Summary

In this chapter, we've introduced the application of systems engineering as a problem analysis technique to help us understand the requirements to be imposed on the system we are about to build. We also recognize that the field of systems engineering is broader and deeper than the requirements management discipline that is the topic of this book. Our goal was to provide a simple overview of how this technique can be applied in the context of complex software systems; for even a rudimentary understanding of systems engineering provides a basis for reasoning about complex software applications, most of which may be most effectively considered from the perspective of "a system of systems."