Programming in the Large Vs. Programming in the Lounge: Software Engineering Meets Portable Computing

几年来，本科软件工程 卡内基梅隆大学的课程围绕着 一个雄心勃勃的真实的 例如电子邮件到传真接口和交互式 城市目录系统，包括建筑物目录、地图和 巴士路线信息。 组织一个整体的过程 一个由30名学生组成的班级， 这本身就是本课程的一个目标课程。 这个ILI 资金将有助于将这门课程提升到一个新的水平， 兴奋，通过提供一个笔记本电脑与无线 每个学生都可以使用的网络接口。 学生将 使用计算机组织他们的小组项目和工作 在其实施上进行合作。 学生还将 在网络上实现他们的系统，打开了一扇大门， 无限的项目原型合作， 个人生产力工具。 预计该项目将带来三大好处。 一是 学生在课程中将有机会与 技术和应用处于前沿，但 很快就会被广泛传播。 第二，正是因为这个原因， 软件公司可能会对以下方面产生浓厚的兴趣： 这些项目，实际上是在做快速原型设计， 新的产品种类，并将渴望与 学生作为课程的客户和技术顾问。 第三，这些经验将有助于为其他国家铺平道路。 机构开始类似的计划，介绍他们的 学生对新兴的消费信息技术，作为 硬件成本下降，无线便携式系统成为 无处不在。

For several years, the undergraduate software engineering course at Carnegie Mellon University has revolved around the specification, design and prototyping of an ambitious real system such as an E-mail to FAX interface and an interactive city directory system including building directories, maps and bus routing information. The process of organizing an entire class of some thirty students toward a single technical goal is itself one of the object lessons of the course. This ILI funding will assist in moving this course to a new level of excitement, by providing a notebook computer with a wireless network interface to be used by each student. Students will use the computers to organize their group project and work collaboratively on its implementation. The students will also implement their system on the network, opening the door to a limitless set of projects prototyping collaborative and personal productivity tools. Three main benefits are expected from this project. First, the students in the course will have a chance to work with technologies and applications that are at the cutting edge, but will soon be widespread. Second, for that very reason, software companies may be expected to take a keen interest in these projects, which will in effect be doing rapid prototyping of new kinds of products, and will be eager to interact with the students as clients and technical advisors for the course. Third, the experiences will help to pave the way for other institutions to start similar programs, introducing their students to emerging consumer information technology, as hardware costs drop and wireless portable systems become ubiquitous.