus students:
    • One hour lecture
    • Three hours laboratories
  2. Additional requirements (all students):

See also Unit timetable information

This unit applies to the following area(s) of study