# Software Engineering Foundations (Certificate of Achievement)

San Diego Mesa College · 2026-2027 Catalog · Department: Computer and Information Sciences

Source: https://sdccd.curriqunet.com/catalog/iq/17540/18643/18644/17541/17718

### Summary

The Software Engineering Foundations Certificate of Achievement prepares students for programming projects that span multiple people, multiple libraries, and multiple technologies. The award curriculum is structured to provide students with a strong foundation in programming and software development theory, and culminates with a large-scale software implementation. As part of this certificate students are exposed to software industry tools and workflows. Students apply those tools and workflows to handle tasks such as requirements development, code design, version control, code reviewing, code debugging, quality assurance, time management and project tracking. This award is beneficial in assisting internship placement, provides avenues for career advancement, and facilitates achievement of a computer science bachelor’s degree, which is the standard for software industry positions.

**Learning Outcome(s): Students who complete the Software Engineering Foundations Program will be able to:**

1.  Evaluate and apply appropriate technology to support specific business activities and business solutions.
2.  Analyze specific business or information technology problems or situations and identify possible solutions, including predictive analysis, synthesis of information, resourcefulness, and troubleshooting.
3.  Choose the appropriate mode of communication for a specific situation and then communicate ideas, concepts, and solutions through effective written and oral communication.

### Requirements

| Course | Title | Units |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **COURSES REQUIRED FOR THE MAJOR:** | | 11 |
| CISC 210 | System Analysis and Design | 3 |
| CISC 220 | Fundamentals of Computer Game Programming | 4 |
| CISC 221 | Intermediate Computer Game Programming | 4 |
| **Select 8 units from the following course pairings:** | | 8 |
| CISC 179 | Introduction to Python Programming | 4 |
| CISC 217 | Intermediate Python Programming | 4 |
| or CISC 192 | C/C++ Programming | 4 |
| CISC 187 | Data Structures in C++ | 4 |
| or CISC 192 | C/C++ Programming | 4 |
| CISC 205 | Object Oriented Programming using C++ | 4 |
| or CISC 193 | Microsoft C# Software Engineering 1 | 4 |
| CISC 197 | Microsoft C# Software Engineering II | 4 |