Software Books

Have you ever considered the advantages to having your nose on your face? Or what life is like for a boneless chicken? Or lamented a night of homework? Then this book is for you! Jack Prelutsky's collection 107 poems are silly, catchy, and classic. Readers bounce from poem to poem, carried along by James Stevenson's squiggly illustrations. Though this is a fast read, Prelutsky's odd characters, like the Underwater Wibblies and Drumpp the Grump, will keep you giggling.

These quirky poems will entertain readers both young and old. Prelutsky's poems are made for reading aloud, and audiences will enjoy listening to the made-up names and punchlines. Stevenson's artwork, which can also be found in The New Yorker, fits perfectly with the singsong style of the poems. The black and white drawings wobble and flutter around the text, interacting with it. Prelutsky's work, combined with Shel Silverstein's, makes for an excellent introduction into the world of poetry for young readers.

This is a great book to share with friends and families because it is funny and a lot of the poems seem true to what kids are thinking and feeling. Some of our favorites were, "An Alleycat with One Life Left," "Homework! Oh, Homework!," "The Nothing-Doings," and "I Wonder Why Dad is so Thoroughly Mad." This is a great book for everyone!

My child came home from her gifted/talented school requesting the book. She loved it in her classroom and has already read most of it.

This book introduced my son to poetry at age eight and he became an avid fan. He became so enthralled with poetry that he began to write poetry himself. He even wrote a very insightful poem as one of his college entrance essays. Prelutsky retains his inner child and writes from a child's point of view--hard for children to resist. A must have for your home library.

I think that this a great way to introduce poetry to kids that may believe it to be boring or stuffy. My son would ask me to read these to him over and over. We did a lot of giggling over some of them.

Though the Financials OCP exam is being retired, the Financials package itself remains unchanged. This book is still the best introduction to how to use Oracle Financials.

The exam this book relates to retires in about 2 weeks from now and Oracle Corporation has not given an indication of what will succeed this exam.

How relevant is the book if I can't use it for the specified exams?

This is the most thorough book on Financials I've seen. A must-have, whether you're going for the OCP certification or not.

Most complete treatment of Financials I've seen. Excellent book.

Top notch all the way around. Got me through all five exams. That OCP logo looks mighty good on my resume!

I'm a solo developer, and without this book i would be refactoring my code every few days still.

Thank you RUP for putting my head on straight to understand iterations of the SDLC and apply them to even small projects with few assets.

RUP gives you the tools to understand your system before you write it by iteratively working with the people who will be using the system! Your customers/Users!

Excellent guide to get up to speed with RUP. Having never worked with RUP this guide proved extremely beneficial to get the project started and will be used through all iterations.

I read 'Rational Unified Process - An Introduction' some years ago and found it excellent. I got 'Rational Unified Process Made Easy' in the hope that it would provide some more substance to the ideas from the introductory book. However it didn't seem to really add that much value.

The sections covering each of the major disciplines are useful, as is the guidance on implementing RUP in projects or organisations. In contrast 'Rational Unified Process Made Easy' misses a good summary of the key artefacts.

All up I felt the book was hampered by the desire not to undermine the RUP product that IBM sells.

This book does a great job of showing steps of practical application of the RUP. The book may seem repetitive on a few points, but I feel the points bear repeating. This book has been invaluable in helping cut through the misinformation thrown around by some who have gotten the executive summary of RUP and know just enough to be dangerous. I recently completed a seven-part online course on the RUP that was based on this book. The book did a far better job of making the RUP understandable.

There is plenty of theory written about RUP, but how it should be applied to your role or your project is often misunderstood.
This book not only provides the overview, but the contextual guidance to make RUP work for you.
As a long-term RUP mentor and user, I highly recommend it.

Great book whether you write proposals now or will be doing so in the future, good reference as well.

The book is an easy read and provides me with the needed understanding of developing an RFP and template.

There are literally hundreds of good books on proposal writing, but only a tiny handful on writing RFPs. From among the handful this book stands out for a number of reasons:

(1) It clearly described the RFP process from start to finish - and RFP development is a process with a defined life cycle.

