Software Engineering
Explain the major stages of a software development lifecycle and identify the engineering activities required at each stage
Software Engineering Foundations is the entry course of Africoders Academy. It moves learners from beginner/intermediate programming knowledge toward professional software engineering practice: lifecycle thinking, Git collaboration, debugging, HTTP APIs, relational data, testing, architectural judgment, and production-aware workflow.
You will LEARN core engineering concepts, BUILD small verified slices, and GROW into habits that hold up when real users, flaky networks, and team review are involved.
Free Africoders Academy / YouTube material may be used as warm-up. This course is the structured curriculum with practice, a required assignment, a checkpoint assessment, and a capstone that produces portfolio evidence.
Further reading
What you will learn
- Explain the major stages of a software development lifecycle and identify the engineering activities required at each stage
- Translate a vague product request into testable requirements and a thin delivery slice
- Use Git to create meaningful commits, work on branches, open a pull-request style review narrative, and resolve simple merge conflicts safely
- Apply a repeatable debugging loop: reproduce, hypothesise, isolate, fix, and prevent regression
- Call HTTP APIs with correct methods, status-code reasoning, JSON payloads, and basic auth/validation awareness
- Model simple relational data with keys, joins, and constraints, and write practical SQL for create/read/update scenarios
Who this course is for
- Beginners and intermediate programmers ready to adopt professional workflow habits
- Career switchers who can use a computer, browser, editor, and terminal with guidance
- Builders who want demonstrable engineering evidence — not lesson ticks alone
Skills you will develop
Software development lifecycle · Requirements slicing · Git and version control · Debugging · HTTP and REST APIs · Relational databases and SQL · Automated testing fundamentals · Software architecture basics · Code review and developer workflow · Technical documentation
Prerequisites
- Comfort using a computer, a web browser, and installing software with guidance
- Willingness to use a code editor and a terminal (command line)
- Basic familiarity with at least one programming language helps, but professional workflow experience is not required
- Optional: free Africoders Academy introductory videos as warm-up before Module 1
Who this is for
- Beginners and intermediate programmers ready to adopt professional workflow habits
- Career switchers who can use a computer, browser, editor, and terminal with guidance
- Builders who want demonstrable engineering evidence — not lesson ticks alone
Prerequisites
- Comfort using a computer, a web browser, and installing software with guidance
- Willingness to use a code editor and a terminal (command line)
- Basic familiarity with at least one programming language helps, but professional workflow experience is not required
- Optional: free Africoders Academy introductory videos as warm-up before Module 1
Skills you’ll develop
Course completion demonstrates these skills. Verification requires assessment or reviewed challenge work.
What you will build and prove
- Practice: Practice: SQL essentials
- Project: Foundations Capstone: Study Circle Operations Service
- Final assessment: Foundations checkpoint quiz (pass 70%)
Course journey
Learn → Practice → Build → Prove. Lessons teach the idea. Practice applies it. The project is what you can submit as evidence.
- How Software Engineering Works
- Programming Fundamentals
- Git and Version Control
- Debugging and Problem Solving
- APIs and HTTP
- Databases
- Testing Fundamentals
- Software Architecture Basics
- Developer Workflow
- Capstone Project
Practice
1 optional practice exercise — apply what you learned. Practice is not required to complete the course.
Assessment
- Foundations checkpoint quiz · pass mark 70%
Prove
Course completion means finishing required lessons , required assignments , the course project , and the course assessment . That grants a certificate of completion — not a professional certification. Optional practice does not block completion.
Builder Passport evidence is awarded for the completed project, not for watching lessons or passing a quiz alone.
Curriculum
Week 1: How Software Engineering Works
- The professional engineering loop Preview 25min
- Requirements, design, and delivery 28min
- Quality, risk, and ownership 26min
Week 2: Programming Fundamentals
- Variables, control flow, and functions 30min
- Data structures you will actually use 32min
- Reading and writing maintainable code 27min
Week 3: Git and Version Control
- Repositories, commits, and history 24min
- Branches and pull requests 28min
- Resolving conflicts safely 30min
Week 4: Debugging and Problem Solving
- Reproducing bugs 26min
- Using logs and breakpoints 29min
- Rubber-duck and isolation techniques 25min
Week 5: APIs and HTTP
- HTTP methods and status codes 27min
- JSON payloads and headers 26min
- Calling APIs from tools and code 31min
Week 6: Databases
- Relational thinking 28min
- SQL essentials Practice 32min
- Migrations and schema change hygiene 26min
Week 7: Testing Fundamentals
- Why tests matter in production 24min
- Unit vs integration smoke 28min
- Writing your first assertions 30min
Week 8: Software Architecture Basics
- Layers and boundaries 28min
- Coupling and cohesion 26min
- When not to over-engineer 22min
Week 9: Developer Workflow
- Local environments 26min
- Code review etiquette 24min
- Shipping small, reversible changes 24min
Week 10: Capstone Project
- Capstone brief and acceptance criteria 30min
- Build and document your solution 35min
- Demo and retrospective 28min
Free to enroll — no purchase required.
Instructor: Africoders
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