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Rapid Development: Taming Wild Software Schedules 1st Edition

by Steve McConnell (Author)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 174 ratings
See all formats and editions
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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.
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  1. ISBN-10
    9781556159008
  2. ISBN-13
    978-1556159008
  3. Edition
    1st
  4. Publisher
    Microsoft Press
  5. Publication date
    July 2, 1996
  6. Part of series
    Developer Best Practices
  7. Language
    English
  8. Dimensions
    7.3 x 1.4 x 8.9 inches
  9. Print length
    672 pages
  10. See all details
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Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
174 global ratings

Customers say

Customers find the book has good advice, lessons learned, and references. They say it's well worth the read, useful, and eye-opening. Readers also describe the book as readable and an easy, fast read.

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AdviceValue for moneyReadability
11 customers mention "Advice"11 positive0 negative

Customers find the advice in the book good, informative, and well-backed up. They say it's an excellent project-centric book for both managers and developers. Readers also mention the book includes case studies, do's, and don'ts.

"...rapid development.This books is good for people working in startups. Developers..." Read more

"...philosophies and mistakes and than goes to present a set of very important best practices. I highly recommend it!" Read more

"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..." Read more

"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...." Read more

9 customers mention "Value for money"9 positive0 negative

Customers find the book well worth the read, useful for professional developers or managers, and eye-opening. They say it has a lot of meat to it.

"This book is quite long, but worth every page. As a programmer, one usually gets focused on that - programming...." Read more

"...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." Read more

"...It's about 2-inches thick with nearly 650 pages of eye-opening reading for all." Read more

"In my opition this is one of the best book about Project Managment in Software development. I regret that I didn't read it before" Read more

3 customers mention "Readability"3 positive0 negative

Customers find the book well-written and readable. They also say it's an easy, fast read.

"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...." Read more

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

"Well written to be both readable and a good reference...." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

smart geek
5.0 out of 5 stars 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
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Joao Cortez
5.0 out of 5 stars 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
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Lawrence Miller
5.0 out of 5 stars Recommended for everyone involved in software development
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
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Aristos Aresti
3.0 out of 5 stars 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
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T. Hollins
5.0 out of 5 stars 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
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D. Mozingo
4.0 out of 5 stars 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
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Book Lover
5.0 out of 5 stars 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
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J. Thomas Dyess
5.0 out of 5 stars 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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Top reviews from other countries

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New Me
5.0 out of 5 stars Recommended
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 13, 2019
Verified Purchase
Arrived in time and in good condition. Thank you!
The book was very useful to me, the content is very good structured and the information is delivered in accessible English for everyone to understand.
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Jose Ortega
4.0 out of 5 stars No cometas los errores que ya cometieron otros
Reviewed in Spain on April 21, 2018
Verified Purchase
Enseñanzas que perduran en el tiempo. Obra renocida de gran ayuda para no cometer errores de gestion que ya han cometido otros. Muy util.
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Super fast delivery - thank you!
Reviewed in Canada on January 16, 2017
Verified Purchase
My son needed this badly as his campus bookstore was sold out. Super fast delivery was very much appreciated!
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a regular shopper
5.0 out of 5 stars 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
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schrottvogel
5.0 out of 5 stars 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 :)
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