Yourdon received a B.S. in Applied Mathematics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1965, and carried out graduate work at MIT and at the Polytechnic Institute of New York.

In 1964 Yourdon started working at Digital Equipment Corporation developing FORTRAN programs for the PDP-5 minicomputer and later assembler for the PDP-8. Later in the 1960s and begin 1970s after working at a small consulting firm and as independent consultant in 1974 Yourdon founded his own consulting firm, YOURDON Inc. to provide educational, publishing, and consulting services. After he sold this firm in 1986 he served on the Board of multiple IT consultancy corporations and was advisor on several research project in the software industry throughout the 1990s.

In the new millennium Yourdon became Faculty Fellow at the Information Systems Research Center of the University of North Texas, as well as Fellow of the Business Technology Trends Council for the Cutter Consortium were he also was editor of the Cutter IT Journal.

In June 1997, Yourdon was inducted into the Computer Hall of Fame, along with such notables as Charles Babbage, Seymour Cray, James Martin, Grace Hopper, Gerald Weinberg, and Bill Gates. And December 1999 the Crosstalk: The Journal of Defense Software Engineering, named him one of the ten most influential people in the software field.

After developing structured analysis techniques of the 1970s, and object-oriented analysis/design in the late 1980s and 1990s in the new millennium Yourdon has specialized in project management, software engineering methodologies, and Web 2.0 development.

Yourdon has authored over 550 technical articles and authored or coauthored 26 computer books since 1967. A selection:

• 1967. Real-Time Systems Design. Information & Systems Press.
• 1972. Design of On-Line Computer Systems. Prentice Hall.
• 1975. Techniques of Program Structure and Design. Prentice Hall.
• 1976. Learning to Program in Structured COBOL, Part I and II. With C. Gane and T. Sarson and T. Lister. Prentice Hall.
• 1978. Learning to Program in Structured COBOL, Part II. With Timothy Lister. Prentice Hall.
• 1979. Structured Design. with Larry Constantine. Prentice Hall.
• 1979. Classics in Software Engineering . Prentice Hall.
• 1982. Writings of the Revolution. Prentice Hall.
• 1988. Managing the System Life Cycle. 2nd ed. Prentice Hall.
• 1989. Modern Structured Analysis. Prentice Hall.
• 1992. Decline and Fall of the American Programmer. Prentice Hall.
• 1994. Object-Oriented Systems Development: An Integrated Approach. Prentice Hall.
• 1996. Case Studies in Object-Oriented Analysis and Design. With Carl Argila. Prentice-Hall.
• 1996. Rise & Resurrection of the American Programmer. Prentice-Hall.
• 1999. The Complete Y2K Home Preparation Guide. With Robert Roskind. Prentice Hall.
• 2001. Managing High-Intensity Internet Projects. Prentice Hall
• 2002. Byte Wars: The Impact of September 11 on Information Technology. Prentice Hall
• 2003. Death March (2nd edition). Prentice Hall
• 2004. Outsourcing: Competing in the Global Productivity Race. Prentice Hall