The first course in software engineering is the most critical. Education must start from an understanding of the heart of software development, from familiar ground that is common to all software development endeavors.

This book is an in-depth introduction to software engineering that uses a systematic, universal kernel to teach the essential elements of all software engineering methods.

This kernel, Essence, is a vocabulary for defining methods and practices. Essence was envisioned and originally created by Ivar Jacobson and his colleagues, developed by Software Engineering Method and Theory (SEMAT) and approved by The Object Management Group (OMG) as a standard in 2014. Essence is a practice-independent framework for thinking and reasoning about the practices we have and the practices we need. Essence establishes a shared and standard understanding of what is at the heart of software development.

Essence is agnostic to any particular method, lifecycle independent, programming language independent, concise, scalable, extensible, and formally specified. Essence frees the practices from their method prisons.

The first part of the book describes Essence, the essential elements to work with, the essential things to do and the essential competencies you need when developing software. The other three parts describe more and more advanced use cases of Essence. Using real but manageable examples, it covers the fundamentals of Essence and the innovative use of serious games to support software engineering. It also explains how current practices such as user stories, use cases, Scrum, and micro-services can be described using Essence, and illustrates how their activities can be represented using the Essence notions of cards and checklists. The fourth part of the book offers a vision how Essence can be scaled to support large, complex systems engineering.

Essence is supported by an ecosystem developed and maintained by a community of experienced people worldwide. From this ecosystem, professors and students can select what they need and create their own way of working, thus learning how to create ONE way of working that matches the particular situation and needs.

“Essence is an important breakthrough in understanding the meaning of software engineering. It is a key contribution to the development of our discipline and I’m confident that this book will demonstrate the value of Essence to a wider audience. It too is an idea whose time has come.” – Ian Somerville, St. Andrews University, Scotland (author of Software Engineering, 10th Edition, Pearson)

“In the foundational course “Software Engineering” I am teaching Essence to 400 students introducing Essence from day one. We will deliver a functioning system over the coming three months’ time developed by small teams. In the past we used a best-selling textbook, but not anymore. Tomorrow’s education will be fundamentally changed starting with the Essence of software engineering.” – Dr. Pekka Abrahamsson, Norwegian University of Science and Technology

“What you hold in your hands (or on your computer or tablet if you are so inclined) represents the deep thinking and broad experience of the authors, information you’ll find approachable, understandable, and, most importantly, actionable.” – Grady Booch, IBM Fellow, ACM Fellow, IEEE Fellow, BCS Ada Lovelace Award, and IEEE Computer Pioneer