Rating: 
Summary: This book is very light...no substance
Review: The good stuff is elsewhere ($ -> Rational) is the basic premise of this book. I would have to say that if you want an introduction to RUP then this is definitely that but no more. Don't expect it to do more than familiarize you with the general concepts of RUP. Almost every chapter ends with which tools you should buy from Rational.
Rating: 
Summary: If you are interested in RUP, this is the place to start.
Review: The Rational Unified Process (RUP) was originally developed by Rational Software, which was recently purchased by IBM. Therefore, you now see the RUP sometimes referred to as IBM's Web-enabled software engineering process. As this name implies, it is a set of guidelines, some soft and others fairly rigid to the point of being a rule, for the creation of software. Like all useful principles of computer science, the RUP is a dynamic entity, being constantly modified to reflect the changes taking place in software creation. Therefore, if you are already familiar with the RUP and are wondering if you should read this book, the answer is an emphatic yes. If you are unfamiliar with the RUP, the answer is an even more emphatic yes.
The purpose of this book is to provide an introduction to RUP 2003, the latest iteration of the process. Like the previous books on RUP, it is written at a level suitable for managers. There is some necessary technical jargon, but nothing beyond what a software project development manager would be expected to be able to comprehend.
The book opens with a history of the RUP, what it is used for and the overall structure of the RUP. This is followed by a very brief introduction to fundamental concepts such as iterative development, architecture-centric processes and use cases. Necessary for beginners, most of this material can be skipped by those having experience in those areas.
Part II covers the various areas, referred to as disciplines. They are:* The project management discipline.
* The business-modeling discipline.
* The requirements discipline.
* The analysis and design discipline.
* The implementation discipline.
* The test discipline.
* The configuration and change management discipline.
* The environment discipline.
* The deployment discipline. While the steps used in the analysis differs from discipline to discipline, the following are common to all: * Purpose.
* Roles and artifacts.
* Workflow.
* Tool support.
* Summary. The tool support section is particularly helpful if you are evaluating the RUP for possible use in your organization. IBM/Rational has many tools that can aid you in your efficient use of the RUP. In fact, without software tools to aid you, much of the material in this book would be of theoretical interest only.
Large software projects require an overall organizing process to be imposed on them if there is to be a chance for successful completion. The RUP is currently one of the best such processes and this book will show the fundamentals of the process and how it can work for you.
Rating:
Summary: This book is sales literature for Rational.
Review: There are some good ideas in the book. Overall its sales literature. I should be able to download it from Rational's web site. I don't recommend it unless you have full intentions of buying Rational's developer products.
Rating: 
Summary: Worth readng even if you don't buy the product
Review: There are those who might criticize this book as being a mere commercial for the development tools offered by Rational Software. My reaction to that position is, 'so what." If I am a manager considering the adoption of the Rational Unified Process, then my best hope for making the correct adoption decision is to learn what it is designed to do in as short a time as possible. Any material that I can read at a managerial level that explains the capability and what I can get out of it is something of great value, and this book satisfies that requirement.
The main purpose of the book is to explain the unified process at the level of the tops of the trees. This broad overview is an explanation of how a process is constructed by splitting it up into nine overlapping, but still somewhat distinct workflows. They are the project management workflow, the business modeling workflow, the requirements workflow, the analysis and design workflow, the implementation workflow, the test workflow, the configuration and change workflow, the environment workflow and the deployment workflow. The separation of the process into the different sections allows each of them to be described from their somewhat unique perspectives, which makes it easier to see how the synergy of them all makes for a complete, effective process.
It took some time for it to appear, but it is now essential to examine an item of software from the architectural perspective. Such an encompassing examination of software could not exist until the projects grew to such size and complexity that no other paradigm could adequately describe it. Like the plans for a large, complicated building, it is the overlap of several different models that merge together to build something that is more than the collection of pieces. An entire chapter is devoted to the importance of the architecture in the development and unending refinement of a software project. These are wise words to heed, as anyone who tries to build the complex without a sound plan is almost certainly doomed to failure.
The most significant test that any book describing a product can face is whether it is still worth reading if you have no interest in the product. This book easily passes that test and is one of the best manuals for managers of large software projects that is available today.
Rating: 
Summary: Not a book to teach you how to use RUP
Review: This book introduces the logic behind Rational Unified Process (RUP). RUP is a novel idea. It puts several good practices in a consolidated package. What makes RUP useful is the fact that Rational provides all the necessary software tools to support this. This book does an average job in explaining the RUP. It over stresses obvious and well accepted concepts like "iterative development"; which makes the first half (6 chapters) of this book a bit boring. For a professional with software development and management experience, I found the first sixe chapters are best read at a cursory glance. The second half of the book introduces the workflows - and it is this half that I found more interesting. I finished this book as bed time readoing over the weekend - so this book is an easy reading. However this book is not about teaching how to use Rational Products. This book only gives an overview of the basis of origination of RUP. You would need another book to become an expert in using RUP.
