VCE Software Development study guide
VCE Software Development · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
VCE Software Development is a Victorian Certificate of Education study concerned with how software is designed, built, tested and managed. It suits senior secondary students in Victoria who want to understand the whole software development lifecycle rather than only writing code, and it also appeals to students preparing for further study or entry-level work in information technology. Because the study is administered by the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority, the authoritative statements about the study are published in the VCE study design, which this page does not replace. The material here is organised around four areas: software design and development; programming and algorithms; data and information management; and software project management. The VCE Software Development study guide has 4 sections and about 1,175 words.
01Software Design and Development
Software development begins by turning a client's needs into a specification, then into a design, then into code. Candidates must distinguish functional requirements (what the system does) from non-functional requirements (performance, usability, security, portability).
296 words, about 1 min02Programming and Algorithms
Candidates must read and write algorithms using sequence, selection and iteration , and express them as pseudocode or flowcharts. Know the standard control structures, subprograms (functions and procedures), parameter passing, local versus global scope, and the difference between a function (returns a value) and a procedure (performs an action).
296 words, about 1 min03Data and Information Management
Data becomes information when it is organised and given context for a purpose. Candidates must understand the data hierarchy (character, field, record, file/table, database), data types and field properties such as validation rules, default values and primary keys.
293 words, about 1 min04Software Project Management
Project management ensures software is delivered on time, within budget and to the required quality. Candidates must understand the project plan , including scope, milestones, deliverables, resources and timelines, and the use of Gantt charts (show task duration and sequence over time) and critical path thinking (the longest chain of dependent tasks determines the minimum project length).
290 words, about 1 min