This book has been around for about three decades. This newest version is the tenth edition. Software engineering is--has become--an enormous subject. The book is very long--over 800 pages--and yet it does not actually cover all aspects of software engineering; it cannot and it should not. What it does do is cover practically all aspects of software engineering to a depth that is reasonable for a textbook of this nature--a huge and difficult task.

The first inclination of any experienced reader is to ask whether a book covers a topic as completely as it should. This is an error. I began by looking at some of my favorite topics and feeling that they might have been more completely covered, until I realized my error and began to look at them as they should be viewed. The book is a textbook for a software and/or systems engineering course. One should expect to glean from this book an overview of each specific systems engineering topic, and then, when one’s needs are better defined and better understood, to go off and find a specific guide for more depth. At that, this book is very good.

For instance, if you are involved in real-time systems--for example, process control, avionics, or hundreds of varieties--and you expect chapter 21 to “learn all the secrets,” then this is not the right book for you. However, if you teach or manage real-time systems, this book provides a good overview of how to look at and understand these very complex beasties that run 21st century society.

There is a website with additional materials, as well as videos and references. One cannot expect any better than that!

I was particularly pleased to see sections on professional ethics, system safety, and system security. These are very important topics that have been too long neglected.

I have many systems engineering books--even previous versions of this one. I am proud to have this book on my shelf and glad that young students (and older students who need updating, that is, all of us) have it as a resource.

The book is not perfect, but it is good. As a book that has evolved over decades to keep up with the development of the systems engineering discipline, with its myriad parts and subdisciplines, it is a valuable addition to every library.

The publisher has made a significant effort for the book to be pleasant, readable, and useful. The judicious use of color and various publishing techniques make the book easy to read and to look things up. As stated, this is a textbook. It is not a novel that one sits down to read from cover to cover, so indexing and multilevel tables of contents are important.

I admit that I am concerned that it is so highly priced. My experience has been that the vast majority of students simply cannot afford a book that costs nearly $200, and hence this encourages illicit photocopying, which the book tries to educate against--respecting intellectual property is rightfully presented as part of professional ethics. In that sense, the “book” fails, but I must admit that I do not know if there is today any viable solution to this problem.

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