Reviews (4)

Excellent additional book for CAPM or Project +Exam
I was issued this book for my project management class this past spring. The information contained in this particular book was detailed, and the author provided great examples plus a 120-day trail version of MS Project management software to add in practical development. I am using this book as additional information to pass the Certifed Associate in Project Management exam offer by the Project Management Institute.

Prepare for CompTIA's Project+ Certification
This book provides an excellent overview of the necessary skill set and processes involved in IT Project Management.Starting with the triple constraint of Project Scope, Time and Cost, you'll learn from real-world examples and case studies what has worked for others.
Good overview of IT Project Management
This book gives a good overview of the project management process in general with a focus on Information Technology projects. Though structured like a textbook (and obviously intended as one) the general reader, or someone studying for the PMP exam, could also benefit from the information in this text. Regardless, the book probably functions best as a course text (mostly due to the college textbook price). Each chapter includes definitions, discussion questions, exercises, and suggested readings. And a running case study that simulates real-world use of the principles introduced in each chapter pervades the book's 12 chapters. These cases help bring the material to life and animate the sometimes inevitably dry subject matter of project management.
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Subjects:  1. Computer Books: General    2. Computers    3. Computers - General Information    4. Information Management    5. Information Technology    6. Management Information Systems    7. Computers / Information Technology    8. General Theory of Computing   

Reviews (20)

Best Excel development book to date
The depth of Excel development knowledge of the authors can be readily seen a few pages into the Introduction.If you have been frequent visitors to Excel/VBA programming newsgroups like myself, you will notice immediately that all three authors are well-recognized experts in this domain, and have answered countless tricky questions on the topic of Excel/VBA.In my opinion, the particularly valuable chapters include:
Looking to take your Excel to the next level?BUY THIS BOOK!!!!
I've been working with Excel for years...
Goes Beyond my Expectations
This book is a fantastic edition to any programmer's skillset.
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Subjects:  1. Business    2. Computer Books: Spreadsheets    3. Computer programs    4. Computer software    5. Computers    6. Computers - Spreadsheets    7. Development    8. Electronic spreadsheets    9. Microcomputer Spreadsheet Software    10. Spreadsheets - Excel    11. Spreadsheets - General    12. Computers / Spreadsheets / General    13. Excel    14. Software engineering   

Reviews (3)

Working on your MCSE? Then get this set of books
This was my sole study guide for the MCSE Server 2003 based certification path, and I was not disappointed.The format is clear and easy to read.The books do a fantastic job of outlining WHY you are learning something, not just WHAT you need to know to pass the exam.I think this is what sets MS Press books apart from the competition: the book itself is structured to the best LEARNING format, and NOT to just passing the exam.I came away from these books with a much greater appreciation for Microsoft's Server and AD technologies (I come from a Linux background since 1995 and I'm the first to knock MS), and these books will be on your reference shelf for years to come -- or at least until the next version of Server ships.
Well Done.
I've belonged to the Unix world since 1993, working with low level stuff as kernel, device drivers, virus, assembly, C, etc.. and now I'm trying to learn Windows a bit and have enough conditions to take all tests (290, 291, 293, 294). No problems. This a very good kit about MS Windows 2003, well written,well organized and deserve 5 stars.
Pretty Good
I would recommend that anyone buying this looks at the publication date as a lot of errata has been corrected in the most recent editions.Orin Thomas has a very useful forum http://www.certtutor.net/
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Subjects:  1. Certification Guides - General    2. Computer Books: Languages    3. Computers    4. Computers - General Information    5. General    6. Microcomputer Operating Environments    7. Operating Systems - Windows    8. Programming - Software Development    9. Software Engineering    10. Computers / General    11. Computing and Information Technology    12. Microsoft Windows   

Reviews (27)

