Object-Oriented and Classical Software Engineering (Hardcover)

by Stephen R Schach (Author) "A well-known story tells of an executive who received a computer-generated bill for $0.00..." (more)
Key Phrases: postdelivery maintenance, proposed software product, target software product, Osbert Oglesby, Unified Process, New York (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Classical and Object-Oriented Software Engineering, 5/e is designed for an introductory software engineering course. This book provides an excellent introduction to software engineering fundamentals, covering both traditional and object-oriented techniques.

Schach's unique organization and style makes it excellent for use in a classroom setting. It presents the underlying software engineering theory in Part I and follows it up with the more practical life-cycle material in Part II. Many software engineering books are more like reference books, which do not provide the appropriate fundamentals before inundating students with implementation details.

In this edition, more practical material has been added to help students understand how to use what they are learning. This has been done through the use of "How To" boxes and greater implementation detail in the case study. Additionally, the new edition contains the references to the most current literature and includes an overview of extreme programmming.

The website in this edition will be more extensive. It will include Solutions, PowerPoints that incorporate lecture notes, newly developed self-quiz questions, and source code for the term project and case study.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 744 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Science/Engineering/Math; 5 edition (November 20, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0072554509
• ISBN-13: 978-0072554502
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,480,372 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Prescriptive book on traditional software engineering, December 7, 2002

By	Pietari Laurila (Vantaa Finland) - See all my reviews

Schach's Object-Oriented and Classical Software Engineering is a textbook in the traditional sense of the word. The book is divided into two parts. The first part, Introduction to Software Engineering, deals with software life-cycle models, teams, software engineering tools, and a few other general topics. The second part, The Phases of the Software Life Cycle, then takes a more detailed look at requirements, design, implementation, and so forth.

The book has undergone a number of revisions during its lifetime, and it shows. Schach discusses both structured and object-oriented methods, but the coverage isn't unified enough; the book feels like a quickly-made patch. I also wish that iterative development and agile methods had received more attention.

To make matters worse, Schach's writing style doesn't impress me much. Ineffective passive constructions abound and modifiers always are put before the verb, even if the sentence contains a modal verb or the verb is be. This actually gets annoying after a while! What's more, Scach's approach is very, very prescriptive, and at least I frequently found myself objecting vehemently to the advice presented.

It's sad that to my knowledge there are no really good general books on software engineering. Sommerville's book suffers from the exact same defects as Schach's. Can a software engineering book not be made accurate, thought-provoking, and fun to read?

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Over Priced, September 18, 2003

By	PAT BAILEY "duluth boy" (Grand Rapids, MI United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

My criticism of the book is not with its content. The content is fine for a text book. My criticism is on the price: $$?! The information is basic software engineering material found in numerous sources. The fundamentals that students need can be found in other texts just as well written and significantly more economical. If you are an instructor you may want to look at Pfleeger or even the Systems Analysis and Design book in the Cashman series.

Again, this is a respectable reference and text book - the price is too much to ask of students though!

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars This book seems overly general to be of use to anyone, December 2, 2000

By	Todd Ebert (Long Beach California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Classical and Object-Oriented Software Engineering With Uml and C++ (Hardcover)

The title of the book is very misleading, in that the book has very little uml and c++. Worse however is the lack of good problems and examples throughout the book. It seems like a watered-down version of Ghezzi's Software-Engineering book, the latter of which I would much more recommend. Some instructors may prefer Schach because it has *something* on uml and OOA&D, but it is probably better to supplement Ghezzi with a good book from this area (one I have yet locate).