A non-overshooting control law for a class of strict-feedback nonlinear systems is developed by using the
backstepping method. For the systems with an order smaller than forth, a sufficient and necessary condition to assure no
overshoot is presented; while for those with a higher order, a method to derive sufficient conditions is proposed. The control
law is applied to both zero and non-zero initial conditions, and moreover does not require the reference to be a step signal.
Two simulation examples demonstrate the effectiveness of the control law.