Rating:
Summary: Much better read than Unified Software Development Process
Review: This book is a much better read than the generic process described by the book named The Unified Software Development Process (UP). The Rational Unified Process (RUP) is a specific instance of the more generic UP. The RUP can be tailored to an organization or project and is considered a product offering by Rational Corp. Many big technology firms are using RUP to include major companies from Telecommunications, Transportation, Aerospace, Defense, Manufacturing, Financial Institutions, and System Integratrors. Some of the major well known companies include: Xerox, Intel, Oracle, Lockheed-Martin, Merrill Lynch, MCI and Charles Schwab. This book is easy to follow and very informative about a modern user-case driven, architecture centric, iterative/incremental development process. After an introduction to the whole process structure consisting of a Conception Phase, Elaboration Phase, Construction Phase and Transition Phase, each succeeding chapter covers a single workflow such as Business Modeling, Requirements Management, Analysis & Design, Implementation, Testing, Deployment, Configuration & Change Management, Project Management and Environment. This book is actually an enjoyable read and makes the reader aware of what it takes to develop software using an object-oriented software development process using a proven methodology.
Rating:
Summary: A fine, readable introduction
Review: This book is an introduction to the Rational Unified Process (RUP). It is suitable for readers who have never heard of RUP before and for readers who have little experience with thoughtful analysis of software lifecycles. (I think it's also very useful as a quick, easy-to-read overview of RUP for more advanced readers, but you can read about that use of the book in other reviews.) I teach Computer Science at Florida Tech, including undergraduate and graduate courses in software testing. Krutchen provides a thoughtful but very readable, persuasive discussion of risks associated with different software lifecycles. In my experience as a teacher, my students' ability to appreciate differences among lifecycles and analyze them critically is significantly boosted by study and discussion of Krutchen. Accordingly, I require my students to read the relevant section of his book, they have detailed small-group discussions of it, and it often appears on their exam. This book is an introduction. It doesn't address all of the problems with RUP. It doesn't cover all of the areas of RUP equally well. It won't make any reader an expert in the process or its favored practices. It won't persuade someone who doesn't like RUP that they should like. What it does do is expose the reader to the thinking and practices that make up this particular approach to software engineering. This book is much deeper than marketing fluff, but not so deep as to lose a junior reader. As a teacher, I am delighted to have materials like this available. (Disclosure: a little bit of my work has been included in RUP, and I have developed a course for Rational on software testing within the Rational process. However, I identify more with the agile development / XP community than with the RUP community. In any case, the question that I'm interested in answering in this review is not whether RUP is any good -- it has its good points and its weaknesses -- but rather whether Krutchen's introduction to RUP is a fair and useful introduction to that subject matter. My conclusion is that it is.)
Rating: 
Summary: A roadmap to the Rational Unified Process
Review: This book is not the "Silver Bullet". This book is not an end, the ultimate answer. It is only a start, the tip of an iceberg, a beach-head for your discovery of the Rational Unified Process. This software development process is quite comprehensive, covering many different disciplines and can be overwhelming at first, a maze sometimes, and I wrote this book to be your travel guide when researching it. I have tried to present in simple terms the key principles and the underlying concepts, to introduce the jargon and to provide roadmaps for your personal exploration of the Rational Unified Process. Although only my name shows up on the cover, this book is the result of the collective effort of many people; first my team, the Rational Process Development Group, which spreads from Vancouver to Stockholm, and scores of other "rationalites." In this development process, we have tried to capture, synthesize and present the best software development practices we could identify, based on our own experience, and that of our partners and customers. This book is not new (nor for that respect is the Rational Unified Process): it was part of our version 4.x in 1996, but was only available through Rational Software, so I am delighted that with very short turn-around time Addison Wesley Longman accepted to publish it to make it more widely available.
Philippe Kruchten, Rational Software, Vancouver BC, Canada
Rating:
Summary: Great book
Review: This is a great book. It was the first book that actually described RUP, besides the documentation. It's a good and an easy read, and you'll know hat RUP is all about after you have read the book. You will need to practice just like anything else, but this book is a very good starting point. The newer versions of this book is much better, so buy that instead.
Rating:
Summary: Great book
Review: This is a great book. It was the first book that actually described RUP, besides the documentation. It's a good and an easy read, and you'll know hat RUP is all about after you have read the book. You will need to practice just like anything else, but this book is a very good starting point. The newer versions of this book is much better, so buy that instead.
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