Today’s software development organizations are striving to produce high-quality software products. When it comes to large projects, improvement is needed. It is time for these companies, and their software engineers, to change. This book will help and guide those companies and readers who are ready to accept this.

This is a book that provides practical guidelines and tips for improving corporate software quality and client relations. The author provides various guidelines for managing the software quality function, in order to produce repeatable high-quality products and services. He adopts a simple, straightforward, and practical approach that makes the book interesting to read. In chapter 2, “Standards and Guidelines,” he states, “Implementing the advice that has been put forward in this chapter will probably not make the reader many friends.” Here, he is talking about the difficulty in changing the mindset o!f today’s software developer who doesn’t understand the importance of necessary documentation. This book is filled with similar explanations intended to help the reader improve his or her outlook.

This book is divided into three major parts. Each part is subdivided into various chapters. Part 1 is done from the perspective of the project team, which includes the internal and external clients. The discussion starts with a “liaison center” concept, a new software industry concept that, I think, can be equated to the industrial engineering function in the mechanical engineering industry. Other chapters discuss software development standards, specifications, product development, and testing. The author allows the reader to select the suitable product development paradigm for his or her needs. He discusses new practical concepts like the augmented waterfall model. The chapter on testing discusses in detail the different types of testing, including co!ncepts like test documentation and automated testing.

In Part 2, the emphasis is on software engineering concepts that will suit an organization involved in the development of small to large software projects. Elaborate discussions are carried out on topics like requirements definition, requirements specification, and functional specification. The author describes these requirements concepts in fine detail. The chapters on code reusability and object-oriented programming concepts are innovative and suit software industry needs. Other chapters discuss coding, prototype creation, and demonstration and delivery.

Part 3 focuses on concepts dealing with the quality of the final product. The “Promoting Corporate Quality” chapter discusses the importance of product quality in terms of competition and company image. Testing procedures are discussed in a chapter that highlights the consequences of weak testing. This chapter also differentiates testing from cer!tification. The author discusses various feedback techniques that can measure real product and process quality. The final chapter of the book covers managing client satisfaction and dissatisfaction.

Appendix A discusses the implementation strategies and guidelines for the various concepts discussed throughout this book under various corporate environments, such as startup companies, small to medium companies, and large organizations. This book comes with a CD-ROM, which contains various templates that may be useful during the different software development phases. Appendix B provides more details about the CD-ROM contents. I will conclude by saying that this book is very well written. I consider it a must-read.