Rating: 
Summary: A must read for anyone interesting in software development
Review: This book is well written, "crystal clear" :) and I learned a lot. In fact, I learned more in this book than any other about software development. The reason is very simple, it tells you what's important and what is not. This book is about software development in general, not specially the "Agile Methodologie".If your looking for THE METHODOLOGIE, well, that aint the book you need (but read it anyway... you'll change your mind about searching for a "silver bullet". From my own experience: I made that mistake... And I'm so glad I made it). But if you need a comprehensive book about how software development works (or doesnt) this is it. This book start with the most important part of the software development: People.
Naturally, with more than one person, you'll need: Communication.
This book also talks about how communication can impact the software development.
Finally, this book talks about methodologies and why you need agility and to be able to self-adapt. This book is truly a must read or a must read twice. To be able to fully appreciate this book, I strongly suggest that you familiarised yourself with a few methodology like XP, UP or any other. If you have bad experience in a software development team, this book might help you to found out what was wrong and specially how to correct the situation. If this review does not sell you this book, then don't take my word for it and buy it.
Rating:
Summary: Enlightenment
Review: This book will make you think of things you have never thought of before. The more you understand software development, the more you will get out of this.
Rating:
Summary: Enlightenment
Review: This book will make you think of things you have never thought of before. The more you understand software development, the more you will get out of this.
Rating: 
Summary: Good, But Way Up In the Ivory Tower
Review: This is a good book to read if you are thinking about going into business as a software design methodology consultant. But it may not be so good if you want to know the 'what' and 'why' of agile processes. Much of the book is very abstract, which the author acknowledges in his introduction, and very 'touchy-feely'. I view several of its insights as cliches--"Software development is a cooperative game of invention and communication", and "programming teams are ecosystems" come to mind. I question whether these concepts are as groundbreaking as the author believes. Most managers learn them these days in basic training. This book is basically about about how process methodologies are constructed. If you want to formalize or document your existing process, or modify a formal process in a very rigorous way, then this is a very useful book. But if you simply want to understand what agile processes are all about, this book will probably disappoint you.
Rating: 
Summary: Worth buying. Gets to the root of the development process.
Review: This is one of the best books I've read in quite a while. While many books talk about the nuts and bolts of XP, Scrum, RUP or the like, Cockburn talks about why these methods work or don't work. He uses the metaphore of a goal-oriented, non competetive game when describing development and extends the metaphore to exaplain the root purpose of software development methods. This book fills the niche between cookbook approaches to process and zen-like handwaving books. It WILL help you understand the principles behind process and be able to pick the concrete parts of processes that make the most sense for the problem at hand.
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Summary: This book has changed my mind - to some extend...
Review: When I started reading this book I was not a fan of XP, but certainly in favour of lighter methodologies. The book is unusual (amongst IT books) in the sense that it starts off with patterns of human communication. In fact the first three chapters - which analyses game-play, individual communication modes, and team cooperation - covers about 40% of the book. However, it was this section of the book that won me over and convinced me about the basis of the "methodologies" such as XP. But for me personally the most practical and relevant chapter was Chapter 5: "Agile and self-adapting". In this chapter Cockburn covers issues such as how much documentation, team structures, and most importantly: a methodology growing technique. This chapter is closely followed in importance by chapter 4: "Methodologies". In this chapter Cockburn covers methodology concepts and design principles, including how to publish and introduce (role out) a methodology (before going on to dissect XP). Chapter 6: "The crystal methodologies" consolidates these ideas. Cockburn takes you along while describing and shaping his family of Crystal methodologies. The book is rounded of with the agile software development manifesto, a formal proposal drawn up by several software authors; and philosophical contributions from other authors. Many good references can be found in the appendix. Cockburn acknowledges that the chosen methodology must fit issues such as the project and team size and environment. And although I can see the benefits of many aspects of the agile philosophy, there are other aspects I am still cynical about. However, my review is not about XP, but about this book. And the book is well written, well argued, sensible, with plenty of stories and examples, which makes it easy to read. In my case, Cockburn was NOT preaching to the converted, and I gained much value from reading the book. It helped me to question some of my preconceived ideas and long-held views.
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