economics-software

I purchased this book along with Volume 2 a couple of years ago. The company I work for purchased the Volume 1 CD and it has been worth every penny. It has saved us countless man-hours and since our IS organization is now doing iterative development, there is no way we could ever hope to develop integrated databases without using these Universal Data Models. The book and CD is worth every cent and can benefit to any organization.

To make it clear, this is not a how-to data modeling book. It is a book of universal data models. If you need to learn how to model, purchase another book; however I would certainly recommend this book in addition to your how-to book.

Where people or organizations generally run into trouble with universal data models is when egos, not invented here syndrome, or outright pride are allowed to play a major part.

I see these universal data models analogous to the use of prehung doors and pre-assembled windows. No builder in their right mind would allow their carpenters to use their valuable time building door and window assemblies. Why would an IS manager allow his data administrators, database administrators, or developers spend their valuable time reinventing the wheel with many of these relational structures? Universal Data Models are a tremendous time saver and will allow an IS organization to develop databases faster, better, and cheaper.

I attended a conference in April 2003 and saw a presentation by a consultant, who used these Universal Data Models to create a database for Authentication and Authorization. This is another example of the powerful benefit of these models.

We have used these models on several projects with great success and will continue to use them on our upcoming projects.

The Data Model Resource Book is as important to a data modeler or application developer as a dictionary is to a writer: you're not at your best without it. Where I've worked, this material has helped me create the architecture for an enterprise data model of our company. Aided by the Resource Book, we build a framework of major tables containing subject areas and the result is a business model to which we can map all of our application databases and data warehouses.

This book is basically rather simple to use; you find the data or subject of interest and then check to see if there are any attributes or relationships in the book that are relevant to your specific application database. This type of a check helps add quality and completeness to your logical and physical model.

But using the book just scratches the surface of its value; it's the author who's responsible for its quality and completeness. I've personally worked with Mr. Silverston who participated in consulting engagements at our firm and I've also seen him perform in the classroom setting. He seems to have an uncanny ability to analyze a given business situation-no matter how seemingly bizarre-and to create a model structure that will accommodate any situation.

I highly recommend the Resource Book to business analysts, application developers, programmers, and data warehouse designers.

Ted Kowalski Data Architect, Equilon Enterprises, Houston and author of "Opening Doors--A Facilitator's Handbook."

I personally have had great success in many large firms (Investment banking, health insurance) implementing Universal Data models based off the Data Model Resource Book. The book was a very concise useful source for the implementation of both logical, and subsequently physical data models. Some people may criticize so called generalities, but "generalities" are a subjective concept. I have personally have seen much more generic type models that where nowhere near as useful as the models in the Data model resource book.

The bottom line is that these models work in the real world as a jump-start for data projects. If you don't want to get caught in the mire of data modeling, buy this book.

Mr. Linthicum has given us a gift in the form of a book that thoroughly covers the technical aspects of B2B, and shows how it is vastly different from more traditional methods of application integration.

If you carefully read and assimilate the information contained in this book you will have a clear path laid out for moving from older architectures that use EDI, point-to-point integration and other partial integration schemes to a true B2B architecture that is glued together by an encompassing middleware layer and driven by business events.

Here are some of the key areas of the book that made a deep impression on me: the clear definition of B2B application integration and what it entails, a wide survey of methods based on their orientation (data, interface, method, portal and process), and the balanced discussion of both middleware and integration standards.

Strengths and weaknesses of the oriented methods described in this book are particularly invaluable because the author shows the choices and trade-offs of each choice as an integration strategy. He gave the same comprehensive treatment to middleware strategies. I especially liked the discussion of integration standards because until I read this book I had the impression that XML was *the* way to extract data from databases, transform it into a common format and promote a standard for communicating among trading partners. Mr. Linthicum discusses the strengths of XML, but wisely warns against trying to make it do everything. Sort of like the adage that when all you have is a hammer everything looks like a nail.

