Introduction to Software Engineering Practice

Software engineering practice encompasses concepts, principles, methods, and tools that software engineers apply throughout the software process. Every software engineering project is different, yet a set of generic principles and tasks apply to each process framework activity regardless of the project or the product.
A set of technical and management essentials are necessary if good software engineering practice is to be conducted. Technical essentials include the need to understand requirements and prototype areas of uncertainty, and the need to explicitly define software architecture and plan component integration. Management essentials include the need to define priorities and define a realistic schedule that reflects them, the need to actively manage risk, and the need to define appropriate project control measures for quality and change.
Customer communication principles focus on the need to reduce noise and improve bandwidth as the conversation between developer and customer progresses. Both parties must collaborate for the best communication to occur.
Planning principles all focus on guidelines for constructing the best map for the journey to a completed system or product. The plan may be designed solely for a single software increment, or it may be defined for the entire project. Regardless, it must address what will be done, who will do it, and when the work will be completed.
Modeling encompasses both analysis and design, describing representations of the software that progressively become more detailed. The intent of the models is to solidify understanding of the work to be done and to provide technical guidance to those who will implement the software.