Two Complementary Course Sequences on the Design and Implementation of Software Products

For many students, the first chance to produce software as part of a team comes with the first work experience outside a university. The difficulties of working with others are compounded by the problems of working in a new environment and for a client with ambiguous and changing goals. Although it is difficult to approximate the "real world" accurately in an academic course, we have implemented two full-year course sequences which apparently give our students some insight into the problems they will face when they leave the university. One course requires the development and implementation of a software product by a team of undergraduates, and the other requires experienced graduate students to act as supervisors for the undergraduate projects. We describe the content and structure of these two sequences, emphasizing how they support and enhance each other. We believe other curricula would benefit from similar courses.