L-P Huberdeau

Améliorer la maintenance du logiciel

• Author : Alain April
• Publication date : January, 2008
• Publisher : Loze-Dion éditeur, inc.
• Page count : 347
• ISBN : 292118088X

Don’t expect the description of a maturity model to be entertaining. It’s not, and it’s not supposed to be. I read this one because I was given a copy while attending a conference. I felt the content of the book was realistic and I could actually recognize maintenance tasks as I saw them in the real world. The book only covers practices until level 2. Already, if all those practices were in place, software maintenance wouldn’t be such a mess. I wonder what’s in levels 3 to 5.

Applying UML and Patterns: An Introduction to Object-Oriented Analysis and Design and Iterative Development (3rd Edition)

• Author : Craig Larman
• Publication date : October, 2004
• Publisher : Prentice Hall PTR
• Page count : 736
• ISBN : 0131489062

Balancing Agility and Discipline: A Guide for the Perplexed

• Author : Barry Boehm, Richard Turner
• Publication date : August, 2003
• Publisher : Addison-Wesley Professional
• Page count : 304
• ISBN : 0321186125

Beautiful Code: Leading Programmers Explain How They Think (Theory in Practice (O’Reilly))

• Author : Andy Oram, Greg Wilson
• Publication date : June, 2007
• Publisher : O’Reilly Media, Inc.
• Page count : 618
• ISBN : 0596510047

From the introduction, I really loved this book. The base idea is that to write better code, we need to stop writing code and start reading code to understand what makes it beautiful. Reading code is always challenging. A lot more challenging than writing it, because it requires that you understand how the author was thinking.

No matter how Amazon filled those fields, this book has many authors. Some were great, some less. Each chapter must be taken individually. I found that the best chapters in the book were written by those who did not write the code they were discussing. It makes sense. I don’t think any code can be declared beautiful until someone objective says it is. When discussing someone else’s code, the interfaces and simplicity is discussed. Of course they discussed how they used the library in their own context, but that’s what makes it beautiful.

Those who wrote about their own code didn’t spend enough time reading other’s code, which goes against the principle of the book itself. Sadly, there were many of them and it accounts for a very large portion of the book. Hopefully, O’Reilly will publish more books like this and they will contain more objective views.

Becoming a Technical Leader: An Organic Problem-Solving Approach

• Author : Gerald M. Weinberg
• Publication date : December, 1969
• Publisher : Dorset House Publishing Company, Incorporated
• Page count : 304
• ISBN : 0932633021

Best Practices in Software Measurement

• Author : Christof Ebert, Reiner Dumke, Manfred Bundschuh, Andreas Schmietendorf, Rainer Dumke
• Publication date : November, 2004
• Publisher : Springer
• Page count : 300
• ISBN : 3540208674

The Best Software Writing I: Selected and Introduced by Joel Spolsky

• Author : Joel Spolsky
• Publication date : June, 2005
• Publisher : Apress
• Page count : 328
• ISBN : 1590595009

C++ GUI Programming with Qt 4

• Author : Jasmin Blanchette, Mark Summerfield
• Publication date : June, 2006
• Publisher : Prentice Hall PTR
• Page count : 560
• ISBN : 0131872494

This is a good Qt4 tutorial. Most of the material contained in the book can also be found on the web, but I just like to have a book to read from. The book explains the concepts behind Qt very well and gives design insight, not only cookbook-style code samples.

To me, the only downside of this one is that the concept of conclusion was completely forgotten. Each chapter finishes without summarizing the content or giving any extension points or further references. In the same way, the last chapter ends giving the impression there will be an other chapter afterwards.

