Book - Product Information
Rapid Development
Steve Mcconnell
Rating: 5.0/5 Stars
Rank: 2101
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.
Editorials
Sample 2 of 2
Rapid Development
Steve Mcconnell
![]() | | | Amazon.com | | 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... read full editorial |
![]() | | | Book Description | | Corporate and commercial software-development teams all want solutions for
one important problem--how to get their high-pressure development
schedules under control. In RAPID DEVELOPMENT, author Steve McConnell
addresses... read full editorial |
Customer Reviews
Sample 3 of 62
Rapid Development
Steve Mcconnell
![]() | | | Must Read for Dev Managers | | (Toronto, Ontario Canada) February 13, 2001 - 5.0/5 stars | | This is probably a little too much HR for a developer, but for anyone from
Team Leader to Development Manager, you'll get a lot from this book. I
suggest programmers read Code Complete, another masterpiece from the same
author. |
![]() | | | Must be in every software developer bookshelf | | (Tres Cantos, Madrid Spain) March 15, 2002 - 5.0/5 stars | | If you are involved in software development projects this is a book for
you. Although oriented towards software project managers, the knowledge,
insight, examples, and data make it a pool of useful information for
anyone... read full review |
![]() | | | STILL top notch advice, 8 years later | | (De Pere, WI United States) September 7, 2004 - 5.0/5 stars | | 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... read full review |
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