CMSC 435 Textbooks

The class project is our primary mechanism for achieving the desired learning objectives. The course lectures and other exercises are intended to frame the objectives for you, and support you in this journey. A number of supplementary materials outside the lectures are available to you, however, as almost any popular and recently-published software engineering textbook will surely complement the lectures and provide additional framework for your efforts. (Remember, though, that reading a book about SE only helps you become a better spectator - not a participant. This is a contact sport.)

Some specific materials we have found helpful are:

1. Pressman's "Software Engineering: A Practitioner's Approach" is a comprehensive overview, 8th edition or later would surely serve for purposes of study.
2. Ian Sommerville's "Software Engineering" 10th edition or later would serve our purposes.
3. "Software Engineering: Theory and Practice" by Shari Lawrence Pfleeger and Joanne M. Atlee is well done. Any edition is fine.
4. Stephen Schach's "Object-Oriented and Classical Software Engineering" is in at least its 8th edition and gives a good practitioner overview.
5. A variety of wikiBooks are available, and most texts (including the above) make the study guides and lecture slides available for download. A good search engine will be your friend, and proficiency in its use will reward you.
6. Look to the professional societies for resources too, such as the IEEE Computer Society's Software Engineering Body of Knowledge.

If in doubt then just swing by the instructor's office and ask! I keep copies of these (and many others) on the shelf for your inspection and consideration.