As a developer, you have been on that project. The one that seems that it will never end. Requirements change daily, testing seems to discover new bugs faster than you can fix them, release dates come and go and noone seems to know when the project will be completed. If you're like me, maybe you thought that was just the way software projects were.
And then I read this book. Chapter 3 contains a case study of classic mistakes. It sounded like every project I had ever worked on. Steve McConnell shows you how to avoid those mistakes, and how to leverage best practices in planning and development to achieve maximum predictability and control over your software schedule. This should be required reading for all software project managers, technical leads and top management.
While it's a long book, it lends itself to easy browsing. You can almost dip in at random and find some useful tip on how to improve your chances of bringing your project in on time and unde! r budget. But you'll want to read it straight through at least once. The last section of the book is devoted to individual Best Practices. Each practice is explained along with its risks and benefits. Not all practices will be applicable to all projects, and the book guides you through when each is appropriate along with what practices it compliments.