Programming in the Large (CSSE2002)

Course overview

Working on large and complex software systems and ensuring those systems remain maintainable requires disciplined, individual practices. Software must be well-specified, well-implemented and well-tested. This course covers concepts and techniques in modern programming languages that help support good practice (such as OO concepts, genericity and exception handling) with specific application to file IO and GUIs in Java.

To effectively manage the complexity of large software systems, higher-level language constructs are required. In particular, classes to implement independent abstractions with robust and compact interfaces are required. This course utilizes the Java programming language to introduce students to the details of concepts such as object-oriented programming, data abstraction, design, refactoring and unit testing. These concepts are used to refine the quality of ones individual code contributions such that the contribution is suitable to be integrated with large software systems.

Course Changes in Response to Previous Student Feedback

• Structure of course material has been refined.
• Code reviews have been removed from programming exercises.
• Secure practical demonstrations have been included with assignments.

Course requirements

Assumed background

You are expected to have successfully completed at least one programming course in a high-level object-oriented programming language (e.g. Python, C#, JavaScript, etc.) and be familiar with programming constructs such as variables, control structures, functions/methods, objects, classes, and inheritance.

Prerequisites

You'll need to complete the following courses before enrolling in this one:

CSSE1001 or ENGG1001

Incompatible

You can't enrol in this course if you've already completed the following:

COMP2500 or COMP7908 or CSSE7023

Course contact

Course staff

Timetable

The timetable for this course is available on the UQ Public Timetable.

Additional timetable information

You must sign up for one practical and one applied class session.

Lectures begin in week 1. Practical and applied classes begin in week 2.

Aims and outcomes

Working on large and complex software systems and ensuring those systems remain maintainable requires disciplined, individual practices. Software must be well-specified, well-implemented and well-tested. This course covers concepts and techniques in modern programming languages that help support good practice (such as data abstraction, genericity and exception handling).

Learning outcomes

After successfully completing this course you should be able to:

Assessment

Assessment summary

A hurdle is an assessment requirement that must be satisfied in order to receive a specific grade for the course. Check the assessment details for more information about hurdle requirements.

Assessment details

Problem Sets

• Online

Mode

Product/ Artefact/ Multimedia, Written

Category

Computer Code, Tutorial/ Problem Set

Weight

10%

Due date

Week 2: 4/03/2026 1:00 pm

Week 3: 11/03/2026 1:00 pm

Week 4: 18/03/2026 1:00 pm

Week 5: 25/03/2026 1:00 pm

Week 8: 22/04/2026 1:00 pm

Week 9: 29/04/2026 1:00 pm

Week 12: 20/05/2026 1:00 pm

Week 13: 27/05/2026 1:00 pm

Learning outcomes

L01, L02, L03, L04

Task description

Submission guidelines

Submission will be via the Ed Lessons platform, unless otherwise specified.

Deferral or extension

You cannot defer or apply for an extension for this assessment.

Because only the best 6 of 8 will contribute to the mark for this assessment item and answers are released soon after the due date, no extensions are permitted.

Late submission

You will receive a mark of 0 if this assessment is submitted late.

Because the answers are released soon after the due date, and only the best 6 of 8 will contribute to the mark for this assessment item a 100% penalty will be applied to late submission.

This has been approved by the Associate Dean (Academic)

Assignment 1

• Hurdle

Mode

Product/ Artefact/ Multimedia, Written

Category

Computer Code

Weight

20%

Due date

2/04/2026 1:00 pm

Learning outcomes

L01, L02, L03, L05

Task description

Hurdle requirements

Submission guidelines

Online via Gradescope, unless otherwise specified.

Deferral or extension

You cannot defer or apply for an extension for this assessment.

Extensions are not available for this assessment item as feedback is given to students very rapidly.

Assignment is auto marked and marked assessment will be released within 3 days of the due date to permit students to progress with follow up assignments.