(2) The author goes well beyond the immediate objective of writing an RFP and managing the process by including thought-provoking material on post-award vendor management. This material sometimes escapes the RFP development team who is more focused on getting to the award milestone without thinking about the post-award ramifications.

(3) It's not boring - the writing is lively, and the material is presented at a fast pace. The pace, however, does not leave gaps. Every facet of the RFP process is covered in sufficient detail.

In addition to the above, the approach set forth in this book is consistent with best practices in RFP development. I especially like the copious checklists, the RFP roadmap, and the way illustrations are skillfully used to reinforce concepts and advice.

Note that the focus of this book is information technology and software acquisition. Some of the material is unique to those domains; however, the basic principles and RFP process can be used for virtually any type of RFP, from office services to purchasing furniture.

Overall, this is the one book I recommend for RFP development. If you are an IT professional, regardless of role, the chances are you will be involved in this process at some point in your career, making this book a valuable addition to your library. If you have recently been assigned to an RFP team you should get this book as soon as possible, and use it as your compass and blueprint if your organization does not already have a formal RFP process in place.

I bought this book because I was to lead a group in developing an RFP but had no experience with RFP's. I don't know how this book will meet the needs of anyone with a lot of experience but I am extremely impressed by its readability, organization, and applicability. I'm still working on the project but have gotten good feedback on what I've developed, which I could not have done without the guidance and information in the book. It is logically sequenced and appears to cover all bases, though someone with a lot more experience would be better able to assess this. Impressed? Very.

A great resource for preparation and review of an RFP. A helpful guide for people with and without RFP experience.

Add this to your collection of professional development books; you likely won't be disappointed - but remember, like anyone who is good, they make it look easy.

I'm a software developer and have a lot of experience writing Vision- and "Use Cases"-documents.
Writing these documents is not a big deal, however to make the customers read
"Use Case"-documents and provide feedback is much more difficult. But without feedback
it is not possible for a developer to write correct requirement documents.

I ordered this book because I liked the word "collaboration" in its title. It implies
the importance of working together with the customer in order to get the requirements right.
As I expected the author concentrates much more on the process to elicit proper requirements
rather than on the notations of requirements models such as UML. The best way to collaborate
with customers is to have structered meetings the so called workshops.

The book is divided into following three parts: "1. Overview of Requirements Workshops",
"2. Requirements Workshop Framework", "3. Requirements Workshop Design Strategies". Especially
the 2nd part contains a lot of detailed information and sometimes it is difficult not to get
lost. But part one and three are quit easy to follow.

Only in part one is a chapter which describes the different requirements models.
They are categorized according to their view, focus and level of detail. After reading this chapter you
know when to use which model. "Use Case"-Models are the most popular requirements models.
However, there are software projects in which other requirements model are more appropriate.
This chapter gives you an overview of the 19 different models.
Although a brief summary of every model is provided there is no example. If you want to know
the details of these different models you have to look for other sources of information.

The rest of the book concentrates on the prepartion and facilitation of workshops. A lot of useful
advice is given on how to manage people, content and processes in a workshop. Most of the
content of the book is aimed at facilitors of workshops. If you have nobody in your company who
has the necessary skillset to facilitate workshops, the author recommends to hire someone from
a consulting company, who can do this for your workshops.

On the author's website there several useful templates and guidelines which help you make your
workshops more successfull.

This book is a recommended reading for everyone who is responsible for the success of a software project.

In Requirements by Collaboration, Ellen Gottesdiener shares many years of experience in running requirement workshops. In this area, Ellen might be one of the most experienced facilitators in the world.

The author provides a framework for organizing requirements workshops. The framework is based on getting six Ps right. The Ps are "Purpose, Participants, Principles, Products, Place and Process". For each step it describes typical things that need to be done. First establish a share purpose. Find the right participants for the workshop. Set the principles and ground rules. Decide what work products to create (the book provides an excellent overview of work products used in requirement analysis). Define the requirements for the location and decide where to hold the workshop and decide the process to hold it.

