Rating: 
Summary: The Keyword here is "Practical"
Review: "Use Case Driven Object Modeling with UML, A Practical Approach" is perhaps the best book on the market for a down-to-earth, hands-on introduction to the Unified Process. As the title suggests, it leans heavily on the methodology of Ivar Jacobson, one of the three amigos. If you are trying to figure out what to do or where to start, this will point you in the right direction. Three things in particular I liked about the book: 1. "The Approach in a Nutshell" as well as constant reference back to it. 2. The lists of ten. 3. The chapter on "robustness analysis" showing the transition from analysis to design (always a difficult transition in any methodology). This is the best part of the book in my opinion. It was real "hands-on". "The Approach in a Nutshell" gives a great overview of the process including milestones, and provides a framework for everything to fit into. As the reader progresses through the book, each chapter summarizes that part of "the approach in a nutshell" that the chapter fits into. If this was the only feature in the book, it would be worth the price. If you have ever read another series with "lists of ten", these are better. The lists of ten (there are over half-a-dozen) are worth taping up on the walls. They reflect the experience of someone who has been there and done that. The lists of ten alone are worth the price of the book. The transition from analysis to design has rather heavy focus in this book, and deservedly so. Going from analysis to design is tricky in any methodology, and "Use Case Driven Object Modeling with UML, A Practical Approach" shines in this area. The authors refer to this as "robustness analysis," and this section alone is worth the price of the book. This won't be the only book concerning the Unified Process that you will ever buy. But it is more than likely going to be one of the most useful to you. This is not a tutorial on the UML; purchase "UML Distilled, Second Edition" by Martin Fowler and Kendall Scott if that is what you are looking for. The title may be slightly misleading in this respect. The real focus is on the "Practical Approach" part. If you are trying to sort out HOW TO DO IT, then this is a necessary addition to your library. It won't replace your books on the UML or the Unified Process, but it will help you pull it all together into a cohesive whole so you can get a grasp on how to start and how to proceed. In addition to being very informative and clear in direction, the book is also surprisingly interesting to read. Its clarity and brevity keep it simple. You won't get bogged down reading this one. It is very well written.
Rating: 
Summary: Ladies and gentleman, we have a winner...
Review: "Bingo! Ladies and gentleman, we have a winner--Use Case Driven Object Modeling with UML by Doug Rosenberg (with Kendall Scott) has more hot buzzwords in its title than anything else that's come across my desk in a long time. It is also a readable, informative, and practical guide to using UML." --Gregory V. Wilson on Dr. Dobb's Electronic Review of Computer Books
Rating:
Summary: The Keyword here is "Practical"
Review: "Use Case Driven Object Modeling with UML, A Practical Approach" is perhaps the best book on the market for a down-to-earth, hands-on introduction to the Unified Process. As the title suggests, it leans heavily on the methodology of Ivar Jacobson, one of the three amigos. If you are trying to figure out what to do or where to start, this will point you in the right direction. Three things in particular I liked about the book: 1. "The Approach in a Nutshell" as well as constant reference back to it. 2. The lists of ten. 3. The chapter on "robustness analysis" showing the transition from analysis to design (always a difficult transition in any methodology). This is the best part of the book in my opinion. It was real "hands-on". "The Approach in a Nutshell" gives a great overview of the process including milestones, and provides a framework for everything to fit into. As the reader progresses through the book, each chapter summarizes that part of "the approach in a nutshell" that the chapter fits into. If this was the only feature in the book, it would be worth the price. If you have ever read another series with "lists of ten", these are better. The lists of ten (there are over half-a-dozen) are worth taping up on the walls. They reflect the experience of someone who has been there and done that. The lists of ten alone are worth the price of the book. The transition from analysis to design has rather heavy focus in this book, and deservedly so. Going from analysis to design is tricky in any methodology, and "Use Case Driven Object Modeling with UML, A Practical Approach" shines in this area. The authors refer to this as "robustness analysis," and this section alone is worth the price of the book. This won't be the only book concerning the Unified Process that you will ever buy. But it is more than likely going to be one of the most useful to you. This is not a tutorial on the UML; purchase "UML Distilled, Second Edition" by Martin Fowler and Kendall Scott if that is what you are looking for. The title may be slightly misleading in this respect. The real focus is on the "Practical Approach" part. If you are trying to sort out HOW TO DO IT, then this is a necessary addition to your library. It won't replace your books on the UML or the Unified Process, but it will help you pull it all together into a cohesive whole so you can get a grasp on how to start and how to proceed. In addition to being very informative and clear in direction, the book is also surprisingly interesting to read. Its clarity and brevity keep it simple. You won't get bogged down reading this one. It is very well written.
