should i do software design?? (1 Viewer)

[4lettersdown]

hey guys im doing yr 10 this year and i was wondering whether i should do software design and development next year.
ive already been accepted as far as i know, and im just not sure whether or not its the right course for me.i think ill love it, but cant really be sure.
i suppose..... can i just drop at end of year if i hate it??

 

[sdsdsdsdsd]

You should do it and yes you can drop it. But be warned it focuses more on the design side of it, i.e. theory(or is that development?), instead of actual coding.
It is fun and challenging.

 

[4lettersdown]

wow thanx a lot yeh im pretty sure id enjoy it, even tho it does focus on theory... id like to understand more about programming. any1 else feel free to post thought
PS a big reason im doing this subject is that IPT didnt get enough people at our school. can you beleive that?
PPS is software design always by correspondance? if not, has anyone tried to do it as correspondance and do u think this makes it harder??? is it still doable?

 

[bocaj4224]

I would definitely do SDD in preference to IPT. Check if you're going to have to do a major for SDD, they can take a lot of commitment to do well! I think that how well you do comes down to how you think, not what you know. If you can think logically and procedurally you'll be fine, otherwise you may not enjoy the subject! Just my thoughts!

 

[--Lammy--]

My thoughts on SDD - If you want to learn programming you could just as easily learn from the internet. A majority of the course is related to the development of software without actually producing any.

Maybe I'm just biased...I really despise feasibility studies XD

But seriously, even with my projects it was easy enough to code but then you would spend 2 weeks just getting all of the paperwork done - feasibility study, diagrams, algorithms, user manual etc.

I found the course to be alright, but I did it by correspondence. So I would get free periods during the week at school and just bludge then do all my SDD work on friday afternoon and e-mail it to my teacher. You can pretty much learn the course by just reading a textbook or 2, no real need for a teacher.

Ok, that was long. Summing up: If you can handly +70% of theory and minimal coding and at the end a written exam which is unlikely to ask for anything remotely similar to coding - do it.

 

[betonit169]

um its hard and requires a lot of work...

you have to like computers

...

 

[le-foot]

you have to be good at English to do software.

You need to be able to explain all those logical thoughts you have into words in an exam, plus you need to be good at coding.

Take a look at the past papers and see.

But I found it good fun and you can definitely drop it at the end of year 11. However remember you can only drop ONE subject, so you can't take 4 and go "if i don't like it I'll drop it" to all of them, as if you don't like all four you're screwed for your HSC.

Trust me, no motivation = bad HSC mark.

 

[sdsdsdsdsd]

You do not need to be good at coding, coding knowledge does not come up at all in any SDD exam.

 

[Patar]

Software's very impractical. 70% of theory? Try... 90%.

Some of it is stuff you'd never use, never consider, unless you were going into business - and even then sometimes you're like htf is this relevant?

We got lucky; we got a good teacher, but even so - I think if I would have known my Year 12 results wouldnt be as great as my Year 11, I would have kept Business Studies. More relevant, and more enjoyable.

 

[le-foot]

You do not need to be good at coding, coding knowledge does not come up at all in any SDD exam.

Trust me, you do.

there are always 2 pseudocode questions in the paper which are often worth quite a bit (10 marks or more), and even more in the trial papers (Independent/CSSA). This year's coding was extremely easy, but the ones before wasn't so easy, and who knows what's gonna happen in 2 years.

The point is, to get high marks in software, you need to be competent at least in coding.

 

[sdsdsdsdsd]

Trust me, you do.

there are always 2 pseudocode questions in the paper which are often worth quite a bit (10 marks or more), and even more in the trial papers (Independent/CSSA). This year's coding was extremely easy, but the ones before wasn't so easy, and who knows what's gonna happen in 2 years.

The point is, to get high marks in software, you need to be competent at least in coding.

Coding is not reading pseudocode in an exam. Coding is the physical action of sitting down and banging away at the keyboard to write a program. Pseudocode, documentation, gantt charts, algorithms, etc != coding.

