Computers Books

Good book for beginner, if you are just learning get this book.There are things in this book that took me years to learn by trial and error unfortunaely for me I only learned a couple of new things, but it did give me some certainty in what I did know. However Im now looking for a intermediate book which is what I really needed.

The book lives up to its reputation as being a beginners guide. Good resource for those now getting into computers. And, it also has some good steps for Vista too.

Like most people,i avoided the 21st century technology by continuly saying to myself it was not something i needed.I finally took the plunge,a friend set up my Toshiba A2125 and found the"Absolute beginners guide on your web page.It,s format coinsides with my 73 year old mindset.Congradulations Michael Miller

This a great book for aquainting yourself with your computer. If you are new to the computer world as I was you will find this book very helpful in taking control of your computer instead of it controlling you. It covers both versions of Windows: XP & Vista. I would recommend it to anyone just starting out. I think it would be safe to say it could save you a lot of time in the longrun and maybe keep you from pulling your hair out!

I have been using a computer for many years and still did not understand all the task/programs I could have been using. This book has been extremely helpful working as a primer explaining everything very clearly and is still up to date with the Windows Vista. I would highly recommend this book.

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 !!!

This book provides a great foundation for the classes I am teaching in e-commerce. It's chapters on site server also are excellent! I found the fundamentals section to be outstanding for handling the task of getting new students up to speed.

This book is really useful from the standpoint of providing an overview of what ESD is doing today, and how e-commerce tools from Microsoft are making it possible for organizations of any size to buyild their own sites. I found the chapters on managing a new site useful with some good suggestions for getting everyone on the same page from a development standpoint. Good reference book and teaching tool for new administrators.

I have been studying up on e-business and found this book to have a personable tone and many insights into how I could get up to speed quickly with terms and concpets to manage the outsourcing of our company's website quicker. I liked the chapters on building a framework for organizing solutions and found the chapter on electronic software ditribution very enlightening. An easy book to read.

This book has interesting information about Microsoft's Site Server applications, and shows the plans for electronic software distribution Microsoft authored with key industry leaders. it is decidely pro e-commerce and provides an interesting approach to managing web development through cross-functional project teams.

I found this book to provide a level-set for my staff, who is working on the definition of our websites, and what we could reasonably expect with the resources onhand. This book gave us hands-on guidelines and advice from experience we could use for getting our site completed in the minimum amount of time with the least disconnects between what we wanted and what we ended up creating. E-Commerce is constantly changing, and this book brings all the change into perspective. Good teaching tool.

This book is amazing. I have some experience with Flash video and video production techniques, but I felt like I had a lot of gaps in my knowledge. This book covers everything I need to know, and the included code is priceless. If you want a robust Flash player, with auto-detect, auto-update, etc., but don't care to learn the ins and outs of Actionscript, just use what's provided. You'll have Player up and running in minutes.

I ended up sharing the book with our Video Production team, too. They used a lot of the instruction about good compression, proper aspect ratios, and creating alpha channels for FLVs.

Rob Reinhardt is the master of Video deployed in Flash. I was so happy to see he finally has written a book that captures his knowledge, experience, and excellent teaching skills. Rob is clear, concise and you can be guaranteed that he has tested, used and deployed all the techniques he demonstrates.
Bravo!!!!!

There's nobody more prolific and comprehensive in the world of Flash video delivery than Reinhardt. Considering the enormity of topics and goals addressed in this book, he's really outdone himself this time. Essential for anyone interested in serious deployment of Flash video.

this book is a decent hands-on approach to creating video players using AS3 & AS2. Two of the missing things that I think are necessary are creating custom volume controls and handling full-screen mode.

My company bought other Flash Video books, but this book had the ActionScript 3.0 code I was looking for. The DVD included with the book rocks--I've always wanted to test HD footage in Flash, but didn't want to spend too much time looking for huge files on the Internet. The DVD has lots of HD content to use as sample content.

