MSc Project
Proposals for 2004/5
Stephan
Reiff-Marganiec
There are 4 project suggestions here, the first three are well defined
projects, the last is an open project. Each of the first three is intended to
provide suggestions of things possible, but students are encouraged to
critically evaluate the ideas and maybe find related ideas: I am happy to
discuss similar topics and see if they are suitable and I am willing to
supervise them. The 4th project is quite research oriented and
requires students to identify aspects of interest to them in the framework
proposed. This certainly requires discussion with me.
All projects are centred around Java web services and web services
technologies, the basics of which will be taught in Semester 2 in CO7204.
The project will involve a substantial amount of programming. This
should be in Java in an object
oriented style.
Aims
of Project
Amazon
provides a web service that can be used by software developers to access and
query the Amazon catalogue. Google provides a similar interface to its search
engine. This project should investigate the use of these interface to build an
interesting application. The idea here is that a tool should be developed that
searches for a particular actor/author/musician and then shows the
DVDs/Videos/CDs or books that are available on Amazon but enhances this
information with biographical data and information about fanclubs as found by
Google.
The implementation of the "value added" services should be in
Java, as this is the most obvious technology to use when connecting to
WebServices.
The project will involve a complete software engineering process
starting with requirements capture, leading to system design and finally
implementation. The result shall be evaluated in a suitable manner.
Learning
Outcomes
· Learn about the use
of web service technology and the Amazon and Google WebServices interfaces.
· Deepen
undesrtanding of using Java for software development.
· Gain knowledge of
using XML and relevant web technologies.
Nature
of End-Product
A tool
that allows to find works of an actor/author/musician together with other
relevant information by using webservice technology.
Project
Timetable
Research
on Amazon and Google Webservices, requirements elicitation and design of software
project, implementation of 2 small case studies to show usage of Google and
Amazon Webservices.
Implementation, evaluation and refinement of final product.
Prerequisites
The project will involve a substantial amount of programming. This
should be in Java in an object
oriented style. Also good knowledge of databases is required.
Aims
of Project
The department runs a number of modules, each convened by a member of
staff. Throughout the year, certain tasks have to be conducted related to the
management of courses. Such tasks include the generation of studyguides, module
forms and websites, as well as providing material on websites as the course
progresses.
Each of these tasks might be small, but they do take a considerable amount
of time. So the system
should improve on this time consumption by providing much automation.
Ideas here are:
·
Webbased
forms that request information as appropriate for module forms (learning
outcomes, reading lists, ...) and collecting these in XML documents. A user
should be able to recall an old form and edit parts or create new forms. The
system should provide functionality to extract the information of the XML
documents and insert it into templates for HTML or LaTeX for generation of the
required forms. One option here is to investigate the use of XSL-FO to produce
output directly from XML rather than inserting data into templates.
· Also, during the
year, it would be nice if webpages could be generated in a simple way. That is,
a default course webpage should be generated from the info in the module form.
While the course progresses the lecturer should be able to add documents
(handouts), relevant links and announcements to this page by simply entering
the information on a webform. E.g. adding a handout should be done by opening a
webpage, choosing the lecture number from a list, selecting a file and clicking
submit; the result should be that the file is transferred to the right pace and
the respective link is created on the webpage.
It is important to design the system in a component based way and the
individual components of this system should be implemented as webservices and
then be brought together under a convenient interface.
The project will involve a complete software engineering process starting
with requirements capture, leading to system design and finally implementation.
The result shall be evaluated in a suitable manner.
Learning
Outcomes
· Learn about web
service technology.
· Deepen
undesrtanding of using Java for software development.
· Gain knowledge of
using XML and relevant web technologies.
Nature
of End-Product
A
content management system for course webpages.
Project
Timetable
Research
on Java Webservices, requirements elicitation and design of software project,
implementation of small case studies to show usage of Webservices.
Implementation, evaluation and refinement of final product.
Music
Finder Interface to Amazon
Prerequisites
The project will involve a substantial amount of programming. This
should be in Java in an object
oriented style.
Aims
of Project
Amazon provides a web service that can be used by software developers to
access and query the Amazon catalogue. This project should investigate the use
of this interface to build an interesting application. The idea here is a music
finder that might find catalogue entries and suggestions based on information
extracted from an MP3 file, i.e. the user selects an MP3 file and the program
locates the respective Amazon entry for the CD(s) on which the song occurs as
well as maybe other works by the same artist.
The
implementation of the "value added" services should be in Java. As
this project is about interfacing with back end technology, it seems suitable
to investigate the use of JavaServerFaces
(http://java.sun.com/j2ee/javaserverfaces/index.jsp) technology as an
alternative to more traditional html based user interfaces.
The project will involve a complete software engineering process
starting with requirements capture, leading to system design and finally
implementation. The result shall be evaluated in a suitable manner.
Learning
Outcomes
· Learn about the use
of web service technology and JavaServerFaces technology.
· Deepen
undesrtanding of using Java for software development.
· Gain knowledge of
using XML and relevant web technologies.
Nature
of End-Product
A music
finder that finds catalogue entries and suggestions based on information
extracted from an MP3 file.
Research on Amazon Webservices, Java Server Faces and MP3 (extracting
required data), requirements elicitation and design of software project,
implementation of 2 small case studies to
show usage of JavaServerFaces and Amazon Webservices. Implementation,
evaluation and refinement of final product.
Prerequisites
The
project will involve some programming, but mostly to demonstrate feasibility of
ideas concerned with emerging technologies. Programming should probably be in
Java in an object oriented style. The project would suit a student who is
willing to face a rewarding challenge and will not feel overwhelmed by the fact
that much of the new technologies are just emerging and hence there are no text
books available.
Aims
of Project
Web services are software
functionality available over the internet. While each service on its own offers
certain features, it is the combination of many such services that allows to
create powerful applications.
Current work is considering
how web services can be composed, and there are several ideas available. My
interest is in dynamic (automatic) composition of services guided by some high
level language -- preferably a language in the end-users domain.
Possible projects in this area are manyfold and might
address issues such as:
· Service conflict: from telephony service we know that composing services is not straight forward, for example two services which individually function as expected might lead to new, often undesired, behaviou when composed. What does feature interaction mean in the arena of web services, how can it be addressed?
These ideas are rather vague, as I would expect the student to explore the area in more detail and identify a suitable project, matching their interest and overlapping with my own ideas.
Learning
Outcomes
· Learn about the use
of web service technology and develop understanding of open issues. Try to
contribute to solve some of the challenging aspects.
· Deepen research
skills.
· Gain knowledge of
using XML and relevant web technologies.
Nature
of End-Product
To be specified
Project
Timetable
To be specified