Software Requirements
by Karl E. Wiegers
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (26 August, 1999)
list price: $34.99
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Editorial Review

"Requirements" are essential for creating successful software because they let users and developers agree on what features will be delivered in new systems. Karl Wiegers's Software Requirements shows you how to define and get more out of software requirements with dozens of "best practices" and tips that make this book a valuable resource for both software project managers and developers.

The book's commonsense approach provides exemplary project management skills tailored to gathering (and refining, implementing, and eventually tracking) software requirements. While the book often cites recent software engineering studies, the focus always returns to practical management techniques. A case study for a chemical tracking application frames the book, and most chapters begin with anecdotes that demonstrate situations in which users and developers misunderstand each other about a software project's ultimate goals. (If you've ever worked in the field, these stories will probably sound all too familiar.)

This book offers hope, though, for improving your software design process, with dozens of tips on getting better design input from your customers and then using these requirements to generate a variety of design documents. There are numerous templates and sample documents too--a big help for the busy software manager.

Several standout sections cover negotiating difficult steps in the process, particularly how to manage shifting requirements as projects move forward and keep the various users and stakeholders content throughout the software process. Late in the book, the author surveys today's software management tools and shows how to pick the right ones for your organization.

Anchored by the author's considerable experience and software engineering expertise, this jargon-free and practical guide to software requirements can definitely give you the edge in managing software projects more efficiently. --Richard Dragan

Topics covered: software requirements specifications (SRS); business and user requirements; risk management; the requirements process; sample documents and templates; requirements development: elicitation, analysis, specification, and verification; rights and responsibilities for software customers; best practices; project management tips; process assessment and improvement; types of users; product champions; use cases and other diagrams; tips for prototyping; managing requirements change; change centered boards (CCBs); evaluating and using requirements tools; requirements traceability matrix; impact analysis. ... Read more

Reviews (29)

Not very good for specification and techniques
This book very good reading about human requirements process. This book clearly LIMITED in that it covers requirements process mostly for non-critical business toy software.
Requirements analysis and specification techniques are not covered in sufficient details, especially old classic methods - for that I would recommend "Software Requirements" by Alan M. Davis. Wiegers completely skipped FORMAL METHODS which makes this book only 50% useful. Hey there is things like Z-language and method! Have you heard about them ?! This book is recommended as reading by SWEBOK and IEEE CSDP program so I have to give it one additional point.

Best Practices in Requirements Engineering. Must-Have.
How do you know if you have good software requirements? Some use the simple technique of checking if the requirements definition is complete, clear, and consistent. Every book on requirements engineering has some variation of this theme and in this book, you are advised to check if the requirements statement is complete, correct, feasible, necessary, prioritized, unambiguous, and verifiable.

If you haven't used techniques like this one before, it is definitely a good idea to pick up a solid book like this one on the best practices in requirements engineering. There are several good books in the market on the topic of software requirements and this is one of the best ones out there.

I found three other books that complement this one - Requirements Engineering by Kotonya and Sommerville (used more as a textbook), Managing Software Requirements by Leffingwell and Widrig (part of the Object Technology Series), and Effective Requirements Practices by Ralph R. Young (comes with a CD-ROM).

If you are a project manager, business analyst or anyone that has a lot to lose because of bad requirements, you will benefit tremendously from this current book being reviewed. The book is divided into three parts - What and Why, Development, and Management of Software Requirements. The part names are self explanatory. This book is very readable and is full of best practices that stand true to their name!

The unique things about this book - in chapter 2, the author outlines the Requirements Bill of Rights for Software Customers and the Requirements Bill of Responsibilities for Software Customers. When I first read this, I felt like every customer has to read this before attempting a software project. Chapter 10 has an excellent description of different diagrams useful in requirements documentation - DFD (data flow diagram), ERD (entity-relationship diagram), STD (state transition diagram), dialog map, and class diagrams. I think all books on software requirements should ideally have some variation of these topics.

Important topics like traceability are given an excellent treatment in this book but the only thing lacking is how to manage requirements in software processes involving iterations (the mainstay of the Rational Unified Process and other newer software development methodologies). There are only 13 pages devoted to this topic and even then it is indirect - Chapter 12: Risk Reduction Through Prototyping.

Otherwise, I have no complaints about this book and I believe that it is a basic to intermediate in level (definitely not an advanced book). Overall, I believe it indeed captures the best practices in the field of requirements engineering. It is also a good price, so enjoy!

Great practical advice on requirements
I'm somewhat of a software engineering/process geek.I find the process of creating a product more interesting than the actual code these days (though I like to code).Wiegers' book is THE bible, in my opinion, for eliciting and maintaining requirements.

He covers the issues involved in gathering requirements and keeping them up to date, often offering multiple ways to resolve issues.Wiegers, unlike many academic oriented books, fully acknowledges the political and cultural difficulties that arise when trying to institute a requirements program.Much of his advice is practical and he gives good pointers on the highst ROI practices, so you can inject a little at a time, rather than trying to change culture wholesale.

I'd give a 4.5 out of 5 if I could, due only to the "Next Steps" sections at the end of each chapter. The "Next Steps" are supposedly be small steps you can take to start using the advice Wiegers offers.Unfortunately, most of the steps start with "Take a page/chapter from your current requirements document...."I've worked at few companies that even have a requirements document, so I'm not sure how useful the "Next Steps" really are.

But, that complaint aside, this book is the best combination of reference information for techniques and advice on how to use them on the job. ... Read more

Isbn: 0735606315
Subjects:  1. Computer Bks - Languages / Programming    2. Computer Books: General    3. Computer software    4. Computers    5. Development    6. Programming - General    7. Programming - Software Development    8. Software Development    9. Computers / Programming / General   

Extreme Programming Explained: Embrace Change
by Kent Beck
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (05 October, 1999)
list price: $28.95 -- our price: $19.11
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Editorial Review

Kent Beck's eXtreme Programming eXplained provides an intriguing high-level overview of the author's Extreme Programming (XP) software development methodology. Written for IS managers, project leaders, or programmers, this guide provides a glimpse at the principles behind XP and its potential advantages for small- to mid-size software development teams.

The book intends to describe what XP is, its guiding principles, and how it works. Simply written, the book avoids case studies and concrete details in demonstrating the efficacy of XP. Instead, it demonstrates how XP relies on simplicity, unit testing, programming in pairs, communal ownership of code, and customer input on software to motivate code improvement during the development process. As the author notes, these principles are not new, but when they're combined their synergy fosters a new and arguably better way to build and maintain software. Throughout the book, the author presents and explains these principles, such as "rapid feedback" and "play to win," which form the basis of XP.

Generally speaking, XP changes the way programmers work. The book is good at delineating new roles for programmers and managers who Beck calls "coaches." The most striking characteristic of XP is that programmers work in pairs, and that testing is an intrinsic part of the coding process. In a later section, the author even shows where XP works and where it doesn't and offers suggestions for migrating teams and organizations over to the XP process.

In the afterword, the author recounts the experiences that led him to develop and refine XP, an insightful section that should inspire any organization to adopt XP. This book serves as a useful introduction to the philosophy and practice of XP for the manager or programmer who wants a potentially better way to build software. --Richard Dragan

Topics covered: Extreme Programming (XP) software methodology, principles, XP team roles, facilities design, testing, refactoring, the XP software lifecycle, and adopting XP. ... Read more

Reviews (119)

not found - the silver bullet
Maybe I'm too cynical because I never got to work for the successful, whiz-kid companies; Maybe this book wasn't written for me!

