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CSCI 265: Software Engineering
Fall 2026 Course Outline
Department of Computer Science, Vancouver Island University
URL: csci.viu.ca/~wesselsd/csci265/outline.html

Calendar Description

CSCI 265 (3) Software Engineering

    An exploration of the methods and tools for developing high quality software. The course includes topics in program design, program style, algorithm selection, interface design, debugging and testing, system utilities, version control, regular expressions and an introduction to scripting languages. (3:0:1)
Pre-requisite: Min. "C" in CSCI 161

Course Motivation and overview

This course is intended to help you become more effective in both the design and implementation of larger software projects. This is accomplished in a number of ways:

The lectures will be used to discuss both the theories and the specific tools, languages, and techniques we will be applying, while the labs/project will be used to apply this knowledge in practical exercises.

A more detailed list of course topics and course learning outcomes is given in the Topics and Course Learning Outcomes sections below.

Contact information

Lecturer: Dave Wessels, (250) 740-6375 (scitech switchboard), David.Wessels@viu.ca

Office hours (Bldg 315, Room 222):
  - Fridays noon-2pm
If you need to see me outside office hours please send me an email (David.Wessels@viu.ca) to arrange a suitable time.

Delivery mode

The course is intended to be delivered entirely in-person (lectures, labs, quizzes, and final exam).

Course resources

Web material: most resources are handled as online material, and will be available through http://csci.viu.ca/~wesselsd/csci265/
This includes links to lab and lecture videos and readings, lab and project exercises, sample programs, practice problems, links to external documentation and tutorials, etc.

Announcements and class emails will be handled through the course VIULearn page.

Software resources we will be using on the csci server will include: C, C++, bash, make, git, gdb, gprof, ssh

Textbooks: none required

Timetable

Assessment

If you miss a test, details of your absence may be shared with the S&T Dean's Office where it will be confidentially tracked. The Dean, or their designate, may reach out to you for more information related to your absence and to connect you with an appropriate student resource in support of your academic success.

Topics

An approximate list of topics is given below, more detail and an approximate ordering can be found at csci.viu.ca/~wesselsd/courses/csci265

Course Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of the course, the student should be able to:

Changes from past versions of 265 (which had 4 lecture hours per week):
as of January 2024, certain topics were moved to CSCI 162:
  • Introduction to our linux environment
  • Linking, loading, separate compilation, and automating builds (with make and C or C++)
  • Applied regular expressions (in make)
  • Debugging strategies and tools (using gdb)
  • Defensive coding practices

Computer accounts

To work on your quizzes and experiment with the tools and languages discussed during the semester, you will be given accounts for the computer labs. There is a user id and password associated with each account. Each student is responsible for their account, and for following both the departmental and university-college policies. These may be found through https://scitech.viu.ca/computer-science/computing-resources - Lab and Computer Usage Rules

Individual work:

Other than work conducted as part of the team project, all course work submitted for assessment (quizzes, lab exercises, assignments, exams, etc) must be completed as strictly individual work unless explicitly stated otherwise (not teams or pairs, and not using help from other individuals or AI tools such as CoPilot or chatGPT).

Appeals of Grades:

Any exercise or examination grade may be appealed. However, the appeal must be made to the instructor, in writing and attached to the work in question, and within 7 days of the grade being made available to the class. The instructor reserves the right to re-grade the entire piece of work submitted on appeal, not necessarily just the component that the student believes is in error.

Grade Conversion:

The standard VIU grading scale will be in use.
90-100 85-<90 80-<85 76-<80 72-<76 68-<72 64-<68 60-<64 55-<60 50-<55 <50
A+ A A- B+ B B- C+ C C- D F

Resources

A wide range of other supporting resources are provided by the institution, including:

Accessibility

Vancouver Island University recognizes its legal duty to provide educational opportunities that enable students with a documented disability to access courses, programs, facilities, and services.

The Policy and Procedural Guidelines apply to all students who have identified themselves to the institution as having a documented disability who are inquiring about, applying to, or registered in credit or non-credit courses in both on and off-campus programs.

Academic Integrity

Integrity in academic work is a central element of learning and is the basis of intellectual pursuits in any academic community. It is also your responsibility to abide by the Student Conduct Code and Student Academic Code of Conduct

Links to University Policies, Standards, and Guidelines

Below are links to many of the official VIU policies, procedures, and guidelines.