COMP1786 (2019/20) Mobile Application Design and Contribution: 80% of course

Development

Course Leader: Mobile Application Design and Deadline Date: 30th November
Keeran Jamil Development - CW 2019

This coursework should take an average student who is up-to-date with tutorial work approximately
40 hours 
Feedback and grades are normally made available within 15 working days of the coursework
deadline

Learning Outcomes: 
A. Have a critical awareness of and understand the technical challenges posed by current mobile
devices and wireless communications; be able to critically evaluate and select appropriate
solutions.
B. Appreciate the need, and have the ability, to keep up with rapid changes and new developments;
be able to identify, and predict changes in current trends in mobile communications technologies
and systems.
C. Select and critically evaluate suitable software tools and APIs for the development of a particular
mobile application and understand their strengths, scope and limitations.
D. Select and use appropriate application development tools to assist in the conception, design,
writing and testing of various interactive programs for mobile devices.

Plagiarism is presenting somebody else's work as your own. It includes: copying

information directly from the Web or books without referencing the material; submitting
joint coursework as an individual effort; copying another student's coursework; stealing
coursework from another student and submitting it as your own work.  Suspected
plagiarism will be investigated and if found to have occurred will be dealt with according
to the procedures set down by the University. Please see your student handbook for
further details of what is / isn't plagiarism. 

All material copied or amended from any source (e.g. internet, books) must be
referenced correctly according to the reference style you are using. 

Your work will be submitted for plagiarism checking.  Any attempt to bypass our
plagiarism detection systems will be treated as a severe Assessment Offence.

Coursework Submission Requirements

 An electronic copy of your work for this coursework must be fully uploaded on the
Deadline Date .
 For this coursework you must submit a single PDF document.  In general, any text in
the document must not be an image (i.e. must not be scanned) and would normally be
generated from other documents (e.g. MS Office using "Save As .. PDF"). An
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 exception to this is hand written mathematical notation, but when scanning do ensure
the file size is not excessive.

 For this coursework you must also upload a single ZIP file containing supporting
evidence.

 There are limits on the file size .

 Make sure that any files you upload are virus-free and not protected by a password or
corrupted otherwise they will be treated as null submissions.

 Your work will not be printed in colour. Please ensure that any pages with colour are
acceptable when printed in Black and White.

 You must NOT submit a paper copy of this coursework.

 All courseworks must be submitted as above. Under no circumstances can they be

accepted by academic staff

The University website has details of the current Coursework Regulations, including details of
penalties for late submission, procedures for Extenuating Circumstances, and penalties for
Assessment Offences.  See http://www2.gre.ac.uk/current-students/regs

Detailed Specification

Please read the entire coursework specification before starting work.

You are to create a mobile app to be used as Rental Apartments Finder. The app will allow the
user to find, add and edit rental listings. The app will be called RentalZ. The features the app should
support are given below

 Features a) to e) are to be implemented as a hybrid app coded using PhoneGap

 Features a) and b) are to be implemented as a native Android app coded in Java.
 Feature f) can be implemented as either or both additions to the native android app or
PhoneGap app.

1.1 Description of the application

a) Design app screens - Basic details input screen

Note that users must be able to enter all of the following fields:

 Property type (e.g. flat, house, bungalow) – required field

 Bedrooms (e.g. studio, one, two, etc.) - required field
 Date and time of adding the Property (when the property have been added) – required field
 Monthly rent price - required field
 Furniture types (e.g. Furnished, Unfurnished, Part Furnished) - optional field
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  Notes – optional field
 Name of the reporter – required fields

b) Implement forms validation

Required field means that the user must enter something in this field otherwise they will get an error
message. Optional field means that the user can enter something if they wish but they will not get
an error message if they don't enter anything.
The app will check the input and if the user doesn’t enter anything in one of the required fields the
app should display an error message to the user.
Once the details have been accepted by the app (e.g. no required fields were missing) it should
display the details back to the user for confirmation and allow them to go back and change any
details that they wish.

c) Store, view and delete the basic details and check for duplicate events

All the details entered by the user should be stored on the device in a Web database.
The user should be able to list all the details for all Properties entered in the app.
The user should be able to delete all the details from the database.

