Customer Reviews

Classics in Software Engineering

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Really, Ed Yourdon titled his book perfectly: this volume brings together many of the most vital articles from the early days of what wasn't yet called software engineering, making a book that no serious programmer should be without. Yourdon's introductory remarks that set each article in its context are thoughtful and brief. They do their job and then get out of the way of what is, of course, the soul of the book: the articles. Not only Dijkstra's notorious _Go To Statement Considered Harmful_, but also his _Programming Considered as a Human Activity_, arguably the opening shot of the structured programming movement. And so much more: Parnas on decomposing systems into modules, as relevant today as when it was written; the early paper by Stevens, Myers, and Constantine on structured design; papers by Baker, Mills, Kernighan & Plauger; and Knuth's wonderful, provocatively titled _Structured Programming with go to statements_. If you don't recognize any of these names you've missed out on the very basis of modern software practice; if you haven't read all of the articles in this volume, you could stand to improve your familiarity with that foundation. If you haven't read any of these in years - why, isn't it time to refresh your acquaintance?

GET THIS BOOK BACK IN PRINT! Not least becasue I want to replace my copy that's literally falling apart.

We used this book in the class that introduced me to software engineering. I shared it with co-workers at my job, and we literally rebuilt the way the company handled software from the ground up. Primarily in FORTRAN, no less. It covers pretty much all phases of the project lifecycle, from requirements to delivery. It's not a course by itself, but the principles are crucial. Although a few things are now out of date (such as the waterfall model) it's still an important book. Yourdon doesn't take sides, either - he includes the papers both for and against the GOTO statement. Hardly politically correct, and therefore the icing on the cake. If you can possibly get your hands on this book, do so.