The Software Factory: combining undergraduate computer science and software engineering education

Industry often complains that current university curricula fail to address the practical issues of real software development. This paper outlines a proposal for an innovative core curriculum for a Bachelor of Science in computer science. The proposed core curriculum contains elements of traditional computer science programs combined with software engineering via a team-oriented, hands-on approach to large-scale software development. In addition to traditional lecture/project/exam courses, students are required to take an eight-semester sequence of "Software Factory" courses. Software Factory courses put the students' newly acquired skills to work in a real software organization staffed and managed by all students in the program. Students from all courses in the Software Factory sequence meet simultaneously to fulfil their roles in the software organization. We expect the students will be better-prepared software engineering practitioners after completing a curriculum that combines traditonal courses with practical Software Factory experience.