This book reminds me of Jacobsen's "Use Cases" book of the 1990s. 'Use Cases' was all the rage but after several years, we slowly learned the truth: Uses Cases does not deal with the architecture - a necessary and good foundation for any piece of software.
Similarly, this book seems to be spotlighting Testing and taking it to extremes.

'the test plan is the design doc'
Not True. The design doc encapsulates wisdom and insight
a picture that accurately describes the interactions of the lower level software components is worth a thousand lines of code-reading.

Also present is an evangelistic fervor that reminds me of the rah-rah eighties' bestseller, "In Search Of Excellence" by Peters and Waterman. (Many people have since noted that most of the spotlighted companies of that book are bankrupt twenty five years later).

- in a room full of people with a bully supervisor (as I experienced in my last job at a major telco) innovation or good work is largely absent.

- deploy daily - are you kidding?
to run through the hundreds of test cases in a large application takes several hours if not days. Not all testing can be automated.

- I have found the principle of "baby steps", one of the principles in the book, most useful in my career - it is the basis for prototyping iteratively. However I heard it described in 1997 at a pep talk at MCI that the VP of our department gave to us. So I dont know who stole it from whom!

Lastly, I noted that the term 'XP' was used throughout the book, and the back cover has a blurb from an M$ architect. Was it simply coincidence that Windows shares the same name for its XP release? I wondered if M$ had sponsored part of the book as good advertising for Windows XP! :)

Embrace Change Again
In Kent Beck's first edition he articulated a manifesto for lightweight methodologies. These methods today are referred to as Agile Methodologies; which Extreme Programming is only one.

The Second Edition builds on the first edition but has a distinctly different tone. In the first book XP was a described as 12 practices that may or may not have been new but the aggregation of the 12 brought together something that as whole changed the way many people wrote software. In this book more emphasis is placed on the whys behind the practices which include values and principals. For example, here is a quote from the book, "Values bring purpose to practices". Kent goes on to say that if he told you to follow practices blindly some people would but most people want to know why you might do a practice. Here is where the values and principals come in to give you the reasoning why a practice is useful. Overall given the renewed emphasis on values, principals, and practices I thought the book itself was much more approachable than the first edition which hopefully will encourage the people who had been on the fence to try out the practices on their next project.

Quick and Solid Intro to XP
Even if you don't plan on adopting XP, this is worth a read.It's concise, reads quickly and has a nice table of contents.

The chapter on the four variables in projects was one of my favorites.It will give you a clue what to say next time everything needs to be done yesterday.The chapter on test first development was also useful and I've had great success with its techniques.

This book is worth a read even if you're initially turned off by XP.Even though it's on a specific development strategy, much of the information is useful everywhere.
... Read more

Isbn: 0201616416
Subjects:  1. Computer Bks - Languages / Programming    2. Computer Books: Languages    3. Computer software    4. Computers    5. Development    6. Programming - General    7. Programming - Software Development    8. Programming Languages - General    9. Software Development    10. eXtreme programming    11. Computers / Programming / General   

Rapid Development
by Steve McConnell
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (02 July, 1996)
list price: $35.00 -- our price: $23.10
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Editorial Review

I can hear some of you exclaiming, "How can you possibly recommend a book about software scheduling published by Microsoft Press and written by a consultant to Microsoft?!" Well, put aside any preconceived biases. This is a tremendous book on effective scheduling software development, and it drinks deeply from the wisdom of all the classics in the field such as Brook's Mythical Man Month -- and is likely well-informed by McConnell's experiences, good and bad, in Redmond.

The nine page section entitled "Classic Mistakes Enumerated" is alone worth the price of admission and should be required reading for all developers, leads, and managers. Here are some types of the 36 classic mistakes that McConnell describes in detail:

• People Related Mistakes
  • Heroics
  • Adding people to a late project
  • Politics placed over substance (etc.)
  
  
• Process Related Mistakes
  • Abandonment of planning under pressure
  • Planning to catch up later
  • "Code-like-hell" programming (etc.)
  
  
• Technology Related Mistakes
  • Silver-Bullet syndrome
  • Overestimating savings from new tools or methods
  • Switching tools in the middle of a project (etc.)

I suspect that if you've ever been involved in software development, you winced after reading each of these nine points. And you will learn a great deal from the remaining 640 pages about concrete solutions.

My only substantive gripe: cheesy Powerpoint graphics. Nonetheless, this book is Very Highly Recommended. ... Read more

Reviews (97)

Yes, yes and more yes
If you do software project management i'd bet you would benefit pretty greatly from either having its contents under your belt or at least near your fingertips when you need it.

Great stuff - truely awesome.

Old but classic, still required reading
If you buy this book, keep in mind it was written in 1996.Despite that, it is a great book and still relevant!

Those interested in XP are referred to the author's website.He has published a white paper there.

One request:Mr. McConnell, please update this book!We need an update with more on risk and schedules, agile processes, teamwork, productivity tools, fresh case studies, etc.

STILL top notch advice, 8 years later
It never ceases to amaze me how "hard" it seems to be to deliver a software project in on time...The truth is, it's NOT hard (when you follow the best practices outlined in this book).I've been searching for a book to back up my experience and common sense approach to software development and I found it!Now I'm just depressed that the problems I see happening every day were documented in 1996 as "Classic Mistakes", and they're as common today as ever.This is such a great read for anyone of any level of responsibility for software projects - from the CIO to the Programmer.You CAN develop great software, it CAN be developed on time and on budget, and your developers CAN truly enjoy their jobs during the development process.You just have to commit to doing it right - and this book explains what's "right" and what's "wrong". ... Read more

Isbn: 1556159005
Subjects:  1. Computer Bks - Languages / Programming    2. Computer Books: General    3. Computer software    4. Computers    5. Development    6. Programming - Software Development    7. Software Development    8. Computers / Programming / Software Development   

Testing Computer Software, 2nd Edition
by CemKaner, JackFalk, Hung Q.Nguyen
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (12 April, 1999)
list price: $55.00 -- our price: $46.16
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Editorial Review

The original printing of Testing Computer Software set the standard for the emerging field of test engineering with a full tour of the state of the art in managing the testing process. The reissued text makes this classic out-of-print text available once again. Though it relies heavily on older examples (including MS-DOS) and has not been updated, this text is still a worthwhile resource for practical-minded advice on the realities of testing.

The best thing about Testing Computer Software is its practical point-by-point guide to everyday software testing, from creating a test plan, to writing effective bug reports, to working with programming staff and management to fix bugs.

That said, this book's early frame of reference shows how far we've come. (The book relies heavily on MS-DOS examples and features some truly embarrassing anachronisms, including the mention of testing dot-matrix printers and even EGA/VGA video modes.) The bibliography stops at sources from 1992 and features many references from the 1980s. Nowadays, automated software testing tools are the staple of any testing strategy. This book even advocates a wait-and-see approach to the "new" Microsoft Test.

These limitations aside, there is still a good deal to mine here. Much of the approach to testing is still very valid for any aspiring or working test engineer. Clearly, readers of the first edition will have little reason to upgrade to this second edition, but for anyone who appreciates a "classic" (and indeed a pioneering) text in the field of software testing, it's good to have Testing Computer Software in print again. --Richard Dragan

Topics covered: test case design, test planning, project lifecycle overview, software errors, boundary conditions, bug reports, regression testing, black box testing, software quality and reliability, managing test teams, printer testing, internationalization, and managing legal risk. ... Read more

Reviews (29)

Awesome book!
A wonderful book for both the software testing novice and the experienced tester - well worth buying!!

