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Software engineering (10th ed.)
Sommerville I., Pearson, Boston, MA, 2016. 816 pp. Type: Book (978-0-133943-03-0)
Date Reviewed: Mar 23 2016

Software engineering is a vast field with many techniques to accomplish various tasks. It encompasses topics from requirements to maintenance. This book tries to look at all of the processes, forming a common theme where possible and exposing readers to all aspects of software engineering such as requirements, design, implementation, testing, and maintenance.

This ubiquitous book is geared toward students and working professionals, and includes an addendum with PowerPoint files and videos on the associated website. The book is divided into four parts. Using case studies, it covers various introductory material, system dependability and security, advanced concepts, and management aspects.

In Part 1, software engineering processes are explored in great detail. Agile software development has been in vogue for the past several years, and concepts such as sprint, scrums, and user stories are explained. The modeling is elucidated with many diagrams, message flows, and lots of examples. Topics such as requirements, architectural designs, design, implementation, software verification, and validation are explained for readers to gain a thorough understanding of them.

Part 2 includes reliability, security, and resilience engineering. Cybersecurity gets excellent coverage because it is a growing area. The first edition from 15 years ago did not even cover the topic, but its current importance cannot be downplayed. The current edition covers cybersecurity extensively, following the trend in software engineering.

Part 3 covers reuse, distributed software engineering, and RESTful services. Representational state transfer (REST) is another model for multiple systems to interface with each other that is currently very popular. The last section explores software management concepts such as project management, planning, quality, and configuration management. Software quality management and risk assessment and planning, which are critical to software project success, are covered extensively.

Key points are highlighted, as are exercises and open discussions. In my opinion, this book is a must read for software managers. Although coverage includes practically all areas of software development and testing, I would have liked more emphasis on agile programming, as the book still leans toward waterfall development. Also, the book lacks a focus on tools that make various software engineering tasks easier. Granted, the tools keep changing and information about them may quickly become outdated, but a section on current tools would help professionals make informed decisions. Overall, the book covers a lot of ground and is very thorough.

More reviews about this item: Amazon

Reviewer:  Naga Narayanaswamy Review #: CR144255 (1606-0370)
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