Editorial Review

Anyone who has managed the process of developing or redesigninga Web site of significant size has likely learned the hard way thecomplexities, pitfalls, and cost risk of such an undertaking. Whilemany Web development firms have fantastic technical expertise, whatsets the topnotch organizations apart is the ability to accuratelymanage the planning and development process. Read more

Reviews (62)

Worth the buy.
I found it a very useful book, especially with all the downloadable forms. I felt it was a little light on user testing - but otherwise, very good. It felt a bit repetitive and that things were presented in an odd order sometimes, but it's still worth the buy.

Thinking about creating a website and want to do it right?
BUY THIS BOOK!I wish I had this book a few months ago.It could have spared me from many of the nightmares I had while developing a college website.It includes a link to the author's website where you can find lots of forms that ask the right questions so that you can create the right solution.

This book takes a SWAG at a process that could work for web redesign
I use this resource as the textbook for the "Web Site Design" course I teach at PSU.My favorite thing about this book is that it supports my course approach that "everyone has a site" and "when you get a job as a web site (designer, producer,developer)OR have the responsibility of having a site dumped in your lap.... you will not be building it from scratch."
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Subjects:  1. Business Enterprise    2. Computer - Internet    3. Computer Books: Web Programming    4. Computers    5. Internet - Web Site Design    6. New Business Enterprises    7. Computers / Internet / Web Site Design    8. World Wide Web (WWW)   

Editorial Review

Cryptographic techniques have applications far beyond the obvious uses of encoding and decoding information. For Internet developers who need to know about capabilities, such as digital signatures, that depend on cryptographic techniques, there's no better overview than Read more

Reviews (96)

A must-have book for understanding Cryptography.
This book has really shed a lot of light on cryptography for me. I honestly can't put it down--I wish I had paid more attention in my statistics classes so I could be able to apply some of the stuff the author talks about better. I am about half way through the book, and I haven't gotten to the point where it's more of a chore than a pleasure to read it (something I can't about my other technical books).
Prepare to drink from the firehose
This book is really incredible.When it was first published in the mid-90's, there was almost no material available on the subject of cryptography.Now, ten years later, there are dozens, if not hundreds, of books riding on Schneier's coattails - but almost none have anything new or useful to say.Impeccably researched (with 1,653 references!) and unarguably complete, Schneier's expertise in theoretical mathematics, experience as a practitioner, and razor-sharp lucidity combine to make this the only book you'll ever need on the subject of cryptography.

Text Book for School
The book was in excellent condition.The book came within the alloted time period.No complaints! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Computer Books: General    2. Computer security    3. Computers - Computer Security    4. Computers - Languages / Programming    5. Cryptography    6. Discrete Mathematics    7. Programming Languages - General    8. Security - General    9. Security measures    10. Telecommunication    11. Computers / Security    12. Data security & data encryption   

Reviews (3)

Good Teaching Resource
I have taught systems analysis and design methods for four years using this text or its previous editions.It has its strong and weak points.It covers the basics very well, and gives the students a good grounding in classical techniques.The authors have done a lot to include object-oriented techniques in the 6th and 7th editions.This meets my prefered approach since both techniques have their value, and analysts need to be familiar with both.
Good Coverage of the Field, but a bit too much Microsoft
With all the advances in computers, including the availability of industry specific software, industry still has huge demands for systems that facilitate the operation of their company. This book is oriented to teach those who design such systems. This book is intended to be a text for undergraduate college students. It is recommended that the student have at least a computer literacy class as a prerequisite. I believe that I would also require at least one programming cource to give the student some idea of what he will be asking the coders and programmers to do.
Excellent for System Analysts.
This book is clearly written for those who are seeking to be System Analysts. A significant chunk of pages are dedicated to their specific role.
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Subjects:  1. Computer Books: Operating Systems    2. Computers    3. Computers - Languages / Programming    4. Management Information Systems    5. Operating Systems - General    6. Programming - Systems Analysis & Design    7. System analysis    8. System design    9. Computers / Management Information Systems    10. Systems analysis & design   

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business/Economics    3. Computers - General Information    4. Finance    5. Information Technology    6. Internet    7. Knowledge management    8. Media & the Law    9. Personal Finance - General    10. Personal information management    11. Law / Media & the Law    12. Law | Technology and Telecoms Law    13. POLITICS & GOVERNMENT    14. Social theory   

