Applied Software Project Management Review

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(More customer reviews)I've tried many project management processes and have searched through most of the popular literature over the years trying to find the best way to implement real process change. Much of the literature describes the processes well but ignores the implementation entirely. Applied Software Project Management does a wonderful job both describing the various tools and techniques and giving detailed instructions on how to implement them. The book even goes so far as to describing how to implement processes in an organization that is openly hostile to change and/or process in general.
I find this book to be an invaluable resource for any project manager. It's great for newbies, who will learn all the vocabulary and process theory. Experienced project managers will learn new tools and techniques as well as innovatives ways of getting them implemented.

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"If you're looking for solid, easy-to-follow advice on estimation, requirements gathering, managing change, and more, you can stop now: this is the book for you." --Scott Berkun, Author ofThe Art of Project Management

What makes software projects succeed? It takes more than a good idea and a team of talented programmers. A project manager needs to know how to guide the team through the entire software project. There are common pitfalls that plague all software projects and rookie mistakes that are made repeatedly--sometimes by the same people! Avoiding these pitfalls is not hard, but it is not necessarily intuitive. Luckily, there are tried and true techniques that can help any project manager.

In Applied Software Project Management, Andrew Stellman and Jennifer Greene provide you with tools, techniques, and practices that you can use on your own projects right away. This book supplies you with the information you need to diagnose your team's situation and presents practical advice to help you achieve your goal of building better software.

Topics include:

Planning a software project
Helping a team estimate its workload
Building a schedule
Gathering software requirements and creating use cases
Improving programming with refactoring, unit testing, and version control
Managing an outsourced project
Testing software

Jennifer Greene and Andrew Stellman have been building software together since 1998. Andrew comes from a programming background and has managed teams of requirements analysts, designers, and developers. Jennifer has a testing background and has managed teams of architects, developers, and testers. She has led multiple large-scale outsourced projects. Between the two of them, they have managed every aspect of software development. They have worked in a wide range of industries, including finance, telecommunications, media, nonprofit, entertainment, natural-language processing, science, and academia. For more information about them and this book, visit http://www.stellman-greene.com.

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The Business Analyst's Handbook Review

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(More customer reviews)This book has solid reference material that experienced Business Analysts can utilize on virtually any assignment. This is not the best book for a new Business Analyst and is really geared towards a practitioner that understands their craft and appreciates additional guidance. Coverage of techniques and models is very comprehensive.

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The Business Analyst (BA) plays an important role as liaison between business stakeholders and the technical team (software developers, vendors, etc.), ensuring that business needs are reflected in any software solution. Despite the importance of the job, there is currently no book specifically designed as a comprehensive reference manual for the working BA. The Business Analyst's Handbook solves this problem by providing a useful compendium of tools, tables, lists, and templates that BAs can use on-the-job to carry out their tasks. For example, you might be preparing for an interview session and use the book's checklist of interviewees to verify whether there is appropriate coverage of business stakeholders. Or you might be asked to review some diagrams and refer to the Glossaries of Symbols (organized by diagram type) for guidance. Or you may be asked to prepare textual requirements documentation and refer to the Business Requirement template for a list of artifacts and table of contents. Whatever your BA needs, the Business Analyst's Handbook places the necessary information right at your fingertips.

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Cocoa Programming for Mac OS X (3rd Edition) Review

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(More customer reviews)If you plan to write for Mac OS X, and have some programming experience, this book is a MUST HAVE. This is by far the best introductory book I have ever read on any language.
If you DO NOT have programming experience, I would still recommend this book. There are some spots where the logic might be hard to grasp, but Aaron Hillegass walks you through it.
In either case, but more so for beginners, I would also recommend Programming in Objective-C (Developer's Library). The less experience you have, the more strongly I would suggest reading this book first. It will walk you through the basics of straight Objective-C and then start you off using frameworks in OS X. If you are a Windows user and do not have a Mac, Programming in Objective-C (Developer's Library) will show you how to write and compile Objective-C in Windows.
(Look for the new version of this book which uses Objective-C 2.0)
I come from Windows development, having programmed in VB 6, VB.NET, C (and variants), and java. Aaron Hillegass takes you right into the heart of the Mac OS X development environment and gives you a guided tour. Showing you the basics of both Cocoa and the X Code development environment. Pick the book up and you won't regret it. This is a walkthrough tutorial style book. It is not a reference book. Apples online documentation is the best reference for Cocoa.
There are a lot of resources out there for Cocoa programmers. If you are looking for more help with Cocoa, check out the free podcasts that are available on iTunes. "CocoaCast" is a 'screen cast' that actually follows this book and may help you if you have trouble. Other podcasts that i find easy to listen to come from the Mac Developer Network such as "Late Night Cocoa" and "The Mac Developer Roundtable". They also have a great community that you can join by visiting www.mac-developer-network.com. They have video classes on some great topics which are very helpful.

