The Prentice Hall Essence of Computing Series provides a concise, practical and uniform introduction to the core components of an undergraduate computer science degree. Acknowledging the recent changes within Higher Education, this approach uses a variety of pedagogical tools - case studies, worked examples and self-test questions, to underpin the students learning. The Essence of Structured Systems Analysis is an introduction to the concepts and development of structured systems analysis. It assumes no prior knowledge of the subject, and aims to give students the necessary information, examples and exercises to allow them to develop practical skills in structured techniques. The book is divided into three parts: the introduction, the techniques and the methods. The introduction gives a history of the subject and identifies central techniques and how these may be supported with software tools. The techniques section identifies conventions and gives worked examples to illustrate the principles. Finally, the methods part looks at two of the most popular structured methods: SSADM and Yourdon. A life cycle is set out for each, and the role of the various techniques in each method is described. There are also brief descriptions of other techniques in the methods.