Web Books

I work in a non-technology based field, yet found this book to be a great tool for inspiring some new marketing ideas.

AT LAST! A definitive, concise, readable, understandable, helpful book on this subject that has literally changed the way I communicate and network in my business. Thank you, thank you, thank you, to the authors!!

The world can be divided into two groups: those that get it, and those that don't. Real estate is a very competitive industry -- you not only have to be "with it," you have to be "ahead of it." This book is a must have for the business person -- in this case, realtor -- who needs and wants the cutting edge advantage.

Like many people looking for a book or information on web conferencing I was frustrated in my search by the surprising lack of available material. Needless to say I was thrilled when my search ended having come across "The Web Conferencing Book..." and was happier still when I found the book to be as an informative and engaging read as it is. Extremely comprehensive, The Web Conferencing Book answered virtually all of my questions on the subject - and even provided me with information I didn't even know I need to be aware of. I can't recommend this book enough for people needing to know more on the subject as it will undoubtedly have an immediate and highly positive impact on your web conferencing abilities and overall knowledge. The authors have provided us with an amazingly valuable resource and I'm now offically on the lookout for future technology books by them.

I'm a computer services manager working in local government, so I am probably not part of the target audience for this book.

This book will give maximum benefit to a non-technical person who knows nothing about on-line collaboration. The book is effective in giving a survey of the conferencing products and services available on the market at the time of publication.

Here is my description of my "wish list" for a book on Web Conferencing:

1. Target audience: Information systems professionals
2. Detailed coverage of network issues involved with Web conferencing, including bandwidth, infrastructure and security issues.
3. Cost structure for each product reviewed.
4. Some coverage of manipulating low cost configurations to provide high levels of service. (How to do more with less).
5. Professional, rather than chatty, tone.

The book is easy to read and walks you through the process of setting up a web site in a very organized, step by step, process, with a little humor thrown in.

After thinking it over and over again if I should do my very own website, and if I should just learn to do it by myself because it would have been either too expensive for a professional webmaster or too much to ask from one in the family (trust me, working with family doesn't work!); I finally decided: the heck with it, I shall learn it and do it all myself. The first book I chose to study from for my high-tech adventure is actually a textbook currently used in many web design schools. Dennis Gaskill's "Website design made easy" is just that. Gaskill is a professional webmaster who really knows his trade. You'll be shown not only how to build a basic page, but also given the technique to create more advanced websites that include the use of Javascript, CSS, frames, tables, etc. Even though the book doesn't really delve into these more specialized languages, we do get help on their basics and, at the end of the book, there is a list of online resources one can go for help.

Something I did find boring about the book is that Gaskill expresses, right from the beginning, that he does not endorse any of the HTML editing programs (such as, for instance, Macromedia Dreamweaver), and this is the reason why he explains how to build a website from scratch. In this way, you are taught ALL the codes to do everything manually in HTML, something that I believe is good to know - especially if you run into problems while using Dremaweaver; although in this day and age to believe that a new student of the subject will eventually do it this way and without the help of one of the major software programs available seems to me kind of naïve. I would still recommend this book, since if you don't know anything about building websites the task can look daunting. But do not despair, Dennis Gaskill is here to make it easier for you and, with his own brand of humor spread throughout the book it is actually a fun ride to hang on to. You can even practice your new learned talents with the quiz and the exercises at the end of each chapter, where that last question is always a joke (e.g.: How many web designers does it take to change a light bulb?)

Overall, a fine book you'll keep referring to again and again, especially when you need to check on your code. Only one question remains: being Gaskill, as he calls himself, a professional graphic designer as well as a webmaster; why would he approve such an awful layout design for the printing of his book?

Whether you are a beginner or an experienced web designer, you are likely to find something of value in this book. The information is presented in an easy-to-follow and easy-to-implement structure that walks you through all the steps needed to create and publish your website. Dennis even provides design tips to help the technically-competent-but-graphically-challenged! And, he provides lots of links to other useful websites as well as to special places on his own website... where he has provided even more tips, tools and techniques.