The thrust of this book is transforming existing systems into an integrated application infrastructure that will fully support the notion of awareness of business events across all applications. This is a daunting task for architects and integrators who do not have a clean slate with which to design a ground-up architecture. The author addressed the fact that we have to live with that in which we have made heavy investments and proceed from there. This is done in the appendices that show how to integrate SAP R/3 and PeopleSoft into a cohesive B2B architecture. These examples are excellent choices with which to illustrate how it's done because they are realistic examples as opposed to contrived examples of "ideal" situations that other books show.

This book is for architects and IT technical strategists, and for those of us who have technical backgrounds and need to fully understand the technologies and imperatives that are springing up around us. Mr. Linthicum is an engaging writer who packs an incredible amount of information and wisdom into this 408 page book. It easily earns 5 stars and my highest recommendation.

As the other reviewer stated, this book is really the second edition of the EAI book by the same author. However, there is enough new content in this book, focused on B2B, that make it well worth the price. For instance, how XML, XSLT and BizTalk function in the world of application integration. Also, which technology to leverage depending on the situation. I found the way the author links EAI and B2B application integration approaches and technology particularly useful, and cleared up a lot of issues for me. I would recommend this book to anyone working on EAI or B2B projects, like me. If you already own the EAI book, this book should be next on your list to read.

If you're looking for the bible on B2B application integration, or just application integration in general, this is the book for you. The author does a great job in bringing very complex subject matter to an understandable level, including the illusive notion of middleware. I've read other books on middleware, and this book beats them all.

However, the value of this book is not the middleware discussion, but the overview of application integration and its use as a mechanism to move information, in real-time, within and between businesses. The author covers the types of application integration for B2B, enabling technology, approaches, use cases, patterns, and emerging standards including XSLT and RosettaNet. I really liked the discussion of supply chain integration and how it relates to B2B application integration.

It's a winner. I'll be going back to this book time after time. My copy already appears a bit raged out.

This book is not a good read. Virtual Humans though claims to be the book with a vision it is not. Another useless book about designing human as virtual pets.

I just received my pre-ordered copy of Virtual Humans and have devoured it like a slab of fine ahi. I have waited years for Plantec to fully divulge his wisdom in this arena and this book was well worth the wait.

Virtual humans is a visionary tour of a technology which is already making its mark and is certain to have a profound impact on how humans interact with the world of bits. Plantec accomplishes this without any of the over reaching fantasy and wishful thinking of many futurists, yet spells out the dramatic effects virtual humans will soon have on our lives. Plantec explores not only the technological implications, but the moral and societal ramifications of this emerging field. With a fascinating tour of the history of all the streams which have come together, Plantec delivers a road map of the virtual future.

Or does he?

Virtual Humans is really a detailed technical manual for using this technology to build and design virtual characters. To those already proficient at coding v-people, Plantec adds layers of wisdom on how to make them funny, engaging and, in short, human. He delivers the tech detail and highly usable techniques without falling into the tech manual automaton mode which keeps most of us from ever RTFM (Reading the .. Manual).

Oh really.

Virtual Humans is actually a profound look into our own minds. We discover how personalities differ, what motivates them and how they express themselves. Anyone who reads this book without making discoveries about their own character and personality and those of others, may need to seek Plantec's help on a professional basis.

So which is it?

The answer is all of the above. Plantec has managed to deliver a usable and readable tech manual, a visionary peek at the future and an engaging examination of the human psyche. His quirky but charming wit pervades and makes this book an excellent read for anyone interested in humanity, virtual or otherwise.

Thanks Peter....

The book is truly an excellent guide to help the novice chatterbot [V-person] builder to get a feel of what is possible with this type of technology in its broadest interpretation. Even the non-technical people will find the book a pleasant read, since the author himself is certainly no programmer.

With his humorous way of writing and the brilliant anecdotes it feels more like taking a quiet stroll through a park while listening to the author speak then actually ... well.. reading I'd have to say. There certainly wasn't any effort from my part to go through the material.

