Software project management: Setting the context

Abstract

This chapter is designed as the introduction to the book. It provides the motivation for studying software project management as a response to the increasing variety of software development methodologies. The chapter characterizes software projects and presents ten knowledge areas in software project management. This body of knowledge is described in the software edition of the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK). The chapters of the book are classified in terms of their contribution to these knowledge areas. The chapter also discusses the multidisciplinary nature of the project management discipline. Based on some predicted trends for the future of software engineering, a prediction on the future of software project management is given. Finally, an overview of the content and structure of the whole book is presented.