In each steps, the author provides great tips and insights from her experience in facilitating workshops. In the later part, some strategies of requirement analysis are presented and the book ends with some case studies.

Overall, the book is well written an easy to read. The requirement workshop framework, at times seems overly complex and certainly would need to be tailored to the specific situation. However, I think this could not have been prevented when talking about a generic way of holding requirement workshops.

In Agile Development, requirement workshops are one way of doing requirement analysis and spreading the requirement analysis over the whole project. For these kind of workshops, this book is probably the only reference, eventhough the book itself does not cover this very well. Therefore "requirements by collaboration" is a must read for anyone who wants to do requirements workshops.

I found this book to be an invaluable help over the last few years that I have been running workshops with business people and users. It is concise and full of tips and how to's that are of great practical value. I can not recommend this book enough. I am a technical architect who has been thrown into the requirements and the domain traditionally inhabited by Buinsess Analyst and their ilk. I have used this book as a guide to run requirements workshops, business process workshop and scoping workshops. top book.

This book is about running requirements workshops and more. Requirements workshops are an important tool for understanding what you need to build. The techniques in this book will be useful in many other group discussion settings, and will help you have more productive meetings. The book discusses, among other things, roles in workshops and decision rules (deciding how to decide). Each chapter ends with a list of excellent references that you can use to probe further on techniques. Anyone who is involved in group decision making should own a copy of this book, read it, and refer back to it often.

The thing I like about this book is that it ranges from basics to advanced development strategizing. It seems to have been developed for use by individuals as well as in a (relaxed, hip?) classroom situation. I read it on my own, but can imagine it's structure making the teacher's job easy. As an "international reader," I think this book offers good insights into the workings of the U.S. corporate web economy... valuable when thinking about new directions for developing websites in one's own country.

I'm working on a re=design of a non-profit site and had expected this book (based on the title) to give me some real-world design advice. Instead, the book focuses on the design PROCESS itself. Things like knowing who your users / customers are and what they need from your site, getting buy-in from the site owners, prototyping, testing, etc. And even then the amount of real "take-away" information is scant (in my opinion). I had used another book (The Design of Sites - highly recommend) and must have bookmarked (the old fashioned way) 100 or more pages. On Ms. Phyo's book I found only 6 pages to be valuable (to me). If you're in the market to set up a web design team or business, this is a good book. If you're looking for decent web design help, look elsewhere. My 2-cents.

I'm no expert on Web design. However, I do spend a great deal of time fiddling with badly desined web sites. Certainly everyone has encountered a web site that made them want to scream.

I do understand what is involved in building a web site, we build them regularly. Ani Phyo is very intuitive and approaches her subject matter with great finessse. I have interacted with sites that she and her partner have designed and clearly, they get it. Not only are the sites intuitive and smart but they take it to the next level. They have an organic nature that transcends what you'd expect on the web. Their sites are breathing, living organisms. To encounter them is to be a part of a community. Yes, a community! Isn't that what the Internet is all about?

I highly recommend this book mostly for the client. The client needs to define their needs and comprehend what is possible. The designer can take it to the next level.

Finally, someone has written the book that describes the best way to think about designing interactive media. As a professional web designer/architect, I've found Ani really nails it in terms of process, and will help me cover my bases better. I recommend this book for beginners, who can now start out right the first time. And for veteran web people, this is a comprehensive, clear document of the methodology you might have been using for years, but may have cut corners on. My copy is going to have lots of dog-ears...

If you ever wanted a 7-step recipe for designing applications for Web delivery, this is the book for you. I appreciate the time and money I am saving on my current Web project by following a tested process that really works.
Regardless if you are responsible for site management, defining system requirements, Web content development, visual design, back-end programming, or usability testing of Web-delivered applications, following this process is both cost effective and fun. Return on Design is a gourmet meal consisting of step-by-step procedures, supportive examples, visuals, resources, and a consistent information design approach, which all serve to differentiate this Web design book from the others.
The bottom line is: do you want your site to be revenue generating? Your chances for success are better if you follow a user-centered design "recipe" for success.