I wish I’d had this book when I first taught myself HTML – it would have shortened my learning curve incredibly, and with Dennis’ sense of humor, I would have had a lot more fun! With all these tips for designing, coding, promoting, and maintaining your site, and the added reference and troubleshooting charts, online resources, glossary, index and multiple screen shots, maybe it should be retitled, “Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Creating Your Website, But Didn’t Know How to Ask!”

Originally I was going to pass the book on to my daughter who is just now learning webdesign, but it’s just so doggone useful I think I’ll have to get her her own copy! (P.S. Go visit his site – you’ll get a sense of the quality of this book when you look through the many tutorials, graphics and ezines he already offers for free! And be sure to check out his Background Magic program, too.)

If you're a web design newbie, then this is the book for you. Finally there's a book that puts web page designing in plain English, rather than some techie jargon. It takes you step by step from the bare basics to some of the more advanced techniques in a way that's actually easy to understand. Plus, the author goes beyond telling you how to make a website work, but also gives practical advice on how to make it good. On top of all that, the book is well written with plenty of humor that makes it not just informative, but also fun to read. I wholeheartedly recommend it!

I have read many books on designing web sites. Most of them are as confusing as dusty old text books. I have always wondered why learning new things has to be so difficult. It's always as if you need a teacher at your elbow so you can ask questions. But learning how to build a really, really good web site is easy with author Dennis Gaskill at your side. Yes, he is right there showing you the way with his new book, "Web Site Design Made Easy." It is easy to read, and easy to learn, and it's down right fun. Dennis not only leads you step by step, but he plays games along the way to see if you are paying attention. He has a wonderful, if not a bit twisted, sense of humor.

"Web Site Design Made Easy" is a joy to read. It answers all the questions, and clears up the mysteries. It starts out with simple HTML and carries you through many complex designing tricks and takes you all the way to optimizing for search engines and shows you how to upload your site to your server.

You will learn it all with this book. I don't know how he did it, but this book really does cover it all, right down to the little details that I always wanted to know. There are color charts, ascii character charts, html tag charts, trouble shooting guide, and a really great glossary. Everything is extremely well laid out, comprehensive, and fun.

It's no wonder to me why Dennis's own web site has won so many awards. I highly recommend this book. Its the only one you need.

As a teacher of promotional classes for authors, I cannot recommend this book enough. As an author, I have used it personally, and it has been an excellent resource. I've learned so much about RSS feeds and how to pep up your blog.

Again, I can't recommend it enough.

I read Patrice's blog and am a fellow author of multiple books (one of which is self-published). Patrice has hit upon a maximum-impact minimum-risk strategy of publicizing and marketing your books/articles online. The efforts she outlines seem much more effective and focused than what traditional publishers are able to do for their authors, which is becoming smaller all the time.

Whether you are published by a traditional publisher or self-publish, you can use the strategies in this book to sell more of yours! Those who would benefit most are non-fiction authors with a niche audience. But Patrice does address fiction and novel authors as well.

The only thing I wanted more of was more information about doing Virtual Book Tours. Patrice does say they're a good idea, but gives no specific information on setting one up. I'd love to see that in the future or in a special report!

This is exactly the book I needed. It's essential for savvy writers. This book impacteded writing promotion plan in such a massive way. I can't praise it enough. If you want to be successful as a writer today, you need this book.

What a lovely book. I'm really glad I purchased a copy for myself. I'm a SCORE volunteer counselor and quite often my clients ask about Web sites and Web site design, and how to incorporate them into their small business' marketing plan. This book is the one that comes to my mind when I recommend a tome for them to read so I don't have to go into a long-winded sermon on the ins-and-outs of building a Web site. The other book I like a lot is Susan Daffron's book entitled Web Business Success (ISBN: 0974924504).

The book has 12 chapters, but I haven't listed them below. The list below includes the topics covered in the book that I have prioritized and grouped the way I would have liked the book to read.

1. How to Design a Web site
2. Add a Blog
3. Add a Podcast
4. Add an Ezine
5. Create eBooks
6. Create audio CDs and DVDs
7. Learn about Shopping Cart technology
8. Learn about RSS technology
9. Learn about Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
10. Learn about Online Advertising
11. Learn about Online Marketing
12. Learn about Using Amazon to Promote and Sell Your Book

My favorite topics were 1, 2, 5, 9 and 11. In my humble opinion they are the meat to putting together a Net presence using a Web site. It is these topics that I recommend my SCORE clients focus on when reading the book. I've tried the ezine thing, and I have found it to be a waste of time and effort. CDs and DVDs are beyond me at this time. But maybe in the future I might consider them as a great marketing vehicle. I think shopping cart technology is good for a retail shop. But an author with only one or two titles may want to skip it. I don't find much use for RSS technology since I don't go heavy on reading blogs. Maybe when there get to be a number of good blogs to read, then I might recommend RSS.

