gantt
title ITWS-4500 Spring 2026 Schedule
dateFormat YYYY-MM-DD
section Foundation
Infrastructure & Architecture :2026-01-13, 4w
section Core Stack
Frontend & Backend Patterns :2026-02-10, 3w
section Midterm
Quiz 1 & Presentations :2026-02-24, 2w
section Advanced
Auth, Mobile & Agentic AI :2026-03-10, 4w
section DevOps
CI/CD & Deployment :2026-03-31, 2w
section Integration
AI-Assisted Dev & Final :2026-04-14, 3w
Course Schedule
Spring 2026 - Infrastructure as Code First Approach
NoteSchedule Notes
- Class times: Tuesday/Friday, 12:00-1:50 PM (01) or 2:00-3:50 PM (02)
- Location: Lally 102
- Labs are typically assigned on lecture days
- Schedule is subject to adjustment based on class progress
Semester Overview
Weekly Schedule
Week 1: Course Foundation
January 13-16, 2026
Background Readings: Week 1 Readings
| Date | Type | Topic | Materials |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tue 1/13 | Lecture | Course Introduction: Web Applications as Architectural Patterns; Group Formation | Slides |
| Fri 1/16 | Lecture + Lab | Infrastructure as Code: Containers, Docker, and Docker Compose; Lab 1 Assigned | Slides, Lab 1 |
TipGetting Started
- Form project groups (3-4 members)
- Install Docker Desktop
- Set up development environment
Week 2: Architecture Foundations
January 20-23, 2026
Background Readings: Week 2 Readings
| Date | Type | Topic | Materials |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tue 1/20 | Lecture | Lab 1 Review; Architectural Theory: Patterns, System Decomposition, and Project Scoping | Lab 1 Slides, Theory Slides |
| Fri 1/23 | Lecture + Lab | Lab 2: Layered Client-Server Architecture (MERN as Reference) | Slides, Lab 2 |
Week 3: Component Architecture
January 27-30, 2026
Background Readings: Week 3 Readings
| Date | Type | Topic | Materials |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tue 1/27 | Lab | Lab 3: Component and State Management Architecture (Angular/React) | Lab 3 Lab 3 Slides |
| Fri 1/30 | Lecture + Presentations | Frontend Architecture Patterns; Project Proposal Presentations | Slides |
Warning
Project Proposals: Presented in class
Week 4: Backend Architecture
February 3-6, 2026
Background Readings: Week 4 Readings
| Date | Type | Topic | Materials |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tue 2/3 | Lab | Lab 4: Backend Architecture Patterns (Node.js & Express) | Lab 4 |
| Fri 2/6 | Lecture | Backend Architecture Patterns: Services, APIs, and Data Flow | Slides |
Week 5: React & Next.js Foundations
February 10-13, 2026
Background Readings: Week 5 Readings
| Date | Type | Topic | Materials |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tue 2/10 | Lecture | Lab 4 Solution Deep Dive: Comparing React, Next.js, Express & MongoDB Architectures | Slides, Lab 4 Solution |
| Fri 2/13 | Lecture + Lab | Core React Concepts & Next.js Foundations; Lab 5 Assigned | Slides, Lab 5 |
TipReact & Next.js Tutorials
Work through these tutorials this week to build a solid foundation:
Week 6: Review & Summary
February 17-20, 2026
Background Readings: Week 6 Readings
| Date | Type | Topic | Materials |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tue 2/17 | No Class | Presidents’ Day Week - No Tuesday Class | - |
| Fri 2/20 | Lecture | Review & Summary: Weeks 1-5 Architectural Foundations | Slides, Study Guide |
NoteQuiz 1 Prep
Use this session to review material from Weeks 1-5. Quiz 1 will be on Tuesday 2/24.