I purchased Jain's "The Art of Computer Systems Performance Analysis" for a 3-month graduate course, and I must admit that, in retrospect, I was a bit daunted by its size upon receipt (we were to cover the entire text). Further, I had my doubts about the relevancy of the text in the current environment, given its age.

But I must say, both of these initial questions proved wholly unfounded.

I've never used a text quite like this one before; it is a significant departure from the standard engineering text that weighs heavily on the side of analytical proof and mathematical equations, while foregoing textual elaboration. On the contrary, this book adopts a conversational tone whereby the author develops all of the book's topics in great detail, relying on substantial insight and experience. Truly, a breath of fresh air.

There's such a richness about this text, that a careful read--while admittedly quite time-consuming--is bound to give the reader a sense that he has just become the beneficiary of a heck of a lot of wisdom.

All of this is not to say the text is overly-subjective; in fact, there is plenty of detailed analytical analysis. It is just to say that the book is different, and one that exudes quality communication: it reads more like a lecture than it does lecture notes.

So, back to my initial doubts. It turns out that the verbose depth of material which constitutes the book's 720 pages is really a foundation of its main qualities: it is a very readable and highly-detailed exploration of the art and the craft of performance analysis. And it's for that foundational reason that its age is irrelevant.

A solid book indeed. It has the right mixture of theory and practical cases well dealt with. The techinques must be tried for performance analysis and implemented in real time projects.

This old book is one of the most valued on my shelf. I was first exposed to it in a graduate class, and I have to say that the book is so good I was not aware that my professor was not a good instructor until I had him a second time in a class where the textbook was less than stellar. Don't judge the book by a quick perusal either. At first glance, especially if you are looking at Part I, it looks like one of those books on Six Sigma that will put you to sleep. In fact, the vast majority of the book is quite interesting.

Part II, "Measurement Techniques and Tools", are where things get interesting. The good part about this entire book is that it uses problems in the analysis of computer systems as the basis of presentation for all tools presented. The graphs are excellent, the mathematics are largely self-contained, and if algorithms are presented they are usually given in numbered steps and an actual computer program shown. This is one drawback of the book - it uses the ancient Simula language for its demonstration code. However, if you are familiar with C, Java, or any of the other mainstream procedural languages, you'll find that Simula looks like very readable pseudocode, so this should not be an obstacle to understanding.

Part III is a section dedicated entirely to probability theory and statistics. Starting with the simple definition of the mean, this handy section not only derives all of the statistics you need in this book, it talks about common mistakes made in applying them.

Part IV is about experimental design and analysis. Using the mathematics developed in part three this section talks about all aspects of designing a proper experiment for the measurement or simulation of a computer system, including common mistakes and the best choice for the size of your experiment.

Part V presents the key issues in simulation modeling. First it discusses simulation terminology, simulation design criteria, and stopping conditions. Random number generation is the subject of three chapters in reference to inputs to your simulation. Finally there is a chapter on the commonly used distributions such as Bernoulli, beta, binomial, etc. that talks specifically about random number generation algorithms for each of the distributions presented. What makes this section so valuable is that although you may have possibly seen the math before, more than likely you don't know the value of each kind of distribution. This section makes that issue clear in terms of modeling computer performance.

Part VI is on queuing models, and is probably the most difficult section in the book. Although it is one of the better written pieces I have read on queueing theory, it is not as easily grasped as previous sections based on reading the textbook alone. There are examples present, and the book does a good job of presenting "the big picture" as to the use of queueing theory in computer performance analysis, but you may need outside material to really grasp how to set up a queueing problem from a mathematical standpoint.

No other book I've found does such a good job of discussing all of the topics covered and clearly tying it into practical issues in measuring and monitoring system performance. I highly recommend it.

I'm a performance analyst. I couldn't do my job properly without this book. It really is that simple.