Rating:
Summary: Experience, Insight, and a GIVE AWAY
Review: ...The author delivers a concise description of each technique in the process without going into so much detail that the reader gets bored or runs out of time to finish reading. This is the point of the process as well... do only what is necessary and do it well enough to meet the end goal which is delivering a system that meets the requirements of your customer. The author is purposely brief in things such as grammatical analysis and refers the reader to more in-depth works for further reading. He specifically avoids wasting the readers' time with material already covered in great detail by other works. I found the material presented to be complete enough to get me going in the right direction. Further, I found the guidance (both in the text and the Top 10 lists) to be extremely valuable in helping me stay focused on the important issues. The author does explain the purpose of every technique in the process. Specifically, he states the impact each step has on the project outcome. I accept the author's occasional citation of "experience" as the reason for doing something as an honest attempt to pass along to the reader "what works in the real world" rather than an attempt to be arrogant... This book is for OO practitioners who understand the basics: inheritance, aggregation, and terminology like methods, attributes, etc. If you are such a person and have seen projects fail either due to the complete lack of modeling or due to the application of modeling to the point of "analysis paralysis", then you will resonate with this book! I strongly believe that applying this process to your next project will lead to career advancement. Why? It will be the first project your manager has seen come in on time and perform as the customer wanted... that is, without a series of costly and unmaintainable hacks to "make it right" at the end.
Rating: 
Summary: Not all that it's cracked up to be...
Review: As a management consultant responsible for providing project management expertise during the custom application development lifecycle, I felt this book was light on content. Granted, it is a nice primer for someone who is new to the object oriented world; however, most managers will find it too elementary. Further, I find the Rational series to be too theoretical and not practical for organizations that have resource constraints. In short, "too simple" and "nice in theory" characterize this whole series.
Rating: 
Summary: Strong Introduction to OOAD Methodology
Review: As I was learning OOAD concept and techniques, and the UML, the one thing I found lacking in most materials was application. There are a lot of great books on what OO is, with guidelines on good design, and great examples of diagrams you can create. None of them that I've read, with the exception of this work, has provided any look at how to put the pieces together in a sane fashion. Rosenberg succeeds admirably at this goal. Contrary to what some reviewers seem to think, this isn't a book about the UML, and I don't believe it tries to be a definitive reference on methodology, either. Rather, Rosenberg presents (with a clear disclaimer) his perspective and method for performing OOAD; I find it a valuable one, at that. If you're just getting started with OO and/or the UML, and want a good overview of how the pieces fit together, read this. I'd recommend it to all other comers, as well, unless you think reviewing an additional perspective (from a successful, well-regarded individual) isn't valuable.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best books available on OO modeling
Review: Easlily one of the more practical books on object-oriented design and modeling available today. The author uses good examples and plain English to convey his approach to designing and creating object oriented software. He lists a lot of "common" mistakes made during the design phase, and gives some practical ways to overcome 'analysis paralysis'. This book should be required reading for anyone ready to design a new system from the ground up.
Rating:
Summary: Uma Visão Prática da UML
Review: Finalmente encontrei um livro sobre OO que vale a pena ser lido do início ao fim. O autor sabe o que está falando e tem consciência sobre o tempo limitado que temos para fazer análise e desenho de sistemas. Ele nos orienta a dar ênfase nos elementos essencias da UML de forma direta e objetiva. O autor tem personalidade o suficiente para dizer o que é bom na UML e o que poderia ser melhor. Uma dessas contribuições é o diagrama de robustez que suaviza o gap existente entre um caso de uso e o diagrama de sequência correspondente. Outra: a não recomendação em se utilizar os estereótipos "uses" e "extends" para relacionar casos de uso e por aí vai... Em momentos oportunos ele faz referência à ferramenta CASE Rational Rose ressaltando características da ferramenta que normalmente não são abordados em outros livros, tais como a geração de scripts para automação e padronização na geração dos modelos. O livro não se restringe apenas à UML (que é apenas uma notação) mas propõem um processo definido para a aplicação da mesma. Se você já tem um conhecimento mínimo de UML e gostaria de desenvolver um modelo OO do sistema antes de escrever o código esse livro é para você.
Rating:
Summary: Loved it...
Review: Great book! A case-oriented followup to the original book (buy it first if you haven't already). This and the original are the best, no-nonsense, down-to-earth simplification of OOAD and UML that I've seen! Mandatory issue for all new developers where I work now. If only I had this book (and the original) several years ago when I started off with UML!
Rating:
Summary: Loved it...
Review: Great book! A case-oriented followup to the original book (buy it first if you haven't already). This and the original are the best, no-nonsense, down-to-earth simplification of OOAD and UML that I've seen! Mandatory issue for all new developers where I work now. If only I had this book (and the original) several years ago when I started off with UML!
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