Disappointing
I took the exam today....and....passed.Phew!This is one VERY tough exam to study for.I spent about 200 hours preparing for this exam.The exam is very broad and very deep.I bought this book and used the Transcender.
Acceptable Study Resource
I read this book twice. And I used the MS Press Training Kit Exam Prep application. I studied all 304 questions. I passed the test. So the study guide works. And this was the hardest exam I've taken (I've taken six).
I passed and that is the most important thing
Well I just took the exam today and passed (I didn't do exceptionally well but I have the certificate!). My only source was this book. By me passing I guess you can say it did the job for the task at hand. About 11 out of 16 of the chapters in the book are very easy to understand and very helpful and straightforward (minus the typos). However, some of the others, particularly those dealing with diagnostic and management configuration could use some work. My biggest issue with the book is not with how it is written, but the content. There were about 5 questions which I had no clue about and do not remember their content being directly mentioned (if at all) in the book. I am not pointing fingers at anyone, but there is a problem there with either the book's content or the access the authors had of what would be covered on the exam. All in all, I give it a 3 out 5 since I did pass. Although, I did study this book everyday, heavily, for three straight weeks. As for the practice questions, I thought they were ok as well. They helped me learn some things not covered in the book (oddly enough)and were useful to point out important points on specific topics. This isn't the greatest book in the world, but if you know it really well and do al of the examples and labs, you will probably pass. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Certification Guides - General    2. Computer Books: Languages    3. Computer Engineering    4. Computers    5. Computers - General Information    6. Digital Computer Design    7. General    8. Microcomputer Application Software    9. Programming - General    10. Computer Programming    11. Computers / General    12. Computing and Information Technology    13. Networking packages   

Reviews (49)

Key book on enterprise patterns
Even if you find enterprise stuff immensely dull, dealing with databases and web pages is a pretty common task, most of the action in software development revolves around it, and who wants to be completely ignorant of the the alphabet soup of various technologies the IT blogs, books and websites are floating in?
A must-read for tech leads and architects
Martin Fowler is making a name for himself as a luminary in the area of Software Development. He writes very practical books that have a wonderful blend of theory (e.g. design patterns, UML, refactoring etc.) with experience as you can tell he has applied many if not all of these patterns in real-life projects. This book is an exposition into architectural building blocks that will help every architect and tech lead / senior developer build code that is more extensible and easily maintained (among other things). I found the chapters on O/R structural and behavioral patterns particularly enlightening. By reading this book your "toolbox" of solutions rapidly expands and you get to focus more on the business problem at hand rather than infrastructural "plumbing" things (e.g. how do I build my objects when my data is in a relational table). Very highly recommended - and definitely one of the top 5 software books I have *EVER* had the pleasure to read.

Patterns for Business Applications
I loved this book!It was exactly what I was looking for when I went searching for patterns that would help with a new business application.It provides alternative solutions to the typical implementation problems associated with business systems, both from a design standpoint and from the perspective of the implementation.The alternatives are compared and weighed in light of the execution environment and cost of implementation, with a comparison of advantages and disadvantages, along with Martin's recommendations.I had the feeling that the comparisons and recommendations were made not based purely upon a theoretical optimum, but also based upon practical and real-world experience with these patterns. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Application software    2. Business    3. Business Enterprise    4. Computer Architecture - General    5. Computer Books: General    6. Computer Books: Languages    7. Computer architecture    8. Computers    9. Computers - Languages / Programming    10. Development    11. Hardware - Personal Computers - General    12. Microcomputer Application Software    13. Programming - Object Oriented Programming    14. System design    15. Computer Communications & Networking    16. Computers / Programming / Object Oriented    17. Software engineering   

Reviews (12)

From a network administrator's perspective
I read this book as part of my first course in a Ph.D.-MIS program. I thought it was a great overview and history of MIS, and provided insight into alternative IS management styles and strategies. The case studies were relevent, current, well written and interesting. I recommend this book for all network and systems administrators. It gives insight into what thought processes should be occurring at the CIO and IS manager levels.