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The best-selling introduction to Cocoa, once again updated to cover the latest Mac programming technologies, and still enthusiastically recommended by experienced Mac OS X developers."Aaron's book is the gold standard for Mac OS X programming books—beautifully written, and thoughtfully sculpted. The best book on Leopard development."—Scott Stevenson, www.theocacao.com"This is the first book I'd recommend for anyone wanting to learn Cocoa from scratch. Aaron's one of the few (perhaps only) full-time professional Cocoa instructors, and his teaching experience shows in the book."—Tim Burks, software developer and creator of the Nu programming language, www.programming.nu"If you're a UNIX or Windows developer who picked up a Mac OS X machine recently in hopes of developing new apps or porting your apps to Mac users, this book should be strongly considered as one of your essential reference and training tomes." —Kevin H. Spencer, Apple Certified Technical CoordinatorIf you're developing applications for Mac OS X, Cocoa® Programming for Mac® OS X, Third Edition, is the book you've been waiting to get your hands on. If you're new to the Mac environment, it's probably the book you've been told to read first. Covering the bulk of what you need to know to develop full-featured applications for OS X, written in an engaging tutorial style, and thoroughly class-tested to assure clarity and accuracy, it is an invaluable resource for any Mac programmer.Specifically, Aaron Hillegass introduces the three most commonly used Mac developer tools: Xcode, Interface Builder, and Instruments. He also covers the Objective-C language and the major design patterns of Cocoa. Aaron illustrates his explanations with exemplary code, written in the idioms of the Cocoa community, to show you how Mac programs should be written. After reading this book, you will know enough to understand and utilize Apple's online documentation for your own unique needs. And you will know enough to write your own stylish code.Updated for Mac OS X 10.4 and 10.5, this revised edition includes coverage of Xcode 3, Objective-C 2, Core Data, the garbage collector, and CoreAnimation.

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SF Reading Street: Grade 2: Practice Book Student Edition 2 (NATL) Review

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(More customer reviews)The book I ordered stated that it was used in good condition. When I got the book it looked brand new. The book was in excellent condition and arrived in 2 days. WOW!!! Will buy again. Excellent service.Thank You.

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Scott Foresman Reading Street ©2007
Grade 2
Scientifically research-based program supports state standards in literacy, science, mathematics, social studies, art and music to prepare children for Kindergarten. Teacher's Guides help build and assess children's cognitive skills, alphabet knowledge, and social-emotional development. Interactive charts with songs and activities inspire class discussion and build oral vocabulary. Big Books, Trade Books, and Little Books provide shared reading experiences and develop children's concepts of print.
Provides phonics, vocabulary, and comprehension skills practice. A take-home newsletter, Family Times, strengthens the school-home connection. Can be used as blackline masters or as a consumable workbook. Teacher's Manual is available separately. Scott Foresman Reading Street © 2007 is designed to help teachers build readers through motivating and engaging literature, scientifically research-based instruction, and a wealth of reliable teaching tools. The program takes the guesswork out of differentiating instruction with a strong emphasis on ongoing progress-monitoring and an explicit plan to help with managing small groups of students. In addition, Reading Street prioritizes skill instruction at each grade level, so teachers can be assured they will focus on the right skill, at the right time, and for every student.

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Enterprise J2ME: Developing Mobile Java Applications Review