Excellent orientation for new test professionals
When I first read this book over eight years ago I was less than enthusiastic.At the time I felt that the approach was not rigorous enough.Over time I came to appreciate the pragmatism and how the approach in this book reflects the realities of software testing instead of a rigid, purist view as an unattainable ideal.

Everything the new or intermediate test professional needs to know is covered.The practices and techniques provided will foster sound QA practices and will step you through developing test strategies, and from those, developing and executing test cases.These are the real essence of testing, and this book covers them exceptionally well.

I like the coverage of testing systems and artifacts that are not software - documentation, hardware, and localization testing advice shows that testing is not limited to software.As importantly, the chapter on legal consequences of software defects will show testing in a perspective that is often overlooked, even by seasoned test professionals.

If you are new to software testing, or have some experience, but no formal training, this book will provide you with the right way to approach software testing, and will give insights that would take years to learn on your own.

Great reference for beginner or intermediate
This book contains clear explanations of testing terms and processes. Want a job testing? read this book. You will know what your prospective boss is talking about and be able to meaningfully contribute to the team. There was one reviewer complaining about the author's constant use of 'her' and 'she' throughout the book. When you read the book, you will notice that the author actually alternates consistently between female and male pronouns. Even if this wasn't the case, get over it. Maybe get an introductory psych book or go on Dr. Phil to try to overcome your insecurities and inferiority complex around women. You'll be better off for it. ... Read more

Isbn: 0471358460
Subjects:  1. Computer Bks - Languages / Programming    2. Computer Science    3. Programming - Software Development    4. Science/Mathematics    5. Computers / Programming / Software Development    6. Software engineering   

The Mythical Man-Month: Essays on Software Engineering, 20thAnniversary Edition
by Frederick P. Brooks
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (02 August, 1995)
list price: $34.99 -- our price: $23.09
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Editorial Review

The classic book on the human elements of software engineering. Software tools and development environments may have changed in the 21 years since the first edition of this book, but the peculiarly nonlinear economies of scale in collaborative work and the nature of individuals and groups has not changed an epsilon.If you write code or depend upon those who do, get this book as soon as possible -- from Amazon.com Books, your library, or anyone else. You (and/or your colleagues) will be forever grateful. Very Highest Recommendation. ... Read more

Reviews (82)

Key concepts for project managers
This is an old book full of good concepts. Its value is not in the examples but on the concepts presented. The reader should focus on the concepts.

Some of the great qualities I found in this book:

- It is compact. Each chapter develops a major idea or concept in full.

- It is inspirational ( I think as you read it, your brain is activated in such a way that you will have ideas about your projects)

- It introduces a solid perspective on the value and impact of intelligence and skill in building or designing a product/system.

- It is applicable to many situations and not only to software projects. (if we could get the internal story of projects done by companies like GM, Ford, Toyota, Daimler Chrysler, Accenture, IBM we probably would find several examples for many of the ideas and concepts presented in the book)

The examples are old, but if you cannot deal with this, it is better to look for another book. One day you may come back and enjoy it.

Read it every 5 years...
I read this book about 1992, when I was just starting my career in software engineering.At the time, I didn't appreciate the book.I struggled through it, but frankly, didn't get much out of it because I was constantly saying to myself, "This book is ancient... what does IBM's OS/360 have to do with the world today?"

Fast forward to 2 years ago...I now had a lot more experience under my belt, and came across this book looking for material on the concept of "Conceptual Integrity" in architectural design.Now that I had the experience to 'relate' to this book, I got so much more out of it!This book isn't so much about the software part of software engineering as it is about the human element.If you are a programmer with several years of experience, or if you are a manager on a growing software project, you will get a lot out of this book.

I made a resolution to myself at that time to read this book once every 5 years...both to get new material out of it, and to provide some kind of 'reflection' on what I have seen in my career in those past 5 years.

So much better than "Code Complete" I can't believe it.
First if you are comparing "Code Complete" a book from MS which has yet to release a product that was complete, it is difficult to stop laughing.

Every new middle manager should read this book, and stop trying to ignore 50 years of experience. Oh yeah, we live in internet time, but we still can't make a project deadline, because human's haven't evolved much in the last 100 years. Yes extreme programming has its place. It's the mini team within the 7 person teams that Brooks outlines.

But its the communication issues within a project that kill bigger teams. Yes some programs and projects don't need this full scale project team. But try to write the flight control software for a modern jet, and you'd better be paying attention to the lessons in this book.

Yet managers still don't learn, go find "Programming Disasters" and see some examples of millions of dollars spent and no working project. People believe that there is some silver bullet instead of trying to work within the framework that they have. No one thinks that gravity doesn't apply to them for very long and neither will they think that communication issues don't apply once they see the disaster that unfolds. Usually though the money has been spent and the company folds/the project dies.

So pay attention! If you want "chief programmers" train them! It's not rocket science. The military trains generals and sargents with regularity, we can train our leaders if we care. To do it on the cheap well, we can see what happens when we try it. ... Read more

Isbn: 0201835959
Subjects:  1. Computer Bks - Languages / Programming    2. Computer Books: General    3. Computer Engineering    4. Computers    5. Microprocessors    6. Programming - Software Development    7. Software Engineering    8. Computers / Programming / Software Development   

Peopleware : Productive Projects and Teams, 2nd Ed.
by Tom Demarco, Timothy Lister
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (01 February, 1999)
list price: $33.95 -- our price: $33.95
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Editorial Review

Peopleware asserts that most software development projects fail because of failures within the team running them. This strikingly clear, direct book is written for software development-team leaders and managers, but it's filled with enough commonsense wisdom to appeal to anyone working in technology. Authors Tom DeMarco and Timothy Lister include plenty of illustrative, often amusing anecdotes; their writing is light, conversational, and filled with equal portions of humor and wisdom, and there is a refreshing absence of "new age" terms and multistep programs. The advice is presented straightforwardly and ranges from simple issues of prioritization to complex ways of engendering harmony and productivity in your team. Peopleware is a short read that delivers more than many books on the subject twice its size. ... Read more

Reviews (49)

Guidance on Management, Leadership, and Career Outlook
Lister and Demarco capture in this text the essence of why so many projects and initiatives fail across corporate landscapes - communication, planning, structure, and leadership.Most are lacking in today's fast-paced environments, whether driven by technology or not.

While the text has a bent for software development, the arguements and suggestions are valid across a wide number of management and project planning scenarios.Even if you're not able to implement their theories in your own organization, reading of the case studies and best practices can be therapeutic to see how "someone actually gets it."I have a photo-copy of one of the pages that addresses "burnout" on my cubicle wall.I often go back and re-read it to focus, breathe deeply, and plod along.

This book is HIGHLY recommended for personal reading, distribution to a team, or to your "management" at work.Very thought provoking and accessible.

A must read for software leaders
In his 25th Anniversary Edition of "Mythical Man-Month", Fred Brooks points to PeopleWare as the influential IS book of the 1980's, and says that it was influential for the same reason MMM was:The primary challenges of software development are social, not technical.Companies that forget this are setting themselves up for failure.

If you've seen dilbert style software "management" and want to find a better way, I can't recommend this book more strongly.If you read it, you'll want to find a way to get your superiors to read it as well.

In my experience, a great deal of so-called "management" is really shoft-term optimization: "IF we can eliminate X benefit we can save $Y per year!" and cost control.DeMarco and Lister point out that the real goal is productivity, and suggest numerous ways to treat employees as people to get increased productivity, as opposed to treating them as inhuman "Resources" and managing by spreadsheet.