I have recently read a few books on using Amazon to promote and sell POD books. I think they were written after this book, and they seem to do a better job covering topic #12 above. Maybe the material on Amazon in this book is a little dated? But I saw a lot of good stuff on Amazon in this book. Consider also checking out Shepard's book entitled Aiming at Amazon (ISBN: 093849743X) and Weber's book entitled Plug Your Book! (ISBN: 0977240614).

Don't think that this book is only good for authors who want to use the Net to market their book. The principles and techniques beautifully explained in this book are equally applicable to promoting any business. So any wanta-be entrepreneur that doesn't know much about the Net or Web sites will do themselves a favor by getting this book, reading it, and then studying it. 5 stars!

The title to THE WEB-SAVVY WRITER, by Patrice-Anne Rutledge, holds a very important key. The reader should be web-savvy. At least more so than I am, because much of this book went over my head. I would have liked more detail on some of the technical stuff, but still, it emphasized my weaknesses and showed me the areas I need to study.

I would consider this a reference manual. This is not a book you should read once and try to retain. This is a book to keep on your shelf and refer to often. This is also not a one stop shop for marketing and promoting your book, but it does cover, quite thoroughly, the aspects of electronic marketing and promotion.

Someone more tech-savvy than me (and that includes most readers) would probably find this book more useful than I did, but I must add I did gain a lot of insight and once I do bone up on some of the technical areas, will read this one again. Even with my limited technical knowledge, I will reference this book often.

Of course Rutledge covers what you would expect here for book promotions - websites, search engine optimization, blogging - but goes much further. There are chapters on such promotional methods as RSS feeds, podcasts, ezines, and even how to sell and promote your book here, on Amazon.

Perhaps the best part of the book, for me at least, was at the end where Rutledge includes several author profiles. Here the reader learns first hand what has worked best for other authors in a variety of genres. Overall, a good book, even is some of it was over my head.

About half of this book is very Microsoft-specific (HTML applications, behaviors, etc.) However, the sections on XSL and interacting with the XML DOM are outstanding and contain much better explanations and examples than I've seen in any "pure" XSL book! I consider myself an XSL expert, but I still learned a great deal from this book. It's enabled me to write simpler, more concise and more efficient transformations. You can skip the Microsoft-specific stuff if you want and this book is still a great value.

This book is great! The chapters are well laid out and are easy to understand. It helped me learn a great deal about incorporating DHTML, XML and Web Scripting into my web applications. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to further expand their knowledge about web applications. The Web is the future and this book will lead you there!

This is a great book for those who are in web development. Very detailed and gives good scripting examples using ASP, HTML, XML, DHTML, and more. It even gives you some examples using JavaScript and VBScript. This book is well written and self explanatory. It helped me to understand, learn and write scripts that uses these components. I highly recommend this book. It will help your scripting be more efficient.

I was interested in this book to provide the components for building web applications. The book provides all the information in an easy to read manner so that I can create an application utilizing current web technology. The technical information provides information about Advanced IE functionality, DHTML, XML, ASP, and Web Scripting which allows me to write applications using the examples in this book. The example code was very useful which allowed me to integrate the sample code into new applications. I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to integrate all these technologies in their applications.

I has been a Web developer for almost two years. Most of the books I have are very good for everyday work. However when I want more advance technique, It was very hard to find a good book. I am so glad to get this book. The book is easy to understand. There are more powerfull stuff for a Web developer to apply in the project. I am finding from chapter to chapter all the information I needed to finnish the project I was working on. .......................... This book is the book to buy.

Pretty much what I was looking for. Relatively thin book packed with 'to the point' info, with mostly unambigious explanation. Have not found any printing mistakes yet.
Money's worth.