Great paperweight, good consolidation of other people's work
This book provides various sources of information but no analysis by the book's authors.It is a patch work of case studies, excerpts, and paraphrasing of other texts to which I hope the original authors are getting paid royalties for. Ideal for learning about IS management
I bought this book for my MSc in Analysis, Design and Management of Information Systems and I consider that it was extremely helpful. The chapter about the perspectives of IS and the role of the CIO are very interesting. In the chapter about Information Systems Planning, they included lots of concepts related to strategy, linking IS Planning with six different approaches/techniques: Stages of Growth, Critical Success Factors, Competitive Forces Model, Value Chain Analysis, Internet Value Matrix and Linkage Analysis Planning. The chapters about managing systems development are really instructive also. I strongly recommend the book for those IT practitioners whom are seeking a managerial position. It is very useful to managers and strategists as well. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business/Economics    3. Computers - General Information    4. Information Management    5. Information Technology    6. Information Technology (Engineering)    7. Information resources management    8. Management Information Systems    9. Business & Economics / Information Management    10. Business information systems   

Reviews (18)

Could be 10 pages long
It does get the point of scrum across.
Lightweight process, built-in feedback
People aren't very good at seeing into the future. If we do foresee what is going to happen, we often get the "when" of it wrong. And even if we get the what and the when right, we rarely predict the "what else" - all those unpredictable events that inevitably upset any plan. So why are so many software methodologies built so solidly around precise, complex, long-term plans? The only reason such methodologies appear to work at all is that everyone, their fondest proponents included, spend a lot of time running around behind the scenes, bolstering them each time the predictably unpredictable kicks another prop out from under.
A practical book on the scrum process
If you're the kind of person who demands technical books that weigh 15 pounds, with beautify layout and tons of white space, this book isn't for you.
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Subjects:  1. Computer Books: General    2. Computer Science    3. Computer software    4. Computers    5. Computers - Languages / Programming    6. Development    7. Programming - Software Development    8. Scrum (Computer software devel    9. Scrum (Computer software development)    10. Software Development    11. Computers / Programming / Software Development    12. Software engineering   

Editorial Review

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Reviews (219)

Required reading for your blue belt
Everyone who wants to write OO code needs to read this book.No, let me re-phrase, *must master* this book.
An approach to this software classic
"Design Patterns" (GoF = Gang of Four) is a signicant and, in many ways, a difficult work for the modern reader (me) to digest.The material in this book is highly self-referential: to understand a particular design pattern, it is important to be familiar withmany similar, if not all, design patterns.
A classic for OOP - truly a Gem - not much else to say
Like many of the typical Computer Science classical texts, you've got to read it, if only to say you read it :-)
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Subjects:  1. Computer Books And Software    2. Computer software    3. Computers    4. Computers - Languages / Programming    5. Object-Oriented Programming    6. Object-oriented programming (C    7. Object-oriented programming (Computer science)    8. Programming - Object Oriented Programming    9. Reusability    10. Software patterns    11. Computers / Computer Vision    12. Object-oriented programming (OOP)    13. Software engineering   

Reviews (27)

Good resource that is missing information
While the content that is coveredin the book is covered in very good detail there are gaps between what is tested on (based on the Measure Up practice tests on the compainion CD) and what is covered in the book. This book does not adequately cover IIS (no mentions of virtual directories for example), does not cover CHAP, MS-CHAP, EAP security. Very important details on how to use Sysprep need to be added (How to add additional drivers to sysprep images, building a single image for use on varied hardware).
In depth and easy to read
This book is excellent. While I am pretty well versed in XP, this book is filling in the blanks nicely. The accompanying CD has a PDF of the book and some excellent multimedia presentation files on various subjects.
Substance and Fluff
This book really does cover the most important topics in substantial detail.It's well worth the money in terms of enabling one to prepare for the exam.Just the same, it can put me to sleep like almost no other book - not because the technology is not interesting - but because it reads too much like a technical document with paragraph upon paragraph of hyper-specific, redundant detail such as: review the following questions, if you have difficulty answering them, go back and review this material until you feel comfortable with it, blah blah blah, zzz.This kind of content gets repeated in every section verbatim.Yuck!Just cut out the fat, and we would have at least a good three hundred pages less of fluff.Otherwise, well worth the money. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Certification    2. Certification Guides - MCSE    3. Certification Guides - Msce    4. Computer Books: Operating Systems    5. Computers    6. Computers - Certification    7. Computers - Operating Systems    8. Electronic Data Processing    9. Electronic data processing personnel    10. Examinations    11. Microsoft software    12. Operating Systems - Windows    13. Operating Systems - Windows XP    14. Software Engineering    15. Study guides    16. Computers / General    17. Home Computing    18. Microsoft Windows   

