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Rapid Development: Taming Wild Software Schedules 1st Edition

by Steve McConnell (Author)

4.4 177 ratings

Part of: Developer Best Practices (23 books)

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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 going
RAPID DEVELOPMENT is the real-world guide to more efficient applications development.

ISBN-10

9781556159008
ISBN-13

978-1556159008
Edition

1st
Publisher

Microsoft Press
Publication date

1996
July 2
Part of series

Developer Best Practices
Language

EN
English
Dimensions

7.3 x 1.4 x 8.9
inches
Length

672
Pages
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

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.

About the Author

Steve McConnell is recognised as one of the premier authors and voices in the development community. He is Chief Software Engineer of Construx Software and was the lead developer of Construx Estimate and of SPC Estimate Professional, winner of Software Development magazine's Productivity Award. He is the author of several books, including Code Complete and Rapid Development, both honored with Software Development magazine's Jolt Award.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ 1556159005
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Microsoft Press; 1st edition (July 2, 1996)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 672 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9781556159008
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1556159008
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.82 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.3 x 1.4 x 8.9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #699,603 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #58 in Desktop Database Books
- #149 in Business Intelligence Tools
- #762 in Software Development (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.4 177 ratings

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Steve McConnell

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Steve McConnell is an award-winning, best selling CEO and author. His newest book is "More Effective Agile: A Roadmap for Software Leaders." His first book, "Code Complete", has been recognized as the best-selling, best-reviewed software development book of all time. His books have been translated into 20 languages and sold more than one million copies worldwide.

Steve is passionate about increasing software organizational performance by improving the skills of individuals and teams. Steve is founder and CEO at Construx Software, which provides training, consulting, coaching and free resources focused on more effective software development practices. Check it out at construx.com.

Steve's newest book, More Effective Agile, was published in August 2019. Check out resources related to Steve's new book at moreeffectiveagile.com.

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5

177 global ratings

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smart geek

A must-have book for managers/tech leads/senior developers

Reviewed in the United States on July 27, 2005

Verified Purchase

Having seen quite a few projects go haywire; reading this book

made me pinpoint exactly all the faults those projects had. The

good thing about this book is that its complete. Some books cover

some areas and some others, but this covers all. For eg., if you

just read the first few chapters and decided to apply techniques

learnt to your project, you might not apply them correctly as you

you didn't read the whole book to get a complete picture of

rapid development.

This books is good for people working in startups. Developers

should also read this book so that they can help avoid mistakes

of managers/tech.leads in a fast-paced environment where things

can get easily missed.

12 people found this helpful

Helpful

Lawrence Miller

Reviewed in the United States on October 16, 2013

Verified Purchase

This is a must read for experienced and new people. I found it an easy fast read and have lived through many of the scenarios described. Regardless of your place in software development as a manager, administrator, designer, programmer, tester, even service, being aware of these practices can help you create a better product and provide you the information to influence those who can affect the software environment.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Joao Cortez

A Must Read For Anybody Interested In The Dynamics Of Software Engineering

Reviewed in the United States on October 1, 2007

Verified Purchase

This book is quite long, but worth every page. As a programmer, one usually gets focused on that - programming. There are however, several dynamics at play at any given software development project: customers, unstable requirements, risks, teamwork, tools, etc. This book presents several fundamental principles, strategies, philosophies and mistakes and than goes to present a set of very important best practices. I highly recommend it!

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Aristos Aresti

A lot of repeating and unnecessary/obvious information

Reviewed in the United States on November 6, 2016

Verified Purchase

A major disappointment after reading Code Complete. A lot of repeating and unnecessary/obvious information. It could have easily been half the size.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

D. Mozingo

Good book with solid advice

Reviewed in the United States on January 30, 2007

Verified Purchase

While I enjoyed reading much of this book, and it had excellent advice, I found much of it only applying to project managers and other management with the ability to really effect change. As a lower level developer, there's not a lot I can do with the information in this book, but I think it's relevance will increase ten fold as I progress through my career, hopefully saving myself from making many mistakes on the way.

Overall it was a nice easy read, but beware that it won't be very applicable early in your career.

6 people found this helpful

Helpful

Book Lover

Still Very Relevant

Reviewed in the United States on September 3, 2015

Verified Purchase

I read this for the UVa McIntire MS MIS (now MIT) program in 2001. I still use it, and enjoy giving copies to my colleagues. This book will only become irrelevant when we stop making Classic Mistakes.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

T. Hollins

Was well worth the time to read it.

Reviewed in the United States on May 20, 2014

Verified Purchase

It might be somewhat dated, but it was well worth the read.
It had a lot of meat to the book.
I would recommend Team Lead's read this to give you some extra ideas about managing your development team.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

J. Thomas Dyess

Great for Managers and Developers

Reviewed in the United States on July 13, 2000

Verified Purchase

This is an excellent project-centric book for both managers and developers. If you are a manager, it tells you what to do and what not to do. Teaches you not to be bullied by technologically ignorant corporate officers, how developers think and how to make them happy. Most of all, it teaches you how to leverage your projects to get the most bang for your buck. Sites real-world examples as well as the hypothetical. I highly recommend this book for anyone working professionally in the IT/IS industry.

One person found this helpful

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schrottvogel

Pflichtlektüre in Sachen Softwareprojekte

Reviewed in Germany on March 7, 2014

Verified Purchase

Von McConnell kannte ich ja schon Code Complete , das ich unter den vielen Ratgebern für professionelle Programmierung am gelungendsten fand -- gut strukturiert, knapp und sachlich geschrieben, undogmatisch... einfach prima. Jetzt schmöker ich seit einigen Tagen in diesem Buch, und obwohl es schon knapp 20 Jahre auf dem Buckel hat, ist es mit Abstand wiederum das Beste seiner Klasse -- hier als praxisorientierte Einführung in und Ratgeber für professionelle Softwareentwicklung.