I knew a little about XML before reading this book, but nothing in-depth. I've been a software developer for years however, so I didn't want a basics book, but something that covered the subject quickly and in depth. After reading the other reviews I bought this book and was not disappointed. I was particularly interested in XML Schema and XSLT, and this book does an excellent job with both. I'm not sure you can find a more thorough reference outside the standards documents themselves. Datatypes, restrictions, defining complex types--I use this book for XML Schema like I use K&R for C programming. Note that this book has almost no coverage of subjects outside the W3C standards, such as the different types of validating tools and parsers or other XML schema languages such as RELAXNG from Oasis. You will have to go elsewhere for a fuller understanding of the entire 'XML Universe'. The only real gripe I have with this book is its constant use of Microsoft in the examples, which grates on this long-time Linux user. Of course, its from Microsoft Press, so what can you expect. Fortunately XML itself is non-OS specific, so nothing in this book is really Microsoft-centric. All in all, a great reference.

If you are a knowledgable IT professional and need to either learn XML or increase your knowledge quickly, this book is for you. Complete, fast-paced, no dead wood, and designed with the busy IT professional in mind. It reminds me of the Wrox "Handbook" series.

It's 370 pages but half-size, so equivalent to a normal-size 185-page book. Best book purchase I've made all year. Weird for an MSPress book to be so good :-)

Take the hint, MS Press... make all of your books like this!

I seldom award five stars but this book deserves it. If you can only buy one XML reference book, buy this one; if you have XML books that you're not satisfied with, buy this one: The XML Pocket Consultant is *the* XML "sleeper" title.

In my mind, I've retitled the XML Pocket Consultant "The XML Comprehensive Quick Reference." The book presents every aspect of XML and related technologies in a clear, crisp, understandable style. The book's excellent content is augmented by a professionally crafted visual style (page layout, whitespace, typeface, headings, list construction, examples) that facilitates information access and transfer; I mention this because too many books of this type look like they were designed and produced using consumer-level desktop publishing software.

I'm not normally this enthusiastic about a book, but The XML Pocket Consultant is truly a treasure: It's the single most useful, helpful, 5.5" x 8" x 1.2" compendium of XML information I've so far found.

"XML Pocket Consultant" is the best XML book on the market. It is really worth every penny. This book is packed with useful information. My biggest disappointment is that I had such a hard time find the book. For anyone wanting to learn XML, XSL, XPath this is the book I recommend.

I am new to programming.

This book starts at the beginning: building a graphical web page in Web Matrix. Following a entertaining blend of practical, funny and insightful steps, in a short period I was using Visual Basic.Net and databases to add dynamic features, controls and web services.

I was amazed at how easy it is to do. This book provides an enjoyable was to grasp a firm foundation in ASP.NET programming.

I am a college student having some programming knowledge but totally new in dynamic/ data-driven web creation. I found this book really helpful to get started from static to exciting data-driven stuff with ASP and MSDE. Although WebMatrix has a limitation(which was developed by a team of people from Microsoft at their spare time), it's a real great tool for beginner to get to know how to install database engine, create a data table, link to your web form with drag-n-drop and some hands-on coding (provided in the book). If you need to go on to industrial level, this book or WebMartix won't help.
Chap 1 starts with step by step instructions on how to install .NET framwork, MSDE (you need this if you don't have SQL running), then WebMartix (which has its own web server, you don't need IIS to run samples from the book). One of the great styles of this book is easy-to-follow-and-understand examples which has "Try It Out" & "How it Works" section which explains the code line by line in detail. I found Chap16 and 17 really helpful for general knowledge on "Web Services" and "Beyond WebMatrix," but make sure you finish this book first, then go on to more exciting Visual Studio .NET (which is a "bigbrother" of WebMatrix)
Oh..2 case studies at the back of the book, which explains step by step how to make a guestbook, reconizing customer and "log-on" stuff..and the CD includes some software WebMatrix, MSDE, etc..
Thanks to David Sussman and Wrox P2P

Great combination and perfect fit of beginning book and tool: ASP.Net Web Matrix. Excellent examples and basic ASP.Net concepts explanation.

You will be amazed when you read it. It is a step by step guide. I highly recommend this book for ASP .NET so far.