At the risk of adding one more gushing review to this excellent book - let me say that this book is very good for relatively non-technical folks also. I am working as a manager of a technical team and I used this book to come up on speed on the basics of software architecture. The material layout is very clear and consistent - it helped me to get through the basic concepts quickly and come back for a more detailed reading. The book helped me to ask the relevant questions and focus the team on the right sense of issues.

Only suggestion I have for a subsequent edition is to include one full blown case study.

Having been in the IT world for more than 25 years and studying this topic for many of those years I have found this book to be extremely accessible. I reference it often. I like the way it deals with real business world issues as opposed to on board jet navigation systems etc. I rate it right along with Craig Larman "Applying UML and Patterns".

It is a very thorough and well written book. Authors have introduced idea of perspectives (viewpoints related to cross-cutting concerns) and I totally agree with authors on benefits of using perspectives rather than treating them as viewpoints. My AD of new project is based on viewpoints and perspectives separation suggested by authors.

If you are a software architect or aspire to be one, you should read this book. Rozanski and Woods do an excellent job of explaining the whys and hows of creating software architectures. Their pragmatic, no-nonsense approach makes this book extremely readable. The book is divided into two main sections: an explanation of the viewpoints and perspectives concepts (208 pages) and a catalog of viewpoints and perspectives (195 pages). This makes the book a relatively quick read, but also very useful as a day-to-day reference. If only every software architect would read this book, we might not have as many software quality issues as we have today!

I was impressed with this book's unique perspective of blending the business and technical needs into a single focus, and it continued to maintain the human considerations. It does an excellent job of describing how to support business decisions through architecture at a macro level in a style where "the rubber hits the road."

If you are a systems analyst or a software development manager, this shouldn't be on your book shelf - it should be on your desk for regular reference.

Great book about learning Word 97 annoyances. Complete coverage of these annoyances is followed by using VBA/Word as a solution to Word 97 annoyances. Very good introduction to VBA/Word. This book belongs on your bookshelf!
My only complaint is that the book should be bigger.

This is a fantastic book, and I would consider it essential to anyone who gets fustrated by Word's tendency to try to help you when you least want any help. Unfortunately the book is now about 3 years old, so some of the information in it no longer applies to Word 2000. You more or less have to determine which portions of the book are out-of-date and skip them. If Woody updates the book, I would buy it immediately.

...Why can't the decisions, rules and controls be mine? Having read this book, I now understand that defaults and standards aren't necessarily the last word. Helpful hints and shortcuts will make life easier for everyone. whether you only ever use word to dash off a letter or you regularly produce complex documants and tables. With a writing style of amiable sarcasm, Woody Leonhard has obviously learned his lessons the hard way. Don't make the same mistake - buy this book!

The chapter on Word macro viruses alone is by far the best treatment of the subject that I've seen anywhere.

This book gives a good explanation on Word 97 and how to use it. Ranging from general windows settings to visual basic for applications (VBA) users from almost any level can find useful advise in this book. Written in an enjoyable style it is an easy read for anyone with interest for word 97. Together with Bill Camarda's 'Using Microsoft Word 97' from QUE for reference/addition you should be able to create some fancy documents.

This book is a concise and friendly guide that is great for admins. It proved itself the first time that I had a problem allowing me to quickly find the answer I needed.

This is one of those most have books for any SQL Server DBAs reference library.

Brian Knight covers a LOT of different items and goes into sufficient detail on all topics. Probably the best real world book on SQL Server administration out there. I've worked with SQL Server for over 5 years and have been a senior DBA over a large enterprise SQL Server farm but I still learned a great deal from this book.

This is an excellent book. The coverage of SQL Server is very solid. However, if you plan to purchase the author's newest book, SQL Server 2000 for Experienced DBAs, DO NOT purchase this book. The newer book covers everything this book covers, in addition to the topic of high availability. Owning both books would be completly redundant, a mistake I personally made.