One story from the book:In my early years as a developer, I was privileged to work on a project managed by Sharon Weinberg, now president of the Codd and Date Consulting Group.She was a walking example of much of what I now think of as enlightened management.One snowy day, I dragged msyelf out of a sickbed to pull together our shaky system for a user demo.Sharon came in and found me propped up at a console.She disappeared and came back a few minutes later with a container of soup.After she'd poured it into me and buoued up my spirits, I asked her hwo she found time to for such things with all the management work she had to do.She game me her patented grin and said "Tim, this _IS_ management!" - TDM

This book is all about the manager's role:Not to make people work, but to make it possible for people to work. How to do that, how teams jell, etc.It's a pleasure to read and it's ... right.And in a field full of false promises, snake oil, and worthless statistics, that's saying something.

Great book, captures office politics to a tee.
This book is well worth reading for both low level employees and managers.Although directed at the software development community, the book presents many ideas which would be useful in a wide range of companies.

It's amazing how many of the situations described in this book are familiar, or are at least situations that I could easily imagine occurring in the office work environment.

Yes, the book was written quite a while ago, but I think it's still very relevant today.Highly recommended reading, and enjoyable too.The authors really have a sense of humor. ... Read more

Isbn: 0932633439
Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Entrepreneurship    5. Human Resources & Personnel Management    6. Management    7. Management - General    8. Organizational Behavior    9. Organizational effectiveness    10. Project management    11. Computer software   

The Deadline: A Novel About Project Management
by Tom Demarco
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (01 June, 1997)
list price: $24.95 -- our price: $24.95
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Reviews (49)

Not the author's best (includes spoilers)
While I greatly enjoyed DeMarco's non-fiction books "Peopleware" and "Slack", I felt this attempt at a novel was weak.

*** spoiler warning ***

Tompkins, the main character, has supposedly been chosen for his role in this novel because he is an gifted, experienced manager. Yet pretty much every chapter is a lesson he learns by screwing up.Perhaps I would have found it more palatable if the character was a newly-promoted manager, who knew he was ignorant.

In the end, comes the revelation that, in spite of all the mistakes, he is an excellent manager because he *cares* about people.I don't see how this shows.Among the management problems he faces is reporting to a difficult supervisor up the chain, and the solution to this problem is essentially to have the man poisoned and sent to the hospital! Can you say cognitive dissonance?

An easy read? Sure, but where's the substance?
Most other reviewers of this book claim that it is an easy read. I agree, but is "easy to read" enough to recommend this book? I don't have time for "an easy read" with little value. DeMarco gives us laundry lists of project management tips that most of us already know. I could have saved myself a bunch of time if I had simply read the main character's journal entries at the end of each chapter and skipped the "novel" part.

Speaking of "the novel part," DeMarco doesn't pull off the combination novel/business volume well. His fictional examples were too far from reality to be useful or compelling for me. At the same time, the examples weren't far enough from reality to accomplish the goals he set out in the Preface. In the Preface, DeMarco wrote that he patterned the style of the book after the style of George Gamow, a University of Colorado physicist of the 1930's. As a method of instruction about physics, Gamow wrote a series of essays in which a fictional Mr. Tompkins wakes up in alternate universes where fundamental physical constants are dramatically changed. This vehicle worked for Gamov's objective physical constants, but it falls short in the VERY subjective world DeMarco paints for us.

My last complaint about this book is the advertisement it contains for iThink software. It begins in chapter 10, when Tompkins meets a man who uses iThink to create a model of project management "hunches." We are shown a screen shot of what looks like a state machine diagram with rectangles, circles and arrows going this way and that between them. Tompkins, the main character, looks at the screen and says, "It looks pretty much like what's going on inside me when I try to figure out how well the team will perform." Huh? Is Tompkins a man or a machine? I just don't buy it. What are we being sold here?

Don't let the high marks from other reviewers fool you. This book does not have high value. If what you really want is "an easy read," find yourself a decent novel. If what you really want is a book about project management, try the books other reviewers have recommended.

A novel of IT project management per Goldratt's Goal
This is perhaps the only management novel for IT.In the vein of "the Goal" by Goldratt, Tom DeMarco preaches the gospel of good project management.The ideas on staffing, conflict resolution and managing to deadlines are very helpful.The challenge is that the novel format could and should provide insight into the conflicts dealing with situations that are not ideal.In reality, we are left with great ideas, but a lost opportunity on the difficulties of implementing them. ... Read more

Isbn: 0932633390
Sales Rank: 50203
Subjects:  1. Business / Economics / Finance    2. Didactic fiction    3. Fiction    4. General    5. Management - General    6. Popular American Fiction    7. Project Management    8. Business & Economics    9. Management   

Software Project Survival Guide
by Steve C McConnell
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (14 November, 1997)
list price: $24.99 -- our price: $16.49
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Reviews (53)

Excellent Intro/Refresh for PMs
I will not dive into what is either good or bad about this book.

The reason I am giving 5 stars is because the book actually achieves its goal to those who read it.

The reader who gave two stars has actually missed the point of the book. It is not about planning. It is about planning _and_ managing. Successful execution of the right plan is the main point of the book.

Trivial things, you say? Yes, most of the concepts in the book are trivial (yet, very useful when organized nicely and in ready-to-use manner) Nevertheless, again and again I see projects that fail because of the wrong management. In fact, I would dare to say that all projects that failed in front of my eyes (and there were enough failed projects in my life) are due to mostly management issues: lack of vision, disconnection from team, "planned" overtime, unrealistic schedules due to pressure from upper management etc.

Inability to recognize management problem quickly leads to catastrophic results for mid-size companies and this books may prevent this for those who care.

Must Have
Everyone on the software project needs to own and read and understand this book, especially management!They also need to do the same with the book "Facts and Fallacies of Software Engineering".Then maybe the project will have a chance.

Good intro / light reading
Good intro / light reading

McConnell's "Software Project Survival Guide" (SPSG) is a good intro to application development projects using the phased-release waterfall methodology. Unlike other software engineering overviews, he does not assume that his audience is sold on process in general, so he spends some time arguing and presenting facts and stats to support structured project management and software development.

The author presents most of the integral concepts of the discipline and maintains a companion website with templates and checklists. He shares his experience on what development managers should expect from their developers, testers, corporate culture and customers. I read SPSG when it first came out and recently completed it again for a refresh. Although the book is now six years old, the material is still relevant because of the level at which it is presented, even in today's landscape of customized COTS and web services applications.

It gets four stars rather than five because in the last third of the book he takes arbitrary dives into detail before he exhausts the breadth of the subject. For instance, he only once refers in passing to regression-testing and never mentions the concept of SDLC environments, yet offers up formulas for estimating defects using pooling and seeding. Chapters seem to get shorter as if he was in a hurry to finish. As SPSG is relatively short at 250 pages, it seems the author could have easily included another 50 pages to hit those missed topics at a high-level.

SPSG is great for the new manager but is less useful for the experienced manager or as a reference. Fortunately, he includes an annotated bibliography on resources that provide more detail. ... Read more

Isbn: 1572316217
Sales Rank: 8787
Subjects:  1. Computer Bks - Languages / Programming    2. Computer Books: General    3. Computer Programming Management    4. Computer software    5. Computers    6. Development    7. Management    8. Management - General    9. Programming - Software Development    10. Programming Languages - General    11. Computers / Programming / Software Development   

Code Complete
by Steve McConnell
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (14 May, 1993)
list price: $35.00 -- our price: $23.10
(price subject to change: see help)
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Editorial Review

Believed by many of our customers to be the best practical guide to writing commercial software, and Highly Recommended. ... Read more

Reviews (145)

The Bible for the programmer
Steve McConnel has not simply written a book. He has collected, sorted and edited all relevant chapters of a tremendous number of sources (books, out of print magazines, research papers, etc.) to build the ultimate Bible for the Programmer. If you are writing code, that's your book! (Second Edition available)

Must read for professional programmers
If you've had to struggle through maintaining code written
by others who haven't a clue about how to name functions
or variables, this book is a great way to point them in
the right direction.I'm a Computer Science major who
has programmed professionally for 20 years, and this book
really polished my skills.If Steve's guidelines are followed,
readable code is the result that requires very few comments
to be understandable.This book was strongly recommended
reading at my previous job and rightly so.