The C++ Programming Language: Special Edition (3rd Edition)

• Author : Bjarne Stroustrup
• Publication date : February, 2000
• Publisher : Addison-Wesley Professional
• Page count : 1030
• ISBN : 0201700735

The C++ Standard Library: A Tutorial and Reference

• Author : Nicolai M. Josuttis
• Publication date : August, 1999
• Publisher : Addison-Wesley Professional
• Page count : 832
• ISBN : 0201379260

I ordered this book at the same time as Bjarne Stroustrup’s book because Amazon recommended it. I was a little disapointed because the other book has a great coverage of the STL, which made this book not really useful at first. On the other hand, I felt back to this one almost every time I needed a STL reference afterwards.

The Cathedral & the Bazaar: Musings on Linux and Open Source by an Accidental Revolutionary

• Author : Eric S. Raymond
• Publication date : January, 2001
• Publisher : O’Reilly Media, Inc.
• Page count : 241
• ISBN : 0596001088

I have been active in the open source community for many years and actually make a living out of working on open source software. Yet, I learned a lot with this book. Eric Raymond can keep a very neutral point of view and explain the open source model extremely well. Light and enjoyable reading.

Code Complete: A Practical Handbook of Software Construction

• Author : Steve McConnell
• Publication date : July, 2004
• Publisher : Microsoft Press
• Page count : 960
• ISBN : 0735619670

Code Complete is one of the great classics of the software engineering literature. As the great bible of software construction, it presents various topics related to building high quality software. Unlike what is usually meant by software construction, Code Complete describes something way beyond simply writing code. Relations are made to the other knowledge areas defined in SWEBOK.

Computer Graphics with OpenGL (3rd Edition)

• Author : Donald Hearn, M. Pauline Baker
• Publication date : September, 2003
• Publisher : Prentice Hall
• Page count : 880
• ISBN : 0130153907

When it comes to big expensive books with emphasis on theory, I have seen worst. This one can actually be understood with minimal prior knowledge. The basics of OpenGL are quite easy to get, but maths in a 3D space are. The book introduces topics in an ordered manner and can be used as a reference.

Continuous Integration: Improving Software Quality and Reducing Risk (The Addison-Wesley Signature Series)

• Author : Paul Duvall, Steve Matyas, Andrew Glover
• Publication date : July, 2007
• Publisher : Addison-Wesley Professional
• Page count : 336
• ISBN : 0321336380

Continuous integration is about automating the software build and testing process and to run it every single time a change moves to version control. The introduction of the book was great and really convinced me that CI was the right way to do it. The down sides came later. The rest of the book lacks substance. The same reasons come over and over again, but discussing slightly different topics, all of which were well introduced in the first chapter. I also had that feeling that CI was seen as a silver bullet.

Having done quite a bit of database development and testing of database applications, I found the chapter devoted to it to be quite weak. It was barely scratching the surface and not so convincing. It also lacked some details for those of us who live outside the Java and .NET world. Since Java and .NET are really similar, I consider this book covers a single development platform. Other languages are mentioned, but details are never provided.

For most of the book, the examples are poor at best. Screenshots are taken from sample programs with 3 files to compile and 5 tests to run. What about large applications?

The book is worth reading for the introduction, chapter 9 about feedback mechanisms and the appendix detailing various supporting products out there. The rest of it contains very little information per page.

The Deadline: A Novel About Project Management

• Author : Tom DeMarco
• Publication date : December, 1969
• Publisher : Dorset House Publishing Company, Incorporated
• Page count : 320
• ISBN : 0932633390

Certainly the best book about project management you can find out there. There is no doubt that learning through storytelling is the most efficient way around. After reading the book, you don’t only know the concepts, but have sample situations to apply the concepts to in mind.

Not all chapters are as good. Once in a while, you can actually feel the theory or hear the author’s opinions a little too loud, but for most of the book, it’s just an enjoyable novel.

