Software Fundamentals

This book contains thirty-three of his most influential papers in various areas of software engineering. Leading thinkers in software engineering have contributed short introductions to each paper to provide the historical context surrounding each paper's conception and writing.

Software Fundamentals: Collected Papers by David L. Parnas is a practical guide to key software engineering concepts that belongs in the library of every software professional. It introduces and explains such seminal topics as:

• Relational and tabular documentation
• Information hiding as the basis for modular program construction
• Abstract interfaces that provide services without revealing implementation
• Program families for the efficient development of multiple software versions
• The status of software engineering as a profession
• Why complex software, such as for the Strategic Defense Initiative, is unlikely to work the first time that it is used in the field

As a celebration of one of the fathers of modern software engineering, and as a practical guide to the key concepts underlying software development, Software Fundamentals is valuable for professionals, especially those who are interested in teaching the fundamentals of software.

David Parnas is highly regarded for his many valuable contributions to software engineering. He developed and applied cutting-edge software technology to the U.S. Navy's A-7E aircraft, and he advised the Atomic Energy Control Board of Canada on the use of safety-critical, real-time software. During his career, he has contributed more than 200 papers to ACM, IEEE, and ICSE publications. He won an ACM "Best Paper" award, two "Most Influential Paper" awards from ICSE, and the 1998 "Outstanding Researcher" award from ACM SIGSOFT. In May 2001, Dr. Parnas was recognized at the International Conference on Software Engineering for his lifetime of outstanding achievements.