CSE 6324
Advanced Topics in Software Engineering
Fall 2011

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General Information

Lecture: ERB 129, 4:00pm - 5:20pm, Tue. and Thu.
Instructor: Dr. Jeff Lei , ylei@cse.uta.edu, ERB 531, 817.272.2341
Office Hours: 2:00pm - 3:30pm, Tue. and Thu.
GTA: Mehra N. Borazjany, 9:30 - 11:00am, Mon. and Wed., ERB 503
Class Communication: consoft@listserv.uta.edu

Prerequisite

Basic understanding about software engineering and operating systems. Moderate proficiency in Java programming.

Course Description

Recent years have seen a proliferation of concurrent software systems. Allowing multiple threads/processes to execute simultaneously increases resource utilization and leads to improved computing efficiency. However, concurrent software systems are inherently nondeterministic. As a result, it is notoriously difficult to build these systems and ensure their correctness.

The focus of this course is on the construction of concurrent software systems with high assurance. The topics covered by this course can be divided into two parts. The first part highlights basic concepts, principles, and techniques that are underlying the design, development, debugging, and testing of concurrent software systems. The second part provides an introduction to formal methods in modeling, specification and verification of concurrent software systems.

Lecture notes will be posted below as they become available.

08/25/2011: Course Admin., Software Engineering: What and Why
08/30/2011: Introduction
09/01/2011: Java Threads, demo.zip
09/06/2011: The CS Problem
09/08/2011: Replay Shared Variables
09/13/2011: Semaphore and Lock
09/15/2011: Continue on Semaphore and Lock

Textbook

Richard H. Carver and Kuo-Chung Tai, Modern Multithreading, John Wiley & Sons, 2005, ISBN: 0-471-72504-8

References

Gregory R. Andrews, Multithreaded, Parallel, and Distributed Programming, Addison-Wesley, 2000, ISBN: 0-201-35752-6.
Robin Milner, Communication and Concurrency, Prentice Hall, 1989, ISBN: 0-13-115007-3

Grading

Tentatively, the final grade will be determined according to the following percentages:

Homework Assignments - 20%
Midterm Exam - 50%
Project - 30%

Assignments

You are encouraged to discuss assignments with your classmates but are not allowed to copy solutions from or share with others. Late assignments are acceptable before solutions are posted or explained in class, with 10% deduction for every 24 hours. Less than 24 will be rounded to 24.

Assignments will be posted in this section as they become available.

09/08/2011: Exercises 2.1, 2.5. Due Date: 9/22/2011 (By beginning of class).

Americans With Disabilities Act

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As a faculty member, I am required by law to provide "reasonable accommodations" to students with disabilities, so as not to discriminate on the basis of that disability. Student responsibility primarily rests with informing faculty of their need for accommodation and in providing authorized documentation through designated administrative channels. Information regarding specific diagnostic criteria and policies for obtaining academic accommodations can be found at www.uta.edu/disability. Also, you may visit the Office for Students with Disabilities in room 102 of University Hall or call them at (817) 272-3364.

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"Scholastic dishonesty includes but is not limited to cheating, plagiarism, collusion, the submission for credit of any work or materials that are attributable in whole or in part to another person, taking an examination for another person, any act designed to give unfair advantage to a student or the attempt to commit such acts." (Regent's Rules and Regulations, Series 50101, Section 2.2)

COE Ethics Statement
CSE Ethics Statement

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