Death March (2nd Edition) (Yourdon Press Series)

• Author : Edward Yourdon
• Publication date : November, 2003
• Publisher : Prentice Hall PTR
• Page count : 256
• ISBN : 013143635X

Defensive Design for the Web: How to improve error messages, help, forms, and other crisis points (VOICES)

• Author : 37signals
• Publication date : March, 2004
• Publisher : New Riders Press
• Page count : 264
• ISBN : 073571410X

The Definitive Guide to Building Java Robots (The Definitive Guide to)

• Author : Scott Preston
• Publication date : November, 2005
• Publisher : Apress
• Page count : 440
• ISBN : 1590595564

I got this book from the remaining books for giveaway after a conference. It was a PHP conference and we had no clue after which session we could give that one. I thought it was about automating user interface tests in Java, so I grabbed it. I was wrong. It’s about building robots with wheels, legs and arms. Fairly useless to me, but I skimmed through it anyway. It was quite fast since around half the book is made up of code samples. I still learned a little about JNI and such, but nothing really interesting.

Even if you want to build a robot as a hobby, do yourself a favor and don’t get this one. Copying too much code can’t do any good to your brain.

Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software (Addison-Wesley Professional Computing Series)

• Author : Erich Gamma, Richard Helm, Ralph Johnson, John M. Vlissides
• Publication date : November, 1994
• Publisher : Addison-Wesley Professional
• Page count : 416
• ISBN : 0201633612

Developing Quality Technical Information: A Handbook for Writers and Editors (2nd Edition) (IBM Press Series–Information Management)

• Author : Gretchen Hargis, Michelle Carey, Ann Kilty Hernandez, Polly Hughes, Deirdre Longo, Shannon Rouiller, Elizabeth Wilde
• Publication date : April, 2004
• Publisher : IBM Press
• Page count : 432
• ISBN : 0131477498

I had spent months working for a technical publication department before reading this book. I choose it because I simply had no idea how to write technical documentation about the software I developed. This book served me well. Not only my documentation got better, but I understood better what the company I was working for was actually producing. It gave me great insight on the processes and helped me improve the supporting tools.

Although the book content is centered towards software documentation, the concepts can be extended much further. It’s very well written.

Digital Image Processing (2nd Edition)

• Author : Rafael C. Gonzalez, Richard E. Woods
• Publication date : January, 2002
• Publisher : Prentice Hall
• Page count : 793
• ISBN : 0201180758

Maths and theory. What else do you need? Of course, some light text that is easy to read can be useful, but that’s not exactly what this book is all about. It’s to be used as a reference. When analyzing images, the book can point in the right direction as long as you know what you are actually trying to do. Without an objective, this book is as interesting as reading a dictionary.

Dynamics of Software Development (Best Practices)

• Author : Jim McCarthy
• Publication date : August, 2006
• Publisher : Microsoft Press
• Page count : 224
• ISBN : 0735623198

The book’s content is great and very well written. Not taking into account Software for your Head (same authors), I think it’s alone in it’s own category.

However, I was a bit disappointed by the 2006 edition. I have never read the previous one, but all the edition adds is a few annotations in the core of the book and an appendix.

Effective Software Testing: 50 Specific Ways to Improve Your Testing

• Author : Elfriede Dustin
• Publication date : December, 2002
• Publisher : Addison-Wesley Professional
• Page count : 304
• ISBN : 0201794292

I was disappointed by this one. It’s not that the content of the book is wrong or boring, it’s simply not what I was expecting. I was looking for practical approaches to improve unit testing. What I got was general testing concepts and guidelines to use when building a software testing plan. I did get something out of the book. Just not what I was looking for. I would still recommend it if you want to learn about the entire testing cycle.

Essential PHP Security

• Author : Chris Shiflett
• Publication date : October, 2005
• Publisher : O’Reilly Media, Inc.
• Page count : 124
• ISBN : 059600656X

Extending and Embedding PHP (Developer’s Library)

• Author : Sara Golemon
• Publication date : June, 2006
• Publisher : Sams
• Page count : 456
• ISBN : 067232704X

Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience

• Author : Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
• Publication date : March, 1991
• Publisher : Harper Perennial
• Page count : 320
• ISBN : 0060920432

Founders at Work: Stories of Startups’ Early Days

• Author : Jessica Livingston
• Publication date : January, 2007
• Publisher : Apress
• Page count : 500
• ISBN : 1590597141

I bought this book without reading the description. If Amazon recommends it, it must be good. When I received it, I wasn’t too sure if I was going to like it. The book is a collection of interviews made with technology start-up founders. I was really surprised by it. The book was fun to read and truly inspiring. While all interviews are independent, they often refer to the same people or the same situations.

