Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. The Impact of Computers -- 2. Overview of Construction Applications -- 3. Computer Hardware -- 4. Computer Software and File Systems -- 5. Feasibility Study and Analysis -- 6. Design and Development -- 7. Procurement, Training, Implementation, and System Management -- 8. Procedural Languages -- 9. Developing Applications with Spreadsheets -- 10. Developing Applications with File and Database Software -- 11. Developing Applications with AI-Based Expert System Software -- 12. Estimating -- 13. Project Planning and Scheduling -- 14. Accounting and Cost Engineering -- 15. Operations Simulation -- 16. Building for Tomorrow on Today's Technology and Applications.

For people interested in using computers in construction, this book is the perfect starting point - providing an unsurpassed introduction to computer hardware, software, and communications technology. Giving the reader a basic idea of what the pieces do and how they work together, the book's 16 in-depth chapters offer coverage of topics so important for construction engineers and managers.

Through the material, readers are given the ability to analyze systematically a potential area of need - such as a function in a department - to determine whether a computer application might help to assess the costs and benefits of alternative proposals and to proceed from that analysis to a clear specification for what the proposed solution should accomplish. There is also coverage of how computer professionals evaluate hardware and design the software and systems that will implement a given application. Furthermore, readers will learn how to manage the people, resources, time, and money required in the development process for creating a given application program or for adapting a package application to the needs specified in the design.

Other topics found in the book include: common tools used to develop application software for today's business computers; systems and applications available in the marketplace to perform specific functions, such as estimating, scheduling, cost control, and simulation; emergent technologies and how an individual, group, or company might plan ahead and take advantage of the trends. In addition, the book provides twenty-two construction engineering and management application examples - most developed using modern computer software - and provides additional problems, guidelines, and data for the reader to use in implementing his or her own applications on a personal computer.