Skin friction is one of the most important variables to determine in fluid mechanics. A recently proposed method to measure skin friction using laser interferometry is nonintrusive, and is known to have several advantages over the existing methods. The main focus of this research is given on the set-up of Laser Interferometer Skin Friction meter(LISF) and its validation. For validation of LISF, measurement of skin friction in a transitional and turbulent boundary layer over a finite length flat plate is carried out. The velocity profiles in the boundary layer is also measured by using hot-wire anemometer system. The skin friction coefficients from LISF and those deduced from the Clauser``s plot of the velocity profile are compared.