Reviews (16)

Deep Change or Slow Death?
In this wonderful book, Quinn challenges us to confront our own hypocrisy and make a choice between deep change or slow death -- that is to say between commitment or disengagement. It's actually not an easy choice to make. Most of us have taken the easy path and chosen not to speak out when w've known what needed to be changed. Or, we've run from a difficult work situation, leaving the problems behind for someone else to clean up, not admitting our part in the failure or taking responsibility for changing ourselves.
An Eye Opener
This is probably the best book I have seen that tackles the theory behind how groups or corporations grow and change over time.I found it particularly helpful in seeing our church from an organic point of view.The writing is more metaphysical than I like at the beginning, but by working through it, I was better able to understand the remainder of the book.
Change at a Core Level
This book is for readers who are ready to look inside themselves in order to change their organizations. It isn't a book for novices. You need a fair amount of business experience to have the perspective to understand author Robert E. Quinn's message. Likewise, you need to have enough invested in your current organization to care if it changes. Quinn offers some theoretical analysis, but leavens it with ample practical examples and exercises. If you have a job, rather than a career, or if you are committed to staying in a narrow, technical field or just waiting for your retirement, skip this book. However, if you're willing to engage in extended self-examination, we suggest this to you. However, be warned that that many of Quinn's drills are emotionally challenging, such as identifying how you resist change or pegging which elements of your organization are more committed to the status quo than to success. But, then, whoever said change was easy? ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Entrepreneurship    5. Leadership    6. Leadership In Business    7. Management    8. Management - General    9. Organizational change    10. Structural Adjustment    11. Advice on careers & achieving success    12. Business & Economics / General    13. Project management   

Subjects:  1. Computer Books: General    2. Computers    3. Computers - General Information    4. Information Management    5. Information Technology    6. Management Information Systems    7. Business information systems    8. Computers / Information Technology    9. Computing and Information Technology   

Editorial Review

Reviews (33)

Good ideas, examples and results.
I bought this book being a newbie to bloging. Results after I've read it? I would call my self a bloging enthusiast now.
A bit too much in the typical management book mode
Blogging is all the rage these days and authors Scoble and Israel proclaim that "blogs are changing the way businesses talk with customers." The claim is vastly overblown in the sense that most businesses do not and will not talk "with" their customers, but rather talk "to" them.
An Insider's View
Fascinating book.Scoble practically invented blogging, and both authors are totally immersed in it. They know the bloggers, the technology, the history, and the culture. They don't know the future, but they make some pretty good predictions.
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Subjects:  1. Blogs    2. Business & Economics    3. Business / Economics / Finance    4. Business Communication - General    5. Business communication    6. Business/Economics    7. Communication In Business    8. Customer Service    9. Internet    10. Internet - General    11. Social aspects    12. Business & Economics / Public Relations    13. Business & Management    14. Sales & marketing   

Reviews (20)

Love this book to review the Maya class I just took
This book is awesome for me as I just finished a beginning Maya 3D modeling and animation class this past semester. I was afraid that I would forget a lot of what I learned and also that I wanted to review to enhance my understanding so I looked for a book that would take me step by step, through several different types of projects. And I'm happy to say that I'm one third into this very thick, but easy to follow book and it does just that. It really leads you by the hand, better than my instructor in the classroom, because I can go at my own pace (which is very slow). A great book for the beginner and soon to be intermediate Maya practitioner. Please note, however, that I also bought the Visual Quickstart Guide to Maya 6 previously, which has been a great cross-reference book to this particular Learning Maya 7: Foundation book. I guess no one book will answer or be clear enough on every little nuance of a topic; that is why it helps to have another book or two on the same topic as a cross-reference just in case you get stuck on an interpretation of the textual meaning or intention.

