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Since its original inception back in 1989 the Web has changed into an environment where Web applications range from small-scale information dissemination applications, often developed by non-IT professionals, to large-scale, commercial, enterprise-planning and scheduling applications, developed by multidisciplinary teams of people with diverse skills and backgrounds and using cutting-edge, diverse technologies.
As an engineering discipline, Web engineering must provide principles, methodologies and frameworks to help Web professionals and researchers develop applications and manage projects effectively. Mendes and Mosley have selected experts from numerous areas in Web engineering, who contribute chapters where important concepts are presented and then detailed using real industrial case studies. After an introduction into the discipline itself and its intricacies, the contributions range from Web effort estimation, productivity benchmarking and conceptual and model-based application development methodologies, to other important principles such as usability, reliability, testing, process improvement and quality measurement. This is the first book that looks at Web engineering from a measurement perspective.
The result is a self-containing, comprehensive overview detailing the role of measurement and metrics within the context of Web engineering. This book is ideal for professionals and researchers who want to know how to use sound principles for the effective management of Web projects, as well as for courses at an advanced undergraduate or graduate level.
List of contents
The Need for Web Engineering: An Introduction.- Web Effort Estimation.- Web Productivity Measurement and Benchmarking.- Web Quality.- Web Usability: Principles and Evaluation Methods.- Web System Reliability and Performance.- Web Application Testing.- An Overview of Process Improvement in Small Settings.- Conceptual Modelling of Web Applications: The OOWS Approach.- Model-Based Web Application Development.- W2000: A Modelling Notation for Complex Web Applications.- What You Need To Know About Statistics.- Empirical Research Methods in Web and Software Engineering.
About the author
Dr. Emilia Mendes has worked in software development and management for 10 years, before obtaining her PhD and becoming a full-time academic in Computer Science at the University of Auckland, NZ. She is the principal investigator in the Tukutuku Research project, which aims to collect data about Web projects and use it to develop Web cost estimation models and to benchmark productivity across and within Web Companies. She is the director of the WETA (Web Engineering, Technology and Applications) research group. She has presented numerous lectures, conference presentations and workshops on Web cost estimation and chaired an industry workshop in January 2004 on Web cost estimation and productivity benchmarking (Auckland, NZ). She has provided consulting for Web companies on Web cost estimation, usability and process improvement. She is part of the organising committee for the 2005 International Conference on Web Engineering and is co-chairing a workshop on Web measurement and metrics at the 2005 World-Wide Web conference.
Dr. Nile Mosley is Director of MetriQ (NZ) Limited which specialises in the development of time and project management software tools. He has co-authored with Dr. Mendes several conference and journals papers on Web cost estimation and Web sizing.
Summary
The focus of this book is on Web measurement and its application to industrial case studies. Each chapter presents different measurement-related concepts (e.g. cost estimation, productivity measurement, quality measurement) followed by their application to industrial case studies, plus advice on applying each technique to practical situations. No other book in the market examines Web measurement in such breadth and with such practical emphasis. Readers will quickly grasp the usefulness and benefits of measurement and metrics, since all case studies depict real-world situations.
Additional text
From the reviews:
"The book represents a respectable attempt to advance the concepts of the emerging discipline of Web engineering. It is mostly oriented towards technical management, and stresses empirical investigations and testing issues. This makes the book unique in the current market. … As most of the topics addressed are not covered sufficiently in other current literature, I recommend the book to Web practitioners. It can also be valuable educational material for graduate students." (M. Bielikova, Computing Reviews, August, 2006)
Report
From the reviews:
"The book represents a respectable attempt to advance the concepts of the emerging discipline of Web engineering. It is mostly oriented towards technical management, and stresses empirical investigations and testing issues. This makes the book unique in the current market. ... As most of the topics addressed are not covered sufficiently in other current literature, I recommend the book to Web practitioners. It can also be valuable educational material for graduate students." (M. Bielikova, Computing Reviews, August, 2006)