Late submission

A penalty of 10% of the maximum possible mark will be deducted per 24 hours (or part thereof) from the deadline (or your extended deadline, if applicable) for up to 3 days. After 3 days (72 hours), you will receive a mark of zero.

The modified late penalty applies as the assessment is auto marked and marked assessment will be released within 3 days of the due date to permit students to progress with follow up assignments. 

This has been approved by the Associate Dean (Academic)

Assignment 1 Practical

• Hurdle
• Identity Verified
• In-person

Mode

Activity/ Performance, Product/ Artefact/ Multimedia

Category

Computer Code, Practical/ Demonstration

Weight

Pass/Fail

Due date

13/04/2026 - 17/04/2026

During your assigned practical session.

Other conditions

Secure.

See the conditions definitions

Learning outcomes

L01, L02, L03, L05

Task description

Hurdle requirements

Submission guidelines

Deferral or extension

You may be able to apply for an extension.

The maximum extension allowed is 7 days. Extensions are given in multiples of 24 hours.

If you are unable to attend your allocated practical session, one reschedule is permitted. To apply for a reschedule, you need to apply for an extension via my.UQ.

If approved, to arrange a reschedule, please follow the formal procedure outlined in the Assignment 1 task sheet.

If you do not attend your session, the mark for this assessment will be zero and subsequently you will receive zero marks for Assignment 1.

Late submission

You will receive a mark of 0 if this assessment is submitted late.

Consistent with industry practice around presentations to clients/industry partners, no late submissions will be accepted and a 100% late penalty applies.

This has been approved by the Associate Dean (Academic)

Assignment 2

Mode

Product/ Artefact/ Multimedia, Written

Category

Computer Code

Weight

25%

Due date

15/05/2026 1:00 pm

Learning outcomes

L01, L02, L03, L04, L05

Task description

Submission guidelines

Online via Gradescope unless otherwise specified for a particular assessment item.

Deferral or extension

You may be able to apply for an extension.

The maximum extension allowed is 28 days. Extensions are given in multiples of 24 hours.

Late submission

A penalty of 10% of the maximum possible mark will be deducted per 24 hours from time submission is due for up to 7 days. After 7 days, you will receive a mark of 0.

Final Exam

• Hurdle
• Identity Verified
• In-person

Mode

Written

Category

Examination

Weight

45%

Due date

End of Semester Exam Period

6/06/2026 - 20/06/2026

Other conditions

Secure.

See the conditions definitions

Learning outcomes

L01, L02, L03, L04, L05

Task description

Hurdle requirements

Exam details

Submission guidelines

Deferral or extension

You may be able to defer this exam.

Course grading

Full criteria for each grade is available in the Assessment Procedure.

Additional course grading information

Your overall mark is calculated as a weighted sum of all assessment components. Only the final overall mark will be rounded to the nearest whole number before applying grade cutoffs.

Specifically, your final mark M (out of 100) is calculated as:

M = ROUND(0.1 × PE + 0.2 × A1 + 0.25 × A2 + 0.45 × E)

Where:

• PE = Problem sets mark
• A1 = Assignment 1 mark (includes A1 Practical)*
• A2 = Assignment 2 mark
• E = Final Exam mark

If you do not attend and pass the Assignment 1 Practical, you will receive a zero for the corresponding assignment. Your Assignment 1 Practical contributes to your Assignment 1 grades.

*A1 mark is subject to a proportional cap based on the Assignment 1 Practical session. Your A1 mark is calculated as the lower of your submission score and your practical performance percentage. Failure to attend or reschedule the practical session will result in A1 = 0.

The course coordinator reserves the right to moderate marks.

Supplementary assessment

Supplementary assessment is available for this course.

Additional assessment information

Plagiarism and Generative AI

All assignments are to be worked on individually and must be your own work except where the use of code written or provided by other entities (teaching staff, AI tools, etc.) is explicitly permitted by the assignment specification, and any such code is referenced in the manner required in the assignment specification.

All submitted code will be subject to electronic plagiarism and collusion detection. Assignments with no academic merit will be awarded a mark of zero. You may have to verbally answer questions about your submission as part of the assignment marking process.

