The author's aim in this textbook is to provide students with a clear understanding of the relationship between the principles of object-oriented programming and software engineering. Professor Zeigler takes an approach based on state representation to formal specification. Consequently, this book is unique through its - emphasis on formulating primitives from which all other functionality can be built; - integral use of a semi-formal behaviour specification language based on state transition concepts; -differentiation between behaviour and implementation; -a reusable heterogeneous container class library; -ability to show the elegance and power of ensemble methods with non-trivial examples. As a result, students studying software engineering will find this a distinctive and valuable approach to programming and systems engineering.