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Rating: 
Summary: Painfully tedious for experienced SEs
Review: As a software engineer for over twenty years, this book was definitely not for me. I have to agree with other reviewers - the lack of references to more current SW PM practices is deporable. The scope of Project Manager for Software is much larger than this book and the example used does not measure up. The integration with the PMBOK and the integration of SEI SW-CMM into Project Management for software was not discussed. I was looking for a higher-level writing of PM, not for looking at VB code - what was that? Look elsewhere if you want a higher-level discussion of real-world software PM.
Rating: 
Summary: OK if it's your first project management book
Review: At first, it appeared that this book was everything that I was looking for:1. It is new; 2. The author has over 20 years' experience in software development; 3. The book covered all major aspects of the System Development Life Cycle (SDLC); and 4. The author illustrated his points through the use of a real-life case study involving the development of a single application. The case study soon became rather tedious. As an experienced developer, I found that about all I gained from this book was an intimate understanding of the application used in the case study. The case study itself went into far more depth than necessary, and I felt that some of the key points became lost among all the noise. I also feel that the book might have been far more useful if it had made use of a number of case studies instead of relying upon a single case study involving only one project throughout the entire text. I was also disappointed to note that there were few explicit references to the work of others. At times, it seems that the author is drawing entirely on his own personal experiences and has completely ignored the world of project management theory. Compare to McConnell's Rapid Development for examples of appropriate referencing. McConnell's book might be a 1996 publication, but it has definitely withstood the test of time and I still regard it as a classic. It's also very reasonably priced by comparison. In summary, this book unfortunately represents a fairly simplistic effort. For such a lengthy piece of work (over 800 pages), I was really expecting a good deal more insight than I found. There's nothing much more in the book than you would expect to find in a basic college text of considerably fewer pages and a more affordable price. This book may be a good start if you're completely new to software project management, but you will need to back it up with additional reading if you are serious about effectively managing software projects.
Rating: 
Summary: Author's comments
Review: Firstly, thanks for taking the time to read this. Secondly, why buy my book? If you are a programmer and you have never had experience of a software development from the initial concept stage right through to the final deployment, then this book can give you a flavour of what the complete software life-cycle is about. At the same time, the book introduces you to managing all the processes associated with the cycle. As a programmer, you are unlikely to get involved in the entire life-cycle on every project you undertake, nevertheless, you do need to understand the cycle and its associated management requirements so that you can get the best out of your own and other people's ability. Using a very detailed case study, the book will introduce you to the following: · Estimating and pricing · Planning · Risk handling · Capturing and analyzing customer requirements · Design and development of a modular solution · Monitoring progress · Achieving customer acceptance · Implementing quality assurance · Delivering software to a schedule · Supporting software in the field All the theory introduced in the book is put into practice in the case study which involves the complete specification, design, development and testing of software for a multimedia electronic book. No assumptions are made about the reader's level of experience in terms of the software life cycle and every aspect is explained in easy to understand terminology. The case study is developed using Visual Basic. You can either follow the development as instructed in the book, or you can make use of the CD content to build the solution more rapidly.
Rating:
Summary: Author's comments
Review: Firstly, thanks for taking the time to read this. Secondly, why buy my book? If you are a programmer and you have never had experience of a software development from the initial concept stage right through to the final deployment, then this book can give you a flavour of what the complete software life-cycle is about. At the same time, the book introduces you to managing all the processes associated with the cycle. As a programmer, you are unlikely to get involved in the entire life-cycle on every project you undertake, nevertheless, you do need to understand the cycle and its associated management requirements so that you can get the best out of your own and other people's ability. Using a very detailed case study, the book will introduce you to the following: · Estimating and pricing · Planning · Risk handling · Capturing and analyzing customer requirements · Design and development of a modular solution · Monitoring progress · Achieving customer acceptance · Implementing quality assurance · Delivering software to a schedule · Supporting software in the field All the theory introduced in the book is put into practice in the case study which involves the complete specification, design, development and testing of software for a multimedia electronic book. No assumptions are made about the reader's level of experience in terms of the software life cycle and every aspect is explained in easy to understand terminology. The case study is developed using Visual Basic. You can either follow the development as instructed in the book, or you can make use of the CD content to build the solution more rapidly.
Rating:
Summary: Painfully tedious for experienced SEs
Review: Seeing a project develop from start to finish makes for interesting reading, but it also makes the book a giant case study. I was hoping for a general overview of project management (I have a computer science degree with no background in management) but the book really doesn't provide it. I found the case study to be overly detailed and I skipped over most of it, allowing me to read the book in a few hours. The last chapter, which contains a summary of the main concepts, is probably the most useful part.
Rating:
Summary: An interesting book but . . . .
Review: Seeing a project develop from start to finish makes for interesting reading, but it also makes the book a giant case study. I was hoping for a general overview of project management (I have a computer science degree with no background in management) but the book really doesn't provide it. I found the case study to be overly detailed and I skipped over most of it, allowing me to read the book in a few hours. The last chapter, which contains a summary of the main concepts, is probably the most useful part.
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