Master of Information Technology (Software Application Development)

The Master of Information Technology (Software Application Development) at ASA Institute of Higher Education is a two-year coursework master's for people who want to build software properly, not just write code that works once, but design, build, test and maintain applications that other people depend on. You'll spend most of your time on the practical side of software engineering: programming in current languages, object-oriented design, data structures and algorithms, database design and SQL, web and mobile application development, and the testing and version control habits that keep a codebase from turning into a mess. Later units typically move into software architecture, application security, cloud deployment, and project management, so you finish knowing how a feature goes from an idea to something running in production.

How the degree is structured

Australian master's degrees sit at level 9 of the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) and normally run one to two years full time. This one is two years, which usually means four semesters or trimesters of study, or roughly 16 units of study depending on how the institute packages its credit points. Each unit carries a set number of credit points, and you need to accumulate the required total to graduate. Coursework master's programmes like this one often finish with a capstone project or a minor research thesis, where you take a real problem and work through the full development cycle yourself. Some programmes also include an internship or industry placement unit, and if yours does, that's where you'd spend a semester inside an Australian software team rather than in a classroom.

What you actually learn

The skills that come out of a software application development master's are specific. You learn to write and debug code in more than one language, design relational and non-relational databases, build and consume APIs, work with Git and collaborative workflows, write automated tests, and deploy applications to cloud infrastructure. You learn to read someone else's code and improve it without breaking it. You also pick up the softer but equally employable side: estimating how long work takes, writing technical documentation, working in an agile team, and explaining technical decisions to people who aren't developers. Security and data privacy come up throughout, because Australian organisations, banks, hospitals, government agencies, are held to strict standards on both.

Who it suits

This degree suits two groups. The first is computing graduates who want to specialise in software development rather than stay general, and who want a qualification that reads clearly on a resume as 'software engineer' or 'application developer'. The second is people from a related technical background, IT support, engineering, science, mathematics, who can handle the programming load and want to move into development work. It's a coursework degree, so you don't need a research supervisor or a thesis proposal to get in. If you're an international student, you'll need to meet the English requirement published for coursework postgraduate programmes, and remember that the Student visa has its own separate English threshold set by the Department of Home Affairs. While you study, your visa lets you work up to 48 hours per fortnight during term. When you finish, the Temporary Graduate visa (subclass 485) post-study work stream is the usual pathway for graduates who want to stay and work in Australia. Tuition is published on the CRICOS register under course code 117603A, check the official page for current fees, intake dates and entry requirements before you apply.

• Software developer / software engineer, building and maintaining applications for technology companies, banks, insurers, retailers, government agencies and consultancies across Australia.
• Full-stack or back-end developer, working on web applications and APIs, often in agile product teams.
• Mobile application developer, iOS and Android development for product companies, agencies and startups.
• Front-end developer, user interface work in web and enterprise applications.
• Application support and integration analyst, keeping business-critical systems running and connecting them to each other, common in large Australian organisations.
• Database developer, designing and optimising data layers for applications.
• Test automation engineer / QA engineer, building automated test suites, a role in steady demand in Australian software teams.
• DevOps or cloud engineer, deployment, infrastructure and release work, often picked up by graduates who lean into the operations side.
• Technical lead or development team lead, a path a few years into your career once you've shipped enough software.

Australian employers in this field hire on demonstrated skill as much as on the degree itself, so build a portfolio of projects during your studies and take any placement or internship unit your programme offers.