In an effort to more clearly define the engineering method, this document attempts to draw distinctions between engineering and science. Part I, "Some Thoughts on Engineering," discusses strategies that engineers employ to solve problems, and the characteristics of the types of engineering problems. Part II, "The Principal Rule of the Engineering Method," gives a definition of the engineering method and provides examples which: (1) compare individual engineers; (2) establish a rule for judging the performance of an engineer; (3) compare the technological developments of various nations; (4) analyze several pedagogical strategies of engineering education; and (5) define the relationship between the engineer and society. Part III, "Some Heuristics Used by the Engineering Method," includes some simple rules of thumb, factors about safety, heuristics that affect the engineer's attitude toward his/her work, heuristics that engineers use to keep risk within acceptable bounds, and factors dealing with resource allocation. (TW)

Method Engineering focuses on the design, construction and evaluation of methods, techniques and support tools for information systems development It addresses a number of important topics, including: method representation formalisms; meta-modelling; situational methods; contingency approaches; system development practices of method engineering; terminology and reference models; ontologies; usability and experience reports; and organisational support and impact.

While previously available methodologies for software – like those published in the early days of object technology – claimed to be appropriate for every conceivable project, situational method engineering (SME) acknowledges that most projects typically have individual characteristics and situations. Thus, finding the most effective methodology for a particular project needs specific tailoring to that situation. Such a tailored software development methodology needs to take into account all the bits and pieces needed for an organization to develop software, including the software process, the input and output work products, the people involved, the languages used to describe requirements, design, code, and eventually also measures of success or failure. The authors have structured the book into three parts. Part I deals with all the basic concepts, terminology and overall ideas underpinning situational method engineering. As a summary of this part, they present a formal meta-model that enables readers to create their own quality methods and supporting tools. In Part II, they explain how to implement SME in practice, i.e., how to find method components and put them together and how to evaluate the resulting method. For illustration, they also include several industry case studies of customized or constructed processes, highlighting the impact that high-quality engineered methods can have on the success of an industrial software development. Finally, Part III summarizes some of the more recent and forward-looking ideas. This book presents the first summary of the state of the art for SME. For academics, it provides a comprehensive conceptual framework and discusses new research areas. For lecturers, thanks to its step-by-step explanations from basics to the customization and quality assessment of constructed methods, it serves as a solid basis for comprehensive courses on the topic. For industry methodologists, it offers a reference guide on features and technologies to consider when developing in-house software development methods or customising and adopting off-the-shelf ones.

Over the last decade, Method Engineering, defined as the engineering discipline to design, construct and adapt methods, including supportive tools, has emerged as the research and application area for using methods for systems development. This book contains the papers from the IFIP Working Group 8.1 conference on Situational Method Engineering.

Computer aided method engineering is about generation and use of information systems design techniques according to user needs. Some times such environments are called generic tools or MetaCASE. This book presents the methodology and architecture of a CASE repository.

The book is designed to serve as a textbook for courses offered to graduate and upper-undergraduate students enrolled in mechanical engineering. The book attempts to make students with mathematical backgrounds comfortable with numerical methods. The book also serves as a handy reference for practicing engineers who are interested in applications. The book is written in an easy-to-understand manner, with the essence of each numerical method clearly stated. This makes it easy for professional engineers, students, and early career researchers to follow the material presented in the book. The structure of the book has been modeled accordingly. It is divided into four modules: i) solution of a system of equations and eigenvalues which includes linear equations, determining eigenvalues, and solution of nonlinear equations; ii) function approximations: interpolation, data fit, numerical differentiation, and numerical integration; iii) solution of ordinary differential equations—initial value problems and boundary value problems; and iv) solution of partial differential equations—parabolic, elliptic, and hyperbolic PDEs. Each section of the book includes exercises to reinforce the concepts, and problems have been added at the end of each chapter. Exercise problems may be solved by using computational tools such as scientific calculators, spreadsheet programs, and MATLAB codes. The detailed coverage and pedagogical tools make this an ideal textbook for students, early career researchers, and professionals.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 4th IFIP WG 8.1 Working Conference on Method Engineering, ME 2011, held in Paris, France, in April 2011. The 13 revised full papers and 6 short papers presented together with the abstracts of two keynote talks were carefully reviewed and selected from 30 submissions. The papers are organized in topical sections on situated method engineering, method engineering foundations, customized methods, tools for method engineering, new trends to build methods, and method engineering services.