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PA R T

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THE PRODUCT AND

THE PROCESS

n this part of Software Engineering: A Practitioner’s Approach, you’ll
learn about the product that is to be engineered and the process
Ithat provides a framework for the engineering technology. The
following questions are addressed in the chapters that follow:

• What is computer software . . . really?
• Why do we struggle to build high-quality computer-based
systems?

• How can we categorize application domains for computer
software?

• What myths about software still exist?
• What is a “software process”?
• Is there a generic way to assess the quality of a process?
• What process models can be applied to software develop-
ment?
• How do linear and iterative process models differ?

• What are their strengths and weaknesses?
• What advanced process models have been proposed for soft-
ware engineering work?
Once these questions are answered, you’ll be better prepared to
understand the management and technical aspects of the engi-
neering discipline to which the remainder of this book is dedicated.

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