If you plan on starting a business and would rather learn from other’s mistakes than make them yourself, spend a few hours reading this one.

Free Software, Free Society: Selected Essays of Richard M. Stallman

• Author : Richard M. Stallman, Lawrence Lessig
• Publication date : December, 1969
• Publisher : Free Software Foundation
• Page count : 224
• ISBN : 1882114981

Good Business: Leadership, Flow, and the Making of Meaning

• Author : Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
• Publication date : March, 2004
• Publisher : Penguin (Non-Classics)
• Page count : 256
• ISBN : 014200409x

Just like Flow, the book is filled with stories. Excellent research work was made to produce this book. The result is thought provoking and very easy to read. I was disappointed with a few chapters because they brought nothing too specific if you read some of his previous work. The topic is really the same as the one covered in Flow, only applied to business and vision.

Hackers and Painters: Big Ideas from the Computer Age

• Author : Paul Graham
• Publication date : December, 1969
• Publisher : O’Reilly Media, Inc.
• Page count : 271
• ISBN : 0596006624

I wouldn’t say every essay in the book is good, but most of them are. Unlike most books, this one does not really have a central focus, which is great. Every time I had some time to read, I would read something completely different.

The Humane Interface: New Directions for Designing Interactive Systems (ACM Press)

• Author : Jef Raskin
• Publication date : April, 2000
• Publisher : Addison-Wesley Professional
• Page count : 256
• ISBN : 0201379376

Implementation Patterns (The Addison-Wesley Signature Series)

• Author : Kent Beck
• Publication date : November, 2007
• Publisher : Addison-Wesley Professional
• Page count : 176
• ISBN : 0321413091

Disappointing. Not only the book is very short, it has very little content. I don’t think I learned anything from it or got any value out of it. Sure, it gives some perspectives on decision-making criteria when writing code, but it really does not contain any revelation. The topic could have been covered by 1-2 articles easily. Plus, it was way too Java-centric to contain the “pattern book” appellation.

Intelligence Artificielle

• Author : Stewart Russell, Peter Norvig
• Publication date : December, 1969
• Publisher : Pearson Education
• Page count : 1184
• ISBN : 2744071501

The original English version is probably better, the translation is not great. I read part of this one as support material to a course. It provides a good, in depth, content and demonstrates a wide variety of techniques and algorithms.

Introduction to Algorithms

• Author : Thomas H. Cormen, Charles E. Leiserson, Ronald L. Rivest, Clifford Stein
• Publication date : September, 2001
• Publisher : The MIT Press
• Page count : 1184
• ISBN : 0262032937

Most of the algorithms you need to understand to go through a computer science degree are explained in this book and trade-offs are well exposed. It’s a good reference, but not really an interesting read.

JavaScript: The Definitive Guide (Nutshell Handbook)

• Author : David Flanagan
• Publication date : December, 1969
• Publisher : O’Reilly
• Page count : 664
• ISBN : 1565922344

Joel on Software: And on Diverse and Occasionally Related Matters That Will Prove of Interest to Software Developers, Designers, and Managers, and to Those Who, Whether by Good Fortune or Ill Luck, Work with Them in Some Capacity

• Author : Joel Spolsky
• Publication date : August, 2004
• Publisher : Apress
• Page count : 362
• ISBN : 1590593898

Joel has brilliant ideas. This book contains answers to about every question you may have about software management. The main complaint I have with this book, which is the same as other books written by Joel, is that it really only is a collection of articles. There is no coherent structure to it and some ideas are repeated multiple times. I think some paragraphs are re-used as well. It really is worth reading, but I wish it were a real book.

