Introduction to Software Engineering

Praise for the First Edition: The approach is practical throughout, with heavy emphasis on team projects, using the Internet as a resource, with discussion of tools in common use. -Software Quality Professional, Vol. 3, Issue 4, September 2001 In its second edition, Leach's work can best be described as a traditional text on software engineering. The book is conventionally organized in its presentation of the phases of software engineering. However, it is quite modern in its treatment of those phases with the author's early introduction of eight different approaches to the software life cycle. Nine chapters address various aspects of software engineering. The introductory chapter provides an overview of software engineering and different approaches to the software life cycle: the classical waterfall, rapid prototyping, the spiral model, agile programming, and others. Further chapters discuss project management tools, techniques and metrics associated with performing requirements analysis, and the software development process. However, the discussion of the development process is generically covered and does not provide significant details associated with specific programming languages or software systems. The following chapters explain how to uniformly and completely document the software system and emphasize the role of quality documentation. Each chapter offers further readings and contains suggested exercises. There are extended references and an excellent index. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through professionals and practitioners. -J. Beidler, University of Scranton, Choice, November 2016