Department of Information Systems

INF2011S
Systems Design & Development

INSTRUCTORS

Dr Dirk Snyman
(Course convenor)
Office: Room 3.49, 3rd floor,
Leslie Commerce Building
Email: dirk.snyman@uct.ac.za
Tel: +27 21 650 4226

Dr Richard Maliwatu
Office: Leslie Commerce 3.09

Email: richard.maliwatu@uct.ac.za

ADMINISTRATOR
Ms. Portia Desi
Office: Room 3.01.1
Leslie Commerce Building
Email: portia.desi@uct.ac.za
Tel: +27 21 650 5901

TRA
Ms. Papama Mtambeka
Email: MTMPAP001@myuct.ac.za

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TIMES & VENUES

Day Times/Period Activity

Monday Lectures
Tuesday 4th Period
Wednesday
3rd & 4th period
(M202) Theory Workshop
Thursday
4th & 5th period
(CS203)
Friday 6th and 7th Practical Workshop
(Alumni labs: 1-8)

Note: Please check the Vula announcements for venue updates and times

OVERVIEW OF THE COURSE

INF2011S is a semester course intended for students majoring in Information Systems or
Computer Science. Students pursuing other computing degrees may be accepted, space
permitting.

This course follows on from INF2009F, which covered systems analysis. The course has a strong
practical component where students will be taught to use the common systems design tools, by
applying them in isolation first and then in combination to implement a small information system.
Students will implement the system using C# on the .NET Framework.

The course follows the same three-stage approach used in INF2009F in developing the required
proficiency:
• Stage 1 (Knowing): is to understand the theory and body of knowledge underpinning the
systems development process. This will be done in lectures.
• Stage 2 (Understanding): this will be done in the workshop sessions where students step
through the problem-solving process with the support of tutors where required. The same
case study will be used in the second semester, and students will continue to work in their
teams.
• Stage 3 (Applying): Work together in teams to complete the two final deliverables for the
course, i.e., a working system developed in C# and the supporting design documentation.

INF2009F is closely linked to INF2011S. By implementing a system based on the user

requirements derived in the first semester, students will have completed the whole systems
development life cycle (SDLC) using the traditional waterfall approach. We will develop the image
of this process in each of you, which you can evolve with other tools, techniques, and concepts in
your future years. Because of this aim, there is substantial theoretical content in the course.

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EXPECTED LEARNING OUTCOMES

On completion of this course, the student should be able to:
• Understand what an architectural approach to design and implementation is.
• Understand the various methods, artefacts, and procedures of an architectural approach
to design, implementation, and testing.
• Understand how models developed in the analysis phase of the project can be enhanced
and refined to arrive at the detailed design.
• Develop design sequence diagrams to model the collaboration of objects interacting to
realise each use case defined in analysis.
• Develop a design class diagram.
• Model user-computer interaction scenarios as dialog tables and storyboards.
• Design screen and printed output to user specifications.
• Apply the eight golden rules of dialogue design to designing the user interface.
• Identify appropriate application controls to ensure the integrity of inputs, outputs,
processing, and storage.
• Discuss issues related to security that affect the design and operation of information
systems.
• Describe the various types of software testing and show how test cases developed in the
analysis stage of the project can be used to improve systems quality.
• Identify the activities found in the implementation and support phases of the SDLC.
• List the various approaches to data conversion and systems implementation giving the
advantages and disadvantages of each.
• Describe and compare agile and monolithic development approaches.
• Acquire competency to implement designs using C#, following n-tier development
principles.
• Implement a project in C#, using the acquired skills to evolve the formulated
requirements into a design, build the system components, and test at the various levels.

PRACTICAL CONTENT

• Object-Oriented Programming, e.g.

o Objects and classes
o Methods and behaviours
o Inheritance
o Polymorphism
• Enumeration
• Events
• Testing
• Debugging and Handling Exceptions

LEARNING MATERIAL
The recommended text for the course is:
Introduction to Systems Analysis and Design in a Changing World, 7th Edition by John W.
Satzinger, Robert B. Jackson, Stephen D. Burd
Other suitable texts may be recommended during lectures. Notes deemed necessary will be made
available during lectures and workshops throughout the course. Students are required to cover
ALL course-related material posted on the Vula site. These would include short videos, articles,
lecture notes and book chapters. It is important that students familiarise themselves with the
theoretical content contained in these elements.

