Intro to Software Engineering I_X
What is software engineering?
The modern world runs on the internet, via websites, apps, and internet-enabled software. Software engineers are those tasked with creating the systems that we all use to interact with the internet. Some are more heavily involved in backend development where the site interacts with the rest of the internet and other websites. Others focus on the front end, where the piece of software interacts with the user enabling them to do what they need to do, whether that’s run accounting reports, record sales at a point of sale, or play a computer game.
What will we learn?
This course teaches students how to:
Understand what web developers do, and how the internet works. Learn to use tools like GitHub, VS Code, and Chrome dev tools. Learn the different parts of development, coding, styling and integration. Understand the concept of data transfer, HTTP requests, and APIs.Who will be teaching this class?
Akhil Boddu was born in Hyderabad, India, brought up in Nairobi, Kenya and is now building a career in South Africa running two specialist web development companies. He graduated from the University of Cape Town (UCT) with a first-class degree in Computer Science and Information Systems as well as a postgraduate qualification. Today, Akhil owns and runs Zaio, which focuses on training and placements for software developers.
What is a hybrid on-campus model?
Students will travel to a US college campus – for Software Engineering, that campus is UC Berkeley, California. They’ll stay in a real college dorm, eat in the dining hall, and get to know like-minded students from all over the world. Their classes will be held online over Zoom in the mornings, with afternoons free for excursions, enrichment activities, and plenty of fun and exploring.
What is a micro-internship?
Each programme takes part in a group micro-internship project, in which they tackle a real-world business problem using the skills they have learned in their course. This is a great chance to get real-world work experience within the safety of a learning environment. Last year, Summer Springboard students did their micro-internship with Invest-Ed, a public benefit organisation focused on providing access to education. Students coded a new website for the organisation following a brief and using the skills they learned in class. Their experience gave them a great advantage in college applications and gave them a clear idea of what it could be like working in the field of software engineering.