This book is a not bad introduction to ASP.NET. The reason I purchased it is I really needed to master Web Matrix ASAP and Mr. Sussman's book was quite helpful in accomplishing that goal. Of course, it is better to begin with Visual Studio since Web Matrix is somewhat limited resemblance of Visual Studuo but Web Matrix has something nobody could resist - it is free.
Make sure you learn as profoundly as possible chapters about datagrids and reusable content; these two are absolutely irreplaceble components of practically any online database application. Also pay attention to inclusion of namespaces at the very top of your code, it is forgetable. The only thing which was not working for me is Web Services. Other code samples work fine.
I would recommend to start with this book to anybody who needs to master ASP.NET.

Job hunters nowadays must use the internet in their job search but it can be "needle in a haystack" time if you don't have good reliable navigational tools. Crispin & Mehler have provided a great roadmap in their book Career X Roads. When I was searching last year, I used their book constantly. It's a great help for career coaches too who are helping others to find the right web sources to further their job search.

The latest version of CareerXroads continues to be the definitive source for job seekers and recruiters using the Internet. This outstanding reference enables the reader to determine, quickly without wasting valuable time, which are the best web sites to review for job opportunities and the resumes of qualified candidates. In addition to the directory portion of the book, there are many helpful articles on career management for both the job seeker and the recruiter. Whether you are looking for a new opportunity or searching for the best candidate to fill an open position, don't go on the Web without CareerXroads!

Even better than last year's edition.

A thorough reference for anyone interested in advancing their career or anyone in the career management business. Crispin and Mehler review over 500 job, resume and career management sites on the web. In addition, they provide some excellent articles on the subject of career management.

The book is a "must" for anyone in the job market, as well as all Human Resource Professionals.

Would you go to the supermarket without a shopping list? Could you board a commercial airplane flight without a ticket? You wouldn't have the gall to attend a wedding without offering a gift, would you? The answer to these questions is a resounding "No, of course not!" Likewise, at least to my mind and experience as a professional recruiter and staffing manager (and sometimes job seeker), it would be folly to engage in a job search or candidate search without first consulting Cripin & Mehler's "CareerXroads". Within its 435 pages, the authors successfully manage to review more than 1500 internet sites that focus on the ever-widening and complex world of jobs, resumes and career management. The authors' research and insights are presented clearly, in relevant and concise language that every reader should find invaluable. The payoff in saved time, effort and increased efficiency is priceless. Every passive or active job seeker and every hiring manager, recruiter or staffing professional should clear space for "CareerXroads" on their bookshelves and refer to it, daily. Read well and prosper.

This is the job hunters bible. For those looking for a new job, this book has it all. Everything you need to find your next job. If you are an employer or recruiter the listings and reviews of hundreds of job sites will help you target your search to find the best candidates.

This is a reference I keep on my desk at all times. I have used it in my job and have used it to find new jobs. I would highly recommend it for anyone looking to stay on top of the rapidly changing job market.

This is a very well-written study-guide. It gets to the point without getting too wordy. It could serve as a model for other study guides. But, I do have a few minor gripes. First, some of the pages were printed kind of blurry, a kind of shadow image. Second, there is too much preaching about what the author feels are best practices, some of which I question. Best practices questions are not on the exam, at least the one I took, and thus should be left out of a study guide except as perhaps small footnotes. There were also a few minor typos, but being a niche market I can forgive that for technical books.

This is pretty much the only material you need to pass the certification. I was thinking of getting the exam buster as previous reviewer suggested, but exam buster does not promise same day delivery of their products, and with the exam one day away, I had only this guide to rely on.

Here is the approach I took that might work for you as well if you are pressed for time: Work on the end of chapter exercises first, mark all the questions that you are unsure of, if you have the time, go back and read the chapters and correct your own mistakes (I skipped this one because of time issue), and finally check the answers at the back. Note all the ones you were unsure of or didn't get right and studied the reasons provided with each answer. If you don't feel confident of the topic or you have made enough mistakes in the questions, read that chapter.

Before I read the guide, I scored a 70% using Ben's site. After a day of going through the guide using the "algorithm" above, I got an Advanced certification the next day. It goes to show you how good the guide is. One thing to be aware of, some answers are not correct (ran into about 4-5 incorrect answers at the back of the book), thankfully the answer analysis are correct most of the time so you can catch any mistakes in the answers the book provides. Do Ben a favor and get this book, he really deserves the royalty.

