Software Development Books

Every journey begins with taking the first step. Smart travelers get directions first. Unless you want to adventure into ISO9001:2000 losing your way, taking wrong turns, and getting lost, I suggest you start off with a copy of AEM Consulting Groups, ISO 9001 Survival Software Templates. They may not answer all of your questions, but they will certainly put you on the trail to success.

Steve Demski
Director of Quality Systems, Aveox, Inc.

This book has been on my desktop as a handy reference that has helped me in implementing software and systems engineering practices that are based on practical, proven advice. I'm not alone in my appreciation of this book.

I agree with A.K. Menon's review on ACM's reviews.com where A.K. states:

Bamford and Deibler have been deeply involved with ISO 9000/9001 since 1989, imparting training, and helping organizations in implementing ISO 9000/9001. They have adopted an approach exactly as their subtitle states: "an engineering approach." Throughout the book, the focus is maintained on the 138 requirements of ISO 9001:2000. Contrary to anyone's expectations, the standards contain several inconsistencies. A concept appearing in one paragraph is repeated in several other places. There are inconsistencies in the identification of requirements and relationships among other requirements. Some requirements appear in numbered paragraphs (for example, 8.5.2), while some are in lettered paragraphs (for example, 5.3.b). Clarity, correctness, and consistency are catchwords that characterize standards. Compromising on these attributes will confuse any implementation team, leading to wasteful rework, schedule slippage, and thus despair. The book is a reengineered version of the critical paragraphs of the ISO document.

The book is organized into eight chapters and eight appendices. The first two chapters cover the preliminaries, like a roadmap for implementing ISO 9001:2000, and the terminology and definitions. Of the eight paragraphs in the ISO document, five paragraphs (4 through 8) cover the requirements. Each of these five paragraphs was scrutinized to determine the requirement(s) unique to the paragraph. In the ISO context, a requirement is normally stated with the word "shall" preceding the statement. Since the paragraphs of ISO 9001 are not independent, the implementation team has to be careful to see which paragraph impacts others. Appendix C displays a chart showing the paragraph where a requirement occurs first, the paragraphs where the same requirement is referenced, and a brief explanation for the significance of the particular interconnect. This enables an implementing team to trace backward and forward from any requirement to all others it is related to, in accordance with ISO 9001. This strategy allows an organization to select for implementation all of the requirements that are relevant to the organization, its employees, and its stakeholders.

The book provides a critical analysis of ISO 9001:2000; it does not provide ISO 9001:2000, which is copyrighted. The book dissects ISO 9001:2000, and shows how it can be perceived as a framework for engineering processes.

The book will be of immense value to anyone interested in the quality aspects of the manufacturing/service/software/hardware sector. It will be very useful for software engineering or information technology (IT) courses. The publishers deserve accolades for bringing out a book that is written in an elegant style, and devoid of any syntactic or semantic errors.

Another review in Software Quality Professional by Carolyn Rodda Lincoln states:

This book is an excellent resource for both implementers and auditors.

The ISO standard is short (14 pages) and generic so that it applies to all types of businesses. Unlike the Software Engineering Institute's Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI), which is designed for sof-ware and systems engineering, it is not immediately obvious how the ISO 9001:2000 standard applies to engineering situations. A commentary like this book is essential to properly understand the intent of the ISO standard and to implement it as part of continuous improvement for software and systems engineers. It would be very valuable for an organization that is just beginning to look at the standard. It is also valuable for auditors who have worked with other types of organizations but not engineers. It can be used both as a text for understanding the standard and as a handbook for reference during an audit.

ISO 9001:2000 for Software and Systems Providers should be in the library of everyone using ISO 9001:2000 for engineering projects.

All in all, I can't express it better than these two reviewers. This book should be read by anyone wanting an engineer's perspective on ISO 9001:2000 and how it can benefit their organization.

This is a much needed book for ISVs and other organizations involved in software development because ISO 9001:2000 lays the foundation for larger scale quality initiatives, such as attaining CMM levels 2 and above. More importantly, it not only dispells any misconceptions about ISO 9001 by providing up-to-date information about the 2000 version versus the gaps in earlier versions.

What I like most about this book is the way the author systematically leads you through the basics, including the history, goals and benefits of ISO 9001 registration, and shows how this standard has been greatly improved in the 2000 version. Chapter 2, in particular, imparts the key differences of this version, and thoroughly discusses the relevance of the 90003 recommendations in the document set to software development.

Chapter 3 is where this book segues from background to practical application, starting with an implementation strategy. This chapter outlines an implementation approach and lays the groundwork for the subsequent chapters that cover each of the major clauses in the quality management system. As in the first two chapters the author clearly shows how ISO 9001 aligns to the unique and specific needs of a software development organization. He provides all of the information necessary to understand what is needed to conform to each clause, and presents the information in a manner that makes sense. One especially nice feature of this book is the liberal use of tables and charts, which summarize information and make sorting out the critical elements easy.

Among the strongest chapters are Chapters 7 (Product Realization Requirements) and 8 (Measurement, Analysis and Improvement Requirements). The reason I found these so useful is the material can also be applied to ITIL service level management requirements, or as a standalone framework for IT-to-business alignment. This expands the scope of this book beyond software development. In addition, any IT service provider-not just ISVs and other development organizations-can apply this book's approach to achieving ISO 9001 compliance.

Chapter 9 is especially valuable to organizations that are pursuing ISO 9001 registration because it takes a due diligence approach to identifying potential registrars, then steps you through the registration process. If you are not pursuing registration, but are using this book to implement portions of ISO 9001 as the foundation of a quality initiative, the material in this chapter on auditing is still useful. Another key feature of this book is the appendices and the artifacts provided on the accompanying CD ROM. The appendices include a quality manual outline, forms and templates, and audit questions.

