Successful Software Development

This book cuts through the fog of competing standards and methodologies in the software engineering domain. It gives a clear picture of a process and associated procedures that can be effectively applied to any capability model (CMM, SPICE), process and procedures approach (TickIT, ISO 9000-3), and does so without drifting into any particular methodology. This is a key strength.What I found especially valuable is the way the authors clearly illustrate processes as well as artifacts. For example, the Quantified Product Integrity Attributes illustration in chapter 6 distills on a single page a highly complex concept into an easy-to-understand storyboard. Another example, on the facing page is the Requirements Specification Evolution, which portrays a complex sequence in a single illustration. Since the book has around 200 illustrations, most of which are page size, in the book's 745 pages, getting a clear picture of the software development domain and its associated processes is easy. The text is clearly written and hits all of the key areas of software development, starting with business cases and project planning. In this one book I have found processes, procedures and techniques that I can apply to both application delivery and service delivery for clients. Also, for the first time I was able to clearly see the "big picture" and how carefully thought-out development processes can be used to deliver value to end users instead of mere applications.I highly recommend this book and give it a solid five stars.

The 2nd edition (the first was titled Cultivating Successful Software Development) is a major improvement over the first edition. This edition covers all of the KPAs from the CMM and aligns nicely to the RUP as well. No serious software engineer should be without a copy near her desk.

This is an amazing book. Initially I was intimidated by the size of the book. But the content is so thoughtfully organized and the language so friendly that reading it was and has been a pleasure. It is reference book every software project manager must have.

As an SEI Authorized Lead Assessor, I am often asked are there any commercially available books to assist in preparing my organization to become an SEI Software Capability Maturity Model (CMM) Level 3 Organizaion. This is the first book that comes to my mind. The book contains solid fundementals and practical guidance for planning and implementing a software development environment capable of meeting the SEI CMM Level 3 key practices. I would recommend the book for review and use for those software development organizations -- government or commercial -- that want to implement software improvements with the goal in mind to reach a CMM Level 3 Software Maturity Level.The information in this book appears to be based on experience and factors in a touch of reality. In my view, this book is practical and affordable.

Software development is still an art and not a science. Everyone does it in his/her way. Thus, more ofetn than not it does not meet the expectations of the customer, because somewhere along the line somebody fails to communicate with someone else, or even when they do communicate it ends up as miscommunications. This book is about introducing engineering disciplines into software development activities. It discusses methods that can be esily implemented so that the art of computer science becomes a scientific approach. Donaldson and Siegel introduce various methods for opening up the communications channels throughout the software development life cycle, and provide a technique to measure the effectiveness of a process for prducing software products. They call this measurement technique "Object Measurement (OM)." I belive this book is an excellent resource for anyone who is involved in the information technology industry and/or involved in software development activities. Well done, is the best way I can describe this book.