d) Search

The user should be able to search for a property. At its simplest this could mean entering or
selecting a property type and displaying the details of all information about that type. Ideally the user
should be able to enter more details and search for a property that matches.

e) Add a note input screen

The user may select one of the properties that they have entered and use this screen to enter
information about something that is related to this property (e.g. condition, how close to schools,
shops and public transportation). It is up to you how complex or simple you want to make this. At
its most simple form the user can just enter a textual description of the property.
The app should store all details entered on the device in a Web database.
It should be possible for a user to select a property and display the report for that property.

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f) Features a) and b) are to be implemented as a native Android app coded in Java

g) Add additional features to either or both the Android or PhoneGap version of the app

Features a) to e) are the core requirements for the app. If you have implemented these and want to
add some additional features, then you may. Any enhancements should be implemented in
addition to NOT instead of the core requirements. The idea is that these features stretch your
skills so be prepared to do your own research and feel free to show off! You can think of your own
enhancements. Here are some possible examples:
• Allow photos taken by the camera to be added to the property data stored
• Send social media messages (e.g. twitter) each time a report is added
• Save/Show the locations where the property located

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1.2 Report

 Section 1. A concise table containing a checklist of the features you have been able to
implement. Please refer to the features list given above in the specification. For example, you
might write:

Feature Implementation
a)  Fully implemented
b)  Fully implemented
c)  Implemented but sometimes it gives an exception. I haven't been able
to debug this
d)  Implemented but the app can only do a simple search by property type
e)  I have created the user interface for report entry but the data is not
being stored 
f)  I have create a native prototype of feature a) but not feature b)
g)  No additional features implemented

 Section 2. A concise list of any bugs and/or weaknesses in your app(s) If you don't think there
are any bugs or weaknesses then say so though this is quite unlikely. Bugs that are declared in
this list will lose you fewer marks than ones that you don't declare!

 Section 3. A brief (less than half a page) description of any special strengths of your app(s) that
you think should be considered when awarding a mark. Please be very specific and realistic in
this: vague statements such as "it is easy to use" or "it is well designed" will not gain you marks.

 Section 4. Screen shots demonstrating each of the features that you have implemented. Give
captions or annotations to explain which features are being demonstrated.

 Section 5. An evaluation of your app(s). Write between 300 and 500 words evaluating the
app(s) that you have produced. Be specific and justify any statements you make. Just saying
things like ‘my app is well designed" without justifying the statement will not gain you any marks.
Also explain how your app could be improved. Again, you need to try to be specific e.g. saying
something like "It needs to be made more secure by adding security features" will not gain marks.
Your evaluation should include, but need not be limited to, the following aspects of your app:

i. Human computer interaction (you will have a lecture on this)

ii. Security
iii. Maintainability
iv. Changes that would need to be made for the app(s) to be deployed for live use

This sort of discussion will form an important part of your final year project report so use this
opportunity as a way of practicing your skills in writing an evaluation.

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Deliverables

1. A brief demonstration (approximately 10) of what you have achieved. You need to demonstrate
your App running on a machine in the labs or on your own laptop.
 You will be asked questions about your implementation and be expected to show an
understanding of the functionality you have implemented and the design decisions that
you have made.
 The date, time and place of the demonstrations will be announced by the instructor.

Student didn’t attend demonstration (maximum mark for work is 20%)

2. A zip file containing all the files required to run your app(s). Please try to structure your work so
that it is easy for the person marking your work to compile and run your app(s) if they need to.
Any compilation, installation or running instructions should be included in a “readme” file.

If you have borrowed code or ideas from anywhere other than the lecture notes and tutorial
examples (e.g. from a book, somewhere on the web or another student) then include a reference
showing where the code or ideas came from and comment your code very carefully to show
which bits are yours and which bits are borrowed. This will protect you against accusations of
plagiarism. Be aware that the marker will look for similarities between your code and that
submitted by other students so please do not share your code with any other students as this
is considered to be plagiarism. Note that the upload of this zip file is a mandatory interim
submission. It must be uploaded by the specified interim submission date or you will lose
marks and are likely to fail the coursework.