Week 7: Quiz 1
February 24-27, 2026
Background Readings: Week 7 Readings
| Date | Type | Topic | Materials |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tue 2/24 | Quiz | Quiz 1: Architectural Foundations and System Design | - |
| Fri 2/27 | Workshop | Project Work Day: Refactoring and Architectural Improvement | - |
ImportantQuiz 1
Covers Weeks 1-5: Infrastructure as Code, Architectural Patterns, Frontend/Backend/Data Architecture
Spring Break
March 2-6, 2026 - No Classes
Week 8: Authentication & Mobile
March 10-13, 2026
Background Readings: Week 8 Readings
| Date | Type | Topic | Materials |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tue 3/10 | Lecture | Identity, Authentication, and Mobile Architecture Patterns | Slides TBD |
| Fri 3/13 | Lab | Lab 6: Authentication and Mobile Application Architecture | Lab 6 |
Week 9: Agentic AI I
March 17-20, 2026
Background Readings: Week 9 Readings
| Date | Type | Topic | Materials |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tue 3/17 | Presentations | Midterm Project Presentations: Architectural Decisions and Trade-offs | Guidelines |
| Fri 3/20 | Lab | Lab 7: Agentic Workflows | Lab 7 |
Week 10: Agentic AI II
March 24-27, 2026
Background Readings: Week 10 Readings
| Date | Type | Topic | Materials |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tue 3/24 | Lecture | Agentic Architecture Patterns II: Orchestration, Memory, and Governance | Slides TBD |
| Fri 3/27 | Lab | Lab 8: Agent Orchestration and Tooling Patterns | Lab 8 |
Week 11: Continuous Integration
March 31 - April 3, 2026
Background Readings: Week 11 Readings
| Date | Type | Topic | Materials |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tue 3/31 | Lecture | Continuous Integration and Testing as Architecture | Slides TBD |
| Fri 4/3 | Lab | Lab 9: CI Pipelines and Automated Testing | Lab 9 |
Week 12: AI-Assisted Development
April 7-10, 2026
Background Readings: Week 12 Readings
| Date | Type | Topic | Materials |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tue 4/7 | Lecture | AI-Assisted Development: Human-AI Collaboration Patterns | Slides TBD |
| Fri 4/10 | Lab | Lab 10: AI-Assisted Coding and Testing | Lab 10 |
Week 13: Deployment Architecture
April 14-17, 2026
Background Readings: Week 13 Readings
| Date | Type | Topic | Materials |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tue 4/14 | Lecture | Deployment & Runtime Architecture: Cloud Patterns, Caching, Scaling, and Cost | Slides TBD |
| Fri 4/17 | Lab | Lab 11: Containerized Deployment, Caching, Scaling, and Reliability | Lab 11 |
Week 14: Quiz 2 & Capstone
April 21-24, 2026
Background Readings: Week 14 Readings
| Date | Type | Topic | Materials |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tue 4/21 | Quiz | Quiz 2: Comprehensive Architectural and Systems Reasoning | Study Guide |
| Fri 4/24 | Lab | Lab 12: Capstone Extension - Architectural Experimentation / Project Hardening | Lab 12 |
ImportantQuiz 2
Comprehensive assessment covering all course material, with emphasis on Weeks 8-13
Week 15: Final Presentations
April 28, 2026
Background Readings: Week 15 Readings
| Date | Type | Topic | Materials |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tue 4/28 | Presentations | Final Project Presentations: Evaluation, Feedback, and Reflection | Guidelines |
NoteFinal Project Deliverables
- Working deployed application
- Technical documentation
- Architecture decision records
- Individual contribution summary
- Peer evaluations
Key Dates Summary
| Event | Date |
|---|---|
| Classes Begin | January 13, 2026 |
| Project Groups Formed | January 16, 2026 |
| Project Proposal Presentations | January 30, 2026 |
| Review & Summary | February 20, 2026 |
| Quiz 1 | February 24, 2026 |
| Midterm Presentations | March 17, 2026 |
| Spring Break | March 2-6, 2026 |
| Quiz 2 | April 21, 2026 |
| Final Presentations | April 28, 2026 |
Lab Assignment Schedule
| Lab | Topic | Assigned |
|---|---|---|
| Lab 1 | Infrastructure as Code with Docker Compose | 1/16 |
| Lab 2 | Layered Client-Server Architecture | 1/23 |
| Lab 3 | Component and State Management | 1/27 |
| Lab 4 | Backend Architecture Patterns | 2/3 |
| Lab 5 | React Deep Dive: Group Enhancement | 2/13 |
| Lab 6 | Authentication and Mobile | 3/13 |
| Lab 7 | Agentic Workflows | 3/20 |
| Lab 8 | Agent Orchestration | 3/27 |
| Lab 9 | CI Pipelines | 4/3 |
| Lab 10 | AI-Assisted Coding | 4/10 |
| Lab 11 | Deployment | 4/17 |
| Lab 12 | Capstone Extension | 4/24 |