A detailed and well-supported essay on the the "waterfall" method of software development. The author defines a wicked problem and then explains the various leaks in the waterfall method for most software projects. Documented variations are then explained in detail and how they attempt to plug the leaks. Most of these include either spiral, prototyping, iterative, or incremental techniques to enhance one or several of the "classical" steps in the waterfall approach.
Finally several other methods of software development are discussed such as: "video / hollywood", "clean room", "scrum", and "sashimi". Overall the writing style was fluid and very easy to read however the content is somewhat dated when compared to the newer texts on agile methodologies. If you are committed to using the waterfall method or a variant then this book provides sound advice and good references.