Work in Progress: Open Source Software as the Basis of Developing Software Design Case Studies

Case studies are often used as a vehicle to introduce fundamental principles and techniques in a software engineering course. However, finding a realistic yet manageable application as the basis of developing a case study is challenging to the instructors. We describe our preliminary experience with using an open source product, JUnit, to develop a case study. We also describe using a follow-up exercise to exploit potential benefits of such a case study. We believe that case studies based on open source software can help prepare our students for the real challenges of professional software development