Developing and learning web services with open source software: an experience report

To simultaneously teach the principles of software engineering and expose students to current in-demand technologies in the business world, one recent undergraduate course put them through a semester-long project to design and build a web service from the ground up. This project was conducted in a simulated business environment with the course instructor playing the role of customer. In the interests of demonstrating the benefits of software reuse, the instructor insisted that the web services be built using open-source software. By the end of the semester, and with the benefit of outside consultation, the teams managed to produce a finished working prototype. This paper will describe their effort and experiences, underscoring risks encountered, strengths embraced, and lessons learned by the end of the project.