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Engineering applications of computational hydraulics, volume 1
REV
BOOK I EWS
Software Engineering 1an Sommervdle Addison-Wesley, London, May 1982, £7.50 This book describes m simple terms the main characteristics of the newly developed discipline called Engineering Software. This discipline has been born due to the difficulties combined m implementing and testing large software systems. The software engineers must nowadays be able to assess and apply existing computational techniques in an effective and efficient manner. This requires in addition to computing sciences, a knowledge of mathematics, management sciences, ergodynamics and even psychology This book is designed as a software engineering text book and for practising engineers, who need to acquire a better knowledge of the principles of engineering software. The emphasis along the book is on software, which is reliable and simple to understand and maintain It is assumed that the reader is familiar with high level programmmg languages and basic computer services Part 1 of the book considers the technical aspects of the subject It contains chapters dealing with software requirements, design, implementation and testing Part 2 considers the human aspects of software engineering. Its chapters cover documentation, the design of user interfaces and considerations of relevance to software management The book contents deal with specification of software requirements, the design of software codes, implementation of the design, preparing language combinations and proper methodology. It also discusses the problem of debugging and testing a code and stresses the importance of user documentation and proper technical writing The part of the chapters which cover system maintenance concentrates on the costs of maintenance and program understanding. The last chapter covers the user interface design, user psychology and the use of graphics in interface design. They also concentrate on the topic of software management. The book is well w n t t e n and very easy to read. It reviews a large number of topics which are essential to the software engineer.
indirectly by Priessmann's w o r k - as, indeed, have nearly all who use computational hydraulics as a tool The resulting book presents an overview of the application of numerical modelling to problems of free-surface hydraulics and hydrology Its chapters can be divided broadly into some concerned with computational techniques and some with applications to solution of engineering problems The former cover a wide range, from a concise and clear statement of the Boundary Element method to a long and masterly study of the properties of diffracting waves based on classical theory, while the latter include a chapter on modelling free flows in sewer networks - o n e of the most difficult of one-dimensional hydraulic problems - and chapters on hydrological problems including modelhng of the River Nile and its effect on Lake Nasser. Most of the chapters contain results of computations which illustrate the various computational techniques In each case, the authors have stated the problems clearly and fully, with the result that the reader can benefit from their experiences and can learn from their ideas. This is a book that is interesting and, despite the complexity of much of its content, easy to read. A first impression may be that it provides a useful statement of present knowledge of the art of numerical analysis of free surface problems of hydraulics In fact, it goes much further than that, there is material in it that makes the reader stop and think about his basic assumptions and question their validity Some of the chapters are likely to become works of reference for some time to come. Thank you, Alexandre Priessmann
D M McDowell
KNOWLEDGE BASED SYSTEMS
Engineering Applications of Computational Hydraulics, Volume 1 M B Abbott andJ. A Cunge (Eds) This book consists of 11 chapters written by 23 contributors in homage to Alexandre Priessmann on the occasion of his retirement from SOGREAH in 1981 It was sponsored by the Committee on Use of Computers m Hydraulics and Water Resources of IAHR. Quoting from the preface, ' . Alexandre Priessmann was not the first to apply numerical methods on computers to open channel hydrauhcs, the credit for this goes to J J. Stoker and his team from the Courant Institute of New York University. But Priessmann is one of those who transformed mathematical modeUmg from a purely academic experience into an engineering t o o l . . . ' Abbott expands on this in the introductory chapter and draws a picture of a person of modesty, high intellect and considerable influence on his co-workers Cunge completes the picture by painting in the background of Priessmann's work at SOGREAH from 1958 to 1981, emphasismg his pioneering work as a mathematician serving engineers. The two editors make the point that all the contributors have been influenced directly or
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Adv. Eng Software 1983, Vol. 5, No. 3
173
BOOK I EWS
Software Engineering 1an Sommervdle Addison-Wesley, London, May 1982, £7.50 This book describes m simple terms the main characteristics of the newly developed discipline called Engineering Software. This discipline has been born due to the difficulties combined m implementing and testing large software systems. The software engineers must nowadays be able to assess and apply existing computational techniques in an effective and efficient manner. This requires in addition to computing sciences, a knowledge of mathematics, management sciences, ergodynamics and even psychology This book is designed as a software engineering text book and for practising engineers, who need to acquire a better knowledge of the principles of engineering software. The emphasis along the book is on software, which is reliable and simple to understand and maintain It is assumed that the reader is familiar with high level programmmg languages and basic computer services Part 1 of the book considers the technical aspects of the subject It contains chapters dealing with software requirements, design, implementation and testing Part 2 considers the human aspects of software engineering. Its chapters cover documentation, the design of user interfaces and considerations of relevance to software management The book contents deal with specification of software requirements, the design of software codes, implementation of the design, preparing language combinations and proper methodology. It also discusses the problem of debugging and testing a code and stresses the importance of user documentation and proper technical writing The part of the chapters which cover system maintenance concentrates on the costs of maintenance and program understanding. The last chapter covers the user interface design, user psychology and the use of graphics in interface design. They also concentrate on the topic of software management. The book is well w n t t e n and very easy to read. It reviews a large number of topics which are essential to the software engineer.
indirectly by Priessmann's w o r k - as, indeed, have nearly all who use computational hydraulics as a tool The resulting book presents an overview of the application of numerical modelling to problems of free-surface hydraulics and hydrology Its chapters can be divided broadly into some concerned with computational techniques and some with applications to solution of engineering problems The former cover a wide range, from a concise and clear statement of the Boundary Element method to a long and masterly study of the properties of diffracting waves based on classical theory, while the latter include a chapter on modelling free flows in sewer networks - o n e of the most difficult of one-dimensional hydraulic problems - and chapters on hydrological problems including modelhng of the River Nile and its effect on Lake Nasser. Most of the chapters contain results of computations which illustrate the various computational techniques In each case, the authors have stated the problems clearly and fully, with the result that the reader can benefit from their experiences and can learn from their ideas. This is a book that is interesting and, despite the complexity of much of its content, easy to read. A first impression may be that it provides a useful statement of present knowledge of the art of numerical analysis of free surface problems of hydraulics In fact, it goes much further than that, there is material in it that makes the reader stop and think about his basic assumptions and question their validity Some of the chapters are likely to become works of reference for some time to come. Thank you, Alexandre Priessmann
D M McDowell
KNOWLEDGE BASED SYSTEMS
Engineering Applications of Computational Hydraulics, Volume 1 M B Abbott andJ. A Cunge (Eds) This book consists of 11 chapters written by 23 contributors in homage to Alexandre Priessmann on the occasion of his retirement from SOGREAH in 1981 It was sponsored by the Committee on Use of Computers m Hydraulics and Water Resources of IAHR. Quoting from the preface, ' . Alexandre Priessmann was not the first to apply numerical methods on computers to open channel hydrauhcs, the credit for this goes to J J. Stoker and his team from the Courant Institute of New York University. But Priessmann is one of those who transformed mathematical modeUmg from a purely academic experience into an engineering t o o l . . . ' Abbott expands on this in the introductory chapter and draws a picture of a person of modesty, high intellect and considerable influence on his co-workers Cunge completes the picture by painting in the background of Priessmann's work at SOGREAH from 1958 to 1981, emphasismg his pioneering work as a mathematician serving engineers. The two editors make the point that all the contributors have been influenced directly or
Atbanq/
"
2t
|
. --
•
i
~ -r2~
Adv. Eng Software 1983, Vol. 5, No. 3
173