Useless
This book is weighty, full-colored and honestly, looks pretty cool when it comes in the mail. The problem starts when you go to use it. For someone like myself who has absolutely no prior 3D animation expierence, this book is horrible. It skimps on steps, the steps it tells me to do fail to work in the program, the dozens/hundred of menu options are not labeled when you're doing the steps and then a few pages over it'll tell you to go to visor window and you're all, what? Visor menu? What in the world is that? Then you have to waste valueable time searching for the elusive menu.
WONDERFUL INTRODUCTION TO MAYA!!
It's pretty great for beginners, but if you have NEVER used a 3-D package before, I suggest doing the INTRODUCING MAYA 7: FOR BEGINERS first. I also suggest using the previous FOUNDATION BOOKS which include Salty the Seal and the spaceship battle since they teach things that aren't in this book. (As you can see, I'm a firm believer in grasping this program.)
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Subjects:  1. Computer Books: General    2. Computer Graphics - Game Programming    3. Computer Graphics - General    4. Computer animation    5. Computers    6. Computers - Other Applications    7. Three-dimensional display systems    8. Computer graphics software    9. Computers / Computer Graphics / Design    10. Image processing: computer animation   

Reviews (32)

Great book !
It is a great book. But I give it only 4 stars is because it is hard to read. English is my 2nd language. I cannot read this book quickly. I even need check dictionary at least 2 times per page.I do not have the same problem when read other tech books.
Excellent book - Needs updated code samples and J2EE 1.4 support
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, particularly well-thought out design guidelines for developing J2EE application with or without EJB. The author introduced several best practices particularly the concepts and usage of Spring and Hibernate based j2ee development is quite helpful.In addition to this book, I find patterns and bestpractices from "Core J2EE Patterns /Deepak Alur", "Core Security Patterns /Christopher Steel" and "Enterprise Integration Patterns /Gregor Hohpe" would be helpful - especially if you are building a enterprise-class j2ee applications.
Easy managed, detailed and practical
This book is for all level developers who have interest on J2EE platform and development. In spite of the complicated technology, it can let readers digest the knowledge without difficulty. On the other hand, the main theme of author(J2EE without EJB) has become popular trends nowaday and the whole idea can be found in this book. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business Data Processing    2. Computer Books: Languages    3. Computer software    4. Computers    5. Computers - Languages / Programming    6. Data Processing - General    7. Development    8. Java (Computer program languag    9. Java (Computer program language)    10. Programming - General    11. Programming Languages - Java    12. Computer Programming    13. Computers / Programming Languages / Java    14. Java & variants    15. Networking packages   

Reviews (20)

Informative but steep learning curve
I needed this book for a class, but had not taken assembler yet.by halfway through the course I was so very very lost, I had to drop the class.Well I took Assembler and then retook the class and everything was crystal clear.Do yourself a favor and learn assembler (self or class) before you take computer architecture (or whatever uses this book) or you'll have a much harder time.That being said once you have an idea what's going on this is a very informative book.

Well Written
I used this textbook for a computer architecture course, and found it to be extremely well-written, clear, and fun to read.It contains a wealth of information, from a review of logic design to advanced topics such as pipelining.Every component is explained down to the level of gates and flip-flops, leaving no "black boxes," and allowing the reader to thoroughly understand the material.
Not all that good
This book contains a minimal amount of information required for a textbook for a computer architecture course.The book contains a tear out cardboard page with a very good summary of MIPS assembly language.This, unfortunately, is the most useful portion of the book.Most likely, teachers use it because it is written by P&H, and is cheaper than their book Computer Architecture: a quantitative approach.
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Subjects:  1. Computer Architecture - General    2. Computer Books: General    3. Computers    4. Computers - General Information    5. Operating Systems - General    6. Computer architecture & logic design    7. Computers / Computer Architecture   

Reviews (1)

convenient and well tested code, but overpriced
For those of you who want source code for numerical programming, here is some. The code is used in the well known Numerical Recipes series of books. The code is in Fortran and C and is well tested and debugged.
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Subjects:  1. Computer Books: Languages    2. Computer Programming Languages    3. Computers    4. Computers - Languages / Programming    5. General    6. Numerical Analysis    7. Probability & Statistics - General    8. Programming Languages - General    9. Computer Programming    10. Mathematics / General   

Reviews (2)

Essential for all managers
There is absolutely no doubt that all enterprises, small or large, are completely reliant technology to operate. Companies have aggressively built and deployed IT solutions. My experience has been that most executives kind of treat this as a black box. They understand that there are major benefits to deploying various IT solutions (and they are right), but they don't really understand the how and the why. This is where this book comes in. I think that it is essential reading for executives, particularly those who are not strong in IT. Executives need to really understand the hard issues related to managing their IT portfolio -- how should they manage their IT portfolios. This book provides an excellent road map. It will show you how to evaluate your IT portfolio in a concise and easy-to-read manner. I'm big into charts and checklists and this book provides them. With a bewildering array of IT options and the difficult task of sorting and prioritizing, this book will serve as an essential guide.