This is an absolute gem. I really think that this book must be read by every CS/EE engineer. Performance analysis is always something that comes as an afterthought and engineers think that some some "mathematical" guy called a perf analyst will stop by after the product is completed and analyze the product. This is def wrong. PA should be done at every stage of production.

This book has been written assuming a novice reader. Several parts of the book have to re-read to really understand what the author is trying to convey, but trust me you will really appreciate it.

I suggest reading the following parts of the book(in order):

Part I (whole)
Part II (4, 5, 6, browse {7,8}, 9, 10 ) 10 is cool stuff..impress your peers with this
Part III (whole) read, re-read, re-read till you have digested every line..worth it really!!!!
Part IV (whole) read, re-read, re-read till you have digested every line..worth it really!!!!
Part V : You can skip this if you are not into simulation.
Part VI : Not really that easy to follow. I suggest Gunter's book for this.

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!

This book thoroughly discuss the steps in using auto cad 2D and an opener in 3D autocad drafting. It uses a simple terms that anybody even not engineers can understand. Must buy for a beginner to intermediate autocad users.

The delivery from amazon really surprised me as the book arrives ahead of thier given arrival time. It arrives in two days only, supposedly shall arrive after 3-5 days. another 5 star rating for amazon's delivery system!

Easy to follow, Lots of excercises to practice with and explanation when you screw things up (beyond repair, sometimes.
A must read if you want to go to "AutoCAD University"?

AUTOCAD 2006 AND AUTOCAD LT 2006: NO EXPERIENCE REQUIRED is a fine, basic introduction to a powerful program which once commanded the attention only of professionals. Any seeking to utilize the CAD software should have this manual in hand: it provides a set of tutorials which are sequentially arranged for step-by-step study - but it also can be used as an at-a-glance reference sourcebook for solving specific problems. From understanding coordinate systems and drawing routines to working with fills, text, external references and more, AutoCAD's powerful tools and drawing features are all detailed in depth.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

I work for a survey company. I have never been to college and I am a self-taught AutoCAD user. I learned AutoCAD '02 with this book. Now I train guys and we buy this book for guys that have backgrounds with Microstation and are transitioning to AutoCAD.

Fantastic book for the experienced or the beginner. Easy to understand. Highly recommmend for those just starting out.

Bottom line - great how-to book. I am NOT in any way, shape, or form, a computer geek. Technology is not my friend, and nothing about machinery is inuitive to me. I am also a no-nonsence kinda guy. In this particular case, I want to edit, not spend my time READING about how to edit. So this book is GREAT! (Wouldn't know if it's the best 'cause I'm completely dependent on doing what it says to do so I have no way to compare it to other resources.) The layout is straightforward - topics are categorized and independant from each other. Like a cookbook. Simply go to the instructions on how to do a particular thing, and there you go! The book uses paragraph format in the beginning of each topic/chapter to explain the "why's" of the upcoming topic; like a comprehensive overview. (What's the purpose and point of doing "_____".) Then when it comes to the "how-tos", each subtopic/activity converts to bullet-points. (Click A, then do B, then press C.) The book also includes side notes and hints along with illustrations of what you should be seeing on the screen at that particular stage. Wonderful! Efficient!

This book is based on Avid Express Pro as of 2004 and will serve you well as a reference text. It is well-indexed and has useful cross-references in the text.

This book is very helpful for new beginners learning AXP. It is very detailed and to the point. A must have.

figata ci vediamo al solito posto alle 12.00. porta la corazzata
pinuccio

I am a beginner with Avid and was daunted by all the different and options available to me. Monohan's book was just what I needed. I am currently giong through the book from A to Z, which gives me an overview of all the options and work-methods the program has. Even though I allready had set up my workspace, this book gave me some interesting tips. Even though I had allready developed a workflow for my previous projects, I learned some new options by reading this book.