If you're thinking of buying this book, because you've tried everything in Microsoft's online manual "Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 Performance Tuning Guide" and are still having some performance problems, then this book could be your solution.

It helped me solve some of the problems I was having with our productive server and helped me understand some basics a bit better than before. It does not contain everything you need to know, but gives you some ideas how you have to look for further information and what you have to look for.

It contains some good reference material, but not all of the hidden features. As with every book under 1000 pages this is not THE bible for the DBA but is a complementary book that will provide some invaluable information not found elsewhere. This book was well worth the price..

SQL Server 2000 Administration headaches? ... Well if you need a rapid reference on system administrative functions that could not only save your company $$$ on downtime and system availability but improve your response to difficult situations this is a DBA must have. I have purchased more books attempting to get reliable information and tips to make my Administration of SQL Server Database systems robust, reliable, and rapid on response I have finally found the information I needed in "One" book. I would recommend this book for Mid to Senior level Database Administrators and as a guide for training Junior level DBA's to prevent bad habits and teach the proper habits of monitoring, managing and maintaining SQL Server databases overall. Oh and the nice touch is that TIPS: and CAUTION: notices throughout the book educate the creative "out of the box" approach to proper system risk management. I hope Mr. Knight considers sharing his talent with future Administrative Guides !!!

But be aware it is for you only if you are an Arcitecht... if you use autocad for other reasons I think you should consider another one..

For many years I have wanted to learn AutoCAD, but the complexity of earlier programs, and the instructional materials available made the task far too time consuming and difficult. In this book, David Frey presents a simple project which by continuing development of it cover to cover, takes an individual from the basic functions of AutoCAD R14 through 3 dimensional modeling.

Starting with a personal CAD knowledge base of zero, following Frey's lessons, I was able after about 8 hours with the book to create from scratch a basic architectural floorplan. Within four weeks, I had completed this book and was able to produce full, architectural quality construction drawings. Individual ability to create such sets will depend upon prior architectural training. But, one will most certainly be able to create simple plans, and make modifications to much more complex ones. As way of comparison, the easy to read and understand material presented here amounted to what is taught in a much more intense three month college introductory level CAD course. I give this book an A+.

A word of note. This book is written for those who are needing to aquire AutoCAD skills for architectural design, construction, or structure documentation purposes. In this respect, Frey delivers. It is not a book for mechanical engineering, or civil engineering CAD skills.

In conclusion, this work quickly provided me a comprehensive set of skills needed to assume a leadership role in historic preservation project management, cutting many months off what is normally a steep learning curve. I recommend it to anyone who needs to learn how to create or modify architectural drawings, without reserve.

Following this book, I recommend George Omura's "Mastering AutoCAD Release 14". Purchase these two together, and one will have a high quality architectural CAD training package and reference source.

As a person who has never done any computer aided drawing before, this book was excellent. I have beed trying for many years to get involved with Autocad but would somehow get very frustrated and chuck it in after a number of starts. This book took me through the paces via a project. I am now drawing the plans (or at least the first draft) for my home. As a 'hands-on' type person this book suited me just fine.

In January 2001, I got a job at an engineering firm to train as an autocad operator. I had absolutely no knowledge of Autocad. I came to this site to see if I could give myself a head start and in less than 40 hours I knew all the basics (and some shortcuts) that I needed to know for my new job. Long story short I got a $5,000.00 raise in three months and now I am training others in my firm on autocad14. To keep a step ahead I'm now reading the AutoCad 2000 by Frey. This book was easy to follow and Frey did a Great Job with explanations of terms and all the questions that I had were answered right there in the book. I'd recommend this book to everyone interested in learning AutoCad. It's a no brainer here.

This is great for those who have never ventured into AutoCAD and need to start learning. I bought the book because I was starting an internship at an architecture firm and needed to get basics down so that I would be of more use. I have begun working through the tutorial and have picked up enough so that I am pretty comfortable using the application. The project managers in the office were so impressed with the book, and the results they see in me, they're planning on buying it for themselves!