An excellent and highly readable collection of essays, 24 Sep 2003

I'm not sure who the book is aimed at, but I think it is a useful book to anyone in the business of producing software. The main theme McConnell pursues is that software engineering needs to be treated more as a true engineering discipline, for example in the same way that civil engineering or mechanical engineering. It would not be acceptable for a team to build a large building or design a new car unless the team consisted of qualified and certified engineers. Yet, in the software business it is not unusual for teams to have even no trained engineers. Engineering certification is almost unheard of amongst software developers, even though certification in specific skills is more common.

McConnell also makes persuasive and interesting points about the difference between software development and software engineering, and he makes the case that a true engineering approach is what is needed to help avoid massive cost and schedule overruns.

In the end the book may leave you with more questions than answers... the good thing for us and for the author is that his other books provide a lot of the answers! It is certainly a thought provoking book and this is a good thing, but I am not sure it really delivers what the title implies - for that you'll need to read his other books. For this reason alone I have judged it a 4 rather than a 5 star read.

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Very good, 19 Mar 2004

By	Dominic Batstone (London) - See all my reviews

I must admit I read it over one weekend but found I couldn't recall much of the advice although i'm certain it is one to revisit. I remember the fact that the information was valuable, so maybe it's just information overload?

The sections on professional developemnt were of particular interest to me. I often believe in software development that there is no where to go, you start as a junior then you become senior and that's it! This book outlines the way that our careers can progress in stages. I find these invaluable as i plan what i'm going to do over the next few years.

A worthy addition to the book collection, and well worth reading more than once.

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