Course Module: Design By Contract

This paper introduces a module which has been submitted to the SWENET initiative that is collecting examples of software engineering teaching and learning modules. The module itself introduces the concept of design by contract as a rigorous approach for designing and producing more reliable software. The module introduces the concept of assertions and more specifically, preconditions and postconditions. The ideas presented in this module describe a formal approach to software construction that can easily be understood by both undergraduates and graduates. The module also provides guidelines for specifying good contracts. The material presented in this module is primarily derived from "Design by Contract by Example" by Richard Mitchell and Jim McKim (2002)