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ECE 452Software Design and Architectures

Units
0.50
Faculty
Engineering
Subject
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Cross-listed
CS 446

When it runs

  1. F24
  2. W25
  3. S25
  4. F25
  5. W26
  6. S26
  7. F26
  8. W27
  9. S27

Ran in 6 of the last 7 terms. Winter 2027: scheduled, 3 lecture sections. Spring 2027: schedule not out yet.

Introduces students to the design, implementation, and evolution phases of software development. Software design processes, methods, and notation. Implementation of designs. Evolution of designs and implementations. Management of design activities.

Prerequisites

  • Complete all of the following
    • Complete 1 of the following
      • Must have completed at least 1 of the following:
        • BME122 - Data Structures and Algorithms (0.50)
        • ECE250 - Algorithms and Data Structures (0.50)
        • MSE240 - Algorithms and Data Structures (0.50)
        • MTE140 - Algorithms and Data Structures (0.50)
        • SYDE223 - Data Structures and Algorithms (0.50)
      • Must have completed the following:
    • Students must be in level 3A or higher
    • Complete 1 of the following

Antirequisites

  • Not completed nor concurrently enrolled in any of the following:
    • CS430 - Applications Software Engineering (0.50)
    • SE464 - Software Design and Architectures (0.50)

Leads to

No course lists it as a requisite.

Winter 2027 sections

Enrolment from UW Open Data, which can trail Quest by up to two days. Instructors and rooms: Schedule of Classes.
SectionClassEnrolledMeets
LEC 00151190 / 30MW 11:30–12:50
LEC 00251200 / 30MW 10:00–11:20
LEC 701206094 / 9999Online or by arrangement

Resources

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Reviewed on UW Flow

81% liked it77% easy55% useful

From 16 ratings and 7 comments on UW Flow. The most helpful comments, quoted as written, without names. Read them all on UW Flow.

  • Pretty bird, make an Android app with 5+ people (you can probably GPT all of it). No midterm, final exam worth 40% so if you do well on the Android app ur chilling for the final

    Apr 2025 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this

  • project based course that you spend majority of your time building an android app with a team of 6, no midterm and easy final exam

    Jan 2025 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this

  • I did this course in W23 and apparently it got revamped for F23, but I enjoyed it for the low workload and engaging classes. It was a flipped classroom so material was posted online and we applied the material to solve problems in-class. Being able to work in a group was very fun as we were scrambling to make sense of what was taught and self-learn Kotlin to develop the course project (an android application). The content is very useful in industry (design patterns, software architecture, code smells). Exam was reasonable and all-in-all I would highly recommend this course, especially for non-CS/ECE/SE students

    Mar 2023 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this

  • Light and easy course, only one big project that is fairly engaging

    Jun 2022 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this

  • Not really hard enough to be a TE but still a decent course

    Dec 2016 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this

Discussed on r/uwaterloo

41 posts and comments in 35 threads mention ECE 452, December 2013 to December 2024. Quoted word for word, newest first; each reply sits under the post and the comment that started its branch. Search r/uwaterloo for newer posts.

Fall 2024

ece452 2 points, 4 comments

u/clump-like: “Just wondering if anyone has taken this course recently and has any thoughts on it! Considering taking this in 4B but don't want to fail a course right before graduation lol”

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Winter 2024

Anyways of getting into mobile development within the school? 1 point, 7 comments

“When it comes to web development or AI/ML, there's a bunch of design teams that are available for people to join and get experience. Is there anything like that for mobile developerment?”

u/nyephe: “… ECE452/CS446/SE464 used to teach mobile development, and I think CS 346 still does There's something called 'progressive web applications' (PWA) which are cross-platform applications that are typically created using a web-based tech stack. …”

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Fall 2023

Resume Building Courses 7 points, 2 comments

“List some courses preferably that requires no prerequisites or does, that teaches you software or any skill that would boost a resume. …”

u/suiyui: “… Should be easy to override unless class hits capacity - MSCI 245/342 Project based Full stack with Node/React - ECE 452 Software architecture and design - MSCI 446 Machine learning - MSCI 343 Human computer interaction for UI/UX design Difficult but rewarding - CS 341 Algorithms …”

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How does the software engineering option (engineering) work? 1 point, 7 comments

u/Think-Journalist6629: “So for the SE option in engineering you're required to take: \-CS 445/ECE 451 or SE 463 \-CS 446/ECE 452 or SE 464 \-CS 447/ECE 453 or SE 465 Unlike the courses in other options it seems like these have prerequisites of being in CS/ECE/SE. …”

u/suiyui: “Having taken ECE 452 and SE 463 I can confirm you don't really need any pre-requisite knowledge. As long as there's space in the class, you should be able to get the override Though, they changed ECE 452 recently so it may be different. …”

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Winter 2023

Opinions on these 4A CE Courses: 3 points, 0 comments

u/namomontbleau: “Currently these are the 4A CEs i’m considering: ECE455 Embedded Software ECE452 Software Design and Architecture ECE454 Distributed Computing ECE457A Co-operative and Adaptive Algorithms ECE486 Robot Dynamics and Control I’m most interested in workload, difficulty etc. …”

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CE 4A TEs 8 points, 30 comments

u/OkCelery1514: “… My options: ECE 414, Wireless Communications ECE 445, Integrated Digital Electronics ECE 452, Software Design & Architecture ECE 454, Distributed Computing ECE 455, Embedded Software ECE 457A, Co-op & Adaptive Algorithms ECE 457C, Reinforcement Learning ECE 458, Computer …”

u/nuavre: “In ECE 452, the main project is designing and creating an android app in a group of 6. Lectures are skippable since the main content is posted as videos on Learn while you do exercises in class (but theyre helpful for the final). …”

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Winter 2022

Switching TEs? 5 points, 2 comments

u/Odd_Jeweler1441: “… Specifically ECE 452, 455, and 458 if that matters. In a similar vein has anybody taken ECE 357C? How was it? I'm also like 3% off the required CAV to enroll in CS courses as an Engineering student. The course I want to enroll in has plenty of room so I think they'll have space. …”

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ECE455 or ECE452? 1 point, 2 comments

u/FeelingCheesecake398: “I want to explore the embedded system field a bit more but according to uwflow 455 is mostly stats. My other option is 452 which sounds more like general software course. Can anyone tell me about their experience with 455? Do you actually learn about embedded systems?”

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ECE transfer to Math advise 0 points, 2 comments

“I just finished my 2b term in ECE(CE) and I also applied to BMath, as I feel ECE courses are not very useful or interesting. …”

u/amxnday: “… i’m currently arranging my upcoming terms so that i’m only taking software related courses in 3B 4A 4B which is doable because there are a lot of software TEs like ECE 351, 356, 358, 452, 455, 457, 406, 451 etc.”

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Winter 2021

Check it elsewhere for Fall 2026

Calendar versions

Undergraduate Calendar