Ben Forta's deep experience and practical application overflows from the pages of this book that I highly recommend. Of the dozens of computer books I've ever read, this one kept me astounded me with its perfect-sized chapters, handy reference and cross-reference segments, and the well-written pages. Not only is Ben Forta a good writer, he's an outstanding teacher.
Clarke Schroeder
Advanced Macromedia ColdFusion Certified

This is a very good book, however the coupon for 15% off of the exam is no longer valid. It expired December 31st of 2003.

This book does a good job of giving you information on every possible topic of the certification exam. I used the original study guide to take and pass the first exam. This book includes just about everything in the first book, and goes into topics that are relaevent for MX (i.e. CFCs, XML, Flash intergration, etc.). If you want answers in a few pages vs. a few chapters, then buy this book.

This one is worth every penny. If you are looking to see how the whole website experience goes together from planning the site, building the site, promoting the site and tracking the site then look no further. Martinez tells you how to do this and for free, in most cases.

As a webmaster myself I can say that "FREE" when used in webspeak translates to either limited or restricted or both but nothing comes closer than pointing you in the right direction than Cheap Web Tricks.

Some parts of the book may not be as in-depth as you would want but at least you don't have to go slogging through 10 or 20 different sources either. 5 stars for Martinez. Well done!

Perhaps it's just in my nature, or simply just the way I was brought up (I'm always looking for a bargain)... but I didn't learn anything new from reading this book.

Having said that, Cheap Web Tricks! Build and Promote a Successful Web Site Without Spending a Dime is a book that covers a lot of ground making it a good point of reference for anyone wanting a site starting out from scratch. In fact, the first part of the book takes you through the process of getting a site online without dealing with all the unnecessary details that inevitably get in the way.

Needless to say, this was not what I was expecting when I first opened the book. I guess I was just blind to fact that the word "build" was in the title but I was hoping for a lot more pages on the promotion side of things, so that I could pick up a few new ideas on the way.

One nice surprise was the section on making money from your site as it wasn't something I was expecting. Not only does it give you an overview of the various different ways you can make money from a web site, but also realistic with describing the results you can expect.

This has to be the reason why I'd still recommend it for the complete beginner. Of course, the book simply isn't big enough to go into all the details, nor does it claim to, but it goes a long way to giving an overview of what's involved in owning a web site. For many beginners, this is exactly what they need to know before starting out!

I thought I was a web genius until I read this book. It is absolutely amazing. The author Anne, even responded to a question I had within the hour by email. If you want to build a succesfull website you have to get this book.

Never thought it could happen, but with the help of Cheap Web Tricks this formerly computer illiterate senior has created a dynamite website. And am actually getting inquiries already about the talents I apparently convinced the folk I can offer. Now I just want to get that money rolling in!

An amazingly thorough examination of just about everything you need to know about websites. I feared the book would be boring and a rehash of things I knew; that was not the case. The information builds nicely and there are many great tips. Even if you don't utilize the "cheap" techniques(which are excellent I might add) there is a lot of useful information. Hats off to this author!

Rex Black helps you think about how testing can help your projects. In particular, the planning chapters (using the running example project) make many of the planning and risk management issues obvious. This book will help you determine which activities make sense for you to perform, how to analyze quality risks, how to estimate the work, and how to speak the language of the business (return vs. cost). If you only read the first seven chapters, you'll be farther ahead in your thinking about testing and preparing your group to test than you ever were before.

The prepare chapters (8-11) help you determine which people to select for your team, and how to prepare your test infrastructure, considering that test managers always have limited budgets, people, or time.

A particularly valuable piece of the perform chapters (12-13) is the discussion of how to manage the test builds, who owns what -- how to remove confusion from "which build do I test now?" to an organized plan of handoffs.

And in the perfect chapters, if you've been looking for a way to teach how to write test reports, chapter 14 is your answer.

If you're a manager, you'll use this book on every project, even if you only review the checklists to see if you've missed anything. If you'd like to become a test manager, read this book. Rex describes numerous ways of managing the testing and working with your peers across the organization, to become successful.