Interestingly, serving as a guide from a to Z is not where Monohan excells. It should be used as an index to all the available options from this program. Want to know how to find those audio-peaklevels? How to get rid of that nested alpha-channel? Or you want to remember that trick in lassoing to trim mode? Use the index or the table of contents and you'll find what you're looking for in no time.

Great value for its price!

A few months ago I realised my two businesses need websites. I got from the professionals and promptly decided to do it myself. I reasoned that I could buy MS Frontpage, plus all the books I needed and do everything for less than 10% of what the quotes came to. I was right. And wrong.
I never realised how scared I was of Frontpage, so I compensated by buying way too many books. The good thing is that I am now in a very good position to tell you which books are worth your while and which are rubbish.

I was right in that one can publish your own website for a lot less than I expected. I was wrong in that of all the books I'd bought, I only needed one. You guessed it.

"Build your own web site" makes publishing a web site ridiculously easy. I am serious. The other books all have these clinical, corporation-type covers, so I looked at them first, and started building my site. For some reason, I was put off this book somehow. As if I thought, if the others have these professional looking covers, they must be the better books. How wrong I was.

This book is divided into three parts. The first part deals with how to prepare - how to decide what goes onto your site, how to plan, how to put everything together et cetera. How to design your site. I followed it to the letter and it worked.

Part 2 is subdivided into subsections, each dedicated to a different type of web development programme (such as Dreamweaver, Frontpage etc). I only read the Frontpage bit and that is how far I got. Because by that time I knew everything I needed to build great websites!

The money I spent on the other books is wasted money. This book helped me tremendously, and in record time. I might put a link to my site in my "About You" area, so you can see for yourself. But the point is that I was able to create a functional website, with some nice features, within the span of a day or two, on Frontpage, with absolutely no prior experience. NO other book available could do this. David Karlins is a genius.

This is without a doubt the best (beginner's) book on web designing of all the ones I've seen. In fact, nothing else comes close. The funny thing is that this book was the cheapest of the bunch!

This book is straight to the point and does not require to be read in any particular sequence aside from the 1st chapter. After that you can bounce around to the sections you need which impact you most. Good reading and a good resource.

I am an absolute beginner in the world of website design. After researching numerous books and videos on the subject I came across David Karlins absolutely brilliant book. It is written in such a manner that even a ten year old would understand. Someone who truly understands the subject and posses real knowledge is capable of presenting the same in a simple way. I highly recommend this book to all people who have gaps and holes in understanding of the process of creating web site.

In a rating like from 1 to 4 years of college for completion, this book covers the first two years.

Very helpful basic book for a web site builder/beginner to understand about web sites. Too often books/teachers seem to think that the problem is not understanding the how the design program works when the problem is more basic, more conceptual. I look forward now to reading his book on Dreamweaver MX.

Despite its title this book is an easy and entertaining read for a broad audience. While specifically written from the perspective of management of software projects, the book actually addresses management at large. It makes a concise case showing how dangerous and detrimental it is (to the successful outcome of large scale (software) projects that is, defined by the author as a "quality product on time and on budget") to separate technical leadership/management from personnel leadership/management, as so often mandated by many organizations. The "manager-architect," as termed by the author in his book, is key to success. Consequently not everybody can be up for this task, and only few who dare to try will succeed at it, as evidenced by the disconcerting fact that many "top level managers" manage nothing but major budgetary overruns (be they hidden or not), for which they are "held accountable" by society by being hailed as "America's Best Leaders." This book puts an end to such phoniness and provides especially the inexperienced/naive reader with a skill set to reveal/uncover such mismanagement and the individuals responsible.