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TEACHING FORMAT
Please see the separate lecture schedule on Vula for a detailed overview.
All lectures will be recorded and released after the lecture date. Students are to engage with the
content and meet in lecture venues/labs for hands-on support to go through the lecture content.
Note that:
• Theory lectures will be held on Monday and Wednesday.
• Practical lectures will be held on Tuesday
• Theory Workshops will be held on Thursdays.
• Practical Workshop will be held on Fridays

Practical workshops: Attendance is compulsory for 2 hours, or as long as it takes you to

complete the work. Students are to complete all workshops.

Theory Workshops: As in the first semester, students will be working in teams of four for the
workshops. If your team is unchanged, you do not need to fill in a workshop application form.
However, if you are planning to change your team, please fill in a new application form (copies
available from the course administrator). Students will work in groups of four in the workshops
(two teams together). At the end of each workshop each team will submit a solution for review
and return at the next workshop. Marks obtained from the workshop submissions will count
towards the final course mark.

STUDENT DELIVERABLES
Students will be required to complete a significant systems development project. Based on the
analysis completed in INF2009F students will design, implement, and test an information system,
to complete the whole SDLC. Project guidelines will be handed out during the semester. Students
will work in teams of four in the workshops but build their project assignment in teams of two.

ASSESSMENT
The final grade is derived from the activities specified below. The percentage contribution
towards the final grade is as follows:

Activity
Practical Workshops 10%
Theory workshops 10%
Quizzes 15%
System Development Project 25%
Final Examination 40%

In the interests of those students who plan their work well and work efficiently and steadily
throughout the course, absolutely no individual extensions will be given on any deadlines for
any reason whatsoever. In cases where substantial and unavoidable disruption to the academic
year occurs, deadlines may be altered for the entire class at the discretion of the course convenor.

Students may submit deliverables on or before the deadline. Students may hand in projects after
deadlines but will incur an automatic and non-negotiable penalty deduction of 10% per day, or
part thereof. No submissions will be accepted after the second day after the due date.

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DP REQUIREMENTS

To be granted duly performed (DP) status and be permitted to take the final exam students must:
• Attend, participate and submit at least 80% of the individual workshops.
• Group workshops are compulsory. Students to attend, participate and submit all group work
• Obtain a year mark of at least 45%.
To pass the course, students must:
• Obtain a sub-minimum of 45% for the final examination.
• Obtain an overall mark of 50% or more for the course.

ACADEMIC HONESTY
Your attention is drawn to the UCT regulations, which govern academic progress. In particular,
your attention is drawn to:

1. All forms of cheating, plagiarism, collusion or interference with other students’

academic work and performance will be reported to the Head of Department who will:
a. Impose a penalty with respect to the assessment of the course, or
b. If considered an act of grave misconduct, refer the case to the Tribunal.

All students are responsible to inform themselves about these regulations before performing any
academic work. See the Senate policy on plagiarism.
The Department of Information Systems considers plagiarism to be the deliberate passing off
of another person’s work as though it was your own, and will NOT be tolerated. At the very
least, you would get zero for your work, and we would request that you withdraw from the
Information Systems major. In cases where blatant copying has taken place, we would take
disciplinary action, which could result in suspension or expulsion from UCT.
Since so much of the course mark is awarded for work done outside of our direct control, a great
deal of trust is involved. We therefore view plagiarism in the same way as we do cheating in
examinations. Similar rules apply to all student work such as projects, essays and other
assignments.
Some examples of what we would consider to be plagiarism are:
• You downloaded material from the Internet and submitted it as your own work.
• You acquired assignments from previous year’s students and used them as your own
work.
• Someone else wrote all (or part of) the assignment or project for you, either as a favour
or for some kind of reward.

LAB RULES AND POLICIES

Please respect other students when using the Alumni labs. Students are expected to keep noise
levels down to acceptable standards. All students are responsible to inform themselves about the
Appropriate Use of Computer Facilities policy. Students must obey the lab rules and defer to the
lab supervisor at all times.

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