Feature Driven Development

Code Complete author: Steve McConnell asin: 1556154844 binding: Paperback list price: $35.00 USD amazon price: $35.00

There is a second edition out now but the first edition is the better book. Every programmer should have a copy of this book. That alone isn't enough - but it is one heck of a start. Read this. Read it again. Read it again. Keep reading it. All programmers "getting this stuff" would be by far the biggest single leap forward we could make. This book is a wonderful summary of a wide range of vitally important topics. What is extra-great about it is that McConnell diligently references and cites all the works he draws from or is summarizing. Thus, if you want to go get even more information you have the reference right there. Don't let the MS Press label put you off (if you feel that way) - this is a must have book.

Bob Lewis's IS Survival Guide author: Bob Lewis asin: 0672314371 binding: Paperback list price: $24.99 USD amazon price: $24.99

Lewis is a very good writer and many enjoy his popular Infoworld column and his "management speak." This is a very good book, very easy to read and the results hierarchy described in this book is the basis for my approach to program and portfolio management, project governance, and the framework for linking ALL activities in an I.T. shop back to the business.

Patterns of Software System Failure and Success author: Capers Jones asin: 1850328048 binding: Paperback list price: $44.95 USD amazon price: $44.95

Capers Jones is the metrics guru. Don't just speculate or assume what the affect of some thing is or its characteristics. Jones has measured thousands of projects from hundreds of organizations and then mined and analyzed that real project data for us.

Applied Software Measurement: Assuring Productivity and Quality author: Capers Jones asin: 0070328269 binding: Hardcover list price: $59.00 USD amazon price: $59.00

Capers Jones is the metrics guru. Don't just speculate or assume what the affect of some thing is or its characteristics. Read Jones who has measured and analyzed all these things for us. Check assumptions - don't make assumptions - and research and learn rather than reinvent.

Software Fundamentals: Collected Papers by David L. Parnas author: Daniel M. Hoffman David M. Weiss asin: 0201703696 binding: Paperback list price: $49.95 USD amazon price: $39.96 USD

A superb book from one of the great minds in I.T. Worth it just for the brilliant essay on why requirements will always be difficult (but we should never stop trying) - A Rational Design Process: How and Why to Fake It. But the bonus is that all the other papers in the book are very, very good too.

Agile Project Management : Creating Innovative Products (Agile Software Development Series) author: Jim Highsmith asin: 0321219775 binding: Paperback list price: $49.99 USD amazon price: $43.05 USD

The first book to step above the Agile methods and look across them from a project management perspective (in a valuable way). Borrows from FDD (features list and parking lot charts for example) and good practices wherever they may come from.

Adaptive Software Development: A Collaborative Approach to Managing Complex Systems author: James A. Highsmith III asin: 0932633404 binding: Paperback list price: $44.95 USD amazon price: $40.45 USD

What a great, great book and worthy of all the praise and recognition it has received. A must read even if you are not interested in Jim's Adaptive method - this a great I.T. book.

Writers' Workshops & the Work of Making Things: Patterns, Poetry... author: Richard P. Gabriel asin: 020172183X binding: Paperback list price: $34.99 USD amazon price: $34.99

This is an amazing book. The first time I read it I thought "yeah, ok." Not long after, messages in it were really started to pound on me so I went back and read it again. Wow - so much there that I didn't reallly absorb the first time through. Each time I've read it, I get more and more out of it. Don't misunderstand me - it is not that the book is hard to read or inaccessible. Quite the opposite. It is that each time I am able to get even more out of the messages and teachings within it. Like many things, it can all look so simple on the surface, but as you learn a little bit you are able to see so much more (rinse and repeat )

I adapted the interactive workshop approach described in this book to an e-mail based multi-stage review system for article writing and it has worked spectacularly well for me.

Handbook of Walkthroughs, Inspections, and Technical Reviews: Evaluating Programs, Projects, and Pro author: Daniel P. Freedman Gerald M. Weinberg asin: 0932633196 binding: Hardcover list price: $49.95 USD amazon price: $39.96 USD

This is the book I use for my approach to inspections on FDD projects. I used forms straight out of this book and my inspection system (the publishing, the feedback loop though to dynamic checklists and related issues, etc.) were all heavily influenced by this book. Gilb also writes well on inspections but I find his book a much tougher read than this one. This book is far more accessible and hence practical.

FYI - my direct influence from inspections was using them for several years during my time as a developer at IBM's Rochester Programming Laboratory.

Peopleware : Productive Projects and Teams, 2nd Ed. author: Tom DeMarco Timothy Lister asin: 0932633439 binding: Paperback list price: $33.95 USD amazon price: $33.95

Another of the books everyone in I.T. should read. I practice many of the things in this book on my projects. This is the book that talks about office layouts and environments, interruptions and their affect on reimmersion time for creative workers, anti-team practices (i.e. don't do them!) and so on. Also, this second edition contains a nice short summary of Virginia Satir's change model - which I teach on all my projects and multi-day workshops.