1st Edition

Software Engineering Foundations A Software Science Perspective

By Yingxu Wang Copyright 2008
    1462 Pages 140 B/W Illustrations
    by Auerbach Publications

    A groundbreaking book in this field, Software Engineering Foundations: A Software Science Perspective integrates the latest research, methodologies, and their applications into a unified theoretical framework. Based on the author's 30 years of experience, it examines a wide range of underlying theories from philosophy, cognitive informatics, denotational mathematics, system science, organization laws, and engineering economics. The book contains in-depth information, annotated references, real-world problems, heuristics, and research opportunities.

    Highlighting the inherent limitations of the historical programming-language-centered approach, the author explores an interdisciplinary approach to software engineering. He identifies fundamental cognitive, organizational, and resource constraints and the need for multi-faceted and transdisciplinary theories and empirical knowledge. He then synergizes theories, principles, and best practices of software engineering into a unified framework and delineates overarching, durable, and transdisciplinary theories as well as alternative solutions and open issues for further research. The book develops dozens of Wang's laws for software engineering and outlooks the emergence of software science.

    The author's rigorous treatment of the theoretical framework and his comprehensive coverage of complicated problems in software engineering lay a solid foundation for software theories and technologies. Comprehensive and written for all levels, the book explains a core set of fundamental principles, laws, and a unified theoretical framework.

    PRINCIPLES AND CONSTRAINTS OF SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
    Introduction
    Principles of Software Engineering

    THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS OF SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
    Philosophical Foundations of Software Engineering
    Mathematical Foundations of Software Engineering
    Computing Foundations of Software Engineering
    Linguistics Foundations of Software Engineering
    Information Science Foundations of Software Engineering

    ORGANIZATIONAL FOUNDATIONS OF SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
    Engineering Foundations of Software Engineering
    Cognitive Informatics Foundations of Software Engineering
    System Science Foundations of Software Engineering
    Management Science Foundations of Software Engineering
    Economics Foundations of Software Engineering
    Sociology Foundations of Software Engineering

    PERSPECTIVES ON SOFTWARE SCIENCE
    Retrospect on Software Engineering
    Prospect on Software Science
    Bibliography

    Appendixes
    A. Mathematical Symbols, Notations, and Abbreviations
    B. Constraints of Software Engineering
    C. Heuristic Principles of Software Engineering
    D. Models of Entities and Structures of Software Engineering
    E. Wang's Laws of Software Engineering
    F. Wang's Formal Principles of Software Engineering
    G. The Type System of Software Engineering
    H. Meta Processes of Software Engineering
    I. Algebraic Process Relations of Software Engineering
    J. Deductive Semantics of Software Engineering
    K. Formal Models of the ATM System in RTPA
    L. List of Figures
    M. List of Tables
    Index

    Biography

    Yingxu Wang