Man sollte ich von dem Titel nicht irreführen lassen: Hier geht es mitnichten nur um schnelle Softwareentwicklung. Ich bin mit dem Autor einer Meinung -- nämlich, dass diese nur möglich ist, wenn man zuvor die allgemeinen Grundlagen effizienter Softwareentwicklung beherrscht. Und diese beschreibt McConnell im ersten und im zweiten Abschnitt einfach hervorragend: umfassend, fundiert und einleuchtend. Mir gefällt sehr, dass er die jeweiligen Praktiken nie als Wunderwaffe preist, sondern immer sehr genau auf die spezifischen Voraussetzungen, Begrenzungen und Risiken eingeht, in den meisten Fällen auch durch Zahlen und Ergebnisse seriöser Untersuchungen belegt. Dadurch gewinnt man ein gutes Verständnis dafür, ob und wann man die jeweilige Methode überhaupt anwenden kann, und welchen Preis man dafür möglicherweise zahlen muss.

Der dritte Teil besteht aus einem kurzen Lexikon der wichtigsten "Best Practices" für schnelle Softwareentwicklung. Jeder Begriff wird definiert, und auch hier werden wieder Voraussetzungen und Risiken sowie Tipps zur Umsetzung angegeben. Zwar wiederholt sich auf den 650 Seiten manches, andererseits ist dies bei der Nichtlinearität des Themas eh nicht zu vermeiden (und Wiederholung ist eh gut fürs Einprägen!). Sehr gelungen die beiden großen Tabellen zu Beginn des dritten Teils. Die erste eine kategorisiert alle im Buch erwähnten Praktiken (in "Fundamental", "Best Philosophy", "Best Practice" und "Not a Best Practice") und verweist auf die jeweiligen Kapitel. Die zweite stellt eine Übersicht über die wichtigsten Auswirkungen aller der im Buch erwähnten Best Practices zusammen und ist ein unschätzbarer Startpunkt, um zu Beginn eines Projektes potenziell geeignete Praktiken zu identifizieren -- je nachdem, ob man präzise Terminierung oder flexible Anforderungen wünscht, kompetente Entwickler hat usw.

Ebenfalls absolut beispielhaft ist die Strukturierung und Verlinkung der Inhalte. Wo immer es geht, verweist McConnell auf Querbezüge zum Thema und natürlich weiterführende Literatur. Das verstärkt nur die Tauglichkeit des Buches als Nachschlagewerk zum täglichen Gebrauch, der einem schnell einen Überblick und jeweils interessante weiterführende Punkte verschafft.

Manch einer wird kritisieren, dass das Buch doch absolut veraltet sein dürfte, da fehlen Scrum, XP oder Entwurfsmuster ganz, und das ist tatsächlich ein Manko. Aber was die Grundlagen der Softwareentwicklung angeht, ist dieses Buch genauso aktuell wie eh und je. Und es versetzt einen in die Lage, neuere Praktiken zu analysieren und hinsichtlich ihrer Anwendbarkeit auf spezifische Projekte einzuschätzen.

FAZIT: Jeder, der einen professionellen Ansatz zur Softwareentwicklung verfolgt, wird von diesem Buch profitieren. Für technische Leiter und Manager von Softwareprojekten ist dieses Buch meines Erachtens ein absolutes Muss, und da übertreibe ich nicht. Für mich jedenfalls waren die lächerlichen 2 Euronen, die ich für dieses Buch gebraucht hier berappt habe, die profitabelste Investition aller Zeiten. Meine Empfehlung lautet somit einfach: Kaufen, studieren, ins firmeneigene Bücherregal und zumindest die ersten beiden Teile allen Beteiligten als Pflichtlektüre verschreiben.

PS. Nein, ich erhalte genauso kein Geld oder sonstige Vergünstigungen von Herrn McConnell oder Microsoft Press für diese Rezension wie wohl die anderen 48 von 54 Rezensenten hier, die das Buch mit 5 Sternen wärmstens empfehlen :)

One person found this helpful

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Chrism

Very Informative

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 15, 2012

Verified Purchase

When i first got this there is a Microsoft logo on the side, which made me wary. Ready about a quarter of it and I am impressed, most of the usual project problems are described and solutions are given. This is not a book that you can delve into occasionally to get the answer, you need to read it all and then apply the recommendations to help your projects. There are cases described which really helped me as I could see the problem before the author then described them and this helped me think about how to avoid (eg lack of management communication, no clear scope, project manager goes on holiday at key times, etc).

Very good read.

2 people found this helpful

Mr. C. J. E. Finister

Essential reading

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 28, 2013

Verified Purchase

Steve's "Code Complete" was my guide to coding and development best practice a when I was an IT auditor. However it obviously didn't address issues and hype around Agile. whilst this was also written before then the issues it addresses are highly relevant and a valid reminder that Rapid doesn't mean the same as Without Control

Any one, or any IT department, thinking about jumping on the agile bandwagon should first read this book.

The loss of a star is only because it deserves a more up to date edition.

One person found this helpful

a regular shopper

Because reading electronic texts is not easy for my eyes

Reviewed in Canada on October 11, 2014

Verified Purchase

I tried the electronic version of the book first. Because reading electronic texts is not easy for my eyes, I ordered the paperback of it. I did not expect that quality for the amount of money that I paid. I am very happy. I do recommend students take advantage of the options that they have in this website, specially free shipping. Sadly I missed that part as I did not see it when I ordered.
Thanks Amazon.ca

harnesh patel

Good book

Reviewed in India on October 19, 2019

Verified Purchase

Good book for TL,Manager,CEO of small cpany

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