Every profession is based on a body of knowledge and recommended practices, although they are not always defined in a precise manner.

In this Guide, the IEEE Computer Society establishes a baseline for the body of knowledge for the field of software engineering, and the work supports the Society's responsibility to promote the advancement of both theory and practice in this field. It should be noted that the Guide does not purport to define the body of knowledge but rather to serve as a compendium and guide to the knowledge that has been developing and evolving over the past four decades.

A main objective of the SWEBOK(R) Guide -- to provide topical access to the Software Engineering Body of Knowledge -- motivates the fundamental organization of the Guide into 10 knowledge areas (KAs):

• Software requirements
• Software design
• Software construction
• Software testing
• Software maintenance
• Software configuration management
• Software engineering management
• Software engineering process
• Software engineering tools and methods
• Software quality

Each KA has its own chapter in the Guide.