3. A report consisting of all the sections described in section 1.2 of the detailed specification. This
is the final deliverable.

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Grading Criteria

Note that this coursework will not be marked anonymously. Student didn’t attend demonstration
(maximum mark for work is 20%).

1st Class (90% to 100%)

 A hybrid app coded using PhoneGap application fully implementing at least features a), b),
c), d) and e). Very few minor bugs or weaknesses. Exemplary quality code.
 A working naïve android application (a and b) and two or more good additional features (f) to
one or both apps.
 Demonstration: able to show good knowledge of code implemented at the demonstration.
Not only able to answer questions about how you did something but also why you chose to do it
in a particular way and compare with possible alternative implementations.
 Report complete, accurate and easy to read. Section 5 within specified word count, logically
structured and making some insightful points about all four of the issues specified.

1st Class (80% to 89%)

 A hybrid app coded using PhoneGap application fully implementing at least features a), b),
c), d) and e). Very few minor bugs or weaknesses. Outstanding quality code.
 A working native Java android (a and b) and one or more good additional features (f) to one
or both apps.
 Demonstration: able to show good knowledge of code implemented. Not only able to answer
questions about how you did something but also why you chose to do it in a particular way.
 Report complete, accurate and easy to read. Section 5 within specified word count, logically
structured and making some insightful points about all four of the issues specified.

1st Class (70% to 79%)

 A hybrid app coded using PhoneGap application fully implementing at least features a), b), c)
and d). Very few minor bugs or weaknesses. Excellent quality code.
 A working native prototype (a and b).
 Demonstration: able to show good knowledge of code implemented. Not only able to answer
questions about how you did something but also why you chose to do it in a particular way.
 Report complete, accurate and easy to read. Section 5 within specified word count, logically
structured and making some insightful points about at least three of the four issues specified.

Upper Second Class (60 to 69%)

 A hybrid app coded using PhoneGap application fully implementing at least features a), b), c)
and a good attempt at d). Few minor bugs or weaknesses. Very good quality code.
 A working native prototype (a and b).
 Demonstration: able to show good knowledge of code implemented.
 Report complete, accurate and easy to read. Section 5 within specified word count logically
structured and making sensible points about at least two of the four issues specified.

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Lower Second Class (50 to 59%)

 A hybrid app coded using PhoneGap application fully implementing at least features a) and b),
c) with an attempt at d), possibly with some bugs and weaknesses. Good quality code.
 A working native prototype (a and b).
 Demonstration: able to show good knowledge of code implemented.
 Report complete including some attempt at section 5

Third Class (40 to 49%)

 A hybrid app coded using PhoneGap application with a good attempt at feature a),b) and some
attempt at c).
 A working native prototype (a and b).
 Demonstration: able to show reasonable knowledge of the attempted features.
 Report mostly complete.

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Assessment Criteria

Your app(s) will be assessed on the following criteria.

 Features implemented. The number of features (listed as a to f in the specification above)

that you have successfully implemented will have a big effect on your overall mark.

 The quality of the application code you produce. Credit will be given for inclusion of
meaningful comments in the code, use of the sensible naming standards (e.g. for packages,
classes, variables, and methods), code layout (e.g. indentation to make the structure of "if"
statements and loops clear), avoidance of unnecessary duplicate code.

 The user interface. This is not a course about user interface design but credit will be given
for making your application as pleasant an experience as possible for the user. Examples of
good practice are: allowing the user to choose options rather than their having to type in
input, sensible default values, validation of input, and meaningful messages. Credit will be
given for showing the use of a range of appropriate features from the Android GUI API.

Your report will be assessed on the following criteria.

 Are all the required sections included and completed properly?

 Does the report give an accurate reflection of what you have achieved?

 Is the report clear and easy read? Does it follow the structure specified?

 Is the evaluation (section 5) realistic and does it show that you have really thought about
your app(s) and the specified issues and how they would need enhancing to be ready for live
deployment. Do you show insight into the complexities of app development and the
challenges of balancing the various constraints involved?