Implementing the IEEE Software Engineering Standards

Rating:
Summary: A tour guide to the IEEE Standards
Review: If you need to understand how to use IEEE Standards on your software
development project, you'll find that this book is an essential tour
guide. It provides an overview of all the standards, how they
interrelate and their strengths and weaknesses. Indeed some of the
criticisms are so sharp that I was surprised the book was endorsed by
the IEEE. For example, it points out that the IEEE definition for a
"unit" (as in unit testing) is circular and vacuous. A unit is
whatever you call a unit! Previously, I'd just assumed that a useful definition must have been in one standard or another.

As a testing consultant, I have been most interested in it's overview
of the testing standards and the various relations between them and
the other standards. I have the whole IEEE standards collection. It's
massive! This is my guidebook that lets me know what else I need to
read. This book provides several maps, diagrams and charts that help
sort things out.

Rating:
Summary: Valuable help when it comes time to implement the standards
Review: There are few documents more daunting than the complete set of IEEE standards. If and when the decision is made to implement some or all of them, the sheer complexity of the standards provides a plausible excuse to delay the implementation. However, they do represent an enormous collection of wisdom and insight, so like all good programmers, we should "borrow" what we can from others.
This book can be considered an answer to the "OK, where do we begin" question. In no way a comprehensive overview of the standards, it is a set of points of the form, " If you want to do this, then go to this standard." The sheer utility of such a resource cannot be overstated. Only the most foolish among us disputes the value of standards in software development and being able to document compliance with the most respected set in existence is a competitive advantage. Large software projects, which is just about everything these days, sometimes take on the appearance of a hulking behemoth where half the heads and hands have no idea what the other half are doing. Only the implementation of a rigorous, mutually respected set of standards can turn that scary beast into a synchronized runner capable of reaching the finish line. Implementing the standards is also by necessity an incremental event, a point that the author emphasizes throughout the book.
The author clearly has a great deal of experience in describing and explaining what the standards are and how they should be implemented. If your group or company feels or has the need to implement the IEEE standards then this is a book that will give you the gentle impetus to begin.

Disclaimer: The author of this review served as a technical reviewer of the book during development.