The book is a true eye opener for aspiring and "want-to-be" managers alike. Also, having posters on "true leadership" pinned to the office wall does not magically inhale the ability of leadership into the office occupant. Leadership is an ability rather than a skill as clarified by the author. It is just like playing an instrument: it only gets you so far if you do not have it in you and practice every day. Chapter 12 "The Impact of Leadership on Software Development" should be read by any manager (aspiring, "want-to-be", or acting alike), and in particular by those who confuse management with suddenly having power over people. Moreover, management does not and should not mean "tenure" along the lines of "now I have made it, now I can relax" or "now I am in power." Rather the "Old Fritz" (Friedrich II, Prussian King) statement, simple yet true, comes to mind: "I am the first servant of the country" ("Ich bin der erste Diener meines Staates"), and serves as a good guide.

The author puts forth an interesting concept for true autonomy founded on the philosophical considerations of the human mind, upon which the AI-(IF-THEN-ELSE)-community will most likely have to choke. In doing so, the author outlines nicely the profound difference between automation and autonomy, two terms, which are often confused, intermixed, or misunderstood, even by so-called experts in the field.

If management is done right, as exemplified/laid out in this book and practiced by its author in an exemplary fashion, managers would rather have to be pitied because of their huge added responsibility for their people/troops and the projects they manage/lead (in that order!). Special attention should be paid throughout the book and in particular throughout Chapter 12 to the "Machiavellian Prince," as this kind of "leader" unfortunately exists (and not in small numbers!), and, while striving only for personal power and gain, causes a lot of damage to otherwise noble causes.

The author of this book has deep insights and wisdom for any level of interface with computer science applications. You simply cannot go wrong for putting your weight down on patterns to follow from someone who has had success in the field. The techniques in this book go beyond basic head knowledge, into the live action of software development where the rubber meets the road. Only an experienced person can give these insights. I am very impressed with the advanced mapping, made simple. This book seems to be written for people who are looking to find answers to every day problems in a rapidly moving computer world, without fear.

Mr. deGyurky gives a great overview of his experience at JPL in organizing and developing large, complex, software systems, and delivering them on schedule, on cost. Mr. deGyurky demonstrated that the most important contribution to software management is that of leadership in life, carries over in software development also.

If you are thinking of becoming a manager of a software development project, you should check this book out, and You will be a step ahead of the game!

The author has given us a framework for conceptualizing, organizing and developing large, complex, software systems, and delivering them on schedule, on cost.

His approach to software development emphasizes two basic ideas. Unique is his application to the development process of the cognitive philosophies of the great Nineteenth Century German cognitive philosophers, principally Schopenhauer, Kant and Hegel, which De Gyurky has studied for years (- in the original Nineteenth Century High German). De Gurky also emphasizes to an extraordinary degree the active role of personal leadership required of the successful software development manager.

Far from being a purely theoretical work, the book is richly illustrated with pungent examples from De Gyurky's near-incredibly varied experience both in the US military as a Special Forces officer commanding a detachment of Montaignards in the mountains of Vietnam, as an action officer at NATO Headquarters, and as the civilian developer of very large military flight-schedule management systems as well as spacecraft software command and control systems.

All the examples are exquisitely pertinent to the software development process. But in addition, four detailed programmatic examples are presented, together with comments, figures and schedules. The author's application of the principles he developed is wholly consistent and unfailingly pertinent, if sometimes challenging, due to the likely unfamiliarity on the part of the typical software engineering reader with the application of the philosophical concepts.

In fact, the single characteristic of the book which may challenge the typical software developer is the accessibility of some of the concepts. Some of the most powerful concepts discussed, e.g., the dialectical process by which an ill-formed idea becomes an object that reflects the meeting of the minds of the design team, are likely to be unfamiliar. However this process has profound implications for the organization of the design team, its management, team-member responsibilities, and on and on. It might have been helpful if the author had expanded on these key concepts, perhaps in context closer to their original use. It would be demanding on the reader, but probably no more so than parts of the book itself.

This unique contribution is recommended to software developers interested in on-time, on-cost development of large software systems, and willing to invest in the intellectual effort required to understand the author's unique contribution. They will be well rewarded.