Required reading for IT management
Paradigm shift is an overused term, but if there is a field in need of one, it is enterprise IT management. IT Portfolio Management presents the first detailed overview of an emerging, business-focused approach for managing all things IT.
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Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Computer Science    5. Cost effectiveness    6. Information Technology    7. Information Technology (Engineering)    8. Management    9. Management - General    10. Strategic Planning    11. Business & Economics / Systems & Planning    12. Business & Management   

Reviews (12)

Must read for those who estimate software
This book took a concept that is easy to make very complex and was able to boil it down into fairly easy to understand terms.In my work group, we have project managers that have been estimating projects for many years.We've all gotten something out of the book, and it has a valuable space on our bookshelf.
Software Estimation as an Art
McConnell immediately differentiates between software estimation as a science and software estimation as an art within the first pages of the introduction to this work - he explains that while software estimation research is currently focused on improving estimation techniques so that project results are achieved within +/- 5% of esimated results, the techniques of which are best included in commerical software estimation tools that are used to pursue the science of estimation for very large projects, the typical software organization struggles to avoid estimates that are incorrect by 100% or more, and Software Estimation discusses the estimation techniques comprising, although not limited to, the art of estimation that will reduce estimation error to about 25% or less, which is what the vast majority of software projects need. This book is absolutely the best software estimation text I have read to date. As Joel Spolsky mentions on the back cover of the book, the vast majority of software project managers still think that estimates are based on multiples of a gut feel. This philosophy completely ignores the vast body of research and hands-on experience of the last few decades. McConnell explains with sufficient depth all of the ways to create "ball park" estimates, and if there is one chapter of this book that you read, Chapter 4 "Where Does Estimation Error Come From?" is the one that I recommend - the explanation of the Cone of Uncertainty is so well explained that anyone can understand it. Although I have never read Code Complete by the same author, I did purchase Rapid Development several years ago - and I must say that McConnell (or at least his editors) has vastly improved his writing skills. This book is less than half the size of Rapid Development, and while I fell asleep while reading that book I was able to conduct a cursory reading of over half of Software Estimation in one evening and immediately apply some of its concepts on a work project the following day. A great modern follow-up to The Mythical Man-Month by Brooks and an excellent primer to reading SEI's Estimating Software-Intensive Systems by Stutzke on the science of estimation.

Finally, an excellent source for estimation of software projects
I must admit, I was very surprised to see an excellent source on software development time and cost estimation from Microsoft Press. However, when I saw that the author was Steve McConnell, the author of Code Complete (which I thought was a great book) I knew that this book would have something to offer.
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Subjects:  1. Computer Books: Languages    2. Computer software    3. Computers    4. Computers - Languages / Programming    5. Development    6. Programming - Software Development    7. Software Development    8. Computers / Programming / Software Development    9. Software engineering   

Reviews (2)

The best roadmap ever created for technology projects!
I have always wondered about how to effectively manage an IT project. I have experience on managing projects but as I needed to expand my horizons in regards to IT projects, this book allowed me to become very familiar with this process.
The most comprehensive and easy to read PM book ever!
I love this book!!I have read quite a few PM books over the past few years. This is the first one that I have really been able to use to quickly increase my knowledge and understanding of project management.I use this book on a day to day basis to help me in my job. The document templates are outstanding. What a difference it has made to my project to be able to use these and feel confident that I have all my bases covered. A lot of the documents I had never created before as I was not really sure what information needed to be in them. These templates are great and make it really easy to ensure that your project is fully documented.I found other PM books lacking in information on "how" to implement the processes needed. Most them just tell you what you need to do and often do not cover the whole process from start to finish and leave some areas completely unaccounted for.This book however, tells me what needs to be done and then goes on to explain in detail how to do it.The book leaves no stone unturned.Every single step in the process is covered including the people aspect of project management. The examples are great - they have helped me to understand where I have been going wrong and with just a few adjustments to my management style, my projects are running more smoothly and my team is much happier! What I especially liked about this book is that the authors understand that no matter how well you plan, things will always go wrong. They give practical advice on how to track the health of your project and how to plan for the unplanned. The authors also understand that you need to know about other areas of the business in order to effectively manage and coordinate with other departments. The information on QA was invaluable to me. I had never fully understood the difference between white box and black box testing nor really understood what the QA manager meant when he talked about regression testing and acceptance testing. It was all just jargon to me. The concise and informative overview of how QA works has enabled me to have intelligent dialogue with the QA manager about testing without feeling intimidated or confused.I wish this book had been available when I started my first PM job - I would have done a much better job!!Since reading this book, I feel myself changing from a reactive project manager into a proactive project manager and it is truly amazing how much difference that makes. I feel calmer and less stressed about my project and don't panic when things go wrong. This book is very easy to read and has just the right amount of humor and real world examples to keep it really interesting. It is must have for any Technology Project Manager whether just starting out or a more seasoned PM like myself. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business/Economics    3. Computers - General Information    4. Information Technology    5. Strategic Planning    6. Computers / Information Technology   

