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Summary: A good summary
Review: A good book that accurately captures some of the best practices in requirements analysis around.I bought the book having read Mastering the Requirements Process by Robertson and Robertson, the IEEE 830 Requirements standard, and some other books. Software Requirements Best Practices is right up there at the top. I also highly recommend Mastering the Requirements Process.
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Summary: Quick review
Review: Great book. Easy read. buy it. Do it!
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Summary: Best Practices in Requirements Engineering. Must-Have.
Review: How do you know if you have good software requirements? Some use the simple technique of checking if the requirements definition is complete, clear, and consistent. Every book on requirements engineering has some variation of this theme and in this book, you are advised to check if the requirements statement is complete, correct, feasible, necessary, prioritized, unambiguous, and verifiable. If you haven't used techniques like this one before, it is definitely a good idea to pick up a solid book like this one on the best practices in requirements engineering. There are several good books in the market on the topic of software requirements and this is one of the best ones out there. I found three other books that complement this one - Requirements Engineering by Kotonya and Sommerville (used more as a textbook), Managing Software Requirements by Leffingwell and Widrig (part of the Object Technology Series), and Effective Requirements Practices by Ralph R. Young (comes with a CD-ROM). If you are a project manager, business analyst or anyone that has a lot to lose because of bad requirements, you will benefit tremendously from this current book being reviewed. The book is divided into three parts - What and Why, Development, and Management of Software Requirements. The part names are self explanatory. This book is very readable and is full of best practices that stand true to their name! The unique things about this book - in chapter 2, the author outlines the Requirements Bill of Rights for Software Customers and the Requirements Bill of Responsibilities for Software Customers. When I first read this, I felt like every customer has to read this before attempting a software project. Chapter 10 has an excellent description of different diagrams useful in requirements documentation - DFD (data flow diagram), ERD (entity-relationship diagram), STD (state transition diagram), dialog map, and class diagrams. I think all books on software requirements should ideally have some variation of these topics. Important topics like traceability are given an excellent treatment in this book but the only thing lacking is how to manage requirements in software processes involving iterations (the mainstay of the Rational Unified Process and other newer software development methodologies). There are only 13 pages devoted to this topic and even then it is indirect - Chapter 12: Risk Reduction Through Prototyping. Otherwise, I have no complaints about this book and I believe that it is a basic to intermediate in level (definitely not an advanced book). Overall, I believe it indeed captures the best practices in the field of requirements engineering. It is also a good price, so enjoy!
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Summary: Good for setting up a Requirements Process
Review: I found this an easy to read and follow book which I rate highly for Business Analysts. Its best for senior Business Analysts or Team Leaders who want to set up a requirements and specification process to be used by the team or department(This is how I used it and found it very good). The best bits for me were the descriptions of prototyping (a great overview that cleared up my understanding) and how to run a Use-case workshop with business customers (essential stuff but never covered elsewhere). The worst bits were that I found the vision and scope template not very useful for internal company development and in Chapter 9, Section 4 I longed for an actual example of how to convert/translate use cases into specifications. The latter is one thing where an example would have clarified the text. Comparing this to Kovitz, I have Kovitz for my own personal development/tool as an analyst and this book for setting up a requirements plan/process and adminstering it.
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Summary: Great book for real world requirements issues
Review: I picked up the "Software Requirements" book and boy am I impressed! What a useful book. In looking for a good book on requirements I was concerned I would find books that were basically academic outpourings or perhaps thinking in terms of pre-use-case senarios. What an excellent compliment to any team's technical reading library.
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Summary: Excellent, comprehensive, and well-written
Review: I took a course recently on Software Requirements and (unfortunately) this was not one of the two required textbooks. (The two required books were Software Requirements by Davis and Software Quality by Jones.) Both the required books were fatally flawed. However, for a required paper, we needed to cite four books...and I ran across Software Requirements by Wiegers. The book is well-written, well-organized, clear, and comprehensive. It strikes a good balance between the technical and the practical, between the theoretical and the actual. If you're a professor looking for a book to use, please consider this one. And if you're a student discouraged by some other book (particularly the two I mentioned above), this one really works.
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Summary: Great practical advice on requirements
Review: I'm somewhat of a software engineering/process geek. I find the process of creating a product more interesting than the actual code these days (though I like to code). Wiegers' book is THE bible, in my opinion, for eliciting and maintaining requirements. He covers the issues involved in gathering requirements and keeping them up to date, often offering multiple ways to resolve issues. Wiegers, unlike many academic oriented books, fully acknowledges the political and cultural difficulties that arise when trying to institute a requirements program. Much of his advice is practical and he gives good pointers on the highst ROI practices, so you can inject a little at a time, rather than trying to change culture wholesale. I'd give a 4.5 out of 5 if I could, due only to the "Next Steps" sections at the end of each chapter. The "Next Steps" are supposedly be small steps you can take to start using the advice Wiegers offers. Unfortunately, most of the steps start with "Take a page/chapter from your current requirements document...." I've worked at few companies that even have a requirements document, so I'm not sure how useful the "Next Steps" really are. But, that complaint aside, this book is the best combination of reference information for techniques and advice on how to use them on the job.
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Summary: Great practical advice on requirements
Review: I'm somewhat of a software engineering/process geek. I find the process of creating a product more interesting than the actual code these days (though I like to code). Wiegers' book is THE bible, in my opinion, for eliciting and maintaining requirements. He covers the issues involved in gathering requirements and keeping them up to date, often offering multiple ways to resolve issues. Wiegers, unlike many academic oriented books, fully acknowledges the political and cultural difficulties that arise when trying to institute a requirements program. Much of his advice is practical and he gives good pointers on the highst ROI practices, so you can inject a little at a time, rather than trying to change culture wholesale. I'd give a 4.5 out of 5 if I could, due only to the "Next Steps" sections at the end of each chapter. The "Next Steps" are supposedly be small steps you can take to start using the advice Wiegers offers. Unfortunately, most of the steps start with "Take a page/chapter from your current requirements document...." I've worked at few companies that even have a requirements document, so I'm not sure how useful the "Next Steps" really are. But, that complaint aside, this book is the best combination of reference information for techniques and advice on how to use them on the job.
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Summary: Great for Business Analyst and Project Managers
Review: I've been a business analyst (BA) for several years and have bought countless books on specific technologies, but have always had difficulty finding books on software requirements (in the general since). I'm currently involved in a large web based software project using the full Rational suite and have found this book very useful. Things I couldn't find in the Rational books, I found in this one. It not only delves into project methodologies and object orientated design, but it also gives the reader guidance in terms of defining project scope, drafting requirements, and dealing with clients (just to mention a few). I highly recommend this book for any BA's, project managers and/or anyone wishing to learn more about what's involved with gathering and designing software requirements
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Summary: A must for anyone affected by software system development
Review: If you are looking for a very direct, down-to-earth approach to developing and managing requirements, this is the book for you. If you believe that managing requirements is overhead that you cannot support, you need to read this book. Karl takes a very practical approach to requirements development and management. He explains his approach in a succinct manner and provides very good examples to make his point. This book should be a mandatory read by all software development project managers, whether they come from the business or technical side of the business. Additionally, Karl's book makes good reading for anyone who is affected by the development of a software system such as business visionaries, end-users, quality assurance, business analysts, technical writers, trainers, and developers.
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