 

[mrpet3rr]

You do not need to be good at coding, coding knowledge does not come up at all in any SDD exam.

Actually you do need to be good at coding, A fair understanding of pseudocode is needed. A few multiple choice and as mentioned above 2 long answer questions. Software Design & Development is something you will enjoy only if you want a challenge. Yes hardwork is needed but everything is easy to understand and the coding isn't that hard. Its mainly simple coding.

 

[sdsdsdsdsd]

Actually you do need to be good at coding, A fair understanding of pseudocode is needed. A few multiple choice and as mentioned above 2 long answer questions. Software Design & Development is something you will enjoy only if you want a challenge. Yes hardwork is needed but everything is easy to understand and the coding isn't that hard. Its mainly simple coding.

K troll, show me a language with syntax that is based on pseudocode. Oh, there aren't any.

 

[mrpet3rr]

K troll, show me a language with syntax that is based on pseudocode. Oh, there aren't any.

A language with syntax that is based on pseudocode?
When did I say that?
Any program language can be written in pseudocode so i don't quite get your point. Also I meant you need to be good at coding as it will help you through your exam, your assesments and your major project. How would one pass SDD without no coding knowledge at all. And no i was not trying to insult you nor troll but to inform the thread starter. Also, with a firm understanding of coding you can easily understand things like passing parameters which will help you in the exam.

 

[sdsdsdsdsd]

A language with syntax that is based on pseudocode?
When did I say that?
Any program language can be written in pseudocode so i don't quite get your point. Also I meant you need to be good at coding as it will help you through your exam, your assesments and your major project. How would one pass SDD without no coding knowledge at all. And no i was not trying to insult you nor troll but to inform the thread starter. Also, with a firm understanding of coding you can easily understand things like passing parameters which will help you in the exam.

Coding knowledge won't help you pass the major projects. My friend made this game that barely worked and made no sense but because he had done everything else, which is what software development focuses on, he got a fine mark (80-90 range).
It will help you understand things like passing parameters and things but that is all explained in the theory and no detailed questions about passing parameters or language specific elements ever come up in any exam.

Coding is not pseudocode. Pseudocode is not coding. This course is about software development, not programming/coding, if you go on to do this course at Uni you most probably will not code at all. There is a major difference between the two, you will pass the course fine with no coding knowledge whatsoever.

 

[bocaj4224]

Maybe it really depends on your school and your own commitment but i spent over 100 hours developing a software package in a way based on an industrial development procedure, so i had lots of practical experience in addition to the

 

[whitey9999]

Yeh I reckon its one of the best subjects offerred. You should definately do it. Making stuff in VB, Pascal and stuff was heaps fun.

It can kinda get difficult near the end but should be simple if u just know the simple coding and what happens in it.

 

[kevinx2]

Very little practical, algorithms will utterly rape you unless you're good at it; other than that the content is pretty simple and straight forward.

 

[Patar]

Yeh I reckon its one of the best subjects offerred. You should definately do it. Making stuff in VB, Pascal and stuff was heaps fun.

It can kinda get difficult near the end but should be simple if u just know the simple coding and what happens in it.

Sure its heaps fun. But you can do that at home. The actual SDD course is the only computing HSC course that does not teach the use of a programming language.

Developing a software package was OK but it didnt help during the exam nor were we taught coding - you can still get full marks for a shit solution that doesnt work at all.
You do that in real life and people are wondering why the hell they hired you?

 

[le-foot]

lol yeah, SDD in real life pretty much gets you fired

On the other hand, the major project is interesting, and despite what the people said above, you need a fair level of understanding of coding - i.e. logical thinking and writing/following instructions line by line (yeah that's what coding is, pseudocode is its own language with its own syntax)

I didn't regret doing it until the HSC when I realised how EASY the course is and with large amounts of effort i can do very well in it.