BA272: BUSINESS APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT -- Fall 2007

COURSE DESCRIPTION -- BA272 is a four unit course.

The Catalog Description: Introduction to business programming with VB.NET. Overview of programming processes, .NET programming environment, object-oriented and event-oriented models and console/Web integration of applications.

Informally: Although only some MIS students are seeking jobs as software developers, most professionals in today's world will be involved in some phase of system development for their organizations. Understanding how computer programs are written can provide keen insights into how systems work and what it takes to change them. Students in this course are expected to gain basic computer programming skills and develop a basic understanding of some key programming concepts. Students will:

• write simple windows applications programs using Visual Basic .Net;
• learn basic programming skills such as debugging, coding to standards, and including documentation;
• explain key programming concepts such as variables, iteration, branching, array, and event handling;
• and individually develop a business-related program with a variety of components or functions including form controls (e.g., text boxes, labels, and buttons), text file reading and writing, type conversion, and simple mathematical computations.

COURSE MATERIALS An Introduction to Programming Using Visual Basic® 2005, Sixth Edition, David I. Schneider, University of Maryland Publisher: Prentice Hall ISBN: 0130306541 or ISBN: 9780130306548 Some helpful student resources are available Some course material will be available in Blackboard.

Visual Studio is available through MSDNAA so students can work at home thanks to Microsoft, the College of Business, and other donors. You can arrange to download ISO images of the Visual Studio DVDs and obtain a license key. Read the license: academic use only. However, it is a huge download so you may want to bring in some blanks and burn the images to DVD in the lab. Here's how to burn an image in the lab. This is not for the faint of heart: it's very big and takes quite a while to download, burn, and install. The installation includes a wide variety of components which may impact other software on your PC. Windows only, of course. If you have an older PC, it probably cannot handle the load of this large complex application. While the COB computing services folks will help you obtain an MSDNAA account and make sure you can download the files, they cannot provide you tech support for installation or operation. For many students, working on assignments in the lab is a great option. But still, savvy student's have successfully installed it at home in the past. Return to Contents

Tentative Course Schedule -- Fall 2007

PLEASE NOTE MAJOR REVISION 10/03/2007

STUDENT EVALUATION

Student evaluation will consist of two related areas--the understanding of basic concepts and the ability to apply tools and techniques. Students will demonstrate their understanding of concepts by participating in classroom discussions and completing written assignments, quizzes, and examinations. Students will demonstrate their ability to apply tools through completing assignments and projects.

"Daily" Quizzes

Successful mastery of programming concepts and skills requires repetition and application. You have to do the reading and walkthroughs before class if you are to grasp the material. The concepts build on each other and falling behind will significantly hinder additional learning.

Short quizzes will be given most days so I can see how well you understand the material and give you feedback on your progress.

Quizzes cannot be taken in advance or made up. I will drop one or two quizzes (depending on how many are given) to allow for off days or unavoidable absences.

Want to drop an extra quiz? I may ask for (in advance) volunteers to show off their programs (maybe assigned programs, maybe term project code.) I would appreciate it if you would be willing to show your work in class. We will talk about the code, why it's good, and how to make it better. You learn the most when you explain and teach what you know.

Term Project

The IT Project NPV Calculator supports estimation of the Net Present Value of an IT project. A user can enter a series of costs and benefits spread out over several years. The program is able to load up old projects and save project details in a text file. Users can add new rows for benefits and costs as well as new columns for additional years. The user-provided discount rate is used to compute estimated net present value (NPV) and return on investment (ROI). These figures are important when trying to choose, plan, and justify IT projects that will positively impact an organization. NPV calculations use the present value formula PV = FlowT / ( (1 + r)T) where r is the designated discount rate, T is the year this flow takes place, and FlowT is the amount of the Flow in year T. ROI is calculated by dividing the NPV of the project by the NPV of the costs. To support future uses of the project components, the "model" is stored in a separate class from the interface. This class performs the business logic e.g., computing NPV or creating and interpreting text files. Code to manage the interface is kept in the form. Although it is reasonably functional, the program was written primarily to demonstrate a variety of programming techniques.

