Software Development Appreciation
I recently finished reading Applied Software Project Management by Andrew Stellman and Jennifer Greene. Stellman and Greene’s book has motivated me to read CMMI for Development, Version 1.2. Since CMMI is a model for process improvement, Stellman and Greene’s book has also encouraged me to get books on processes such as Rational Unified Process and Personal Software Process.
Stellman and Greene’s book makes the case for software engineering practices in a general way, leaving a reader wanting knowledge of specific practices that are used. Their book starts strong with their introduction of the Wideband Delphi estimation technique, which is one of a few specific practices that are discussed in the book. Their script for inspections is also strong, clearly stating the objective of inspections and how to run inspections efficiently. The strength of the book tapers off when discussing requirements acquisition, planning, design, and testing. Overall, Applied Software Project Management is a good introduction to the components of software project management. Other introductory books on software engineering practices claim that writing documentation before performing implementation is good, but Stellman and Greene’s book explicitly states why and how this is the case, and their book surely makes me more appreciate software engineering practices.
A local copy of CMMI for Development, Version 1.2 is found here.