This volume contains over 500 forms with accompanying hierarchical structure and specifications for exactly how and when each is to be used. The sole focus is on procedural and documentation standards for noncoding system development activities. With this highly systematized management approach, the author attempts to do for business data processing system development what has so far eluded SE researchers: turn the process into a science rather than an art. The result may be viewed as an ultimate and overwhelming cookbook with no supporting rationale, but the details and their structure may have practical value in some situations.

For the restricted domain of business data processing systems, significant progress toward systematizing and standardizing system development appears to be eminently possible, and this volume may be a reasonable approach for certain environments. The author’s incorporation of HIPO methodology is indicative of what the recommended system development standards appear to necessitate: massive amounts of documentation. Perhaps an implementation of the author’s methodology in an entirely electronic medium might represent a more helpful contribution toward achieving the author’s fundamental goal. (Note: Witten and Bramwell’s suggested system for interactive viewing of structured documents [1] contains basic concepts that offer hope for significant improvements in the usability of the author’s standards.)

For readers who are looking for a complete book of standard forms for system building or comparing against a related methodology, this publication might be a helpful contribution to the definition and standardization of business data processing system engineering details. However, its printed form reminds this reviewer of a listing that is too long and contains too many references to pertinent details that are not currently in view. The almost total absence of intellectual motivation in the author’s presentation may also strike some readers as an example of going too far in removing the art from software engineering.