EAGER: Development of a Software Engineering Curriculum for Computational Science and Engineering

有越来越多的非传统软件是由开发人员开发的，也就是说，由没有受过正规软件工程实践培训的人开发的软件，并且在对软件开发施加不同约束的环境中开发的软件，而不是在更传统的IT软件开发环境中发现的。为计算科学与工程开发的软件是非传统软件中一个突出而重要的类型。计算科学和工程软件支持对影响我们重要国家利益的主题的调查（例如癌症研究、核武器维护、气候研究和天体物理学）。CSE软件的开发有一些独特的约束，使其成为非传统软件开发环境的一个很好的例子。为了满足日益增长的对高质量计算科学软件的兴趣和需求，本提案的目标是开发和交付专门针对大规模计算科学软件的课程模块。在这项工作中，PI将开发一个由软件工程模块组成的课程，供计算科学家开发人员使用。这些模块旨在教育非传统开发人员有关相关软件工程工具和技术。它们将被打包，以便在大学环境中使用，嵌入到现有课程中，或作为新课程的一部分，或在各个国家实验室和适当的会议场所（如国际会议，超级计算）提供的培训课程中使用。这项工作采用案例研究方法，并结合跨学科研讨会。计划是通过关注测试驱动的开发和软件检查，以及需求收集与发现相结合的一般问题，来涵盖确认和验证以及敏捷方法的主题。这项工作将产生专门为非传统开发人员创建的打包的、可重用的SE模块。这些模块将解决CSE开发人员最迫切的需求。这些模块将在各种场所交付，并在使用过程中评估材料，以及参与者学习的措施。为高质量CSE软件的开发提供支持将对许多领域的科学和工程知识的进步产生广泛的影响。

There is an increasing amount of non-traditional software being developed by developers, i.e. software developed by people not formally trained in software engineering practices and developed in environments that place different constraints on software development than are found in more traditional IT software development environments. Software developed for Computational Science and Engineering is a prominent and important type of non-traditional software. Computational science and engineering software supports the investigation of topics that impact our vital national interests (e.g. cancer research, maintenance of nuclear weapons, climate research, and astrophysics). The development of CSE software has some unique constraints that make it a good example of a non-traditional software development environment. To address the growing interest and need for high-quality computational science software, the goal of this proposal is to develop and deliver curriculum modules focused specifically on software for large scale computational science. In this work, the PI will develop a curriculum consisting of software engineering modules tailored for use by computational scientist developers. These modules will be designed to educate non-traditional developers about relevant software engineering tools and techniques. They will be packaged for use either in the university environment, embedded in existing courses or as part of a new course, or in the field, as training courses offered at various national labs and appropriate conference venues like the international meeting, Super Computing. The work uses a case study approach coupled with an interdisciplinary workshop. The plan is to cover the topics of validation and verification and agile methods by focusing on test-driven development and software inspection as well as the general problem of requirements gathering coupled with discovery.This work will result in packaged, reusable SE modules created specifically for nontraditional developers. These modules will address the most pressing needs of CSE developers. The modules will be delivered in a variety of venues and the material evaluated during use, as well as measures of participant learning. Providing support for the development of high-quality CSE software will have broad impacts in advancing scientific and engineering knowledge in many domains.