CSC300Midterm

Midterm1
CSC300
ClarkSavageTurner
Winter2007
Name:

_______________________________________________

Course:

CSC30001

Instructions
1. Donotputyournameonindividualquestions,justonthetopsheet,Itrytogradeasblindas
possible:)
2. Youmayuseanyofyournotes/booksforthisexam.Internetsearchandlabworkstations
maybeusedinresearchandproducingyourexamanswers.Cellphonesmustbeturnedoff.
3. Ifhandwritten,youshouldhaveenoughspacegivenonthepagetoanswerthequestion
adequately.Ifabsolutelynecessary,usethebackofapage.
4. ForTrue/Falsequestions,giveaverybriefreasonifyouneedto.
5. Forshortanswerandessays:clarity,concisenessandlegibilityareanimportantpartofthe
gradeyoumustbeabletocommunicateyouranswerseffectively.
6. Asrepeatedlydiscussedinclass,essaysmustexhibitagoodunderstandingofthefacts,the
issue,therulesandprinciplesthatapply.Alternativeargumentsmustbemadeandcriticism,
synthesisorcreativitymustbeusedtocometoyourownrationalconclusion.Remember,
reasoningintheairwillnotsuffice.Useknownfactsandexamplestoapplytherulesand
principlestocometoasolidconclusion.(Youmayradicallydifferwithmyopinionandstill
receiveahighgradeonthebasisofrationalandprincipledanalysis.)
7. Opinionsareirrelevantonthisexam.Creditisgivenonlyforreasonedanswerssupportedby
facts,argumentsandanalysis.
8. Youhaveabout80minutestocompletetheexam.Planyourtimeaccordingly.

questiontype

true/false

shortanswer

essays

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CSC300Midterm
#ofquestions
worth(%)
grade(%)

20
2pts/=40

5
4pts/=20

totalgrade

2
20pts/=40

TRUE/FALSEsection.20at2ptseach.Circleoneofthebooleanvaluesattheleftforthe
truthvalueofthenumberedstatementsbelow.Ifabsolutelynecessary,writeaverybriefreason
belowthestatementasajustification.

true

false

1.

TheIEEE/ACMSoftwareEngineeringCodeofEthics(SECode)
requiresSoftwareEngineerstoobeythelawatalltimes.

true

false

2.

TheCode,byitsowndeclaration,doesnotapplytostudentsor
professorsofsoftwareengineering.

true

false

3.

AccordingtotheCalPolyRUP,portscanningisnotaresponsibleuseof
computingresources.

true

false

4.

Weyukerbelievestheoracleproblemmayneverbecompletelysolved.

true

false

5.

Anormativestatementisonewhichmerelydescribesaphenomenon.

true

false

6.

Ifproperlyqualified,youcouldbelicensedtopracticeasaSoftware
EngineerbytheStateofCalifornia.

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CSC300Midterm
true

false

7.

WeshouldnotuseJavaforanysecuritycriticalsystemsisa
normativestatement.

true

false

8.

ThesafetycriticalflaggivenintheTheracexamplewasonly8bits
wideisadescriptivestatement.

true

false

9.

TheSECoderequiresthatsoftwareengineersreportviolationsof
IntellectualPropertylawthattheyobserveduringwork.

true

false

10.

true

false

11.

Parnas teaches us to fake an ideal software design process and

document it as though there were no discussion of alternative designs.
CaliforniaPenalCodesection502mandatesthat,asaCalState
University,CalPolymustincorporatecertaintermsintoitsResponsible
UsePolicy.

true

false

12.

UniversityofCaliforniastudentsarenotsubjecttoCaliforniaPenal
Codesection502.

true

false

13.

ProfessorTurnersecretlyadmiresProfessorFisher.(hint:itstrue!)

true

false

14.

TheSECodemainlytakesautilitarianperspective.

true

false

15.

A "partial oracle" is when a tester is able to state with assurance that a

result is incorrect without knowing the correct answer.

true

false

16.

TheSECoderequiresthatsoftwareengineersmakesignificanttradeoffs
availableforconsiderationbythepublic.

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CSC300Midterm

true

false

17.

Hamletclaimsthatreliabilitytheoriesmaybeappliedtosoftware
wheneverastatisticallysounduserprofileisavailable.

true

false

18.

Hamlet believes that good processes and methods can result in "defect
free software."

true

false

19.

TheSECodeprovidesforcertainpenaltiesincaseswhereitsprovisions
areviolated.

true

false

20.

FredBrooks thinks that changeability of human-created interfaces is an

essential difficulty for software engineering.

SHORTANSWERsection.5questions@4pointseach.Pleasegiveshort,succinctanswers
tothequestionsinthespaceprovided.
21.

