CS 471 Fall 2025: Senior Capstone I

CS 471 Fall 2025
Senior Capstone I

Department: Computer Science, UAF
Instructor: Glenn G. Chappell
Office: 539 Duckering
Office Hours: In person 11:45–12:45 MWF, 3:30–4:00 MW on fall 2025 class days, or by appointment; private Zoom meetings available on request
E-mail: ggchappell@alaska.edu

Announcements

[Sep 22] Zoom Link for Presentations
Zoom link: https://alaska.zoom.us/j/89849030622. There is a passcode; it has been sent to your UA e-mail address.

Course Materials

Materials are listed with the most recent at the top.

Week	Class Meetings	Readings & Homework	Handouts & Code See Git repository for code
Week 7 Oct 6–Oct 10	Oct 10: Unit testing (cont’d) Oct 8: Presentations overflow; unit testing (cont’d) Oct 6: Mini-project presentations #2	Mini-Project Presentation #3 (Third Progress Report) Group presentations in class Mon, Oct 13	`pps_test.cpp` [C++ source] Test suite for `prettyPrintSquare` Uses doctest unit-testing framework Requires `doctest.h`, `pps.hpp` `use_pps.cpp` [C++ source] Simple main program for `prettyPrintSquare` `pps.hpp` [C++ header] Header for `prettyPrintSquare` `pps.cpp` [C++ source] Source for `prettyPrintSquare`
Week 6 Sep 29–Oct 3	Oct 3: Unit testing (cont’d) Oct 1: Presentations overflow; unit testing (cont’d) Sep 29: Mini-project presentations #1	Mini-Project Presentation #2 (Second Progress Report) Group presentations in class Mon, Oct 6	`use_cube_lib.py` [Python 3 source] Main program for module `cube_lib` Requires `cube_lib.py` `cube_lib.py` [Python 3 source] Importable module with doctests Executing as stand-alone program runs doctests `squarer_test.cpp` [C++ source] Test suite for class `Squarer` Uses doctest unit-testing framework Requires `doctest.h`, `squarer.hpp` `squarer.hpp` [C++ header] Header for class `Squarer` There is no associated source file
Week 5 Sep 22–Sep 26	Sep 26: Unit testing Slides [Google Slides] Sep 24: Overview of software testing Slides [Google Slides] Sep 22: Mini-project presentations #0	Mini-Project Presentation #1 (First Progress Report) Group presentations in class Mon, Sep 29
Week 4 Sep 15–Sep 19	Sep 19: Software architecture Slides [Google Slides] Sep 17: Kanban (cont’d) Sep 15: Kanban (cont’d); mini-project kick-off Slides [Google Slides]	Mini-Project Presentation #0 (Proposals) Group presentations in class Mon, Sep 22
Week 3 Sep 8–Sep 12	Sep 12: Kanban Video [YouTube] Sep 10: Requirements & user stories (cont’d) Sep 8: Requirements & user stories Slides [Google Slides]		Sample SWR Document [PDF]
Week 2 Sep 1–Sep 5	Sep 5: Overview of software development processes (cont’d) Sep 3: Overview of software development processes Slides [Google Slides] Sep 1: No class meeting (Labor Day)	Assignment 3 (White Paper Draft) Due 5 pm Tue, Sep 16 Assignment 2 (Video Critique) Due 5 pm Tue, Sep 9	Sample White Paper [PDF]
Week 1 Aug 25–Aug 29	Aug 29: Communicating as a software professional (cont’d) Aug 27: Communicating as a software professional Slides [Google Slides] Aug 25: Course introduction Slides [Google Slides]	Assignment 1 (Video Presentation) Due 5 pm Tue, Sep 2 Aug 25: Read “Why does the C++ standard ship every three years?”. The above date is when the reading is assigned. The reading should be completed before the next class meeting.	Case Study: Seasprite [PDF] Writing Activity #2 [PDF] Used in class Fri, Aug 29 Writing Activity #1 [PDF] Used in class Fri, Aug 29 Semester Plan Updated Sat, Aug 23 Syllabus Distributed in class Mon, Aug 25

Links

External links last checked 2025-10-03.

Version Control

Git: Git is the the version-control software used in this class. This site includes downloads and a helpful tutorial.
Learn Git Branching: An excellent tutorial. If you are familiar with the Git operations clone, pull, push, add, and commit, but you are having trouble wrapping your head around branching, then this is for you.
Class Git Repository: Source code used in the class will be available in this repository.

Testing

doctest: The fastest C++ single-header testing framework: The website (on GitHub.com) for doctest, a C++ unit-testing framework. doctest is simple and easy to use, it comprises only a single header file, and it is available as a free download distributed under a FLOSS license. doctest is similar to the older Catch unit-testing framework, but it has faster compile times.
doctest — Test interactive Python examples: The official documentation for the Python standard library doctest module (which is unrelated to the C++ unit-testing framework of the same name).

Stuff Mentioned in Class

Manifesto for Agile Software Development: The original statement of the Agile philosophy, from 2001.
Trello: Web-based software that allows for online Kanban boards.
Jason Turner’s C++ Best Practices: An excellent page with recommendations on C++ development tools and their use. This is my primary source for which compiler warnings to enable—among other things.

Readings / Videos

Links to supplemental readings & videos will be posted here as they are assigned. Links to these will also be in the Course Materials section, above.

Why does the C++ standard ship every three years?: Herb Sutter’s answer to the question in the title, this blog post has worthwhile things to say about software project management in general. From the Sutter’s Mill blog.
Agile Project Management with Kanban: Eric Brechner Presentation [YouTube]: A presentation about Kanban at Microsoft by the author of our recommended Kanban text.

CS 471 Fall 2025 Senior Capstone I