Assessment Interviews

For the assignments and programming exercises, the teaching staff will conduct interviews with a subset of students about their submissions to establish genuine authorship.

• If you write your own code, you have nothing to fear from this process. If you legitimately use permitted code from other sources (following the usage/referencing requirements in the assignment specification) then you are expected to understand that code.
• If you are not able to adequately explain the design of your solution and/or adequately explain your submitted code and/or be able to make simple modifications to your solution as requested at the interview, then your assignment mark will be scaled down based on the level of understanding you are able to demonstrate and/or your submission may be subject to a misconduct investigation where your interview responses form part of the evidence.

Interview invitations will be issued by email to your student email account at any time up until the end of week one of the exam period. Failure to respond to an interview invitation by the deadline stated in the invitation (which will be at least one week after the invitation is sent) or failure to attend a scheduled interview may result in zero marks for the assignment unless exceptional circumstances can be demonstrated with supporting evidence.

Grade Integrity

If there are administrative errors (e.g., marks added up incorrectly) in your grade or feedback - speak to a member of the course teaching staff and we will seek to resolve it. For all other re-marking requests refer to Querying a result on my.UQ: https://my.uq.edu.au/querying-result

Moderation

In accordance with the Assessment Procedure, marks may be moderated, and grade cutoffs may be lowered if academically justified.

Support

If you are having difficulties with any aspect of the course material, you should seek help. Speak to the course teaching staff.

If external circumstances are affecting your ability to work on the course, you should seek help as soon as possible. The University and UQ Union have organisations and staff who are able to help, for example, UQ Student Services are able to help with study and exam skills, tertiary learning skills, writing skills, financial assistance, personal issues, and disability services (among other things).

Complaints and criticisms should be directed in the first instance to the course coordinator. If you are not satisfied with the outcome, you may bring the matter to the attention of the School of EECS Director of Teaching and Learning.

Learning resources

You'll need the following resources to successfully complete the course. We've indicated below if you need a personal copy of the reading materials or your own item.

Library resources

Library resources are available on the UQ Library website.

Additional learning resources information

Blackboard The course Blackboard site (learn.uq.edu.au) will be the entry point for access to all course resources. Important announcements will be made on this blackboard. Check the announcements regularly; at least once a week and more often in the week before assignments are due.

Ed Discussion The course will use the Ed Discussion as a Q&A forum. Students are encouraged to ask questions on this discussion board and answer questions of their peers. Do not publicly post assessed items on the forum as this may result in Academic Misconduct. If you are unsure, ask before posting.

Ed Lessons The course uses the Ed Lessons online environment for weekly programming assessment. This is available via a link in Blackboard.

Gradescope Assignments will be submitted via the Gradescope platform. You can access this via a link in Blackboard throughout the semester as it is released for each assignment. Ensure that you upload your submissions early and regularly and check that what you submitted to Gradescope is what you intended, and not, for example, an out of date submission. Some feedback will be available immediately after submission, ensure there are no failures that prevent your submission from being tested.

Development Environment Students will be required to write programs in Java. The course will use the latest Long-Term Support (LTS) version of Java, which is Java 21. You should install an Integrated Development Environment (IDE), such as JetBrains IntelliJ (recommended). An IDE provides access to a sophisticated development environment, as well as the standard compilation tools.

Learning activities

The learning activities for this course are outlined below. Learn more about the learning outcomes that apply to this course.

Policies and procedures

University policies and procedures apply to all aspects of student life. As a UQ student, you must comply with University-wide and program-specific requirements, including the:

• Student Code of Conduct Policy
• Student Integrity and Misconduct Policy and Procedure
• Assessment Procedure
• Examinations Procedure
• Reasonable Adjustments for Students Policy and Procedure
• AI for Assessment Guide

Learn more about UQ policies on my.UQ and the Policy and Procedure Library.

School guidelines

Your school has additional guidelines you'll need to follow for this course:

• EECS School Guidelines for Students