Amazon.co.uk Review
You will eventually have to deal with The Rational Unified Process (RUP) if you work on large software projects. In practice, RUP is a Web-based project management tool with a built in e-coach (a sophisticated help system) and much previous art. It emphasises obvious project management practices such as defining user needs, interactive development and testing, reusing working code components, inter-developer communications, change control, risk management and so on. Rational claim to add value by charging for it, couching it in arcane management speak and invoking UML. The tools it provides make it easier to implement good practice, but RUP is far from being a panacea and, to some developers, this introduction will seem patronising.
Managing large software projects, unlike civil engineering, remains more art than craft. Customers don't know what they want until they see what they've got. The structure often remains secret from the paying customer, the finished product always comes with faults, accurate costing is impossible and large software projects frequently fail more often than civil engineering projects. It's not surprising, then, that much of The Rational Unified Process: An Introduction is made up of somewhat uninformative statements, like "Workers have activities which define the work they perform", or "A metric is a measurable attribute of an entity". RUP is gaining mind share as a useful tool--and this is a low cost introduction--but don't expect it to turn software development into engineering. --Steve Patient
Product Description
This book is the fastest way to get up- and-running with Rational Unified Process 2000 -- the industry's most powerful tool for incorporating best practices into software development. Authored by RUP's Lead Architect, it reflects all the major improvements made in the newest version of RUP, including its improved support for business engineering, management of non-functional requirements, and deployment of multi-tier distributed applications. Discover how RUP 2000 can enable development teams to maximize software quality -- within predictable schedules and reasonable budgets. Understand what RUP 2000 is, how it evolved, and how it fits into the development process. Next, review the structure of RUP 2000, mastering its use throughout the entire project lifecycle. This edition includes substantial new coverage of application interface design (including Web applications); patterns and frameworks; real-time and reactive systems; lifecycle testing, and more. There are new process roadmaps that demonstrate RUP 2000 at work with many projects and technologies; as well as expanded checklists and guidelines for process artifacts, activities, and phases.
by Jim Arlow
by Martin Fowler
