The overall organization of the book is the same as it was in the first edition. The outline of the book begins with basic foundational material and then follows a systems development cycle, which allows for a logical pregression of topics. This cycle is designed to be high level and consists of four steps: planning, analysis, design, and implementation. The book, then, has five parts:

- Part I, "Foundations for Object-Oriented Systems Development," gives an overview of systems development and previews the remainder of the book.
- Part II, "Project Management and Planning," covers how to assess project feasibility and build the baseline project.
- Part III, "Systems Analysis," covers determining system requirements, process modellig, conceptual modeling, and determining the best design.
- Part IV, "Systems Design," covers how to design the human interface and databases.
- Part V, "System Implementation and Operation," covers system implementa, Operation, closedown, and system maintenance.

Part I Foundations for Object-Oriented Systems Development
Part II Project Management and Planning
Part III Systems Analysis
Part IV Ststems Design
Part V Systems Implementation and Operation