Button controls are displayed on a form and allow a user to initiate an action in a program. Button clicks are captured by an event handling sub procedure. Actually, a single event handling procedure can be associated with a number of events. Buttons can be adorned with a variety of characteristics such as text (display on the button), size, position, and color. They can be added to a form dynamically, although we only add text boxes and labels dynamically in this program.

One button in the IT Project NPV Calculator allows you to add an additional year to the model. The add year button click event is associated with the procedure: btnAddAYear_Click. btnAddAYear_Click resizes arrays in both the form and the ITProject class to expand the model, creates new text boxes and positions them on the form, manages the size of the form to ensure that the new boxes fit, and resets the tabbing order of controls on the form to enhance the user experience. Other buttons allow you to add cost or add benefits to the model and load or save a project file.

• Function 1 - Load an existing project: Click the Load Model button and enter the file spec for the provided test file(MyFirstProjectEval.txt). The form should expand to show:
  • 2 benefits and 3 costs over 5 years (Y0 - Y4) with an overall NPV of $21.75 and an ROI of 27%.
  • Y1 Net Flow is -19.09, Y2 NPV is -16.53, Y3 Total Costs are 20 with a PV of 15.03.
  • Break even is between Y3 and Y4. Note Cummulative NPV in Y3 is red and Y4 Cummulative NPV is black.
• Function 2 - Add a year, test the input error function
  • Add a new year to the analysis by pressing the add year button.
  • Try an invalid value by putting in "Yuck" in Year 5 for some cost. Note how the appropriate calculation boxes now show "??". Do a similar test for benefits.
  • Assume all the same flows as in Year 4 of the on-screen project. Type them into the Year 5 boxes. The new NPV should be 46.59 and the ROI is now 50%.
• Function 3 - Save the model. Click the save button and enter a file spec. Click ok. Close the program, reload it and open the new file. Check to see if the values are still correct.

• Incorrect calculations: because the loaded test project includes data in multiple years and in multiple cost/benefit rows. If the NPV and ROI are correct, the rest of the calculations are likely to also be correct. The values listed above were manually calculated and compared to the system results.
• The computation box colors seem to behave correctly.
• The data is saved to a file and when it is reloaded is gives all the same answers. This should verify both the save and load functions. Please also note that the size of the screen was significantly (and correctly) changed during the load operation.
• Erroneous input is caught by the program and highlighted by the ?? values resulting from "Yuch".

• Uncheck the "Create directory for solution check box" before saving projects in Visual Studio to avoid making an extra, unneeded directory so our subdirectory paths are consistent.
• Declare variables at the beginning of a procedure to enhance readability.
• Turn on both "Option Strict" and "Option Explicit" to avoid accidently using the wrong variable (explicit), and data loss when implicitly converting between types (strict). This does make you (and me) do extra work on the confusing topic of type conversions but you will learn a lot and the practice can catch many difficult to spot bugs.
• Use camelCasing for variable names (except for Public Variables... you shouldn't have many of these), use PascalCasing for the names of procedures. One exception: event procedures will often start with the name of a named object like a button, if so, go ahead and use a camelCase name for the procedure, e.g., btnRun_Click. This extends the instructions on p76 in the text.
• As in the text, begin variable names with an appropriate typology to avoid program errors and enhance readability. Here are a few examples:
  • txtPrice for a textbox which accepts a price
  • lstResults for listbox that displays the output of a computation
  • btnLoadFile for a Button that loads data from a text file
  • strCompanyName for String containing a company name
  • atxtCosts for an Array of textboxes that record costs
• Use meaningful, accurate names that describe what the variable holds or the procedure does.
• Include comments in the text. In general, comments should explain what a section of code is supposed to accomplish so a future reader can debug errors or add functionality.

