Based on the authors' extensive experience in the software industry, this volume describes and extensively illustrates practical techniques for transforming any software development endeavor into a visible, traceable, and hence manageable process. It offers a self-contained and hands-on in approach that assumes no prior knowledge of the subject and that leads readers into the details of how to provide software that does what the customer asked that it do, is delivered on or before the date the customer specified, and costs no more than the customer said he/she wanted to spend. KEY TOPICS: Treats the broader subject of what needs to be done overall on a software project to make it likely that the software under development is doing what it is supposed to do; integrates the application of the disciplines of testing, quality assurance, verification and validation, and configuration management; presents main concepts, principles, trade-offs, and techniques necessary for performing product assurance effectively, i.e., in a manner that appeals to product developers while simultaneously accommodating management's need for cost and schedule control. MARKETS: Forsenior managers, software project and product assurance managers, and project assurance specialists; and for senior/graduate courses in software engineering and software management.