Software Engineering, M.S.

Core Courses

Satisfactory completion of the core curriculum encompassing four courses:

• CS 7314 - Software Testing and Quality Assurance
• CS 7315 - Software Project Planning and Management
• CS 7316 - Software Requirements
• CS 7319 - Software Architecture and Design

Advanced Elective Courses

Satisfactory completion of three advanced elective courses from the following:

• CS 7318 - Object-Oriented Analysis and Design
• CS 7340 - Service-Oriented Software Engineering
• CS 7345 - Advanced Application Programming
• CS 7349 - Data and Network Security
• CS 8314 - Software Metrics and Quality Engineering
• CS 7312 - User Interfaces, User Experience
• CS 8317 - Software Reliability and Safety
• CS 8340 - Advanced Topics in Software Engineering

Elective Courses

Satisfactory completion of three elective courses from available graduate-level course offerings.

Note

Any deviation from the stated requirements must be approved in writing from the student’s adviser and department chair.

Additional Requirements

In addition to meeting the Lyle School of Engineering degree requirements for an M.S. degree, candidates are required to satisfy the following:

• Either 24 credit hours of coursework and a master’s thesis or 30 credit hours of coursework.
• Twelve credit hours of core courses. Students on campus are required to register for a seminar course (for zero credit hours) for at least one term and secure a grade of Pass.
• Six credit hours of concentration. Thesis students take six credit hours of thesis, instead of concentration.
• Twelve credit hours of electives. All students are allowed to take at most three credit hours of independent study, which will be counted as one elective course.

The CS Department requires that the courses taken constitute a coherent program leading to mastery of computer science. These requirements are discussed in the subsequent subsections. Any deviation from the stated requirements must be approved in writing from the student’s adviser and department chair.

Students entering the program without an undergraduate degree in computer science must satisfy the following competency requirements in addition to the degree requirements listed above:

1. The ability to write programs in a high-level language such as Java, C++, Python, etc.
2. Demonstrate competence in six core areas of computer science.

Students may fulfill (1) by either:

1. Demonstrating their programming ability in a departmental examination.
2. Successful completion of CS 1341 - Principles of Computer Science.
3. Obtaining a certificate of achievement from EDX (or comparable entity) in one of the high‐level programming languages (e.g. Java, C++, Python).

Students may fulfill (2) by demonstrating competence in the following core areas of Computer Science:

1. Computer Architecture
2. Programming Languages
3. Data Structures and Algorithms
4. Database Management Systems
5. Operating Systems and Concurrency
6. Networks and Distributed Systems

Competence in core areas may be demonstrated by one of the following:

• Completing a course from an ABET Accredited program that covers a core area.
• Obtaining 70% or better on a departmental examination that covers a core area. Exams will be based on a set of specified readings published by the Computer Science & Engineering Department and should be taken prior to beginning of the first semester.
• Completing CS 7311 - Foundations of Computing . (Note that this course does not count toward the 30 hours degree requirement.)

Residency and Level Requirements

A minimum of 30 graduate credit hours must be earned toward an M.S. degree, of which at least 24 must be earned in residency at SMU. Up to six credit hours may be transferred with departmental approval. Of the 30 credit hours needed for graduation, at least six credit hours must be at the 8000-level CS courses, with the remainder at the 7000 level or above.