Reviews (19)

Accept no substitutes -- THE book to read on file systems
I decided to read and review three digital forensics books in order to gauge their strengths and weaknesses: "File System Forensic Analysis" (FSFA) by Brian Carrier, "Windows Forensics" (WF) by Chad Steel, and "EnCase Computer Forensics" (ECF) by Steve Bunting and William Wei.All three books contain the word "forensics" in the title, but they are very different.If you want authoritative and deeply technical guidance on understanding file systems, read FSFA.If you want to focus on understanding Windows from an investigator's standpoint, read WA.If you want to know more about EnCase (and are willing to tolerate or ignore information about forensics itself), read ECF.
The best work on the topic
Carrier's book has prooven invaluable to this digital forensics trainee, and I expect many of the old hands in the field will be keeping it on hand as well.If you're serious about computer forensics, you need a copy.

Very deep
I'm pretty technical, so I enjoyed this book.The author has more on file systems than just about anywhere, and I found it helpful in non security work also just to understand how the different systems work.
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Subjects:  1. Computer - Internet    2. Computer Books: General    3. Computer Data Security    4. Computer security    5. Computers    6. Data structures (Computer science)    7. File organization (Computer science)    8. Internet - Security    9. Security - General    10. Computers / Internet / Security    11. Computing and Information Technology   

Editorial Review

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Reviews (59)

For making managers remember what really matters
This book is full of information of things that current managers have forgotten. Every new project is wanted done with less money, less time and with higher quality than old projects, putting a lot of pressure to the project team. Managers do things that they believe is good for the project but actually damages the project (and the company) at long term. I have seen many co-workers leave my company for issues like the ones described in this book. Managers and company owners: Please read it!!!

A solid look at the role of people in a company
This book takes a look at the role people, specifically creative people, play in a company.It offers various insights into management, the environment, and team "building".The second edition also adds a final section with eight new chapters with later insights.
Peopleware + Software = Qualityware
First of all let me thank people responsible for making this book.
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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. Management & management techniques    12. Software engineering    13. Computer software   

Reviews (4)

Good Introductory
This isn't a bad text for an introduction to management in IT. It's not technical and certainly places emphasis on managing IT infrastructures. If you're moving up from being a follower to directing and managing employees and departments, then this book may help to get you a glimpse into it.

Excellent General Overview of the IT Industry as of 1/06.
I have never left a review on Amazon before (I've been a customer since 1997) and had no intention of doing so, when I initially searched this book description for some unrelated information.
Cutesy Vacuous MIS-booster

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Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Information Management    5. Management Information Systems    6. Business & Economics / Information Management    7. Business information systems   

Reviews (5)