Reviews (14)

Not recommanded
This book is hard to read.The samples are difficult to follow. There is no coherent between chapters. It was a rush. Not recommanded.

SQL Server 2005 Integration Services
Over the years I have come to rely on my wrox books.Here is another good one outlining a new technology in an easy to follow and easy to find structure.One of the best things about this book is that you do not need to have any prior DTS experience as the new SSIS engine from SQL has been totally rebuilt and has very little in common with it's precursor.
Okay, but a little bit disappointing too
I bought this book and had a lot of expectations. 10 Writers were involved to write this book which covers a complete new software tool from Microsoft, introduced with the newly released SQL Server 2005 replacing the DTS Service of SQL Server 2000 and earlier Versions plus adding tons of new features to the enterprise Database Solution which were previously unavailable.
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Subjects:  1. Computer Books: Database    2. Computers    3. Computers - Data Base Management    4. Database Management - General    5. Database Management - SQL Server    6. Database management    7. Programming - Software Development    8. SQL server    9. Computer Software Packages    10. Computers / Database Management / General   

Reviews (21)

Intentionally slow-paced; this is a book on fundamentals
Many other reviewers have, with some justification, bemoaned the crunchingly slow pace of this book.Yes, the book moves through its examples slowly.Yes, sometimes Beck's mock humility comes off more than a little snide.It's not perfect on those counts, but please keep in mind that this is a book about a _process_, not a _result_.
Great topic, but less filling
Non-coders will have problems with this book because Test Driven Development is about the process of development. Specifically, this book expounds, in fine detail, the XP concept of writing tests before the implementation and how to use the results from the tests to drive another XP concept: emergent design.
Step by step introduction to Test Driven Development
I liked the step by step approach of this book, because it profoundly demonstrates how TDD looks and feels. No endless pages of theories and theorems, but a real-world example end-to-end. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Computer Books: General    2. Computer programming    3. Computer software    4. Computers    5. Computers - Languages / Programming    6. Development    7. Programming - Software Development    8. Software Development    9. Software Testing    10. Testing    11. Computers / Programming / Software Development    12. Software engineering   

Features

• Illustrated

Reviews (43)

A beautiful introduction to a beautiful technology... but wait for the second edition
I just read the beta version of the second edition cover to cover in just a couple of days, and I love it, the content as well as the exposition.The first edition only gets four stars, though, because the second edition contains a lot of updates worth waiting for.Even in its rought beta state it's a great resource, and I'm looking forward to seeing the finished book.

second edition expected for fall 2006
Would have been 5 stars, but ...
The only book I've used cover to cover
In all my years of reading, using and reviewing technical books, this is the first title I've read cover to cover, and in so doing actually built the sample application from start to finish.Most other books use a series of disconnected This book was my first foray months ago into the beautiful world of Rails development, and continues to function as the crowned jewel in my reference library anytime I have a question about Rails or Ruby.
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Subjects:  1. Computer - Internet    2. Computer Books: Web Programming    3. Computers    4. Internet - Web Site Design    5. Object-oriented programming (Computer science)    6. Ruby (Computer program language)    7. Computer / Internet    8. Computers / Internet / Web Site Design    9. Computers / Programming / Software Development    10. Publishing on the Internet    11. Web site development    12. World Wide Web (WWW)    13. web, ruby, rails, ajax, framework client, server, development,lightweight scripting, better, faster