This book provides a general introduction to the essentials of the software development process, that series of activities that facilitate developing better software in less time. It starts with the basic aspects of software process which are the methods, tools and the concepts of the software life cycle. The second and third parts emphasize the engineering and management disciplines that are the core of any software engineering process. The fourth part, which is concerned with the quality aspects of software process, presents the aspects of process assessment and measurement. The last chapter introduces a software process metamodel, which is the theoretical foundation for any software process.

The approach is general, and the explanations are not tied to a particular commercial process. The book includes an ongoing case study example which does use the Unified Process for Education, which is derived from The Rational Unified Process. This book thus enables readers to gain experience with some of the basics of the Rational Unified Process—the industry's most powerful tool for incorporating the best practices into software development—and prepares them to work with any organization's software process.

The book includes a robust Website with all the sample deliverables and artifacts created from the case study, as well as chapter-by-chapter sections with further, up-to-date readings on process advancements, the PDF files for all the figures in the book, links to Software Engineering news sites, chapter by chapter information on commercial tools, industry standards, etc.