Managing Humans: Biting and Humorous Tales of a Software Engineering Manager

• Author : Michael Lopp
• Publication date : June, 2007
• Publisher : Apress
• Page count : 209
• ISBN : 159059844X

The book is very easy to read. Tiny chapters, various topics. The author provides a great portrait of management in software companies from team leaders to middle management and executives.

The book is so good, I read the last half in a day.

Managing Software Requirements: A Use Case Approach (2nd Edition) (The Addison-Wesley Object Technology Series)

• Author : Dean Leffingwell, Don Widrig
• Publication date : May, 2003
• Publisher : Addison-Wesley Professional
• Page count : 544
• ISBN : 032112247X

Measuring and Managing Performance in Organizations

• Author : Robert D. Austin
• Publication date : December, 1969
• Publisher : Dorset House Publishing Company, Incorporated
• Page count : 216
• ISBN : 0932633366

Metaprogramming GPUs with Sh

• Author : Michael McCool, Stefanus DuToit, Stefanus Du Toit
• Publication date : July, 2004
• Publisher : AK Peters
• Page count : 307
• ISBN : 1568812299

The Object Constraint Language: Getting Your Models Ready for MDA (2nd Edition) (The Addison-Wesley Object Technology Series)

• Author : Jos Warmer, Anneke Kleppe
• Publication date : September, 2003
• Publisher : Addison-Wesley Professional
• Page count : 240
• ISBN : 0321179366

Object-Oriented Design & Patterns

• Author : Cay S. Horstmann
• Publication date : April, 2003
• Publisher : Wiley
• Page count : 464
• ISBN : 047131966X

Operating System Concepts (7th Edition)

• Author : Abraham Silberschatz, Peter Baer Galvin, Greg Gagne
• Publication date : December, 2004
• Publisher : Wiley
• Page count : 944
• ISBN : 0471694665

Before reading this book, I thought that operating systems internals had to be complex. The book is very easy to read and demystifies most ideas you can have about complexity. Most examples are from Solaris, but Windows and Linux are also used in some examples.

The front page does not look serious at all, but the content is.

Peer Reviews in Software: A Practical Guide (Addison-Wesley Information Technology Series)

• Author : Karl E. Wiegers
• Publication date : November, 2001
• Publisher : Addison-Wesley Professional
• Page count : 256
• ISBN : 0201734850

Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams (Second Edition)

• Author : Tom DeMarco, Timothy Lister
• Publication date : February, 1999
• Publisher : Dorset House Publishing Company, Incorporated
• Page count : 245
• ISBN : 0932633439

The Pragmatic Programmer: From Journeyman to Master

• Author : Andrew Hunt, David Thomas
• Publication date : October, 1999
• Publisher : Addison-Wesley Professional
• Page count : 352
• ISBN : 020161622X

Professional Software Development: Shorter Schedules, Higher Quality Products, More Successful Projects, Enhanced Careers

• Author : Steve McConnell
• Publication date : July, 2003
• Publisher : Addison-Wesley Professional
• Page count : 272
• ISBN : 0321193679

Programming Collective Intelligence: Building Smart Web 2.0 Applications

• Author : Toby Segaran
• Publication date : August, 2007
• Publisher : O’Reilly Media, Inc.
• Page count : 360
• ISBN : 0596529325

This book presents many useful algorithms to deal with large amounts of data. They allow to understand the data and extract useful information out of it. The book is great and presents a wide variety of real-life examples. Probably the best example selection I have seen in a book. My only problem with this book is that it contains too many code samples. Most of them could have been made available online or in an appendix without loosing any value.

If you work on a public web application collecting a lot of information about users, this is a must have on your shelf. I expect it to be as good as a reference as it was on the first read.

PSP(sm): A Self-Improvement Process for Software Engineers (The SEI Series in Software Engineering)

• Author : Watts S. Humphrey
• Publication date : March, 2005
• Publisher : Addison-Wesley Professional
• Page count : 368
• ISBN : 0321305493

Before reading this book, I was skeptical about the whole development process idea. I saw it presented some rigid management issue too often. PSP leaves the large organizational processes and places the focus on the developers.

