Rating: 
Summary: the "oops! i did it again" of software engineering
Review: DeMarco did it again. This book fully achieves the two things i expect from any good book: it made me laugh and it made me think. It made me laugh about the crazy industry we are working in, and it made me think about my own managerial techniques (or the lack of them). It is true that it contains some essays about things that do not seem to be appropiate, but the A/V essay is very interesting, and does show that software costs can be reduced with creativity instead of pressure.
Rating:
Summary: Eminently readable and well thought out. Good Stuff.
Review: DeMarco is a wonderful writer...easy, even fun, to read,
and this book is full of very worthwhile material. It has
the shortcoming of being a collection of articles, so don't
expect a coherent beginning, middle and end; and you may
find that you agree with the author in one chapter and
disagree in the next. I found, though, that I even enjoyed
the stuff with which I didn't agree. DeMarco's thinking
and his writing style are that good.
Rating: 
Summary: The title essay is interesting...
Review: I bought this book because I really enjoyed Peopleware, I was disappointed.This book contains a few interesting essays at the front, but as it proceeds the pieces tend toward unsubstantiated opinion, and then the book finishes as a means for publishing dross that otherwise wouldn't be printed.
Rating:
Summary: Unspoken truths are still truths
Review: It seems that in every field of human endeavor, there are things that are true, but for whatever reason are unspoken and ignored. The reasons for this are many, but a partial list includes: fear of failure, fear of losing face, time pressures, rigid rules and tradition. Software development is no different and Tom DeMarco is a speaker of the truth. In this collection of marvelous essays, he points out many of the well-known but neglected principles that generate problems in software projects.
The leading essay points out that software creation is hard and we demand a great deal from our software. So much of our societal infrastructure is controlled by software and most of it built in a relatively short time. Furthermore, there is no legacy of experience in building software that there is for building hard infrastructure items such bridges and roads. We are still conducting what is essentially on the job training.
Another simple, significant, yet overlooked point is that the sociology of a project is more important than the technology. The efficiency of a programmer during any individual day is often influenced more by the fight with a boyfriend or girlfriend than it is by having the latest tools. Software is built by the effective working of the human brains and the tools just make the output easier to capture.
Once again, DeMarco is at his best, namely when he is writing more about sociology and psychology than about the technical aspects of computing. This book should be mandatory reading for anyone in the process of building a development team.
Rating: 
Summary: 24 Provocative Essays from Legendary Author Tom DeMarco!
Review: Known for his ability to find provocative answers to the most puzzling questions, Tom DeMarco explores a wide range of issues in twenty-four masterful essays. The offerings range from the wise to the kooky -- in fact, many of them defy categorization. But all are marked by the author's eye-opening perspectives on topics that demand your professional attention.
Drawing together several essays published in such journals as IEEE Software and American Programmer, plus ten all-new papers never seen beyond his circle of colleagues, Tom DeMarco tackles a multitude of tough subjects and wrestles fresh insight out of them. Here's a compact, compelling edition of this acclaimed consultant's views on software engineering.
Subjects include: management-aided engineering, documentation, desktop video, productivity, software factories, teams, measurement, icons, and more!
Rating: 
Summary: Some great some not
Review: Some of the essays are great. Some don't even seem pertinent. For example, there is a discussion about A/V equipment that, while humorous, felt out of place. On the whole, there was a lot of thought provoking material, however.
Rating:
Summary: Insightful, funny, and very readable
Review: The software industry has been cranking out books at a record pace. Any self respecting software professional reads anywhere from a handful to a pile each year. But, if an engineer could get upper management to read one book so they could better understand the engineer's world, which book would it be? This one comes to mind.
Why does software cost so much? DeMarco bristles at the question. Compared to what?! "[its] not a question at all; it's an assertion." In a series of essays DeMarco and others make observations that ring true. Here's one gem: "I suspect the typical software engineer doesn't work overtime to make the schedule, but in order not to feel so bad about not making it."
All of the essays are brief and to the point. The book was first published in 1995 and several of the essays are works published earlier. A few that mention particular technologies, languages, or management fads are showing signs of age. The essays that concentrate on the sociology of programming still hit home. And why not? Tools and technologies evolve quickly but people and their habits don't.
DeMarco's casual and fluid writing style make each of the essays easy to read but be careful not to confuse "easy to read" with "trivial." There is plenty here to make an engineer think and to give a CEO some insight into the complex and sometimes baffling world of software.
Rating:
Summary: Insightful, funny, and very readable
Review: The software industry has been cranking out books at a record pace. Any self respecting software professional reads anywhere from a handful to a pile each year. But, if an engineer could get upper management to read one book so they could better understand the engineer's world, which book would it be? This one comes to mind.
Why does software cost so much? DeMarco bristles at the question. Compared to what?! "[its] not a question at all; it's an assertion." In a series of essays DeMarco and others make observations that ring true. Here's one gem: "I suspect the typical software engineer doesn't work overtime to make the schedule, but in order not to feel so bad about not making it."
All of the essays are brief and to the point. The book was first published in 1995 and several of the essays are works published earlier. A few that mention particular technologies, languages, or management fads are showing signs of age. The essays that concentrate on the sociology of programming still hit home. And why not? Tools and technologies evolve quickly but people and their habits don't.
DeMarco's casual and fluid writing style make each of the essays easy to read but be careful not to confuse "easy to read" with "trivial." There is plenty here to make an engineer think and to give a CEO some insight into the complex and sometimes baffling world of software.
Rating:
Summary: Do you work as a software engineer or software manager?
Review: Then I think this is a required read. It's funny, insightful and so true to life it's almost scary.
Rating:
Summary: Do you work as a software engineer or software manager?
Review: Then I think this is a required read. It's funny, insightful and so true to life it's almost scary.
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