In this Guide, the IEEE Computer Society establishes for the first time a baseline for the body of knowledge for the field of software engineering, and the work supports the Societys responsibility to promote the advancement of both theory and practice in this field. It should be noted that the Guide does not purport to define the body of knowledge but rather to serve as a compendium and guide to the knowledge that has been developing and evolving over the past four decades.

A main objective of the SWEBOK project -- to provide topical access to the Software Engineering Body of Knowledge -- motivates the fundamental organization of the Guide into 10 knowledge areas (KAs):

• Software requirements
• Software design
• Software construction
• Software testing
• Software maintenance
• Software configuration management
• Software engineering management
• Software engineering process
• Software engineering tools and methods
• Software quality

Each KA has its own chapter in the Guide.

Please note: This product is a .pdf download of the print 2004 Guide.

• Alain Abran is a Professor and the Director of the Software Engineering Research Laboratory at the Ecole de technologie superieure (ETS) of the Universite du Quebec a Montreal (http://profs.logti.etsmtl.ca/aabran/English/index.html ). He was an executive editor for the 2004 Guide to the Software Engineering Body of Knowledge (SWEBOK).
• James W. Moore is a 40-year veteran of software engineering in IBM and, now, the MITRE Corporation. He serves the IEEE Computer Society as its Vice-President for Professional Activities. He was an Executive Editor of the Society's Guide to the Software Engineering Body of Knowledge (SWEBOK) and a member of the Editorial Board of the recent revision of the Encyclopedia of Software Engineering. He performs software and systems engineering standardization for the IEEE, serving as its liaison to ISO/IEC JTC1/SC7 and as a member of the Executive Committee of the IEEE Software and Systems Engineering Standards Committee. The IEEE Computer Society has recognized him as a Charter Member of their Golden Core; the IEEE selected him as a recipient of their Third Millennium Award and recently named him as a Fellow of the IEEE. His latest book on software engineering standards was published in 2006 by John Wiley & Sons. He holds two US patents and, dating to times when software was not regarded as patentable, two "defensive publications." He graduated from the University of North Carolina with a BS in Mathematics, and Syracuse University with an MS in Systems and Information Science.
• Pierre Bourque is an Associate Professor and the Director of the Master in Software Engineering Program at the Ecole de technologie superieure (ETS) of the Universite du Quebec a Montreal (http://profs.logti.etsmtl.ca/pbourque/accueil/en/index.shtml ), where he teaches graduate and undergraduate courses and does consulting work in software requirements. He was a coeditor for the 2004 Guide to the Software Engineering Body of Knowledge (SWEBOK).
• Robert Dupuis is a Professor at the Universite du Quebec a Montreal and was a coeditor for the 2004 Guide to the Software Engineering Body of Knowledge (SWEBOK). He currently serves on the Computer Society's Board of Governors.