Rating: 
Summary: A great Introduction to SDLC
Review: (based on 4th edition, 692pp)
If you've never studied the fundamental concepts of SDLC, this book will teach you standards when using CASE tools/Project Management software, how to create your first Requirements Statement and how to facilitate between Users, Owners, Vendors, Steering Committees, Programmers, Network Admins, Interface Designers, DB Admins and misc Managers. Examples of Gane & Sarson (the book's standard), DeMarco/Yourdon and SSADM/IDEF0 shapes and diagramming methods are used for diagramming Data, Processes, Networks and Objects. The redudancy of the text prevented me from madly flipping back and forth to try and keep everything in memory - THANK YOU! It's like having a pre-hyperlink referal manual. While SAaDM 4th ed. also thoroughly delves into the core theory & logic of Database/Process/Network modeling, Object Modeling, Input/Output/Interface Prototyping and Project Management, it is not a replacement for experience. Consider it a comprenhensive, illustrated encyclopedia or HOWTO that builds off of the project's Objectives/Constraints by cross referencing the technology behind Data, Process, Interface and Geography with human Owners, Users, Designers and Builders. Each cell of that cross reference has requirements, methods, an outcome & a deliverable which compiles to a standardized, template-based Requirements Statement that you would be proud to submit to the boss. The downfalls:
A) It can't cover the remaining SDLC phases (part 3: Implementation & Support is covered in about 35 pages), but the title already tells us that.
B) Many of the methods use very similar terms and templates, (e.g. the difference between a Data Flow Diagram & a Data Model, or the reason we have a Decomposition Diagram AND a Context Diagram). With experience, every part of this book reveals neccessity, but a first-time reader would benefit from sidebars like "Why Decomp Diags differ from Context Diags" or "Common mistakes of translating an Entity Relationship Diagram into a Data Flow Diagram". Finally, 140 pages of the book reveal essential Organizational Behavior habits that every System Architect should learn: Project & Process Management Techniques, Fact-finding, Feasibility & Cost Analysis, Joint Application Development and Interpersonal Skills.
Rating: 
Summary: Great to use on the job
Review: As an Information Systems Manager I find this book a valuable resource for dealing with common situations.
Rating: 
Summary: Book in excellent condition, but took longer than expected!!
Review: Book in excellent condition, but took longer than expected to receive. More importantly, the seller failed to initiate the contact to update me on the shipment status. I almost lost hope lost hope that the book was shipped.
Rating: 
Summary: Since its cheap I guess you can't lose too much
Review: But the book really was only marginally useful. It was written as a textbook but I don't really think that it gave a good understanding of Systems Analysis and Design, except for small systems design.
Rating: 
Summary: completely unsatisfied!
Review: I am completey unsatisfied customer with the order. I have to return the book not only it was a wrong one, but it took forever. I am gona have to re-order the right one and wait again while the class already started. I guess I am paying for the mistake I made by ordering my textbook from you guys!
Rating:
Summary: Good Referrence But Very Wordy Textbook
Review: I found being an IT professional that this book was a good referrence material for someone who is just entering the IT field or someone who has been in it for a while. I felt that it did get the points across however it said the same thing over and over in many chapters. I felt that it had major over kill on reviewing but all-in-all it was a good book. Depending on if you would use the case studies in the book, probably not. However, if you wanted to apply what they were talking about in a real life situation, it would be helpful for someone new to IT. Check out the auctions for a cheap copy. Another help guide that goes well with this book is ISBN#: 0-256-25712-4. This has three case studies in it and it would help you write out a school paper on network design and/or data flow.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding...Best Text Book Available
Review: I found the authors treatment of this very comprehensive subject to be the best I have ever seen. I was so impressed by their pedagogical approach and their coverages, that I built my entire Internet WebClass around the book.
Rating:
Summary: One of the worst text books I have ever had.
Review: I have read the earlier reviews of this book. You see the wide disparity of reviews. Numerous Best ever, and lots of really bad. I am on the bad side, and if it could be awarded negative stars I would do so. This book is a disorganized, piece of junk. I have now read it twice and feel less informed than when I started. It takes fairly easy concepts, hides them in buzzwords and wordy explanations in order to make the subject seem infinitely more complicated than it actually is. If I did not have to complete this class with this book I would throw it out the window right now. It is nearly impossible to sort the garbage from the meat in each chapter. As a student text it is probably the worst I have seen. My dissatisfaction with it is nearly limitless. The first 10 chapters are a nearly incomprehensible and overly complicated, then the last 3 chapters then drop to computer 100 level information such as "much information is printed on paper" or "a keyboard is a common way to input information". V/R Bob Morgan
Rating:
Summary: One of the worst text books I have ever had.
Review: I have read the earlier reviews of this book. You see the wide disparity of reviews. Numerous Best ever, and lots of really bad. I am on the bad side, and if it could be awarded negative stars I would do so. This book is a disorganized, piece of junk. I have now read it twice and feel less informed than when I started. It takes fairly easy concepts, hides them in buzzwords and wordy explanations in order to make the subject seem infinitely more complicated than it actually is. If I did not have to complete this class with this book I would throw it out the window right now. It is nearly impossible to sort the garbage from the meat in each chapter. As a student text it is probably the worst I have seen. My dissatisfaction with it is nearly limitless. The first 10 chapters are a nearly incomprehensible and overly complicated, then the last 3 chapters then drop to computer 100 level information such as "much information is printed on paper" or "a keyboard is a common way to input information". V/R Bob Morgan
Rating:
Summary: Not enjoying it...
Review: I paid $140 for the thing! Now I'll shop here for text books. The book has a lot of unnecessary information and a lot of acronyms. It is time consuming to read.
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