I have read many books on systems and software development and management principles over the years. The ones that most influenced me were: "More Reliable Software Through Composite Design" by Glen Meyers; "Up the Organization" by Robert Townsend; and "Reengineering the Corporation" by Michael Hammer and James Champy. And of course no system developer's library would be complete without "Managing the Software Process" and other books by Watts Humphry, a giant in our industry. Mr. Szabolcs Michael deGyurky's book will occupy a place along side these on my bookshelf.

In this book, Mr. deGyurky has provided a completely different and refreshing, but no less important, viewpoint on systems development. As different as all the above mentioned books are, the one theme common to all of them is their focus on the "real" problem by differentiating between the truly important and the seemingly important - commonly referred to as separating the wheat from the chaff..

"The Cognitive Dynamics of Computer Science" focuses on strength of character as being indispensable to successful completion of complex systems development projects, which not only satisfy the "real" requirements, but ensure the system is delivered within an agreed to budget and schedule. This book draws on the philosophy of such estimable historical figures as Kant, Hegel and Schopenhauer, among others, in defining the behavioral characteristics of successful leaders and managers. Personal experiences in real world projects by Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) provide a substantive backdrop for Mr. deGyurky's approach to managing systems development.

It is impossible to adequately relay the impact of such a book in so short a review, but I do come away with some points which derive more meaning because of my own experience: 1) Design from the user in, but develop from the inside out, in layers, 2) Don't implement until you have an initial design documented and understood by the development team - expect that to change, 3) Manage change through the Project Implementation Plan (PIP), which is the Project Manager's equivalent to the Software Development Folder, 4) Don't hire staff until you have their tasks well defined (control burn rate and you have controlled your budget), 5) Make sure you understand exactly what your customer wants through constant customer involvement, 6) make your customer's goal, your goal, then incentivize the entire development team to focus on that goal as the highest priority, 7) There shall be no implementation without documented, repeatable process and standards, which should be tailored to the individual project, but at no time should process and standards replace common sense in a dynamically changing development environment, 8) Employ tools and ensure the team is involved in their selection, 9) Ensure the development team is trained in methodology, process, standards, tools and system requirements, and 10) the manager should place the needs of his customer and his team ahead of his personal goals.

All of this is done in concert with the philosophical teachings of our great philosophers, who would encourage strict honesty and ethics in dealing with our customer, subordinates, colleagues, company management, even if it means being fired. Of course, one does not fit all the meaning of a 300-page book into such a short review, and one could easily list another 10 or more points of interest.

I agree with almost everything in this excellent book, but may differ on the role played by Computer Aided Software Engineering (CASE) and Computer Aided Design (CAD) in systems development. Since CASE tools became mature enough to use effectively, I personally selected my tools, then built my process and standards around them. This includes the way I modify process and standards (including DoD) to conform to streamlining development and associated documentation. The CASE tool, when used with discipline can ensure that interface errors are avoided during the design process, as provided through automatic leveling and validation as the system design progresses. Fixed price contracts caused me to gravitate to using the latest tools available and build around them each time.

I am certain that Autonomous Cognitive systems are in our future, but not without application of increasingly sophisticated CASE tools and compilers (Autonomous Cognitive Compilers), which can parse complex combinations of Boolean expressions with many operations per expression to simulate the human thought system in making decisions. Neither can these systems be built without addressing the transducers (sensors), which would connect to and provide stimuli to be interpreted and processed by any autonomous system as the 5 senses (sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste). I look forward to Mr. deGuyrky's next book, which may address this highly complex problem.

I would only close this review with one last comment, directed to JPL. Mr. deGyurky and his team were on the right track with Ada. It is unfortunate that JPL didn't adopt this very highly typed and disciplined high order language as their standard development language. I believe it would have saved more than one failed project. Based on my 40 plus years of developing computer systems, I would humbly suggest that JPL require mandatory use of Ada in all "Class A" development projects.