I highly recommend this book, whether you're starting a project, in the middle of a project, or completing one.

Sometimes a book comes along that just has to become part of your virtual profesional toolbox. Mr. Black has just given us poor testers another such book.
For me this book provides me with all the tips and tricks that I need during a project and that I would have to think of myself instead of just picking up this book and reading about them.
Even better, I now have an excellent source of course materials for our test engineers. Mr. Black explains and justifies every aspect of the testing process just about perfect and his gift for the metaphor makes this book a good evening read.
The checklist approach that he employs is a great planning aid. Our projections are much more precise this method.
I have added this book to our technical library for this project, and I will insist on making it part of every future test project that I will be part of. That is until Mr. Back publishes his next book.

Rex Black's latest book, "Critical Testing Processes" belongs in every test engineering library. Rex's book is logically organized; Part I, Prepare, embraces Chapters 1 through 7. He begins with a discussion of Planning, the first phase in the testing lifecycle, focusing on Quality Risks to assist test planning, He provides one of the best step-by-step examples I've seen to develop a test estimate. Rex sets the stage for us by showing how testing fits into the larger project context, and defining a 15-step testing process. He defines the context of his case study on the Sumatra project. In this chapter, Rex shows one of the nicer examples of the classic "V-Model" relating the development and testing lifecycles.
In Chapter 2, Rex explores the subject of Analyzing Quality Risks as the basis for his test planning, and shows a variety of templates and techniques that will assist the reader in performing this process, and links them to his case study. Note that using Quality Risks may have to be coupled with requirements/feature coverage on contracts with a government customer.
I believe that Chapter 3 (Gaze into the Crystal Ball; Estimate the Work Ahead), is one of the most helpful guides to Test Estimating that I've seen. Rex provides a variety of templates to assist folks unfamiliar with building a testing estimate.
Chapter 4 shows how testing provides "value-add", and gives the reader insight into aligning the initial estimate with the financial constraints of the project. Rex discusses ways to reduce cost by focusing testing based on the Quality Risks, in the context of the Sumatra case study. Templates, spreadsheets, and methods for calculating testing cost and return on investment are supplied.
In Chapter 5 Rex shows how to take the realistic estimate that was created and sell it to the project team. He also has a section titled "Predict with Honesty", which emphasizes the necessity for Ethics in our business.
Chapter 6 discusses the significant efforts in continuous test planning, It uses a variety of excellent figures to illustrate the author's points; however, note that there are 2 Figure 6-5's in this chapter, which results in the remaining figures being mis-numbered.
Chapter 7 goes into detail on how to get stakeholder support for the Test Plan. The Test Plan is the keystone for successful testing. Rex also provides an interesting section on what to do "When Key Players Don't Support the Test Plan" and how to work in a regulated (e.g., export restrictions) environment.
Chapters 8 through 11 are the section titled "Prepare". Chapter 8 on hiring testers is another area of the book not dealt with in many texts, but is extremely critical to successful testing. There are several parallels here to the Perry/Rice book "Surviving the Top Ten Challenges of Software Testing".
In Chapter 9 Rex provides pointers to career growth in a testing team, and assessing skills of the team members. He gives some tips on creating job definitions. He also addresses the challenges posed by having to accept team members other managers don't want, and use of contractors and consultants. Good chapter!
Chapter 10 gets back into the more technical side of test management. Through his Sumatra case study, he provides some insights into stress testing, and use and support of test tools.
In Chapter 11 Rex discusses details of approaches to test coverage, test design, selection and implementation of automated tools. He also takes some time to discuss approaches to "vague requirements", which is a problem most of us face.
Chapters 12 and 13 are Part III, Perform. Rick provides an excellent discussion of management of test releases in Chapter 12. This discussion is nicely illustrated through the case study. Note that you need to have the ability and a mechanism to UNINSTALL any release.
In Chapter 13 Rex defines a test execution process, and then goes on to show how that process works. He defines a set of test tracking worksheets, and illustrates use of the process and the worksheets on "the Big Build".
Chapters 14 through 17 are Part IV. Rex defines the Bug Reporting process. He describes use of this process through application to "the Big Build". He goes on to show how to, and how NOT to, report bugs, and emphasizes the necessity of describing one symptom per bug report. One caution in this chapter; Rex uses shaded boxes to emphasize points. Several of these boxes were misplaced in the book assembly process, so the reader needs to use care in navigation on pages 391 through 394.
The title of Chapter 15 seems a little misleading to me, in that it doesn't deal with writing a Test Summary Report (IEEE definition), but rather with the critical, on-going process of reporting test metrics. Rex focuses on describing the creation of a "test dashboard", and use of that dashboard for providing a succinct delivery of test status. Rex describes what I believe are a useful set of metrics charts. Unfortunately, the book assembly process resulted in Figures 15-2 and 15.3 being reversed, which led to much confusion on my initial read.
In Chapter 16 Rex discusses change management as it applies to bug fixes. The Sumatra case study is used to provide an informative view into the change management process. Rex notes that such a process must balance considerations of features, schedule, budget, and quality by assessing impacts from all project groups.
Rex concludes his book with Chapter 17 with some thoughts as to how testing can provide value.
Rex finishes up with a Glossary that defines his terms.
A suggestion for the interested reader. Read Rex's book in concert with the book from Drabick titled "Best Practices for the Formal Software Testing Process: A Menu of Testing Tasks". Drabick's book shows the reader "What to Do"; Rex Black's book shows "How to implement the What".

