Rating: 
Summary: Good candidate for Comedy Central
Review: I think I just severely overrated this book.. Should have selected 0 stars, but there is no such a choice in the drop-down menu... This is written in the worst style imaginable. It has fundamental technical mistakes and demonstrates the authors' ignorance on a variety of related topics. Apparently the authors are absolutely clueless on the subject... ...Imposing this "masterpiece" on your students and forcing them to read it is not only a waste of their time; it is also an insult on their intelligence. At the beginning it is very hard to keep reading, but after a certain point it becomes almost amusing... You can't wait to see what's next! Keep on, you won't be disappointed. A lot of laughter is awaiting you!
Rating:
Summary: It just doesn't work
Review: I was a senior corporate programmer-analyst for a decade. Only a very small percentage of the text books (or courses) I have ever read were successful as educational facilitators. That goes for grade school and high school teachers, college instructors and professors, and corporate instructors as well. Most of them were absolute dismal failures: F-Minus. If I could dig them all up, I would like to mail each and every one of them their own report card. I must also retract the previous 5-star rating on this Systems Analysis and Design Methods book and give the author Mr. Whitten, the book, and the instructional approach used the very lowest rating possible: F Minus. This book is a complete dismal failure. I didn't like Booch's Object Oriented book either, but this book is too unorganized somehow for the student to grasp the subject matter. I took an online algebra refresher the other day, and I was amazed at how well organized, clearly and simply presented the lessons were, and how much I retained. All my life, I never understood algebra, until I took that online course. I would mail an F-Mius to all of the algebra teachers I had, because I never understood the subject, and I wasn't able to help several people over the years. That may be partly my fault, but that is surely a failed teacher or two. There are a lot of lousy teachers in the schools who should be doing something else. The mark of a successful book (or teacher) is how much the student retains even many months later. A great book or teacher enables the student to further develop some of their own structured ideas. I do not recommend this book even one-percent. Why? It has all of the terminology with the same looking hierarchical chart all the way through, but I didn't understand one thing or retain much of anything from reading this book. It is a complete instructional failure. The organization is disjointed. The colored charts that are used extensively thoughout this book only add to the vague and confusing presentation. Save your money and try to find something else interesting that just has that A+ quality. As Phil McGraw would say, you either get it or you don't. Find another book.
Rating: 
Summary: Average textbook
Review: I was disappointed at the many synonyms that this author used to describe various terms. Going from programming to learning the systems design aspect was confusing using this book. I obtained a B in the class, partially because of the wide variety of terms that meant the exact same thing.
Rating: 
Summary: A "Must Have" tool for Systems Developement
Review: I was introduced to the 1994 version of this book during a Systems Analysis and Design class as part of a Master's Degree program. I was impressed with its thoroughness, and although, not necessarily written at an "entry-level", it is understandable to people possessing some background & experience in the systems development arena. I am a Quality Improvement Manager for a major telecommunications and system/software development company and I use it almost daily. This new version expands and updates information supplied in earlier versions of the book and incorporates a very thorough indoctrination into Object-Oriented (O-O) methodologies. I've seen this book being used as a text book in Mid-West and East coast Universities and colleges--in various areas of educational pursuit!! This is a cornerstone reference book in my library. Anyone serious about learning and maintaining sound methodologies, processess, procedures, and techniques in systems analysis and design should keep an updated version of this book handy--I do!
Rating:
Summary: Nearly Half Way and Loving it!
Review: I'm self studying and think it's a great book. I'm new to this stuff and wanted something that'd go from the ground up, explain things well, but eventually get into meaty stuff. The book does this.They take time to lay a solid concpetual foundation, gradually building the depth and complexity, and eventually getting extremely practical and specific. Very friendly non-intimidating style. (Lots of repetition though) At first I thought the case study they keep coming back to was lame and cheesey, but it actually turns out to be quite useful. I'm a little concerned that it's not going to get heavily into object orientation (one chapter). All in all, very happy with it.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent resource
Review: I've used this textbook to teach a Systems Analysis course. There are a few "fluffy" chapters here and there, but overall the textbook is excellent. This edition focuses exclusively on the Analysis and Design phases of the Systems Development Life Cycle. There are also two chapters that introduce Object Oriented Analysis, but the treatment here is very high-level. Some of my students have complained about the wordiness of the textbook. The authors have opted to explain several of the key concepts in several different ways. Some students will feel as if the book has repeated itself, but I've found the pedagogical use of varied approaches to explain a concept to be quite effective.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent resource
Review: I've used this textbook to teach a Systems Analysis course. There are a few "fluffy" chapters here and there, but overall the textbook is excellent. This edition focuses exclusively on the Analysis and Design phases of the Systems Development Life Cycle. There are also two chapters that introduce Object Oriented Analysis, but the treatment here is very high-level. Some of my students have complained about the wordiness of the textbook. The authors have opted to explain several of the key concepts in several different ways. Some students will feel as if the book has repeated itself, but I've found the pedagogical use of varied approaches to explain a concept to be quite effective.
Rating:
Summary: One of the Best!
Review: If you are serious about systems analysis and design methods, then you need this book. It covers many important methodologies that are in use today by systems analysts. I let two of my co-workers read it who have years experience in IS, and they have since bought it!
Rating:
Summary: Is it a Novel or a Textbook?
Review: The book has several obvious errors. Far to many foreign words or psuedo acroynms which threw off my understanding of the material I was reading. Far to many complicated and confusing charts with no real explanation or flow to the chapter it supported. Not good for a classroom textbook. Scrub the long case files, I felt like I was reading a Novel rather than a textbook. The book can do without the extensive case files.
Rating:
Summary: Reference material or study material.
Review: This book has great content (when you eventually figure out what is important), and really covers every aspect of System Analysis and design. The only problem is that it is often difficult to understand and very dragged out. The problem is that you need to read each chapter two or three times to really figure what the Author is trying to say. Despite the content, reading this book is difficult because of all the useless information that clutters the important stuff. This book is great for a reference but not for studying purposes.
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