The BSc(Software Development) degree is an innovative programme designed to prepare future software developers and engineers for careers in this rapidly developing and vitally important industry.

The new four-year degree is a joint venture of the Departments of Computer Science and Information Systems at Rhodes University, and builds on many years of successful collaboration in the BSc(Information Systems) degree.

The graduates of the BSc(Information Systems) programme are always in high demand by employers, due to their complementary technical and business-oriented skills.  The BSc(Software Development) degree takes this a step further, providing students with an additional year of highly-focused study and practical work, and equipping them for life-long careers in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industry.

The first three years of the BSc(Software Development) degree combine a solid foundation of Computer Science and Information Systems courses, together with a carefully tailored package of supporting subjects, such as Accounting, Management, Statistics and Electronics.  In the fourth year, Software Development students are exposed to advanced material in Information Systems Management, Web Services, Corporate Communications, Java for Enterprise Systems Development, Requirements Elicitation, Computer Security, Distributed and Parallel Processing, Analysis Patterns and Human-Computer Interaction.  Specialist training is also provided in advanced aspects of software engineering, such as testing and quality control, formal methods, ethics, and legal and professional issues.

Throughout the course extensive practical work is done to ensure that students are equipped with the necessary technical skills in addition to the theoretical foundation for software engineering.  This is capped off in the final year with a large-scale software development project.  Each student is part of a team developing a system for an external client, under the mentorship of an experienced staff member.

Last Modified: Mon, 10 Apr 2017 12:42:38 SAST