Although this book is aimed at software development organizations interested in, or pursuing, ISO 9001 registration, it also provides invaluable material for any IT organization (internal or service provider). If you are working with or implementing ITIL this book will also prove to be an invaluable resource.

This is a well presented walk through the world of J2EE design and programming for the novice to intermediate Java user. Yawn presents a simple application that is expanded in each chapter as new concepts are introduced. All of the examples are provided on an enclosed and it helped to be able to run them in parallel while trying to understand the material in the various chapters. I highly recommend it.

Batik simplifies dealing with SVG content in Java based applications or applets. For example, using Batik's SVG generator module, a Java application or applet can easily export its graphics into the SVG format. Using Batik's SVG viewing component, an application or applet can also integrate SVG viewing and interaction capabilities without much trouble. Another possibility is to use Batik's modules to convert SVG to various formats, such as raster images (JPEG, PNG or TIFF) or other vector formats (WMF or PDF). This is a very good book for the Java programmer who wants to learn how to use Batik in their programs. Thus, prior knowledge of Java is assumed. The following is a run down of the chapters and their contents:

Chapter 1 Getting Started with Batik - discusses what Batik consists of and what the benefits of its modules are. In particular, this chapter explains how to use Squiggle to create, view, and manipulate an SVG document and how to use Rasterizer to export an SVG document to different formats.
Batik Overview
Batik in Real World Projects
Your First SVG Document
Using SVG Rasterizer
Using Pretty-Printer
What Else Comes with Batik?
Summary

Chapter 2 Creating SVG - shows you how to use one of the core modules in Batik, SVG Generator, in a simple Swing application that generates SVG documents with a single click.
Drawing in Java
Using SVG Creator
Other Features of SVG Generator
Summary

Chapter 3 Viewing SVG - discusses how to display SVG documents using JSVGCanvas, a specialized Swing component that comes with the Batik distribution.
Displaying Generated SVG Documents
JSVGCanvas Interactivity
Saving the Generated Document
Displaying an SVG File
Summary

Chapter 4 Working with Transcoders - explains how to use the Transcoder API to convert SVG images to raster formats such as JPEG, PNG, and TIFF.
The Transcoder API
Using Transcoders in Applications
Setting the Area of Interest
Using the SVGTranscoder for Pretty Printing
The Enhanced Version of the SVG File Viewer
Summary

Chapter 5 Document Object Model- explains that, behind the scenes, Batik uses the tree-like structure of the Document Object Model (DOM) to represent an SVG document. Using Batik, developers have full access to the DOM and can easily change the properties or structure of the document from Java code.
SVG Document as a DOM Tree
Creating Documents with the DOM API
Building an SVG Document
Working with Gradients
Using the DOM API
Other Thoughts
Summary

Chapter 6 Working with Text and Fonts - demonstrates the many ways of being creative with text. Shows that any font can be used in SVG documents and also shows how to convert a True Type FOnt to an SVG Font.
Using the text Element
SVG Fonts
Using the Font Converter
Using SVG Fonts in a Document
Text Workbench: SVG Writer
Text Elements, Text Nodes, and Text Content
Characters Positioning
Using tspan elements
Text Layout
Text on A Path
Text Selection
Summary

Chapter 7 Batik on the Server Side - puts Batik to the test in a couple of actual projects. Here you can find some interesting solutions for a Java-driven web site.
The SVG Graph Web Application
SVG Filter Effects
SVG Filters Web Application
Summary

Chapter 8 Batik Interactive - discusses the use of scripting in Batik. This chapter shows how to make your SVG images move and interact with the user. However, to accomplish this you do not need to resort to writing javaScript, as animation and interactivity can be defined directly in your Java applications.
SVG and Scripts
Interactivity
Animation
Scripting Alternatives
Using Java for Scripting
Adding Animation
Summary

Appendix A Introduction to XML

Appendix B Introduction to JavaScript

JAVA a secret found to penetrate in to hearts of computer lovers

Java Oracle: Database Development by independent software consultant David J. Gallardo is a straightforward, hands-on guide for intermediate-level Java users seeking to learn the Oracle database technology (covering both Oracle 8i and 9i), and wanting perform database work quickly and efficiently. Presenting means to compare, contrast, and integrate Java and Oracle database technologies, with especial focus upon JDBC 2.0 and JDBC 3.0, Java Oracle a solid instructional tool and a core Java and Oracle user reference shelf addition.

"If you are serious about Java and JRun, this is the book for you" it says on the cover of this book. I think this is true. I wish I had this book when I started working with JRun. This is an excellent book dealing with all aspects of JRun, including JSP, J2EE, packages, JavaBeans, servlets, databases, SQL, JRun Studio, Dreamweaver, Ultradev, installation, configuration, security, reusable components, performance, XML and WML.

The book starts from scratch and is suitable for beginners, but it also contains a wealth of information for experienced developers. The CD-ROM includes the source code of all the examples from the book. This book is a defenitive reference, a must-have for anyone doing development work with JRun.

Justin's Epitome is one of our five major classical sources on Alexander the Great, but he never made it into an English translation until the publication of this book by Yardley and Heckel. That alone makes it unique.

Justin's account itself is brief (about 30 pages in print) but Heckel's excellent commentary makes up the remaining 200 pages of this publication. For everyone seriously interested in Alexander Heckel's superb commentary is a 'must have'.

This shouldn't be the first book you should buy about Alexander. But once you have read Bosworth, Green or Hammond, once you have tasted the original accounts of Arrian or Curtius - this is your next step on the ladder of true in dept analysis.

This software gives you the hands on experience to identify and fix problems. Great learning tool.