A comprehensive resource - but not for the novice
Truly Matt Pharr and NVIDIA are at the top of their game, and his "GPU Gems" series is certainly the only one of its kind for graphics professionals that are familiar with GPU's and shading languages already, and want to exploit them for the maximum speed and effect achievable using today's technology. It is not a "how-to" book on shading or GPUs or even advanced graphics. There are equations and code interspersed throughout the book, with bits of wisdom that are very instructive for the initiated. However, if you are a home-grown graphics programmer who knows C, or C++, or Java, and even some assembly language, plus you are familiar with image processing and computer graphics techniques, that will probably not be enough to get you through this book. I would say that this is a five star book for high-level professional graphics programmers who work with GPU specifics and shaders daily, and I would say it is a two or three star book for everyone else.
Excellent Second Book in the GPU Gems Series
This book is the second installment of the GPU Gems book series by NVIDIA. Just like the first book, GPU Gems 2 is a collection of articles by various authors from game development companies, academia, and tool developers on advanced techniques for programming graphics processing units (or GPUs for short). It is aimed at intermediate to advanced graphics developers that are familiar with the most common graphics APIs. The reader should also be proficient in C++. As with the first GPU Gems book, GPU Gems 2 is not for beginners. For professional graphics and game developers, however, it is an excellent collection of interesting techniques, tips, and tricks.
Pretty pictures
This book is targeted at people who have a good solid grasp of either OpenGL or D3D as well as a grounding in programming languages such as C/C++ or Java.While this much is obvious, the book is still painfully difficult to get anything useful out of.
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Subjects:  1. Computer Books: General    2. Computer Graphics - Game Programming    3. Computer Graphics - General    4. Computer graphics    5. Computers    6. Computers - Other Applications    7. Microcomputer Graphics    8. Programming - General    9. Real-time programming    10. Computer graphics software    11. Computers / Computer Graphics / General    12. Software engineering   

Reviews (68)

A+ Certification All-in-One Exam Guide - REVIEW
When it comes to purchasing things on the internet it's all about getting then deliver on time, which you did. Great Job and keep it up. Thanx.

Good luck with Amazon
The book is great... I gave a bad review b/c of amazons way of charging me 6 dollars to read the book online when I never saw any print about that... I didn't want to pay for that, and there is no way they going to let me get out of paying it.I would recomend this boook to any one intersted in A+ certification, however buy the book from anyone outside of amazon.

Excellent Study Guide
I bought this book for my son as a study guide, he is almost finished reading it for the first time, now he says he is going to go back and highlight key information that he will need on his exam.He is raving about this book, worth the money spent and a very good price. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Certification Guides - A+    2. Certification Guides - General    3. Computer Books And Software    4. Computer Science    5. Computer Science (General)    6. Computers    7. Computers - Certification    8. Tests    9. Computer Communications & Networking    10. Computer Hardware & Operating Systems    11. Computers / Technical Skills    12. Computing and Information Technology    13. General Theory of Computing   

Reviews (1)

Good Book, Big Inprovement from the 1 edition
Very Good Book. If you didn't know already the CCNA exam is no Joke. You really have to know the concepts and you really need a good book to prepare for it. Cisco is not giving the CCNA Certificate away anymore. They really want you to learn and earn it. I purchase this because I felt the sybex CCNA didn't cover the exam in full detail (Especially the NAT section). This Book is Well Written. The Price wasn't that bad either since it came with 2 Books (Intro&ICND) and a 30min Video CD. You won't be disappointed. A+ ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Certification Guides - Cisco    2. Certification Guides - General    3. Computer Books: General    4. Computers    5. Computers - Certification    6. Data Transmission Standards And Protocols    7. Networking - Network Protocols    8. Tests    9. Computer Communications & Networking    10. Computers / Technical Skills    11. Computing and Information Technology   

Reviews (2)

Too many errors, poor format, index lacking
I am studying for the PMP and have NOT sat for the test yet. I read this book (cover to cover), read the PMBOK-2005, and another book called 'PMP in Depth' (P. Sanghera).
Best Reading to Pass PMP Exam
I bought and borrowed many books to study for the PMP exam and this was the BEST book, both in the material it covered and the way in which the material was presented. It is one of the few that take your through the project management process as you would really experience it, from project inception to closeout. Most other books geared toward the PMP exam organize the material based on the PMI knowledge areas, which have so much overlap it becomes confusing. I STRONGLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK. I passed the exam using this book and the quizes in Rita Mulcahy's PMP Exam Prep, which follows the knowlege areas. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business/Economics    3. Computer Books: General    4. Computers - General Information    5. Examinations, questions, etc    6. General    7. Project Management    8. Study Guides    9. Computers / Technical Skills    10. Computing and Information Technology    11. Project management software