As the title indicates, the book proposes a simple, adaptable, process for self-improvement. Based on metrics, it allows to keep a clear view on the development and helps avoiding the same problems in the future.

Scaling Software Agility: Best Practices for Large Enterprises (The Agile Software Development Series)

• Author : Dean Leffingwell
• Publication date : March, 2007
• Publisher : Addison-Wesley Professional
• Page count : 384
• ISBN : 0321458192

This is probably the best book I have read in a long time. Leffingwell proposes a great explanation of agile practices and puts an end to the typical packaged methodologies. Instead, practices are explained one by one and the selection is left to the enterprise. The book is targeted primarily at the executive type, but it explains really well what the advantages are and how it can scale up.

I found the last 2 chapters to be less interesting, mostly because they couldn’t reach me. Otherwise, the book is a gem. Facts are well supported and content is clear.

Secrets of Consulting: A Guide to Giving and Getting Advice Successfully

• Author : Gerald M. Weinberg
• Publication date : December, 1969
• Publisher : Dorset House Publishing Company, Incorporated
• Page count : 228
• ISBN : 0932633013

Sécurité PHP 5 et MySQL

• Author : Damien Séguy et Philippe Gamache
• Publication date : July, 2007
• Publisher : Eryolles
• Page count : 249
• ISBN : 2212121148

A great book on PHP security covering a lot of topics not mentioned anywhere else in such a comprehensive manner. Sadly, it’s only available in French.

Smart and Gets Things Done: Joel Spolsky’s Concise Guide to Finding the Best Technical Talent

• Author : Joel Spolsky
• Publication date : May, 2007
• Publisher : Apress
• Page count : 182
• ISBN : 1590598385

Joel’s writing is excellent. I only wish there was more of it. The book is really short and is only really a collection of articles already published on the web with introductions and conclusions modified to keep the topics in flow.

Software Architecture in Practice (2nd Edition) (The SEI Series in Software Engineering)

• Author : Len Bass, Paul Clements, Rick Kazman
• Publication date : April, 2003
• Publisher : Addison-Wesley Professional
• Page count : 560
• ISBN : 0321154959

Software Configuration Management Patterns: Effective Teamwork, Practical Integration (Software Patterns Series)

• Author : Stephen P. Berczuk, Brad Appleton
• Publication date : November, 2003
• Publisher : Addison-Wesley Professional
• Page count : 218
• ISBN : 0201741172

It was the first time I read something about configuration management that was so accessible. The book proposes a few simple patterns that can be used to obtain proper configuration management and clearly states the dependencies between them. The best part is that configuration management is not covered as a standalone topic. It’s tied in to the release processes and development cycles. A single path is not proposed. Following the pattern concept, multiple solutions are proposed and they should be applied in the appropriate situation.

I consider this book is a must-read for anyone leading a project to ensure long-term sustainability of the code base. For those not in a leading position, it can be a good addition in order to get a broader view of the development effort.

Software Engineering: Theory and Practice (2nd Edition)

• Author : Shari Lawrence Pfleeger
• Publication date : February, 2001
• Publisher : Prentice Hall
• Page count : 659
• ISBN : 0130290491

This book’s title is misleading. In fact, there is no practice, only theory. Not theory actually. Definitions. Unless you are absolutely forced to buy it for a course, stay away from it.

Software Estimation: Demystifying the Black Art (Best Practices (Microsoft))

• Author : Steve McConnell
• Publication date : March, 2006
• Publisher : Microsoft Press
• Page count : 308
• ISBN : 0735605351

Once again, McConnell has it all right. The book presents many techniques and exposes their advantages and inconvenients. For each technique, the ranges of applicability is detailed and tips on how to tailor the usage to specific needs are proposed. The content of the book seems well suited for small projects to very large ones.

