Book review by Ted Felix
Argues for Agile methods and how they require a change of mindset for those accustomed to traditional software development approaches. Basically, a 132 page "Introduction to Agile Methods" article presented as a book. Seems a bit overpriced at $35, but does have two things going for it. First, it is very readable and persuasive. A great book to give to project management to convince them that things can be better with the new approaches. Second, it has a great bibliography with abstracts. Perfect for helping you pick the next book you'd like to read on Agile processes. Overall, a great introduction to Agile methods.
Another strength of the book is its narrative case studies that give a feel for what Agile development is like. For more of this sort of narrative, see Robert C. Martin's column "The Craftsman" in Software Development Magazine. Martin's column is significantly more detailed and even includes the inevitable personality clashes when doing pair programming.
The only issue I had with Software Project Secrets was that it suggested using UML for architecture diagrams, when most agree this is a bad idea. UML is not good for doing software architecture. Informal diagrams tailored to the problem at hand are much more powerful.
Having no experience with Agile methods, I can't comment on the basic premise of the book that Agile methods are a better way of doing business. I am a bit skeptical of the "simplest architecture" philosophy and "refactoring". Seems to me that sometimes these just aren't good enough. I do, however, find them to be useful mental exercises that sharpen my ability to think about code. I'll need to do more reading and get more experience in order to form a more accurate opinion.
Fred Brooks's Mythical Man-Month is similar to this, but this one is much more readable and modern. I'd recommend reading this one first, then Brooks if you are interested in the history of software project management.
Read from 3/4/06 to 3/6/06 (a very light read).
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