Professional programmers style guide
If you want to write code for a living, read this book. The advice can be applied and is valid across languages. This book you will help you become a valuable member of the code team by teaching the way to write solid code, that will be easy to extend and maintain.

If you are a lead I would suggest Rapid Development by the same author. These books will pay for themselves many times over.

... Read more

Isbn: 1556154844
Subjects:  1. Computer Bks - Languages / Programming    2. Computer Books: Languages    3. Computer software    4. Computers    5. Development    6. Handbooks, manuals, etc    7. Microcomputer Networks    8. Programming - Software Development    9. Programming Languages - General    10. Computers / Programming / Software Development   

Writing Solid Code: Microsoft's Techniques for Developing Bug-Free C Programs (Microsoft Programming Series)
by Steve Maguire
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (01 May, 1993)
list price: $24.95
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Editorial Review

Any programmer worth their silicon knows that it is wiser to invest time preventing bugs from hatching than to try to exterminate them afterwards. And this is one of the best books for developing a proactive attitude towards electronic entomology. Follow Maguire's advice, and your testers, supervisors and customers will love you. Recommended. ... Read more

Reviews (36)

Please ignore previous negative reviews
I was shocked to see this book get some negative reviews. Those that blasted Microsoft missed the point. This book provides invaluable advice in a quick read. For example, "If you have to look it up, the code is not obvious," or, "If you find yourself designing a function so that it returns an error, stop and ask yourself whether there's any way you can redfined the function to eliminate the error condition." This is the book that convinced me to single-step all my code. The heuristics on proactive bug prevention, which are summarized in the appendix by the way, will save your team time and let you move on to adding features rather than fighting fires.

Just look at the publishing date.
You are looking at a 10-year-old book with a bunch of green screens on the cover. What more can I say. I bought it in preparation for an interview with Microsoft. I did not find it helpful, except for a few pages that do help understand Microsoft culture (but you can learn much more about that on the net).

So many new things have appeared (and/or became popular) since the book has been published. OOAD, C++, Java, RUP, XP, design patterns, to name a few. It puzzles me that Microsoft still recommends this book.

Should be mandatory for every professional programmer
This is one of the best books on programming ever written.Maguire concentrates on how to eradicate bugs early in the cycle.At first what he says seems so simple.But these ideas are so powerful, and so well presented, that I'd give a copy to every programmer I know if I could afford to.

Don't worry that his examples are in C.The ideas transcend the source language.If half of the programmers followed half of his suggestions half of the time, the software industry would undergo a revolution in quality.There is no silver bullet, but these suggestions are so practical.It's just a matter of adopting a few good habbits.

This book will be a classic.Scratch that.It *is* a classic.

If you're a programmer, it belongs on your shelf beside _Programming Pearls_, _Code Complete_, and Knuth. ... Read more

Isbn: 1556155514
Subjects:  1. C (Computer program language)    2. C (Programming Language)    3. Computer Bks - Languages / Programming    4. Computer Books: Languages    5. Computer Programming    6. Computer software    7. Development    8. Programming - General    9. Programming - Software Development    10. Programming Languages - General   

Software Engineering Classics
by Steve Maguire, Jim McCarthy, Steve McConnell
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (01 October, 1998)
list price: $69.99
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Editorial Review

This three-book set includes Steve Maguire's Debugging the Development Process, Jim McCarthy's Dynamics of Software Development, and Steve McConnell's Software Project Survival Guide. Together, these books convey the field knowledge of three experienced development-team leaders. Anyone planning to participate in a software project, particularly as a manager, should read these books.

Debugging the Development Process shows how Microsoft goes about creating, writing, testing, and improving products. Maguire always keeps one eye on the product's purpose--as well as the purpose of the company--as he offers valuable advice on how to design and build software products that are efficient in terms of time and money. The book is full of design philosophy, including entertaining passages on conflicts between marketing people and developers. (The LAYOFF parable, the highly ominous Excel macro that almost was, is amusing).

Dynamics of Software Development explores the crazy mix of creativity, intelligence, technical skill, and general humanity that makes up a software development team. Such groups require special handling in order for them to yield good products. McCarthy offers a bromide-rich explanation of techniques he's used (again, at Microsoft) to hire bright people, motivate them, stave off burnout, and still get the product out the door on time. His advice is sound and should prove invaluable--even if your development team consists of one person.

Because software development is inherently complex and developers often must attempt to satisfy shifting goals, even successful, well-managed software projects have a death-march aspect to them. Software Project Survival Guide explains what you can do to make building software enjoyable and rewarding, not just survivable. McConnell goes heavy on hints, tips, and checklists of things you can implement now to create a better development team. --David Wall ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Three great guides for a Project Manager
Technical books are often preachy.'This is the ONLY way to this.You've been doing this wrong ALL your life.'We've all read one of those.These three books are like gentle friends discussing what one might need/want to do to survive successfully through a software project.My favorite book out of the trio is the Survival Guide.It has all sorts of checklists I have been able to modify for use in my projects.Additional support/tools is/are offered through the author's website.I like the 'contingency planning' aspect that this book offers, and a lot of others miss. A great read overall.I didn't sleep at all through this one. ;)

Excellent mental fodder for Project Managers/Leads
Anyone aspiring to be (or in the current position of) project lead or project manager should get this set.These help you understand, accept,and shape to your advantage many of the "soft", human,non-technical factors in software development.

Also - be sure and get"Code Complete" - it is a comprehensive collection (andinterpretation) of many of the great ideas from notable gurus such asYourdon/DeMarco/Constantine, Kernigan & Richie, Dijkstra, Meyer, etc.etc. (plz excuse the spelling errors!)Every programmer needs a copy of"Code Complete" and the companion, "Writing SolidCode". Software Standards and QA groups should use these texts asreferences and standards.

Three EXCELLENT software development books... all are a MUST
I have read all three of Steve's books, and they ALL are worth ten times their price!

If you are SERIOUS about making software a career, buy this set! ... Read more

Isbn: 0735605971
Subjects:  1. Bibliography    2. Computer Bks - Languages / Programming    3. Computer Books: General    4. Computers    5. Programming - General    6. Programming - Software Development    7. Programming Languages - General    8. Software Engineering   

Java Modeling In Color With UML: Enterprise Components and Process
by Peter Coad, Eric Lefebvre, Jeff De Luca
Average Customer Review:
Textbook Binding (15 June, 1999)
list price: $49.99
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Editorial Review

Java Modeling in Color with UML--printed in color--provides four UML "archetypes" for common entities in business modeling. These have rather abstract names like the moment-interval. Each archetype is assigned a different color in UML. The book uses these four archetypes to model 61 domain-specific business components for manufacturing (including suppliers and inventory control), facilities management, sales, employees, and organizations, plus accounting and document management.

Similar in spirit to software-design patterns, these UML components are catalogued with short prose descriptions and illustrated with UML. The detail here is often impressive, though the type is necessarily small. (Fortunately, the CD-ROM contains all these diagrams--including Java source code--for use within your own designs.) The authors--all experts in UML--have done the heavy lifting here. The idea is to incorporate these components within your own projects.

