Software Requirements Engineering, 2nd Edition (Paperback)

~ Richard H. Thayer (Editor), Merlin Dorfman (Editor) "It is a well-documented belief that the failure to develop and document good requirements specification is the major cause of software development failures..." (more)
Key Phrases: metaprocess technology, generic content guidelines, developmental quality attributes, New York, Englewood Cliffs, Computer Society Press (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

This new edition describes current best practices in requirements engineering with a focus primarily on software systems but also on systems that may contain other elements such as hardware or people. The text consists of original papers, written by experts in the field, plus revisions of papers from the first edition. The book begins with an introduction to current issues and the basic terminology of the software requirements engineering process.

The text covers the five phases of software requirements engineering -- elicitation, analysis, specification, verification, and management -- that need to be performed to reduce the chance of software failure. The chapters look at the science and discipline that concern establishing and documenting software requirements. The book covers the process through which developers' and users' discover, review, articulate, and understand the users' needs and the constraints on the software and development activity. It analyzes the users' needs to arrive at a definition of their software requirements. In addition, the papers examine software requirements and the need to clearly document and precisely record each requirement. It also looks at verification to ensure that the software requirements specifications are in compliance with the system requirements and conforms to document standards. The last phase addressed by the book is software requirements management including planning and controlling of all these activities.

From the Back Cover

This new edition describes current best practices in requirements engineering with a focus primarily on software systems but also on systems that may contain other elements such as hardware or people. The text consists of original papers, written by experts in the fields, plus reprints of survey articles on many aspects of requirements engineering. The book begins with an introduction to current issues and the basic terminology of the software requirements engineering process. In addition, the text covers the five basic phases of software requirements engineering: elicitation, analysis, specification, verification, and management. The book:

• Looks at the science and discipline of establishing and documenting software requirements
• Describes the process through which developers' and users' discover, review, articulate, and understand the users' needs and the constraints on the software and development
• Shows how to analyzes the users' needs to arrive at a definition of their software requirements
• Examines software requirements and the need to clearly document and precisely record each requirement
• Looks at verification to ensure that the software requirements specifications are in compliance with the system requirements and conform to document standards
• Details software requirements management including planning and controlling of all these activities.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 549 pages
• Publisher: Wiley-IEEE Computer Society Pr; 2 edition (February 27, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0818677384
• ISBN-13: 978-0818677380
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 8.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #951,107 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Timeless reference for the software professional, March 14, 2000

By	E. Cancelada "ESC" (Portsmouth, NH USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The book contains a carefully selected collection of articles on requirements engineering by many well-known authors. Some of the articles are original milestone papers (Boehm's on Spiral Process), some are specifically created or adopted for this publication(A.Davis's survey of documenting techniques). Thayer and Dorfman suceeded at maintaining a fine balance between being academic and practical. They do not advocate any methods or processes - they just present the best of accumulated knowledge. I shall warn that it can be a bit taxing read if you are a faint-hearted. But if you strive to be a professional, you will rip long-term benefits from (reading at least some of) the articles. The curious practitioner will have an opportunity to understand what software requirements are and where they fit into software process. Recommendation: buy now.