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(More customer reviews)I go to Java Users Groups (yes, I'm struggling to get in touch with my inner geek) once every two or three months. Sometimes there's an engaging speaker, but most of the time the fellow up front looks like he's just swallowed a hot pepper, speaks like he has a permanent stutter, and answers questions like I'm speaking Greek. (I'm not making fun; I had a hard time when I was in front of a JUG too.) Regardless of the quality of the speaker, I gain something just by watching the presentation--he points out interesting technologies and usually has a list of resources at the end that I can use for further research.
I think Michael Yuan would be a great speaker at a JUG, as he seems to have a masterful understanding of Java 2 Platform, Micro Edition (J2ME). However, the true value of his book, Enterprise J2ME, was in its introduction of new ideas and concepts, and the extensive resource listings. This book is a survey of the current state of the art in mobile java technology. Whatever your topic is, except for gaming development, you'll find some coverage here. Securing information on the device or network, XML parsing strategies, messaging architectures, and data synchronization issues are all some of the topics that Yuan covers.
My favorite chapter was Chapter 7, 'End to End Best Practices.' Here, Yuan covers some of the things he's learned in developing his own enterprise applications, and offers some solutions to five issues that differ between the J2ME world and the worlds familiar to most Java developers: J2EE and J2SE. He offers capsule solutions to the issues of "limited device hardware, slow unreliable networks, pervasive devices, ubiquitous integration [and] the impatient user." Later in the book, he explores various architectures to expand on some of these capsules.
However, the strength of this book, exposing the reader to a number of different mobile technologies, is also its weakness. JUG speakers very rarely dive into a technology to the point that I feel comfortable using it without additional research; I usually have to go home, download whatever package was presented, and play with it a bit to get a real feel for its usefulness. This book was much the same. Some of the chapters, like chapters 12 and 13, where issues with databases on mobile devices (CDC devices, not CLDC devices) weren't applicable to my kind of development, but you can hardly fault Yuan for that. Some of the later chapters felt like a series of 'hello world' applications for various vendors. This is especially true of chapter 12, and also of chapter 20, which is a collection of recipes for encryption on the device.
Additionally, I feel like some of the points he raised in Chapter 7 are never fully dealt with. An example of this is section 7.3.3, "Optimize for many devices." The project I'm on is struggling with this right now, but I had trouble finding any further advice on this important topic beyond this one paragraph section. However, these small issues don't take away from the overall usefulness of the book--if you are developing enterprise software, you'll learn enough from this book to make its purchase worthwhile.
However, I wouldn't buy the book if you're trying to learn J2ME. Yuan gives a small tutorial on basic J2ME development in Appendix A, but you really need an entire book to learn the various packages, processes and UI concerns of J2ME, whether or not you have previously programmed in Java. Additionally, if you're trying to program a standalone game, this book isn't going to have a lot to offer you, since Yuan doesn't spend a lot of time focused on UI concerns and phone compatibility issues. Some of the best practices about limited hardware may be worth reading, and if it's a networked game, however, you may gain from his discussions in Chapter 6, "Advanced HTTP Techniques." In general though, I'm not sure there's enough to make it worth a game developer's while.
I bought this book because I'm working on a networked J2ME application, and it stands alone in its discussion of the complex architectural issues that such applications face. It covers more than that, and isn't perfect, but it is well worth the money, should you be facing the kind of problems I am. Indeed, I wish I had had this book months ago, as I'm sure it would have improved the my current application.

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Mobile enterprise information systems will soon be one of the major applications of wireless technology. Java 2 Micro Edition is poised to be an important platform for developing wireless enterprise applications. Enterprise wireless applications allow workers to access crucial business information from any place at any time. This book covers the design, architecture, tools and development methodology for the Web Services that will be the killer app for this very promising platform. The author explains the value of mobile commerce and discusses architecture and system design considerations. This book explains not only API usages but also the designs behind the APIs so that you can learn how to extend those technologies for your custom requirements!

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Oracle Database 10g PL/SQL Programming Review

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(More customer reviews)The book is a large survey of the PL/SQL language and introduces many new things that have changed with 10g. But there is a major problem with the book, which runs throughout almost all Oracle Documentation.
The book is written more as a corporate training manual than that of a programming text book. As probably everyone who ever took a training class from their company knows, training is often done by people who not only are not educators, but may not actually understand or have even used the subject of the training. It is intentional that such people do not state the concepts abstractly - they only know concrete examples and maybe only the example in their pre-written material.
This book fits this description to a T. It does not specify the correct syntax except in examples. It does not specify the qualifications and conditions governing the language elements or the examples. As such, unless you are essentially copying an example almost verbatim, you have no real knowledge of whether your code will compile, let alone work as intended. As an example consider their discussion of SELECT statements. They speak about the Select clause, the INTO clause, etc. Nowhere do they state that the list of items in the INTO clause should separated by commas. Although most people could correctly guess that the comma is the separator, you need to find an example to show you that. The book is rampant with omissions like this. Two pages later, they use an OPEN - FOR construct in an example without introducing it. That it can be used dynamically, i.e. with the query in a character string constructed at run time, is not only not mentioned in this section, but is not even mentioned in the chapter on Dynamic SQL.
This should be looked upon as a book of (simple) examples. It should be no one's text or reference.

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Create dynamic client/server applications using PL/SQL and the comprehensive information contained in this authoritative volume. Expert Oracle insiders cover the features of PL/SQL, explain scripting semantics and syntax, and fully detail the PL/SQL functionality of Oracle Database 10g. You'll learn how to write powerful PL/SQL programs, interact with Oracle databases, perform complex calculations, and handle error conditions.

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American English Idiomatic Expressions in 52 Weeks: An Easy Way to Understand English Expressions and Improve Speaking Review

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(More customer reviews)This book is the most helpful and valuable book that I have ever read as a second language speaker of English. The daily idiomatic expressions in American English were always nightmare for me before I had started to read and study this book.
The idioms are uniquely classified into different categories with its week-by-week methodology. The usage of everyday English explanations and illustrations makes idioms easy to understand. Every second language speaker of English should have this book in order to communicate effectively in English.


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This week-by-week calendar of idioms will assist learners of English to understand the meanings of American idioms found in common usage. TheAmerican English Idiomatic Expressions in 52 Weeks consists of 3,300 frequently used idioms, provides concise and clear definitions of each idiom, and includes examples to show the context in which particular idioms are used.

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