Schaum's Outline of Software Engineering

Rating:
Summary: Concise, yet thorough descriptions of software engineering
Review: Learning a subject from a Schaum's outline is generally a difficult endeavor. With the emphasis on solved problems and very little explanatory text, there is not a great deal of depth to the coverage. I have used many of them over the years as a source of problems. Sometimes these problems were a supplement to self-study using other more detailed works and other times I have used them as inspiration for classroom examples and test questions.
I used this outline as a source of ideas for topics to cover in my software engineering class in the Spring semester of 2004. What I found most helpful about the problems is that they are concise. By examining a solved problem, I can see at a glance what the problem needs to cover and possible ways to organize the presentation. I did not take problems directly from the book, if the topic is to be covered as an example in class, then it is necessary to include more explanation. For example, I spent some time on Metrics for Object-Oriented Design (MOOD) in the class and the section in this book was very helpful. However, understanding the elements of MOOD requires detailed knowledge of object-oriented concepts such as encapsulation, inheritance and polymorphism.
While necessarily brief, the coverage in the book is thorough. Nearly all of the areas considered core to the study of software engineering are mentioned. With plenty of charts and graphs to illustrate them, this book is a solid, albeit limited educational tool.

Rating:
Summary: Basic Outline
Review: This is a good basic outline of Software Engineering. It accurately covers many areas, but not in depth. This is what I expected from this outline and it delivered. It will get you started in the right direction.