This book provides a clear and provocative discussion of the economics, metrics, and management strategies necessary to plan and execute a software project successfully. Royce discusses, with refreshing candor, some of the fads, follies, and excesses of the software industry, clearly differentiating proven techniques and obsolete methods. Paired with this insightful examination are compelling arguments for new management approaches that are sure to stimulate debate. The relative impacts of these new techniques are quantified through simple economic analyses, common sense, and anecdotal evidence. The resulting framework strikes a pragmatic balance between theory and practice that can be readily applied in today's challenging development environment. An extensive case study analysis of a large-scale, million-line project deployed successfully on schedule and under budget using these methods further illustrates their application.