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A Discipline for Software Engineering by Watts Humphrey Highly Recommended

ISBN: 0 201 54610 8       Publisher: Addison-Wesley       Pages: 789pp       Price: £36-95

Categories:   writing solid code     management

Reviewed by Mathew Davies in C Vu 9-2 (Jan 1997)

Mr Humphrey's primary focus is on the day-to-day business of the individual software engineer; though he also explains how his proposed Personal Software Process ideas fit in with those of the Software Engineering Institute's Capability Maturity Model (SEI CMM). The connection with the SEI CMM is no coincidence; the author is an SEI Fellow. The reader is offered advice and guidance on first measuring how well he or she is currently performing and then given a series of suggestions on how to improve. Nothing too new here; plenty of other books set out to do the same. However, two factors separate Mr. Humphrey's book from others that I've read; first, the advice and ideas immediately strike you as common sense, begging the question 'Why didn't I think of that?' and second, the effects of the techniques are brought home to the reader through a series of small exercises.

The range of subjects covered by the book includes estimation (using statistical techniques), project planning, project monitoring, reviews, design, quality assurance and verification techniques. A series of large appendices explains all of the mathematical background that you'll need.

Frankly, I am very impressed with this book. It is some UKP37 for the hardback edition that I reviewed, but if software development is your profession, I would urge you to go out and buy a copy. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that it would be negligent for a conscientious software engineer not to read this book. It really is that good!