This book is written for the test manager and/or project manager who oversees one or more testing efforts. The author has done a great job of taking his own personal experiences (good and bad) gleaned from years of "in the trenches" work, and threading them together into a single fictional story that he uses to illustrate his proven method of managing testing projects.
Part 1 (Chapters 1 to 7) talks about the stuff you need to do to Plan for a testing effort, such as; convincing senior management that spending money on testing is a good Return On Investment (ROI), how to get a realistic ballpark estimate for how long the testing is likely to take, and when & who should get involved in the project.
Part 2 (Chapters 8 to 11) deals with Preparing for test execution; selecting test strategies & techniques, putting a testing team together (and keeping them together), and determining the appropriate measure(s) of test coverage
Parts 3 & 4 (Chapters 12 to 17) first focuses on perhaps the most stressful phase of a testing project - test execution. When the "heat of battle" is most intense; it's useful to have examples, templates, and checklists that a test manager can draw upon to help them manage and report on the test execution in a controlled and credible manner. The book then wraps-up by discussing process improvement; what went well, and what could have been improved (no witch hunts please!).

In summary, I believe Rex has built a very comprehensive and detailed composite documentary on how he has defined and deployed the most critical processes needed to support a software testing effort.

In the vain of "full disclosure", you should know that I've known Rex for many years, and consequently I cannot be considered a completely impartial reviewer.

Critical Testing process is a book for the new test manager as well as a book for the test manager looking to refine what his or her process of testing is all about. What I liked about the book is it takes you through a fictitious company, Sumatra, whose is about to upgrade and introduce a new enhancement to their software. It is a dialog between the test managers, testers, program management, and VPs of the company. It's like reading a story with a narrator in the background commenting on what is going on. But then breaks off from the scenes talks about what was going on, and the reasons why these things had to happen that way.

As the first chapter starts out - getting the big picture. The biggest thing I have found with Test managers who are struggling in their field is not getting their test group involved - involved I mean from start - at the requirements and implementation phase, versus toward the end, where its almost too late.

The next few chapters go through is estimation and planning, as what we (test managers / test leaders) should all do is go through and then analyze the risks, come up with some estimation of time, and cost of the project. Then the ultimate, sell it too management where the project is most likely already over budgeted. Finally the sell tactic - to gain support for the test effort.

Assuming you have made it through all that planning, the next chapters talk about hiring and putting together a good test team and implementing the test cycle for what amounts to what you will be testing.

The next few chapter talk about the testing, everything from the release criteria handoff to executing test cases, reporting on the progress of testing, leveraging the opportunities and hitting some of the pitfalls. Ending with a summary of what the book was about, and putting it all together.

Some of the books I have read, I walk away with, how can I apply this book to what I am doing. This is a book where it is like a reference guide, where I can look up and gain a possible solution quickly as to how address my everyday scenarios in my test department. Or, as I have done already through ww.stickyminds.com web site, is recommend it to those new test managers who are trying to quickly get a department going, but want to do it correctly.