Unit 1 Programming Assignment 2025-26 | ESOFT Metro Campus

Assignment Brief

Submission Format

The assignment submission for this unit consists of a single presentation, comprehensive technical report, and a structured report on evaluation and critical analysis.

1. Formal Presentation (With Speaker Notes)

• Purpose: To communicate the core concepts and design plan to the non-technical management team at TechNovate Solutions Ltd.
• Content (Linked to LO1 & LO2):
  o Define what an algorithm is and outline the characteristics of a good algorithm.
  o Present and dry-run key algorithms for the system
  o Explain the characteristics of procedural, object-oriented, and event-driven programming paradigms.
  o Justify the chosen paradigm (likely OOP) for the game/quiz, using diagrams  and pseudocode to illustrate the design.
  o Satisfy Task 1

2. Comprehensive Technical Report

• Purpose: To provide the technical documentation for the prototyped system.
• Content (Linked to LO3 & LO4):
  o Implementation: Write the Python program that implements the algorithms presented, using an IDE like Python IDLE, Visual Studio or PyCharm.
  o IDE Analysis: Analyse the features of the IDE (e.g., debugger, IntelliSense, version control integration) and explain how they aided your development process. Contrast this with a hypothetical scenario of not using an IDE.
  o Debugging Documentation: Examine the debugging process. Document how you used breakpoints, watch lists, and stepping through code to identify and fix specific vulnerabilities, defects, or logic errors in your program (e.g., handling incorrect user input, preventing division by zero in calculations).

3. Structured Evaluation and Critical Analysis Report

• Purpose: To critically evaluate your work and its implications for the business.
• Content (Linked to all LOs):
  o Evaluation: Critically evaluate the efficiency of your implemented algorithms using Big-O notation (e.g., Why is a binary search more efficient than a linear search for finding products?).
  o Coding Standards: Explain the coding standards you adopted (e.g., naming conventions, indentation, commenting) and critically evaluate why these standards are necessary for both individual clarity and future team-based development on this project.
  o Security and Robustness: Evaluate how the debugging process and adherence to coding standards helped you develop a more secure and robust application prototype for TechNovate.
  o Recommendations: Provide justified recommendations for the next phase of development, including potential security considerations (e.g., input validation, data encryption) for when the system is connected to a live database.

General Requirements for the Entire Submission:

• The entire report must use headings, paragraphs, and subsections appropriately to structure the content clearly.
• All work must be supported by research and referenced using the Harvard referencing system.
• While word count guidelines are provided for individual sections, you will not be penalised for exceeding the total word limit across the entire submission, provided the content is relevant and concise.

Unit 15:  Learning Outcomes (Assessed in this assignment)

LO1.   Define basic algorithms to carry out an operation and outline the process of programming an application.

LO2.   Explain the characteristics of procedural, object-orientated and event-driven programming, conduct an analysis of a suitable Integrated Development Environment (IDE).

LO3.   Implement basic algorithms in code using an IDE.

LO4.   Determine the debugging process and explain the importance of a coding standard.

Transferable skills and competences developed  

Computing-related cognitive skills:

• Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of essential facts, concepts, principles, and theories relating to programming, including algorithms, data structures, and programming paradigms.
• Use such knowledge and understanding in the modelling and design of computer-based systems (e.g., an inventory management system) for the purposes of comprehension, communication, prediction, and the understanding of trade-offs (e.g., performance vs. readability).
• Recognise and analyse business criteria and specifications appropriate to a specific problem (e.g., TechNovate’s inventory issues), and plan strategic solutions using appropriate algorithms and data structures.
• Critical evaluation and testing: analyse the extent to which a programmed solution meets the criteria defined for its current use (e.g., functional requirements) and future development (e.g., scalability, maintainability).
• Methods and tools: deploy appropriate theory, practices, and tools (e.g., IDEs, debuggers, version control) for the design, implementation, and evaluation of a software prototype.

