The Unified Software Development Process (Addison-Wesley Object Technology Series)

Early sections introduce four basic principles of the unified process: that software should stress use cases (which show how it interacts with users), that the process is architecture-centric, and that it is iterative and incremental. The authors then apply these principles to their software process, which involves everything from gathering system requirements to analysis, design, implementation, and testing. The use-case examples are excellent and include concrete examples drawn from such areas as banking and inventory control.

The authors point out the connection between UML document types (like use cases, class diagrams, and state transition diagrams) with various models used throughout the software process. They provide very short, real-world examples that illustrate how their ideas have been successfully applied. The straightforward tour of the new unified software process gets extra elaboration--along with some advice--in later chapters that further describe the author's ideas on design. With the weight of these three expert authors behind it, readers can expect The Unified Software Development Process to be an important book and one that will be valuable to any working designer or manager. --Richard Dragan