CSE403 - Useful Software Engineering Resources

Books
- Code Complete, 2nd ed., by Steve McConnell. (Chapter 5: Design in Construction is available free.)
- Rapid Development, by Steve McConnell.
- Design Patterns Explained: A New Perspective on Object-Oriented Design, by Alan Shalloway and James Trott. (Several chapters are available free.)
- The Pragmatic Programmer: From Journeyman to Master, by Andrew Hunt and David Thomas.

Articles
- On specifications
  - Structuring Use Cases with Goals, by Alistair Cockburn.
    (The authoritative description. Also, a shorter version, retold by someone else and accepted by Alistair Cockburn.)
  - Use Cases in Theory and Practice, by Alistair Cockburn.
    (A companion PowerPoint presentation to the original article, showing what use cases are and how to write them.)
  - Use Cases, Ten Years Later, by Alistair Cockburn.
    (A look back at the mistakes that people made and misconceptions they had in the first years.)
  - ABC's Sampler of Good and Bad Use Cases, by Alistair Cockburn.
    (Discusses what use cases should and shouldn't be.)
- On design
  - On the Criteria to Be Used When Decomposing a System into Modules, by David Parnas.
- On development
  - The Joel Test: 12 Steps to Better Code, by Joel Spolsky. (Also available in printer-friendly format.)
    (The list is not complete, but is compelling and each item is well explained.)
  - Ant: Building a Better Build File.
    (Clarifies the one-step build process for Java applications.)
    Also see the tool CruiseControl: Continuous Integration Toolkit.
- On testing
  - If You Didn't Test It, It Doesn't Work, by Bob Colwell.
    (Explains why the claim in the title makes sense.)
  - How Do You Spell Testing? - A Mnemonic to Jump-Start Testing, by James Bach.
    (Useful ideas for when you devise test plans.)
Tools
- Build tools
  - CruiseControl: Continuous Integration Toolkit
- Testing tools
  - Unit Testing and Acceptance Testing Frameworks (for almost any language you can think of)
- More to come... -- send me suggestions of what you found effective!