Please take a few moments and set up the following folder structure in your ...\classwork\ folder:
...\classwork\BA272\termproject\
...\classwork\BA272\myWork\

It is your responsibility to store materials in your ...\classwork\BA272\termproject folder in accordance with these rules. If it is not there, you will not receive credit for your work.
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Business Documents

• A business document as a whole, and each part separately, should be structured to help the reader gain the most in the least amount of time.
• Headings and paragraph topic sentences should accurately guide the reader.
• Tables and figures
  • should be presented in the body of the text not in an appendix,
  • should be referenced in the text, and
  • should have a descriptive caption as well as a name. Many readers only look at the pictures and captions. Make sure they get the main ideas.
• Include a title page. Every business project write up should tell who created it and who the work was done for.
• HAVE SOMEONE ELSE PROOFREAD IT!
• Poor organization, typos, bad grammar, and unclear writing characterize unprofessional work. Unprofessional work cannot receive better than a C.
• FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS. Business organizations like innovation but they do not tolerate work that does not cooperate with organizational protocol.

• Use headings and separate your text in logical blocks and segments.
• Number pages -- Title page has no number; First page with content has page number 1.
• Integrate figures and tables into the text; do not add them as an appendix in the back of the report.
• Caption figures and tables -- use Microsoft Word support for this.
• Spell check -- both automatically and manually!.
• Grammar check!
• Peer review!!

COURSE POLICIES

University wide Student Conduct Polices

Academic Honesty Policy:

• Use or obtain unauthorized materials or assistance in any academic work; i.e., cheating. Falsify or invent any information regarded as cheating by the instructor; i.e., fabrication. Give unauthorized assistance to other students; i.e., assisting in dishonesty. Represent the work of others as their own; i.e., plagiarism. Modify, without instructor approval, an examination, paper, record or report for the purpose of obtaining additional credit; i.e., tampering.

Behavior in Class:

• Behavior in class should be professional at all times. The atmosphere within the classroom should be the same as you might expect in a casual business meeting.  People must treat each other with dignity and respect in order for scholarship to thrive.  Behaviors that are disruptive to learning will not be tolerated and may be referred to the Office of the Dean of Students for disciplinary action.

Accommodations:

• Students who have any emergency medical information the instructor should know of, who need special arrangements in the event of evacuation, or students with documented disabilities who may need accommodations should make an appointment with the instructor as early as possible, no later than the first week of the term. If additional assistance is required the student should contact the Office of Disability Services.
  This statement is gladly included in cooperation with University policy: "Accommodations are collaborative efforts between students, faculty and Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD). Students with accommodations approved through SSD are responsible for contacting the faculty member in charge of the course prior to or during the first week of the term to discuss accommodations. Students who believe they are eligible for accommodations but who have not yet obtained approval through SSD should contact SSD immediately at 737-4098."

Discrimination or Harassment:

• Discrimination or harassment will not be tolerated in the classroom. Most cases of discrimination or harassment violate Federal and State laws and University Policies and Regulations. Intentional discrimination or harassment will be referred to the Affirmative Action Office and dealt with in accordance with the appropriate rules and regulations.
• Unintentional discrimination or harassment is just as damaging to the offended party, but it usually results from people not understanding the impact of their remarks or actions on others, or an insensitivity to the feelings of others. We must all strive to work together to create a positive learning environment. This means that each individual should be sensitive to the feelings of others and tolerant of the remarks and actions of others. If you find the remarks and actions of another individual offensive, please bring it to their attention. If you believe those remarks and actions constitute intentional discrimination or harassment, please bring it to your instructor's attention.

Arbitration:

• There will be a one-week arbitration period after graded items (projects, assignments, etc.) are returned.   Within that one-week period, you are encouraged to discuss any assumptions and/or misinterpretations that you made about the activity that may have influenced your grade.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

• Use Visual Studio to create a simple VB .Net program and step through a program using the debugger.
• Demonstrate an understanding of good coding practices such as complying with organizational coding standards, in line documentation, and modularity.
• Recognize and implement event-driven programs.
• Describe the function of many VB program components including: visual controls (buttons, labels, and listboxes), subroutines, and functions.
• Implement, describe, and explain the function of more general programming constructs including: arrays, sequential files, iteration, branching, ByVal vs. ByRef parameter passing, type conversion, and basic error handling (try...catch).
• Explain how the various components and constructs can be applied in at least one business-related application.
• Create a systematic test plan for an application, identifying key risks.

This course will address the following College of Business Learning Outcomes

• Related College of Business Specific Learning Outcomes
  • Each student shall demonstrate information technology skills as they apply to today’s business environment.
  • Each student shall be able to converse and to write at an acceptable level for business communications in English.