Besides a catalog of expert components, this book describes the authors' Feature-Driven Development (FDD) software-design process. (While there is one UML standard, design processes still proliferate.) FDD touts good productivity with a minimum of overhead. The authors argue that it can be used productively within today's ever-shorter business cycles.

In all, this book features much more than just color-enhanced UML. It provides a foundation of UML (and Java classes on the CD-ROM) that can model most business problems. If you design with UML, you can surely benefit from this intelligent and visually savvy text. --Richard Dragan ... Read more

Reviews (22)

Ignore the Java
Though "Java" is in the title, this book is not limited to Java, and, indeed, there are no Java code examples.Usage of UML, however is extensive.The book presents an approach to generalizing business components (modelliing patterns - referred to as archetypes) that really helps one to understand the structure and interaction of business components.I use this book as a regular reference.It includes a near-complete business component model through 12 compound components.

Nice concept, but too limited to have staying power
I often test the utility of a book by one of two ways:


1) Did it expand my thinking?

2) Do I constantly refer to it after reading it the first time?


The seminal patterns book, Design Patterns - by Gamma et al, (also known as the GOF) passes both tests.This bookdoes not.

I haven't had much use for this book since purchasing it in 1999.It seems Ironic, somehow, since enjoyed the Togethersoft UML refresher training I received in 2000.
Together/J, supports the UML methodology, and also supports for the these models outlined in the book.

That said, it's worth borrowing a copy to see for yourself. I'd also recommend downloading the current 'whiteboard' edition from Togethersoft.

Jeff Grayson borrowed my copy when he was working on a project to improve VIANT's software development methodology with the Rosetta project.

quite unhappy
The text walkthroughs for each UML diagram (which is most of the book) is practically useless since it mostly only reiterates what one obviously sees on the diagram.I wished at least one set of these diagrams was carefully explained, then I might have gotten something out of it.You can read the book many times as I have, but I don't think it will really help you with addressing one or more modelling challenges you might have. ... Read more

Isbn: 013011510X
Subjects:  1. Computer Bks - Languages / Programming    2. Computer Books And Software    3. Computers    4. Java (Computer program languag    5. Java (Computer program language)    6. Object-Oriented Programming    7. Programming - Object Oriented Programming    8. Programming Languages - CGI, Javascript, Perl, VBScript    9. Programming Languages - Java    10. Software Design    11. UML (Computer science)   

Java Design: Building Better Apps and Applets (2nd Edition)
by Peter Coad, Mark Mayfield, Jonathan Kern
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (01 December, 1998)
list price: $44.99
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Reviews (51)

A really good book.
I read this book a few years ago and I remember it to be
a pretty decent book on design. It doesnt claim to teach you
how to do UML or Java. There are other books specifically for
that. Highly recommended if you want to learn about good design.
Books like these are *rare*. I am not sure what the reviewers who
gave this a low score were looking for in this book.

Best book to get you into OO class-level design concepts
This book was a significant stepping stone in my development in OO thinking.

This book immerses you in the thought process of OO. If you feel that you haven't quite clicked with OO design, and pattern books are leaving you puzzled, then read this - give it a month - then read it again.

The you'll then probably think many of the GoF patterns quite obvious, and wonder what all the fuss was about. For example the Bridge pattern, and the Factory patterns are just implementing plugability concepts of Ch 3.

Has some valuable info, but hard to follow
I just finished reading this book, and still can't describe "in 25 words" what it is about.
I am not sure whether I am not ready for it, or the authors present their material in such a way, but I was put to sleep after about 20 minutes of reading. So I had to read in short sessions, and it took me a while to finish this book. And even though I realize that it does contain some sound design principles and some good ideas, I can't say that I have picked up anything that I am going to use in my coding practice.
It's a bit unusual to me, but it feels like the writing style precluded me from picking up the useful information contained in the book.
I think, I'll give this book another try some time later. ... Read more

Isbn: 0139111816
Sales Rank: 177005
Subjects:  1. Computer Bks - Languages / Programming    2. Computer Books And Software    3. Computer Networks    4. Computer Programming Languages    5. Computers    6. Java (Computer program languag    7. Java (Computer program language)    8. Programming Languages - General    9. Programming Languages - Java   

Complete Idiot's Guide to Project Management with Microsoft Project 2000 (Complete Idiot's Guide)
by RonBlack
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (05 April, 2000)
list price: $18.95
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Reviews (10)

Moving forward
While this book is about using Microsofts Project 2003 Software it contains a wealth of information about leadership and business and street smarts of managing yourself. Many times in life we get so involved we "can't see the forest because of the trees". Boged down in details we lose sight of the big picture. Ron provides clarity that can help anyone move forward with laser like effeciency, if they want. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to live larger, and be more successful. Lee Holden

Best Introduction Yet
I recommend this book to anyone getting started in PM

Why not use this as a text book?
Everything is explained so that is easy to understand, even amusing sometimes. I think a book like this would be perfect for a beginning course on project management. ... Read more

Isbn: 0789722712
Sales Rank: 129931
Subjects:  1. Business Software - General    2. Computer Bks - Other Applications    3. Computer Books: General    4. Computer programs    5. Computers    6. Engineering - Industrial    7. Hardware - Personal Computers - General    8. Industrial Project Management    9. Microcomputer Application Software    10. Microsoft Project    11. Project management    12. Computers / General   

Microsoft Project 2000 Step by Step
by Carl S. Chatfield, Timothy D. Johnson
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (03 June, 2000)
list price: $29.99 -- our price: $19.79
(price subject to change: see help)
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Reviews (14)

Great book for beginners
I understand a lot about project management, but being a developer I had never learned to really use MS Project. I picked up this book and followed it from beginning to end, using the accompanying CD-ROM. I learned more about Project in the few hours it took to go through the book than I thought I would.

I didn't give it 5 stars as there were a few minor errors (maybe 5 total) in the text, or very confusing transitions in the instructions.

I would definitely recommend this to anyone who is either new to Project, or has used it but is not sure of themselves. I'm thinking of going through the book again, just to reiterate the lessons.

All you need for a good start
First of all, this book is for beginners to MS Project. You can read this book chapter by chapter, or you can pick chapters to study since there is no referencing for past chapters or following chapters.
Easy to read and follow the writers. You don't feel lost in this book. One reason for that is the screenshots (perfect) and little pictures besides the text. for example when the book says "click on Go to selected task" you can see the icon of that feature right besides the text. If you never, ever used MS Project that saves time - you don't need to read every screentip.

In overall, you can learn from this book and use it as a reference after that. But after couple projects, I believe you will be an expert of what is written in the book. Just for beginners, as I said, and for the MS Project Core exam.

Teach yourself!
This is a great book to teach yourself more than you ever wanted to know on Microsoft Project 2000.This book takes you through STEP BY STEP on how to use Microsoft Project and gives you great samples on the enclosed CD.If only the instructors in school would have made it this easy!Very easy to follow and use.Highly Recommended. ... Read more

Isbn: 0735609209
Sales Rank: 21507
Subjects:  1. Business Software - General    2. Computer Bks - Other Applications    3. Computer Books: Internet General    4. Computer programs    5. Computers    6. Engineering - Industrial    7. Hardware - Personal Computers - General    8. Industrial Project Management    9. Microcomputer Application Software    10. Microsoft Project    11. Project management    12. Computers / Computer Graphics / IBM-Compatible   

Professional Java Server Programming J2EE Edition
by Subrahmanyam Allamaraju, Andrew Longshaw, Daniel O'Connor, Gordon Van Huizen, Jason Diamond, John Griffin, Mac Holden, Marcus Daley, Mark Wilcox, Richard Browett
Average Customer Review:
Hardcover (September, 2000)
list price: $59.99
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Editorial Review

Sun's Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE), provides all of theAPIs that are needed to build world-class enterprise applications. Written byover a dozen experts, this new edition of Professional Java ServerProgramming provides a truly massive and authoritative guide to the lateststandards and APIs that are available in J2EE. This title is a must-have for anyone who'sserious about enterprise development in Java.

