Requirements Engineering

This textbook provides a comprehensive and well-structured introduction to the fundamentals, principles, and techniques of requirements engineering (RE). It presents approved techniques for eliciting, negotiating, and documenting as well as validating, and managing requirements for software systems. The various aspects of RE are illustrated using numerous examples based on extensive teaching experience and industrial collaborations. The book is structured in five parts. Part I “Fundamentals and Framework” provides a comprehensive introduction to the fundamentals of RE, illustrates why RE is a critical success factor for any software development project, and describes different ways of implementing RE in organisations and its role in different software engineering process models. Part II “Requirements Engineering Context” explains the essential role and influence of the RE context on system requirements, defines basic terms, and introduces eight context perspectives to support context consideration during RE. Part III “Core Activities” describes the requirements elicitation, documentation, and negotiation activities. Part IV “Requirements Artefacts” introduces goals, scenarios, and solution-oriented requirements as key requirements artefacts. Eventually, Part V “Cross-Sectional Activities” details three validation and three management activities. This second edition of Pohl’s widely used and trusted textbook provides a considerable number of updates, places a stronger focus on the consideration of the context, puts a stronger emphasis on conflict resolution, and includes new, expanded and revised techniques. The presentation aims at professionals, students, and lecturers in systems and software engineering or business applications development. Professionals such as requirements engineers, project managers, software architects, systems analysts, and software engineers will benefit in their daily work from the didactically well-presented combination of validated procedures and industrial experience. Students and lecturers will appreciate the comprehensive description of sound fundamentals, principles, and techniques, which is completed by a huge, commented list of references for further reading. Lecturers will find additional teaching material on the book’s website, www.requirements-book.com.