Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Hans Vangheluwe.

Lab Assistants: Randy Paredis (main contact).

This is a mandatory course taught in the first year, first semester of the Master in Computer Science (all streams/majors) at the University of Antwerp.

The UA course description can be found here.

The course is taught in English.

This course will introduce you to the different kinds of complexity we have to deal with when designing large software-intensive systems. This complexity will be tackled using different modelling formalisms, each appropriate for specific problems/aspects: various UML diagrams, Causal Block Diagrams (aka Synchronous Data Flow), Petri Nets, Statecharts, Event Scheduling/Activity Scanning/Process Interaction Discrete-Event, DEVS, Forrester System Dynamics. Control Theory will also be briefly introduced with focus on the development of an optimal (embedded, software) controller.

The goal of the course is to gain understanding of the similarities and differences between different formalisms. Modelling formalisms vary in the level of detail in which they consider time (e.g., partial order, discrete-time, continuous-time), whether they allow modelling of sequential or concurrent behaviour, whether they are deterministic (mostly suited for system/software synthesis) or non-deterministic (mostly suited for modelling system environment effects, with subsequent safety analysis), whether they support a notion of spatial distribution, ...

At the end of the course, you should be able to choose between (and explain why) and use appropriate formalisms for modelling, analysis, simulation and synthesis of diverse (software-intensive) applications.

The above forms a starting point for more advanced topics. In particular, the combination of different formalisms and the development of Domain-Specific Modelling Languages. The latter is one of the topics of the course Model Driven Engineering.

The course grades are distributed as follows:

• 15% on the theory exam;
• 85% on the assignments.

The (written) theory exam takes place during the exam period (see SisA). Use of your notes or other materials such as laptops is not allowed (aka "closed book" exam).

Here is a tentative list of Exam Topics/Questions

For the (September) supplemental exam period, partial exemptions for specific parts of the course may be given. This is discussed individually. You should request exemptions yourself by e-mail to the course lecturer.

Object-Oriented programming. The course assumes that you master Object-Oriented concepts and are able to understand and produce Object-Oriented code.
The first couple of assignments make extensive use of the object-oriented programming language Python. We advise you to prepare for this course by learning the language, if you don't already know it.

A useful tutorial can be found at: http://docs.python.org/tutorial/

Basics of Object-Oriented design (notions of design patterns) and basics of the Unified Modelling Language (UML).

As a refresher, a short introduction will be given on OO Design and UML during one of the first lectures. The first assignment will test your knowledge on this topic and will demonstrate the relationship between the different languages in the UML family of languages.

Week

Date

Type

Room

Subject

1. [10%] Checking requirements using Sequence Diagrams and Trace Matches of a Publish/Subscribe architecture.
2. [10%] Causal Block Diagrams (un-timed, discrete-time).
3. [20%] Causal Block Diagrams (continuous-time).
4. [12%] Petri net modelling and analysis.
5. [17%] Statecharts modelling, simulation, synthesis, and testing.
6. [16%] DEVS modelling and simulation for performance analysis.

These assignments will be completed in groups of two students (optionally alone).

Note that as of the 2017-2018 Academic Year, each International student should team up with "local" (i.e., whose Bachelor degree was obtained at the University of Antwerp).

Your solutions should be submitted on Blackboard. During the evaluation moments (see schedule), you will clarify your solution individually.