Byte Wars: The Impact of September 11 on Information Technology (Yourdon Press Series) (Paperback)

by Edward Yourdon (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Less sensationalistic than its title suggests, Byte Wars: The Impact of September 11 on Information Technology compiles software developer Edward Yourdon's timely concerns about 21st-century IT security. Specifically addressing government officials, corporate executives, IT managers, programmers, and citizens, he identifies risks to safety, privacy, and other fundamental values and provides concrete steps they (that is, we) can take to disarm threats.

Yourdon is well known for having beaten the Y2K drum vigorously, and it would be easy to mistake him for a hysteria-monger. His clarity, confidence, and good humor will quickly allay any doubts in the reader's mind; though some of his ideas have only the most tenuous link to the events of 9/11, they are all well considered and valuable as we move further into an era we don't yet understand.

Examining emergent systems, resiliency, death-march projects, and more with an eye toward securing our lives and liberty, Byte Wars gives us an optimistic look at our murky future. --Rob Lightner

Product Description
Specifically addressing government officials, corporate executives, IT managers, programmers, and citizens, Edward Yourdon identifies risks to safety, privacy, and other fundamental values and provides concrete steps we can take to disarm threats.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall PTR (April 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0130477257
• ISBN-13: 978-0130477255
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #924,852 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The view from Ground Zero, April 7, 2002

By	Ken Orr (Topeka, KS USA) - See all my reviews

Many people, Ed Yourdon and I included, thought that January 1, 2000 represented a unique "point of discontinuity" that might start a chain of events that could cause major tremors in our modern electronic world. We were wrong, but much of the work that was done to prevent a Y2k catastrophe turned out to have help us survive a real point of discontinuity- September 11, 2000. One financial company after another has explained the reason that the U.S. financial market was able to recover so quickly was the work they had done dealing with Y2k.

On of the ironies thinking about the Y2k is that people like Ed were right for the wrong reasons-enormous man-made structures can topple, just like the World Trade Center Towers, but with the right planning and testing the underlying information/communication infrastructures can survive and/or recover quickly. Throughout his career, Ed has been thinking about the big issues involved in IT. From his earliest publications on structured design to offshore programming, Ed has been ahead of his time.

Now, Ed Yourdon has written a book analyzing the impact of 9/11 on IT. Once again, Ed has taken the intellectual high ground to force us, once again, to think about the unthinkable. How do we develop systems or environments that can handle truly unexpected events? How do we make our systems failsafe and robust? How do we get management to give a damn?

In Byte Wars, Ed is once again thinking about big issues. In the glow of ground zero he is suggesting that executives and policy makers start working to make our technology, and consequently our society itself, more "survivable". Like his other books, I found this book full of uncommon common sense. I particularly like what Ed had to say about emergent and resilient systems. Massive unexpected failures require the ability to adapt on the fly. That in turn requires environments that promote rapid, collaborative problem solving.

This is fine book that executives and professionals inside and outside IT should be reading.

Ken Orr
Topeka, Kansas

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Wait for a better book, April 24, 2002

By A Customer

Ed Yourdon's most well-known recent work is probably TimeBomb 2000, a book that inspired so much unwarranted fear that one terrified couple on his Internet forum attempted to give away their newborn grandchild to complete strangers in hopes that it would survive the terrible Y2K rollover. Indeed, Yourdon himself was quoted as saying that the likelihood that the various Y2K "trigger dates" would pass without incident was equal to that of pigs learning to fly.

Thankfully, Byte Wars avoids such ridiculous predictions and hysteria, but instead offers the reader no new insights into information technology and little to nothing relating to 9/11. Yourdon is a true Master of the Obvious in this book, which apparently capitalizes on the 9/11 tragedy without actually addressing it. If you're looking for real insight into the effects of 9/11 on the IT industry, I would wait a few more months for a more relevant work. This one just doesn't cut it.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Broad Assessment of What 9/11 means to IT, April 6, 2002

By A Customer

Provides the big picture as concerns IT post-September 11th. Implications and advice for policy makers, execs, IT workers, and interested citizens. There are certainly things in here you haven't thought about yet, as well as a provocative section on reassessing your own personal priorities and philosophies in light of the enormity of recent world events. Highly readable (not at all a techie tome). I heartily recommend this book.