Weighing in at over 1,400 pages, Professional Java Server Programmingprovides a wide-reaching resource of all of the APIs that are required for J2EEdevelopment that centers on servlets and JSPs for creating UIs and EnterpriseJavaBeans (EJBs), XML, and JDBC for getting to data on the server. Besides beinga practical guide to how to combine these standards (with plenty of usefulexamples of these APIs in action), it also delivers a healthy dose of the designphilosophy that's recommended by Sun for building scalable and robust enterpriseWeb applications.

Throughout, this text does a good job of merging theory with practice. Almostevery chapter has a useful working example that shows how APIs work, with samplecode for such Web applications as an e-commerce shopping cart, tech supportpages, and a front end for a manufacturing database. The core of this volume isits treatment of servlets and JSPs for building Web-based front ends in Java.This new edition also highlights EJBs in excellent detail, with a thorough tourof designing, programming, and deploying EJBs effectively. (There's also notablecoverage of the emerging EJB 2.0 standard, which adds several importantfeatures, like a query language for more powerful database access.)

The practical focus here is reflected also in chapters that are devoted todebugging, testing, and deploying J2EE applications--critical issues for anyaspiring enterprise developer. While no single book can make you an expert, thisone can get you started with a superb tour of the APIs and technologies thatyou'll need to tackle large-scale development in Java. --RichardDragan

Topics covered:

• Introduction to enterprise computing with theJava 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) platform (technologies, APIs, architectures;development roles)
• Introduction to RMI (including security, parameterpassing, and distributed garbage collection)
• JDBC tutorial (includingprepared statements, updateable result sets, batch updates, connection pooling,and distributed transactions)
• JNDI and LDAP
• XML basics (including XMLparsers, XSLT, and CSS)
• Servlet tutorial (servlet APIs, the servlet lifecycle, requests and responses, and maintaining session information)
• Shoppingcart servlet example
• JavaServer Pages (JSPs) tutorial (directives, scriptingelements, custom tags, and tag libraries)
• JSP coding standards
• Using JSPand XML together
• JavaMail
• Enterprise JavaBeans (EJBs) tutorial
• EJBcontainers
• Design guidelines for EJBs
• Session and entity beans
• Container vs. bean-managed persistence
• New EJB 2.0 features (includingthe EJB 2 0 Query Language)
• Sun's Model-View-Controller architecture fordesigning enterprise-level applications
• Performance and scalability hints
• Debugging and testing techniques
• The Java Message Service (JMS) andmessage queuing
• Integrating J2EE with CORBA
• Deploying J2EEapplications

... Read more

Reviews (31)

This is an into book
This is a "intro" book from several authors. If you don't know the j2ee technology at all or you intend to know any part of the j2ee then this is a good start point. But if you liked to dig into a specific area or to develop an j2ee application then this book is not sufficient.
Moreover this j2ee book is a bit obsolate, the 1.3 edition is a better choice though the j2ee tech goes to the 1.4 edition.

Most complete J2EE book I've seen
This is a great book for people wanting to learn more about the many features, services, packages and nuances of Enterprise Java.I have yet to see another book that as much breadth of information on J2EE.It explains what each part is, how it works, and how it integrates with other parts.While you would have to buy some additional books if you needed more in-depth information on a particular topic, this book will help you know which questions to ask.Granted, with so many authors there isn't much continuity, and being a Wrox book there will be errors in the examples.But as a reference book, especially for newbies, this one is hard to top.

Great book
This book is one the most comprehensive ones that I've bought.It provides you with most of the possible technologies that you could use in a basic J2EE application. I love the section on the J2EE architecture.For newbies I typcially request that they read that section first. It does justice to basic topics like JDBC & Servlets & tag libraries, and the concepts about them.As well as introduces EJBs and other technologies.I am a long time java developer and I use it as a constant reference.Great job WROX! ... Read more

Isbn: 1861004656
Subjects:  1. Computer Bks - Languages / Programming    2. Computer Books: General    3. Computers    4. Internet - General    5. Programming - General    6. Programming Languages - General    7. Programming Languages - Java   

Professional JSP : Using JavaServer Pages, Servlets, EJB, JNDI, JDBC, XML, XSLT, and WML
by Karl Avedal, Danny Ayers, Timothy Briggs, George Gonchar, Naufal Khan, Peter Henderson, Mac Holden, Andre Lei, Dan Malks, Sameer Tyagi
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (15 January, 2000)
list price: $59.99
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Editorial Review

For readers with some previous Java experience, Professional JSPis a comprehensive guide to today's JavaServer Pages (JSPs). Besides a solidtutorial on JSPs and servlets, this book gives you lots of useful examples ofhow JSPs can work with other Java APIs (like EJBs and XML) to deliver highlyfunctional Web sites.

Professional JSP shows the underlying servlet code for many JSP samples.As explained by the authors, JSPs are a simpler way to write servlet codebecause Java statements are embedded within HTML. This fact makes the bookespecially useful to programmers who know about servlets and want to progress toJSP development. The introductory tutorial to JSP is as good as any you'll eversee. Short examples illustrate basic JSP features like directives, scriptingelements, implicit objects, and JavaBeans. The book also reveals a variety ofways to track session information (including cookies), which is particularlyhelpful.

Several case studies show key concepts in action, including how to use customtag libraries. Nicely functional samples include a Web site for an onlineinvestment company, a photography database, and a membership-based onlinegrocery store. (This last example shows how to use LDAP and JNDI to store userinformation.) In addition to a thorough tutorial for learning JSPs, chapters inthis text look at combining EJBs, XML, and other Java 2 Enterprise features thatyou'll need for successful real-world development. Handy appendices detail howto install and configure the free Apache Web Server and Tomcat JSP engine.There's also a reference to all JSP and servlet objects and APIs.

Overall, you'll mine plenty from Professional JSP, including severalextremely useful coding examples that'll get you going on serious developmentfor real-world e-commerce Web sites. --Richard Dragan

Topics covered:

Introduction to Java 2 Enterprise Edition andJavaServer Pages (JSP) JSP, CGI, and ASP compared The JSP life cycle JSP directives, scripting elements, standard actions, and implicit objects Servlet architecture and APIs Using JavaBeans with JSPs JDBCdatabase programming basics Using the PoolMan database connectionpool manager Storing session state with hidden fields, cookies, and URLrewriting Error handling and debugging with JSPs

Tagextensions and tag libraries Personalizing look-and-feel and content withJSPs Global settings JSP architecture Security and personalizationwith JNDI and LDAP Introduction to Enterprise JavaBeans (EJBs) HTTPstreaming with JSPs Basics of the Wireless Access Protocol (WAP) Wireless Markup Language (WML) XML and XSLT Case studies one-commerce and Web-site personalization

... Read more

Reviews (27)

Comprehensive
The most comprehensive book I've ever read about JSP! Must have for JSP developer

full of details, but presented in many different ways..
I think the authors of this book are really "Professional" in working on their projects, but not really "Professional" on how to work together to make a good book that is easy to read and understand. I'd recommend "Web developement with Java Server Pages" (from the IBM "Einstein" & the MIT "Rocketman") Save your penny my friends.