It goes much further than simply maths by explaining the economics of estimation and how to build a sane environment. Definitely worth reading for any software developer. I would only add Humphrey’s PSP for the data collection specific items which are not detailed in this one.

Software for Your Head: Core Protocols for Creating and Maintaining Shared Vision

• Author : Jim McCarthy, Michele McCarthy
• Publication date : January, 2002
• Publisher : Addison-Wesley Professional
• Page count : 464
• ISBN : 0201604566

Totally refreshing. The book studies developer interactions in a project and documents patterns. The patterns have somewhat funny names and you would probably appear to be a fool if proposing them in a work environment. The reason I enjoyed this book so much is that it describes common pitfalls that occur in meetings and explains how to avoid them. Without naming the patterns, I could re-orient meetings in a productive way a few times.

Software Project Survival Guide

• Author : Steve McConnell
• Publication date : February, 2003
• Publisher : Microsoft Press
• Page count :
• ISBN : 0072850612

The book makes an overview of an average software development process as promoted by McConnell. There are some very interesting details and sufficient information is provided to adapt to your own situation. However, none of the practices are covered in full depth. I would recommend this one to managers who know very little about software development. It’s a good introduction. I personally found the last few chapters most useful as the topics related to closing the projects and releasing software are rarely covered for unknown reasons.

Software Quality Assurance: From Theory to Implementation

• Author : Daniel Galin
• Publication date : September, 2003
• Publisher : Addison Wesley
• Page count : 616
• ISBN : 0201709457

Système de gestion de base de donnée par l’exemple

• Author : Robert Godin
• Publication date : January, 2008
• Publisher : Loze-Dion éditeur inc.
• Page count : 1195
• ISBN : 2921180480

This book could have killed much less trees if it didn’t go so deep in details about the implementation of every kind of database that ever existed. Reading this book leaves the impression that it was the author’s purpose to write as many pages as possible. Everything is introduced at least 3 times. There is so much redundant information, there is no way to find what you really are searching for. Course material. Never would have read it otherwise.

Favorite fact about this book: page 34 and 38 have a verbatim copy of a 12 line paragraph. Only differences are the 3 introduction words and the referenced figure (page 34 refers to page 37 and page 38 refers to page 23). I got that weird feeling of déjà-vù while reading.

TSP(SM)-Leading a Development Team (The SEI Series in Software Engineering)

• Author : Watts S. Humphrey
• Publication date : September, 2005
• Publisher : Addison-Wesley Professional
• Page count : 336
• ISBN : 0321349628

UML Distilled: A Brief Guide to the Standard Object Modeling Language (3rd Edition) (The Addison-Wesley Object Technology Series)

• Author : Martin Fowler
• Publication date : September, 2003
• Publisher : Addison-Wesley Professional
• Page count : 208
• ISBN : 0321193687

As a quick UML reference, it’s great. Some chapters could have been trimmed off and make the reference even thinner.

Waltzing With Bears: Managing Risk on Software Projects

• Author : Tom DeMarco, Timothy Lister
• Publication date : December, 1969
• Publisher : Dorset House Publishing Company, Incorporated
• Page count : 144
• ISBN : 0932633609

A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future

• Author : Daniel H. Pink
• Publication date : March, 2006
• Publisher : Riverhead Trade
• Page count : 288
• ISBN : 1594481717

Winning with Software: An Executive Strategy (The SEI Series in Software Engineering)

• Author : Watts S. Humphrey
• Publication date : December, 2001
• Publisher : Addison-Wesley Professional
• Page count : 256
• ISBN : 0201776391

Humphrey’s writing is amazing. This book is targeted towards executives, and you can feel it in every word, every chapter structure. Probably a good gift to make to your boss when the pressure is too high.

It mostly sells PSP/TSP and speak of numbers, but it contains some interesting data.

Zend PHP Certification Study Guide (Developer’s Library)

• Author : Zend Technologies
• Publication date : August, 2004
• Publisher : Sams
• Page count : 264
• ISBN : 0672327090