This textbook introduces software engineering to advanced-level undergraduate and graduate students of computer science. It emphasizes a case-study approach whereby a project is developed through the course of the book, illustrating the different activities of software development. The sequence of chapters is essentially the same as the sequence of activities performed during a typical software project. The revised edition updates this sequence for today's standards and adds a valuable chapter on architecture. All activities, including quality assurance and control activities, are described in each chapter as integral activities for that phase of development. Similarly, the author carefully introduces appropriate metrics for controlling and assessing the software process. The text is bolstered by numerous examples, chapter summaries, a helpful bibliography, and good index.

An introductory course in Software Engineering remains one of the hardest subjects to teach. Much of the difficulty stems from the fact that Software Engineering is a very wide field which includes a wide range of topics. Consequently, what should be the focus of an introductory course remains a challenge with many possible viewpoints.

This third edition of the book approaches the problem from the perspective of what skills a student should possess after the introductory course, particularly if it may be the only course on software engineering in the student's program. The goal of this third edition is to impart to the student knowledge and skills that are needed to successfully execute a project of a few person-months by employing proper practices and techniques. Incidently, a vast majority of the projects executed in the industry today are of this scope—executed by a small team over a few months. Another objective of the book is to lay the foundation for the student for advanced studies in Software Engineering.