How cloud computing is addressed for software development in computer science education

Abstract

Cloud computing is bringing a paradigm shift in the field of software development. It has changed how software is developed and accessed. The numerous Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) products in the cloud have provided software developers with not only “unlimited” computing resources, but also a great variety of development tools which may increase their productivity. Compared with the popularity in the industry, the coverage of cloud computing in higher education appears to have fallen behind. While a number of documented courses have been developed to introduce cloud computing to students, their coverage appears to be insufficient, compared with the wide-spread impact of cloud computing in the industry. This is understandable, especially considering cloud computing has matured for only about ten years. This paper surveys a number of documented courses on cloud computing in a computer science or related curriculum. It also presents a list of key topics which should be addressed in a comprehensive cloud computing course, based on related literature, and discusses the coverage of these topics in the surveyed courses.