Rating: 
Summary: Very disappointing
Review: There a a few good chapters in this book, particularly the one on "Best Practices", but overall this is pretty shabby stuff.Yourdon's problem is that in his "Decline & Fall of the American Programmer", he got it all wrong, so he lacks credibility, but for most of the book he hasn't got any hard evidence to offer to support his new thesis. A lot of what he presents as revelation (e.g. "good-enough software" or cultural problems limiting the effectiveness of Indian software houses) will strike many IT professionals as glaringly obvious.
Rating:
Summary: Not exactly Yourdon's best book
Review: While Yourdon's "Death March" wasn't another "Mythical Man-Month" by any measure, "Rise" is yet in another (much lower) class. Does Yourdon want to become a true industry pundit? Ed, your style is too clear for that; and you're writing in harback format, which doesn't blissfully disappear like all these magazines. There are many valuable insights: the section on best practices, for example. The good thing is that Yourdon doesn't just talk about them: he lists a few. "User Manual as Specification" is so simple, so obviously good... why have we done anything else ever? "Good-enough software" is valuable as well, not because you're not doing that already, but because the key is making it a fully conscious and accepted process. And then there are some chapters that I'd rather not talk about; the one about Java, for example. The author obviously got carried away. In hindsight, this is easy to say, but still: it lacked realism, even if Microsoft hadn't tried foiling Sun's plans since day 1. Overall: read Yourdon's other books, they're worthier of your money. And if you haven't the classics like "MMM" (Brooks), go there first.
Rating:
Summary: Not exactly Yourdon's best book
Review: While Yourdon's "Death March" wasn't another "Mythical Man-Month" by any measure, "Rise" is yet in another (much lower) class. Does Yourdon want to become a true industry pundit? Ed, your style is too clear for that; and you're writing in harback format, which doesn't blissfully disappear like all these magazines. There are many valuable insights: the section on best practices, for example. The good thing is that Yourdon doesn't just talk about them: he lists a few. "User Manual as Specification" is so simple, so obviously good... why have we done anything else ever? "Good-enough software" is valuable as well, not because you're not doing that already, but because the key is making it a fully conscious and accepted process. And then there are some chapters that I'd rather not talk about; the one about Java, for example. The author obviously got carried away. In hindsight, this is easy to say, but still: it lacked realism, even if Microsoft hadn't tried foiling Sun's plans since day 1. Overall: read Yourdon's other books, they're worthier of your money. And if you haven't the classics like "MMM" (Brooks), go there first.
Rating: 
Summary: Decline and Fall, Version 2.0
Review: Yourdon writes a book (Decline and Fall of the American Programmer) predicting doom and gloom, and when he's proved wrong, does he offer a free refund? Or at least apologize? No, he asks his readers to invest more money to learn why the previous book was all wrong. No thanks for me.
Rating:
Summary: Decline and Fall, Version 2.0
Review: Yourdon writes a book (Decline and Fall of the American Programmer) predicting doom and gloom, and when he's proved wrong, does he offer a free refund? Or at least apologize? No, he asks his readers to invest more money to learn why the previous book was all wrong. No thanks for me.
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