BSc Final Year Project

Sources of advice to help you successfully write your final year project, dissertation or thesis.
Presented by Kavi Khedo
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Note

Note that the description provided in this presentation on BSc (Hons) Final Year Project is not exhaustive and the steps vary from project to project. The aim of this presentation is to provide some general guidelines for the completion of a BSc Final Year Project. I am solely responsible for any errors or omissions that may appear in this description.
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Getting Started

The most difficult part of writing a Final Year Project (FYP) is often 'where to begin'. Make a plan of the chapters. Your plan is likely to look like this:
6. Evaluation 7. Future Works 8. Conclusion 9. References 10.Appendices
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1. Introduction 2. Background Study /Literature review 3. Analysis 4. Design 5. Implementation 6. Integration and Testing

Preliminaries

Table of Contents List of Figures List of Tables Acknowledgements Preface Abstract

Abstract

Area of study The problem Solution Results Conclusive remarks

Introduction

Introduction to the Area of Study Aims and Scope Problem Statement Approach or Methodology Used Time Management / Project Schedule Personal Contributions
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Background Study /Literature review

A literature review is basically a summary of 'what the academic literature reveals' about the subject of your investigation. This section explains whatever background is needed for the reader to understand the details of your project. It also should convince the reader that you have done the appropriate study of existing work before embarking on your own work.

Background Study /Literature review

As a starting point, a literature review should summarise the major contributions in the (project) field of study. Discuss about: Concepts Technologies Similar Existing Solutions
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Background Study /Literature review

Concepts A detail background study should be done about all the (possible) conceptual issues involved in the project.

Algorithms, Existing Techniques, Security, HCI, Real-time Systems, Software Architectures, Programming Standards, Concurrency
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Background Study /Literature review

Technologies A detail background study should be done about all the (possible) technologies involved in the project.

Databases, Programming Languages, Web Servers, Web Technologies (ASP, PHP, etc), Middleware Technologies, Operating Systems, APIs.
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Background Study /Literature review

Similar Existing Solutions

Illustrate existing work in the field of study

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Analysis

Analysis of Existing Systems Analysis of Current System Technological Analysis Requirements Capture & Discussion Discussion of alternative solutions System Requirements Document
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Analysis

System Requirements Document Functional Requirements

User Requirements Non-Functional Requirements System Requirements Interface Requirements Performance Requirements
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Design

In this chapter, an overview of the system should be given, prior to discussing the various system design issues of the system. The structure of the system should be established and the different components of the system should be designed. A software module specification should be provided at the end of the design process.
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Design
System Design Issues
Software Design Approach Performance Robustness Interactivity Flexibility Re-usability and Portability Quality of Service Error, Exception Handling & Fault Tolerance Security

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Design

System Architecture Design (Modules and Interaction between the modules) System Modelling

Static Modeling (class diagram) Dynamic Modeling (Sequence Diagram, state transition diagrams)

Client/Server Design Software Design (Algorithms, Pseudocode) Database Design User Interface Design
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Implementation

The Implementation phase is perhaps one of the most, if not the most important phase of the project. This chapter relates to the implementation of the components that make up the system. The issues that need to be considered during implementation should be discussed.

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Implementation

Implementation issues
Discussion of issues that relate to the development of the system Performance consistency (application of common coding guideline) Simplicity, reliability Portability Security Issues Fault Tolerance Real-Time Issues Concurrency Issues
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Implementation

Standards and Conventions Development Environment Hardware Configurations Software Tools Development Process

Steps involved in implementation of the programs

Implementation of Individual Modules

Implementation

Exception handling

Validation Exception-handling in Java Fault-tolerance

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Integration and Testing

This chapter depicts the different integration and testing methodologies used, which include unit testing, integration testing and system testing.
Integration is how the different components of the system were combined to make them work together as a single entity. Testing is to ensure whether the system conforms to its specifications and whether it meets the expectations of the users.
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Integration and Testing

Integration Process
Integration involves combining the different modules and components of the system into a single entity.

The different approaches to testing are:

Unit testing (Black Box, White Box) Integration Testing (Top-down, Bottom-up) System Testing (Alpha, Beta, Stress, Security)
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Integration and Testing

Debugging
Debugging occurs as a consequence of successful testing. When a test uncovers an error, debugging is the process that results in the elimination of the error. Brute Force Method Backtracking Method Cause Elimination Method
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Evaluation

This chapter should consist of a critical appraisal covering all aspects of the project. The constraints experienced as well as the project achievements should also be highlighted. The chapter will consist of the following sections:

Project achievements Constraints Limitations Opportunities (Marketability)

Future Works

Even though the System developed is a fullfledge system that meets the specifications formerly identified, it can be improved even further and additional features can be implemented to extend its perspective of use. Improvements Additional Features

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Conclusion

With hindsight, what is the strongest part of your work? What did you learn from the project? What you would do differently if you could repeat the project?

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References

Why is Referencing Necessary ?

It is to acknowledge the work of other writers; to demonstrate the body of knowledge on which you have based your work; to enable other researchers to trace your sources and lead them on to further information. BIBLIOGRAPHY is the list of sources you have used. REFERENCE is the detailed description of the item from which you have obtained your information.
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Referencing Examples

[1] A. Dey, G.D. Abowd, and D. Salber, A conceptual framework and toolkit for supporting the rapid prototyping of context-aware applications, Human-Computer Interaction Journal, Vol. 16 (2-4), 2001, pp. 97-166. [2] A. Dey, Providing Architectural Support for Building Context-Aware Applications, Ph.D. Thesis Dissertation, College of Computing, Georgia Tech, December 2000. [3] S. Intille, L. Bao, E.M. Tapia, and J. Rondoni, Acquiring in situ training data for context-aware ubiquitous computing applications, in Proceedings of Human Factors in Computing Systems Conference, CHI 2004, Vienna, Austria, April 2004. [4] A.K. Dey and G.D. Abowd, CybreMinder: A context-aware system for supporting reminders, In Proceedings of Second International Symposium on Handheld and Ubiquitous Computing, HUC 2000, pp 172186, Bristol, UK, September 2000. [5] The GUIDE Project Home Page, Lancaster University, 1997-1999, Available from: http://www.guide.lancs.ac.uk/overview.html Date Access: 28 15 January 2006.

Appendices

Appendices. Anything that you believe must be included for completeness, but which would interrupt the flow of the report if placed elsewhere.

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Project Examination

Presentation

Preparation of slides Presentation skills Presentation (20 mins) Questions (10 mins) Software Demo Questions

Demo

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