Overview of Software Engineering

This chapter is a high-level overview of software engineering and is meant to serve as an introduction for those who may not be familiar with, or only have a partial understanding of, software engineering. In addition, this overview can be useful to organizations that are trying to establish a common, organization-wide understanding of software engineering. Without such an understanding, many organizations will struggle to implement the engineering activities identified in the ISO 9000-3 guideline that, when all things are considered, are meant to aid in the development of reliable products in an expeditious manner.