Not For Beginners, No Practical Use
The title of my review sums it up.For a beginner I expected this book to get me up and running, It never did.I read the first 5 chapters and their was way too much focus on the Java code that was created by the JSP engine from a JSP page, and not enough emphasis on how to implement and use JSP.BOOOOH.And there are numerous spelling mistakes, including one on the first page of the introduction.C'mon WROX, wheres your QA/Copywriters?I will return this in exchange for ISBN 1884777996 ... Read more

Isbn: 1861003625
Subjects:  1. Authoring programs    2. Computer Bks - Languages / Programming    3. Computer Books: General    4. Computer programs    5. Computers    6. Internet - General    7. Internet - Web Site Design    8. Programming - General    9. Programming Languages - Java    10. Reference - General    11. Web servers    12. Web site development    13. Web sites   

Thinking in Java (2nd Edition)
by Bruce Eckel
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (31 May, 2000)
list price: $44.99
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Editorial Review

Perfect for migrating to Java from a fellow object-oriented language(such as C++), the second edition of Thinking in Java continues theearlier version's thoughtful approach to learning Java inside and out, whilealso bringing it up to speed with some of the latest in Java 2 features. Thismassive tutorial covers many of the nooks and crannies of the language, which isof great value in the programming world.

The most prominent feature of the book is its diligent and extremely thoroughtreatment of the Java language, with special attention to object design. (Forinstance, 10 pages of sample code show all of the available operators.)Some of the best thinking about objects is in this book, including when to usecomposition over inheritance. The esoteric details of Java in regard to definingclasses are thoroughly laid out. (The material on interfaces, inner classes, anddesigning for reuse will please any expert.) Each section also has sampleexercises that let you try out and expand your Java knowledge.

Besides getting the reader to "think in objects," Thinking in Java alsocovers other APIs in Java 2. Excellent sections include an in-depth tour ofJava's collection and stream classes, and enterprise-level APIs like servlets,JSPs, EJBs, and RMI. Weighing in at over 1,000 pages, any reader who is seriousabout learning Java inside and out will want to take a look at this superiorresource on some of the latest and most advanced thinking in object design.--Richard Dragan

Topics covered:

Object-design basics Inheritance andpolymorphism Object lifetimes Exception handling Multithreading andpersistence Java on the Internet Analysis and design basics Javabasics: keywords and flow control Initializing objects Garbagecollection Java packages Designing for reuse: composition vs.inheritance The final keyword Interfaces and inner classes Arrays and container classes

Java I/O classes Run-timetype identification UI design basics with Swing Deploying to JAR files Network programming with sockets JDBC database programming Introduction to servlets JavaServer Pages (JSPs) RMI CORBA Enterprise JavaBeans (EJBs) and Jini Cloning objects The Java NativeInterface (JNI) Java programming guidelines

... Read more

Reviews (271)

I LOVE this book
This book is available, for free, from the author's website (www.bruceeckel.com); the book, however, is far easier to read in book form than your monitor or a foot-high stack of printouts.

What I love so much about this book is that Eckel doesn't so much tell you how to "go through themotions" of writing Java (like 99% of programming reference books), but instead goes into great detail about what the creators of the language were actually trying to accomplish, and why they did what they did. The net effect is that you are truly able to "think in Java" (corny, I know...).

For the same reasons, however, I wouldn't recommend this book to novice programmers. Many of the concepts covered (such as heap allocation, upcasting/downcasting, JavaDoc, etc...) go into some fairly abstract computer science ideas, and while this material is covered in an extremely easy-to-follow fashion, I think much of it will go over newbie heads.

A delight, even for the experienced Java programmer
I know Java pretty well. But I enjoy a lot reading Eckel's book because he presents aspects of Java you rarely find in ordinary Java books. Bruce admirably mixes low level concerns with conceptual representations. He has a real talent to explain the "why" of things. This understanding differenciates the expert form the simply proficient. For this reason, as an experienced Java programmer, I do not consider reading Bruce's book a waste of time !

Flawless ...Flawless
I am reading Thinking in Java, have read a couple of more books before on Java but Bruce Eckel has a flawless style of exploring and explaining a programming language, learning becomes more like a glide through the concepts...brick by brick he constructs a beautiful conceptual foundation of the language...everything in the exact right place in the mental sequence where it should be...perfect!! He should write a book on each programming language :-)

If you've been wandering through places to find the best conceptual reference...this one is it. ... Read more

Isbn: 0130273635
Subjects:  1. Computer Bks - Languages / Programming    2. Computer Books And Software    3. Computer Networks    4. Computer Programming Languages    5. Computers    6. Java (Computer program language)    7. Programming Languages - General    8. Programming Languages - Java    9. Computers / Programming Languages / Java   

Professional Apache (Professional)
by Peter Wainwright
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (01 November, 1999)
list price: $49.99
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France

Editorial Review

With comprehensive coverage of the many issues a Web server administrator faces, Professional Apache is a terrific resource for those looking to implement the popular open-source Web server. This title covers installation, configuration, and customization of the Apache Web server.

Apache devotee Peter Wainwright dishes up plenty of tips for making the most of Apache. He begins with a couple of introductory chapters that cover some of the basic networking concepts of the Internet and an overview of the Apache server. Readers who have experience with other Web servers should be able to get up to speed with Apache here without a problem.

The text covers the various configuration files that determine Apache's personality, illustrating how to achieve particular goals with small snippets of code. The author goes far beyond this, however, using examples of how to configure Apache to manage multiple sites, monitor the server's performance, apply security, and extend the product with several third-party add-on modules.

There aren't any fluffy elements to this book's format. It is entirely composed of detailed information that is most often presented in short, easily digestible chunks with meaningful headings, and it finishes off with a series of appendices that include a number of critical lists such as available modules and directives. Professional Apache is a very useful administration tool, indeed. --Stephen W. Plain

Topics covered: TCP/IP and HTTP overview, installation and build procedures, server configuration, aliases, redirection, CGI implementation, virtual hosting, performance optimization, security, mod_perl, PHP, and Jserv. ... Read more

Reviews (27)

Excellent Reference
I bought this book in August 2001 and I still keep it close at hand. It has paid for itself over and over again. Most times I wonder how can I do "?" in apace? And this book has delivered everytime.

Now I think I'll buy his book on Apache 2.0

This book is terrible
This book is absolutely terrible.This is merely a reference of all the options you can configure for apache and by no means helps a user through the examples.This author has no clue how to write a technical book.He merely put all of the options into one book. I have read hundreds of technical books and this one is ranked at the bottom.

SAVE YOUR MONEY - BUY A DIFFERENT BOOK ON APACHE.

I cannot understand ANY of the reviewers that state this is a good book. Extremely disappointed.

A Great Reference to Have On Hand
Wow, I'm shocked to see some negative reviews here for a book that I've come to rely on all the time! Maybe it's not for everybody, but as someone who works with various installations of Apache every day, I value it as an in depth reference manual.

Apache is such a monster of an application and can be configured in so many ways that it's not always easy to see how things are working. When I come across a configuration option I haven't worked with before, this book does a great job of explaining it in a language I can understand. It always starts off by saying _WHY_ you'd want to use a particular option, and is clear about pointing out when it might be better to use a different methodology.

The chapter on content negotiation is particularly good, and made me a huge fan of ModRewrite. I was looking for a simple way to serve up dynamic PHP CGI content through URLs that looked static (so search engines could easily spider the whole site). This chapter outlined many different approaches to this sort of task and carefully weighed the trade offs inherent in each. After reading it I felt that I had made an informed decision based on the particular needs and constraints of that project.

As with any printed book about web technologies, some of it may be out of date. Note that the author has writte