Givemeoneofthebest[orworst]provisionoftheSECode.(a)Writeuptoone
paragraphofexplanationastowhyitisgoodorbad.(b)Giveanexampletoillustrate
yourpoint.

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22.

GiveanexampleofaviolationofthelastclauseofSECOEsection3.01andillustrate
thepossiblesocialconsequencesofsuchaviolation.Makeitasrealisticand
appropriateaspossible.

23.

DoyouthinkthatSECOEsection7.02(alsolookat7.03)conflictswiththegeneral
classroompoliciesregardingcooperationonhomeworkandprogramming
assignments?Lookatbothsidesandexplainyouranswer.

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24.
Are there sections of the SE Code you could use to support Open Sourcing software?
Explain very briefly.

25.

What is the fundamental problem of software testing?

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ESSAYsection.2essays@20pointseach.HereIgiveasimplecasetoponder.Iwantyouto
performsomebasicethicalanalysistocometoareasonedconclusion.Clarity,conciseness,
reasoningfromfacts,alternativeargumentsandrulesarerequired.Citationstootherarguments
willstrengthenyouranswer(formofcitationnotimportantaslongasIcanunderstanditand
ask
youforthecorrectformlaterifneeded.)
26.

SupposeyougraduatefromCalPolyandapplyforjobs.Onecompany,Undercover
Systems,isveryinterested,buttheydonttalkmuchaboutthedutiestheyllassign
you,justthatyoullbeprogramminginaninterestingenvironment.Youvejust
gottenmarriedandboughtahome,yourmortgagepaymentsareprettyhighandyour
partnerishometakingcareofyourverysickmothereveryday.Undercovermakes
youaveryattractiveofferandyouaccept,stillwonderingwhatthejobisabout.
Beforeyourehired,youareaskedtosignaNondisclosureagreement(whereyou
agreenottospeakaboutthejob,thepeoplewhoworkthere,orwhatgoesonthere)
andtoldthatyouwillworkasaninformationretrievaloperativewhereyouwrite
programsdesignedtocovertlyconnecttotargetPCsontheinternet,gatherdata,and
senditbacktothecentraldatabaseforanalysis.ThisisalldonewithoutthePC
ownersknowledgeorconsent.
Youspeaktoyourmanagerwhoassuresyouthattheworkisundercontractwiththe
USGovernment(but[s]heisnotallowedtoshowyouanydocumentation,itissecret)
andthatthetargetsarepotentialterrorists,sothattheprotectionofinnocentlivesisat
stake.Youarethentoldtogettoworkrightaway,therearedeadlinesandyoumust

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performorcouldreceiveapoorjobevaluationandloweryourchancesfor
advancement.
AnswerthisusinggeneralethicalprinciplesandtheSECode.Notethatpartsa,b,c,
dareoptional,butveryhelpfulinsettingupvariouspartsofyouranswer.Youmay
answerthesepartsandIwillconsiderthemforpartialcredit,butinallcases,you
mustwriteacompleteanswerwithanalysistoparte.

(a.) List5factsthatraiseimportantethicalissuesinthisproblem.Thesefactsshould
begiveninverybriefphrasessuchassickchildrendependonincomefromthe
jobormedicaldevicesuccessfulcureofhundredsoflives,only3killed.

(b.) Listthreeimportantissuesyouwouldconsiderinanalyzingthisproblem.
Numberthemtomatchwithlaterreasoning.Theseshouldbeinverybrief
phrasessuchasisitethicaltakeanonweaponsrelatedjobworkingforthe
militarywhenIamapacifist?

(c.) ListapplicableSECoderulesandotherethicalprinciplesthatapplytotheeach
numberedissuethatwillhelpyoudoyouranalysis.Atleastoneruleorprinciple
perissue,probablymore.Writeouttherulesinshortphrasesratherthansimply
theCodesectionnumberdesignations.

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(d.) Givemeaverybrieflistofalternativeargumentsoneachissue.(Matchissueto
argument.)

(e.) Analyzeeachissueinturntocometoonereasonedconclusiononthewhole
matter.

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27.

Suppose you write a paper extending Weyuker's analysis in her paper, "On Testing
NonTestable Programs" for your CSC 300 class and you publish it in an IEEE journal.
You show that testing of software still isn't anywhere near an exact science and that
we, as yet, have no objective measure for the "strength" or "thoroughness" of testing.
You admit that we can get a bug list that clearly helps avoid certain problems, but that
is the only certain result of testing. The IEEE asks you to write some guidelines
regarding the Software Engineering Code of Ethics section 3.11. You'll write
guidelines involving adequacy of test documentation and you'll give very brief
justification for each guideline.

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