| Bulk Up |  Interested in buying multiple copies of this book for your staff? Check out Amazon.com@work. |
|
|
| |
 | | 92 used & new from $16.40 |
|
| | Have one to sell? |  |
| |
|
|
Rapid Development
by Steve McConnell
| List Price: | | $35.00 |
| Price: | | $23.80 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. See details.  |
| You Save: | | $11.20 (32%) |
Availability: Usually ships within 24 hours
92 used & new from $16.40
Edition: Paperback
See more product details
Better Together
Customers who bought this book also bought:
Explore Similar Items: 20 in Books, and 1 in Software
Customers interested in Rapid Development may also be interested in:
Sponsored Links ( What's this? ) Feedback
Product Details
Our Customers' Advice
See what customers recommend in addition to, or instead of, the product on this page.
Recommend an item!
See more customer buying advice
Editorial Reviews
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 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.
Ingram
Project managers, technical leads, and Windows programmers throughout the industry share an important concern--how to get their development schedules under control. Rapid Development addresses that concern head-on with philosophy, techniques, and tools that help shrink and control development schedules and keep projects moving. The style is friendly and conversational--and the content is impressive.
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 that concern head-on with overall strategies, specific best practices, and valuable tips that help shrink and control development schedules and keep projects moving. Inside, you'll find:• A rapid-development strategy that can be applied to any project and the best practices to make that strategy work• Candid discussions of great and not-so-great rapid-development practices--estimation, prototyping, forced overtime, motivation, teamwork, rapid-development languages, risk management, and many others• A list of classic mistakes to avoid for rapid-development projects, including creeping requirements, shortchanged quality, and silver-bullet syndrome• Case studies that vividly illustrate what can go wrong, what can go right, and how to tell which direction your project is goingRAPID DEVELOPMENT is the real-world guide to more efficient applications development.
See all editorial reviews...
All Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review: 
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers. 4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
STILL top notch advice, 8 years later, September 7, 2004
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".
Was this review helpful to you? 
(Report this)
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
A fantastic overview, September 1, 2004
This book presents a great overview of ways to speed up your application development and to make it appear faster to your customers. My only complaint is that he doesn't go deep enough in to some areas. All in all, the Best Practices section at the end of the book alone is worth 5 stars and the cover price. Highly recommended!
Was this review helpful to you? (Report this)
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Rapid Development makes a great desktop reference, August 4, 2004
Managing the dynamics of software scope, resources, and schedule deadlines; this book is a must have for almost any type of application delivery project. Mr. McConnell outlines a variety of project methodologies and 'Best Practice' processes that are a good match to certain project conditions, and provides key insights to making good decisions during the software delivery lifecycle, and constructing/executing good communication plans during the course of your projects.
Was this review helpful to you? (Report this)
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
Professional software manager's bible, July 21, 2004
The book provides an anatomy of the software development cycle. It covers both the the business process and suprisingly the psycological process. It describes and categorizes 36 mistakes that can result in failure to meet the initial development goals.
The overall message of the book is quite Zen (to go faster, you must go slower). It describes in detail the value adding activities that devlopers are often encouraged to skip for expedience that later will cost the project dearly. Lots of data from project case studies is provided to back-up the arguments. At the end of the book a taxonomy of a 100 best practices is described with an executive summary of the benefits, risks and trade-offs for easy reference.
Reading this book will prepare you to manage projects, and I would argue should be required reading. An added bonus is that the author's excellent writing style makes this book quite a page turner.
Was this review helpful to you? (Report this) See all 95 customer reviews...
Customers who bought titles by Steve McConnell also bought titles by these authors:
Auctions and zShops sellers and our other stores recommend:
So You'd Like To...
Listmania!
Look for similar books by subject:
Browse for books in:
Turn your past books purchases into $$$
Learn more about selling at Amazon.com today!
Books Search | Browse Subjects | Bestsellers | Magazines | Corporate Accounts
e-Books & Docs | Bargain Books | Used Books Amazon.com Home | Directory of All Stores
Our International Sites: Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | Japan | France
Contact Us | Help | Shopping Cart | Your Account | Sell Items | 1-Click Settings
Investor Relations | Press Releases | Join Our Staff
.gif){kind=logo}
