The Unified Process is a development methodology that is geared to the creation of object-oriented component-based software. It is a process that has been developed and promoted by Rational Software, Inc. and the developers of the Unified Modelling Language (UML). The books of this four-volume series are designed to address each of the four phases of the UP process; inception, elaboration, construction, and transition. Each volume will present a collection of "best practices" that can be used as guidelines in the implementation of the respective phase of development. Editor Scott Ambler has compiled a collection of articles from "Software Development" magazine that will present the wisdom of industry luminaries such as Steve McConnell, Peter Coad, Larry Constantine, Karl Wiegers, Capers Jones, Martin Fowler, Clemens Szyperski, Meilir Page-Jones, Tom McCabe, Edward Yourdon and many others. This volume, concentrating on the "construction phase", will focus on the design and implementation of new systems in an iterative and incremental manner.