Software Engineering Major Concentration (B.A.) (36 credits)
Offered by: Computer Science (Faculty of Science)
Degree: Bachelor of Arts; Bachelor of Arts and Science
Program credit weight: 36
Program Description
The Major Concentration Software Engineering focuses on the techniques and methodology required to design and develop complex software systems and covers the subject commonly known as "Software Engineering". Arts students that are interested in further study in Computer Science can combine the Major Concentration in Software Engineering with the Supplementary Minor Concentration in Computer Science. For further information, please consult the Program Adviser.
Students with two programs in the same department/unit must have a third program in a different department/unit to be eligible to graduate. Please refer to the Faculty of Arts regulations for "Faculty Degree Requirements", "About Program Requirements", and "Departmental Programs" for the Multi-track System options.
MATH 133 Linear Algebra and Geometry., MATH 140 Calculus 1., and MATH 141 Calculus 2. (or their equivalents) must be completed prior to taking courses in this program.
Note: This program does not lead to certification as a Professional Engineer.
Degree Requirements — B.A. students
To be eligible for a B.A. degree, a student must fulfil all Faculty and program requirements as indicated in Degree Requirements for the Faculty of Arts.
We recommend that students consult an Arts OASIS advisor for degree planning.
Note: For information about Fall 2025 and Winter 2026 course offerings, please check back on May 8, 2025. Until then, the "Terms offered" field will appear blank for most courses while the class schedule is being finalized.
Required Courses (30 credits)
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| COMP 202 | Foundations of Programming. 1 | 3 |
Foundations of Programming. Terms offered: Summer 2025 Introduction to computer programming in a high level language: variables, expressions, primitive types, methods, conditionals, loops. Introduction to algorithms, data structures (arrays, strings), modular software design, libraries, file input/output, debugging, exception handling. Selected topics. | ||
| COMP 206 | Introduction to Software Systems. | 3 |
Introduction to Software Systems. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Comprehensive overview of programming in C, use of system calls and libraries, debugging and testing of code; use of developmental tools like make, version control systems. | ||
| COMP 250 | Introduction to Computer Science. | 3 |
Introduction to Computer Science. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Mathematical tools (binary numbers, induction,recurrence relations, asymptotic complexity,establishing correctness of programs). Datastructures (arrays, stacks, queues, linked lists,trees, binary trees, binary search trees, heaps,hash tables). Recursive and non-recursivealgorithms (searching and sorting, tree andgraph traversal). Abstract data types. Objectoriented programming in Java (classes andobjects, interfaces, inheritance). Selected topics. | ||
| COMP 251 | Algorithms and Data Structures. | 3 |
Algorithms and Data Structures. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Data Structures: priority queues, balanced binary search trees, hash tables, graphs. Algorithms: topological sort, connected components, shortest paths, minimum spanning trees, bipartite matching, network flows. Algorithm design: greedy, divide and conquer, dynamic programming, randomization. Mathematicaltools: proofs of asymptotic complexity and program correctness, Master theorem. | ||
| COMP 273 | Introduction to Computer Systems. | 3 |
Introduction to Computer Systems. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Number representations, combinational and sequential digital circuits, MIPS instructions and architecture datapath and control, caches, virtual memory, interrupts and exceptions, pipelining. | ||
| COMP 302 | Programming Languages and Paradigms. | 3 |
Programming Languages and Paradigms. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Programming language design issues and programming paradigms. Binding and scoping, parameter passing, lambda abstraction, data abstraction, type checking. Functional and logic programming. | ||
| COMP 303 | Software Design. | 3 |
Software Design. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Principles, mechanisms, techniques, and tools for object-oriented software design and its implementation, including encapsulation, design patterns, and unit testing. | ||
| COMP 421 | Database Systems. | 3 |
Database Systems. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Database Design: conceptual design of databases (e.g., entity-relationship model), relational data model, functional dependencies. Database Manipulation: relational algebra, SQL, database application programming, triggers, access control. Database Implementation: transactions, concurrency control, recovery, query execution and query optimization. | ||
| MATH 223 | Linear Algebra. | 3 |
Linear Algebra. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Review of matrix algebra, determinants and systems of linear equations. Vector spaces, linear operators and their matrix representations, orthogonality. Eigenvalues and eigenvectors, diagonalization of Hermitian matrices. Applications. | ||
| MATH 240 | Discrete Structures. | 3 |
Discrete Structures. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Introduction to discrete mathematics and applications. Logical reasoning and methods of proof. Elementary number theory and cryptography: prime numbers, modular equations, RSA encryption. Combinatorics: basic enumeration, combinatorial methods, recurrence equations. Graph theory: trees, cycles, planar graphs. | ||
- 1
Note: Students who have sufficient knowledge in a programming language do not need to take COMP 202 Foundations of Programming. but can replace it with an additional Computer Science complementary course.
Complementary Courses (6 credits)
At least 6 credits from:
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| ECSE 326 | Software Requirements Engineering. | 3 |
Software Requirements Engineering. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Techniques for eliciting requirements; languages and models for specification of requirements; analysis and validation techniques, including feature-based, goal-based, and scenario-based analysis; quality requirements; requirements traceability and management; handling evolution of requirements; requirements documentation standards; requirements in the context of system engineering; integration of requirements engineering into software engineering processes. | ||
| ECSE 437 | Software Delivery. | 3 |
Software Delivery. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Design, development, and implementation of code integration processes, release pipelines, and deployment strategies. | ||
| ECSE 539 | Advanced Software Language Engineering. | 4 |
Advanced Software Language Engineering. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Practical and theoretical knowledge for developing software languages and models; foundations for model-based software development; topics include principles of model-driven engineering; concern-driven development; intentional, structural, and behavioral models as well as configuration models; constraints; language engineering; domain-specific languages; metamodelling; model transformations; models of computation; model analyses; and modeling tools. | ||
or any COMP courses at the 300 level or above, excluding COMP 364 Computer Tools for Life Sciences. and COMP 396 Undergraduate Research Project..
Suggested COMP courses are:
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| COMP 322 | Introduction to C++. | 1 |
Introduction to C++. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Basics and advanced features of the C++ language. Syntax, memory management, class structure, method and operator overloading, multiple inheritance, access control, stream I/O, templates, exception handling. | ||
| COMP 361D1 | Software Engineering Project. | 3 |
Software Engineering Project. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Software development process in practice: requirement elicitation and analysis, software design, implementation, integration, test planning, and maintenance. Application of the core concepts and techniques through the realization of a large software system. | ||
| COMP 361D2 | Software Engineering Project. | 3 |
Software Engineering Project. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. See COMP 361D1 for course description. | ||
| COMP 529 | Software Architecture. | 4 |
Software Architecture. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Development, analysis, and maintenance of software architectures, with special focus on modular decomposition and reverse engineering. | ||
| COMP 533 | Model-Driven Software Development. | 3 |
Model-Driven Software Development. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Model-driven software development; requirements engineering based on use cases and scenarios; object-oriented modelling using UML and OCL to establish complete and precise analysis and design documents; mapping to Java. Introduction to meta-modelling and model transformations, use of modelling tools. | ||