Computing-related practical skills:

• The ability to specify, design, and construct a reliable, secure, and usable software prototype to meet defined business requirements.
• The ability to evaluate a software system in terms of quality attributes (e.g., efficiency using Big-O notation, robustness, security) and possible trade-offs presented within the given scenario.
• The ability to deploy effectively the tools used for the construction and documentation of software applications (e.g., Visual Studio/PyCharm, debuggers, coding standard frameworks), with particular emphasis on understanding the end-to-end process from algorithm design to a working prototype.
• The ability to critically evaluate and analyse complex problems, including those with incomplete information (e.g., ambiguous client requirements), and devise appropriate, justified solutions.

Generic skills for employability:

• Intellectual skills: Critical thinking to analyse problems and select optimal solutions; making a case through structured argumentation in reports and presentations; numeracy for algorithm analysis; digital and IT literacy.
• Self-management: Self-awareness and reflection on one’s own coding practices and learning; independence and adaptability in researching solutions and troubleshooting code; acting on initiative to propose innovative features; goal setting and action planning to meet project deadlines.
• Teamwork and communication: Although an individual assignment, the skills developed are foundational for teamwork, including the ability to produce clear, standardized code and documentation that others can understand and maintain.
• Contextual awareness: The ability to understand and meet the specific operational, security, and business continuity needs of an organisation (e.g., TechNovate Solutions Ltd.), and to understand how software solutions are developed within a commercial and professional context.

Vocational Scenario and Activities 

Case Study

TechNovate Solutions Ltd. is a small but growing company based in Manchester, UK. They sell technology like laptops, printers, and cables to other local businesses and schools. Right now, the owner, Sarah, and her two employees track all their stock using paper notes and several different computer spreadsheets. This old-fashioned way of working is causing big problems. They often sell products they do not have in stock, or they cannot find a product when a customer needs it but they want to design various tools in the office by software engineers. They also design software for schools. The school are currently asking for few games for the kids, but Sarah cannot deliver it. This leads to unhappy customers and lost money. Sarah knows she needs a proper computer program to manage to design learning games but doesn’t know where to start.

She has hired you as a Junior Software Developer. Your first important job is to create a plan and a basic prototype for games or quizzes. You need to show Sarah how a computer program can solve her problems. You will do this by creating a presentation to explain your ideas, writing a technical report with some sample code, and finally, writing an evaluation that reviews your own work and suggests future improvements.

Your Tasks

Task 1:

For your first task, you need to explain the basic ideas to Sarah, who is not a technical expert. You will create a presentation with slides and notes. You need to clearly define what an algorithm is – a set of step-by-step instructions for the computer to follow. You should outline the process of how you will build the application, from having the initial idea to writing the code and making it run. To make it real for TechNovate, you must design simple algorithms for key actions, like bubble sort, strings modification, doing calculations, etc. You will also need to explain the different ways code can be structured, such as focusing on procedures (procedural) or objects (object-oriented), and recommend the best style for this project, using simple diagrams to help Sarah understand. You could consider various algorithms, flowcharts, pseudocode, and decision tree tables during this presentation.

Task 2:

Next, you will start building a small part of the game to prove it will work. Using a professional coding program like Visual Studio (an IDE), you will write the code for the algorithms you designed in Task 1. Your report must explain how you used the IDE’s special tools, like its debugger to find and fix errors, and how this was much easier than trying to write code in a simple text editor. You will also document a time you found a bug, or mistake, in your code and explain step-by-step how you used the IDE’s debugging tools to find it and make the program more reliable and secure. You should also be able to modify your game or quiz what you have designed.

Task 3:

Finally, you need to think critically about your work and its future. You will evaluate how efficient your algorithms are; for example, is your game attracting customers, are the search algorithm fast. You must also explain the coding rules you followed, such as how you named your variables and why having these consistent rules is so important, especially if other programmers need to work on the code later. Your report will finish with a justified recommendation for the next steps, suggesting what features to add next and what security considerations (like protecting customer data) the company must think about as they develop the full system. A comparison among individual coding, pair coding and team coding must be justified. This shows you cannot just code but also plan success of the project.

Marking Criteria

Reading List:

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