"Integrative Programming: The (Oftetimes) Missing Link"

Ricardo Checchi
Assistant Professor
University of Massachusetts
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Students reaching the end of their IT program have islands of knowledge but are missing an integrative view. They know how to create the logical components of the client and server applications, but they miss on the connectivity. In some cases, this is even the case for component-based applications. A project-based course in integrative programming would address these issues, spanning from the structure of a monolithic application to client-server, to distributed applications.

In this presentation we will address two issues: the need for a knowledge in integrative
programming, and we will present/explore some projects that can be used in such a course or added to other courses. We will start with a brief presentation of the problem and then introduce some potential projects.

Utilizing ACM's IT curriculum recommendations, we will offer alternative solutions for the
"Integration First" and "Foundation First" approaches. Then we will introduce projects that can be used in a single course (foundation first approach) or distributed in different courses (integration first approach).

We will introduce five (5) projects and do hands-on work on at least one. Projects included: (1) creating and sharing components and libraries, (2) connecting to a database, (3) creating and/or using an API, (4) creating a client-server application, and (5) creating a Web-Services-based application.