It is clear that the development of large software systems is an extremely complex activity, which is full of various opportunities to introduce errors. Software engineering is the discipline that provides methods to handle this complexity and enables us to produce reliable software systems with maximum productivity. An Integrated Approach to Software Engineering is different from other approaches because the various topics are not covered in isolation. A running case study is employed throughout the book, illustrating the different activity of software development on a single project. This work is important and instructive because it not only teaches the principles of software engineering, but also applies them to a software development project such that all aspects of development can be clearly seen on a project.
From the reviews of the third edition:
"Engineering and project management are the two major types of skills required in software engineering. This book discusses those skills. ... The book is well written and well organized; it starts with the most basic software engineering concepts, and then goes gradually toward the most advanced ones. The book ends with a comprehensive index, and an up-to-date list of references. I can recommend this book for all teachers who want to present a first course in software engineering for graduate students." (Soraya Kouadri Mostefaoui, ACM Computing Reviews, Vol. 49 (3), March, 2008)