Software Design and Development (SDD) is the study of designing and developing software. SDD is also a subject offered to senior high school students in Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 in university

University

A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...

 entrance exams such as the Higher School Certificate and the VCE

VCE

VCE could refer to:* Victorian Certificate of Education, Year 11 and 12 qualification in Victoria, Australia* Vocational Certificate of Education, a Further Education qualification in the United Kingdom...

 (Victorian Certificate of Education).

VCE Course

In Victoria

Victoria (Australia)

Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

, the course in the VCE is known as Information Technology: Software Development.

HSC Course

In New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

, SDD is separated into the Preliminary (Year 11) and HSC (Year 12) courses. A prerequisite for the HSC Course is successful completion of the Preliminary Course, which is the same for any other course in the HSC. The course in NSW is set out in the NSW Board of Studies HSC Software Design and Development syllabus document.

Preliminary Course

Concepts and Issues in the Design and Development of Software (30%)

• Social and ethical issues
• Hardware and software
• Software development approaches

Introduction to Software Development (50%)

• Defining the problem and planning software solutions
• Building software solutions
• Checking software solutions
• Modifying software solutions

Developing Software Solutions (20%)

Course Structure

Development and Impact of Software Solutions (15%)

• Social and ethical issues
• Application of software development approaches

Software Development Cycle (40%)

• Defining and understanding the problem
• Planning and design of software solutions
• Implementation of software solutions
• Testing and evaluation of software solutions
• Maintenance of software solutions

Developing a Solution Package (25%)

Options (20%)
One of the following options:

1. Evolution of programming languages, or
2. The Software Developer’s view of the hardware