CIS045-3 Distributed Service Architecture Assignment 1 Brief 2025

Unit learning outcomes : 

1. Differentiate and critically question the reasons, context and basic principles of a variety of programming architectures and paradigms relevant to industry standard software solutions.
2. Develop, implement and critically appraise software solutions using different strategies, paradigms and architectures

Assignment Brief:

What am I required to do in this assignment?

This assignment asks you to reflect on various concepts, paradigms and architectures related to Software Development. Based on your code you have to do a video to discuss the four themes software architecture, event-driven programming, interoperability, and virtual identity. You will develop code in a main-stream programming language chosen by you. Your main submission is the video; but you will also submit supporting evidence that shows that you worked on the code.

Example code will be demonstrated during the practical sessions and provided on BREO using Java and Eclipse; there will also be some discussion of JavaScript and PHP.

In your code you must use at least one web service from an external provider. Examples will be discussed in the lectures. This is an individual assignment.

The Code:

You are asked to develop a game where users interact with questions of a mathematical nature. An example of such a game (“What is the value of the heart?”) will be provided as a ‘bare bone’ implementation in Java. You can develop this code further or do your own code from scratch. The final code must be sufficiently complex for you to produce a meaningful video.

Timeline of the Assessment:

Deliverables:

1. A video of maximum 10 minutes length where you talk about your code and compare and reflect upon the four themes software architecture, interoperability, event-driven programming and virtual identity.
2. Additional material to accompany the video; this must include the full source code of a working implementation. If you use any code from others (other students or external websites) this must be referenced within the documentation of the source code. You may also include a transcript of the video, design documentation, evidence of testing and
   integration of external software. Note that this additional material is not marked directly but serves to inform the
   video.
3. Evidence that you presented your work to the tutor in Week 9 or earlier.

Please note that this is an individual assignment. Although you can and should collaborate with other students you have to individually produce the video and you are individually responsible for the submission of all the additional material. You must also make clear what code has been written by you and where you used code from others.

In Week 9 you will present your work to the tutor. This session serves to provide evidence that you are actively working on your code.

The grade will be capped by 58 if your submission has one of the following issues. The grade will be capped by 48 if your submission has two or more of the following issues:

• You did not present your code in or before Week 9.
• Code does not address the requirements of the case study.
• No dedicated submission of code (code only visible in video)
• Your video does not have your own voice.

The video must use relevant terminology and be focused around the four themes. It should start with a short demonstration of the working system followed by substantive discussion of the four themes within the context of your code.

Further Notes:

Please check BREO regularly for further clarifications and details on the tasks.

Please note that copying someone else’s code is plagiarism and hence an academic offence. However, the following is allowed and encouraged:

To ask other students for help, to ask for guidance and help in internet forums, use of example code that is available on the internet or in books, use of third-party scripts. Any such help must be clearly acknowledged and referenced. Any embedded code which does not originate from you must be clearly marked as such; however, you can freely use the example code provided on the BREO site of the unit. If in doubt, ask your tutor if and how you can use a particular source. References to other software used should be made in the format of comments in your code.

What do I need to do to pass? How do I achieve a good grade?

The Unit Information Form states the Threshold Expectations that inform both you and markers what is the minimum needed to be demonstrated to pass the assessment. They should, therefore, answer the question "What do I need to pass?". During the assessment introductory session, you should be given the opportunity to check your understanding of the threshold statements and what you need to do to surpass them.

The assessment marking criteria listed below show how your work is assessed. The assessment criteria are informed by the unit's learning outcomes and the assessment task. Carefully reading the assessment criteria should help you understand the aspects that will be used to judge your progress and achievement of the learning outcomes and offer guidance on "how do I achieve a good grade".

Threshold expectations:

Implement a distributed architecture for a given scenario

Explain key concepts such as software architecture, virtual identity, events and interoperability based on the code you have developed.
How does this assignment relate to 'my learning in this unit and help me develop knowledge and skills that I will need for my future?

In the lectures we will discuss the various topics that you will implement into code and discuss in the video. The practical sessions provide time and opportunity to discuss your progress with the tutor. Example code will be provided in Java and JavaScript.

Within the University of Bedfordshire, graduate competencies refer to the skills, knowledge, attributes, and abilities that individuals are expected to possess upon completing their education at the graduate level. Our graduate competencies are the fundamental building blocks in preparing you for the future world of work. They form the foundation for learning outcomes within and beyond your course. They are relevant for every subject and you can work towards them in different ways, so that you can attain and benefit from them even if you have lots going on outside university. These competencies will be integrated across your course and units.

What should I be aware of when preparing my and how and where should I submit my work?

When submitting work for assessment, you must ensure that the video is all your own work. Failure to do this could result in sanctions, including removal from your course. The Academic Integrity Resource (AIR) has been designed to introduce you to academic integrity and how to demonstrate this during your studies.

The University provides access to Studiosity that connects students with a team of writing specialists who are here to help you with writing and core skills- anytime, anywhere. Studiosity provides you with two online services: Writing Feedback and Connect Live. Their Writing Feedback gives feedback on referencing, choice of language, structure and spelling/grammar within 24 hours. If you are not sure how to use the feedback to enhance your work before making a final submission, you can arrange to discuss this with a member of the Study Hub team. Connect Live also offers live support in areas such as basic English, maths and stats, science and generic study skills. Both services are available 24/7, 365 days of the year, and you can access them for FREE via BREO.

For exams, you should familiarise yourself with the guidance information available here: https://www.beds.ac.uk/exams/

Practice exams can be taken for all exam types before exams week. Please see section Prepare for your exam.
You are allowed to use generative Al for the code of this assignment, but not for the video.

Note that copying someone else's code is plagiarism and hence an academic offence. However, the following is allowed and encouraged:

To ask other students for help, to ask for guidance and help in internet forums, use of example code that is available on the internet or in books, use of third- party scripts, code generated by large language models. Any such help must be clearly acknowledged and referenced. Any embedded code which does not originate from you must be clearly marked as such; however, you can freely use the example code provided on the BREO site of the unit. If in doubt, ask your tutor if and how you can use a particular source. References to other software used should be made in the format of comments in your code.