Somewhat experienced AIML developers will certainly appreciate the first part of the book that deals with virtual character development. Of course, chapter 17, dedicated to this particular scripting technology, is certainly one that gives a good overview of the online AIML community.

3D developers will find Peter's chapters on human representation, and some of the guest writers' contributions, practical in creating realistic facial animation. Blending his classical psychology education with personal observation of human behaviour. Not only saying how, but also why to implement a particular effect.

The book is useful, but very basic. If you are a true web nerd ;-), you probably already know most of the stuff in this book. It's still worth reading it, but don't expect too much.

Larry Chase's book is packed with practical guidance for developing a high-impact online presence. Larry is well-grounded in the nitty-gritty of what works and how to bring it off. I especially appreciate his section on email marketing (pages 224-34), one of my particular areas of interest -- and one that still raises questions for people new to Internet marketing. "Essential Business Tactics" is a great contribution to the Internet business library.

I just received Larry Chase's book! Thank you is not enough but - Thank You Larry Chase!

There are so many web sites and books on web marketing but this is the "Essential" guide. If all of our web customers would read this we would not have to explain how business is done on the Internet!

I thought I could just read the chapters that were interesting to me but I find myself reading it cover to cover. Already your tips have saved time. As I put your suggestions, tips and wisdom to work I am sure that it will also increase our profits!

Judith

This is a book on software engineering, which has been considered a classic in the software industry. Certainty, this book is littered with good software engineering practices, which are lacking in software projects today(at least the ones I have been through). If you have been managing projects, please get one and read it!

The software development process being mentioned in the book is IMHO suitable for big companies with over 100 staff. If you are managing a small team, please get the book "Extreme Programming Installed". Implementing this for small teams simply increases the overhead. Development process, IMHO is not a one-size-fit-all thing.

One thing to note is that the author's experiences are in IBM System and OS/360, which might be unfamiliar to some of you(me too!). Thus, it takes time to digest. :)

Good to have but not a must have.

There have been many, many books on software project management lately, but this one still is one of the best. Perhaps the context of older simpler technology helps illustrate the principles more clearly. While some new technologies have an impact on projects, particularly the encapsulation aspect of object-oriented design that allows for real code-reuse, the fundamentals don't change. Further, Brooks shows us why there can never be a "Silver Bullet" that will revolutionize the art.

He covers in great detail critical elements such as team structure, development process, conceptual integrity, and scheduling issues (including the myth of the man-month, for which the book is named). Further, since he draws on experience from classic projects such as IBM's OS/360, the book has interesting history as well.

My only issue is that with recent increases in power of PCs and languages, many "projects" are now of such scope that they need only involve a single developer, in which case a different paradigm is needed.

If you've ever wondered why large software projects often turn out to be such nightmares, read this book to learn why it's not just a figment of your imagination. You are not alone.

Furthermore, this book should be required reading for any CEO who has to oversee ITD folks and whose business depends on the success of technology improvements.

When you have a brain-trust working for you that constantly tells you how new tools and technologies will save the day, read the chapters 'No Silver Bullet' and 'No Silver Bullet Revisited' and decide for yourself.

My nit to pick would be that Brooks embraces packaged software products without differentiating between products that support your business (accounting or payroll software) versus products that are your business. Should Ebay have bought a vanilla auction package? I think not.

This isn't necessarily an easy read (that is, it's not Scott Adam's 'The Dilbert Principle' or Eliyahu Goldratt's 'The Goal') but as another reviewer suggested, a casual pace with time for reflection is suggested. It's well worth the effort.

Are we any farther along in knowing the real story of Larry Ellison after this book? I think we are not but it is all very entertaining. To me he remains an enigma wrapped in a riddle ... as the saying goes.

We already knew that he had a lavish lifestyle and was fond of yachts and anything Japanese, which is quite ironic since Japan is a very submissive and bureaucratic society - the complete opposite of our American Horatio Alger Ellison. But maybe it is an appropriate association since the Japanese historically ruled by the sword and in modern times they rule their inferiors with undemocratic force and elaborate social pressures.

In any case Oracle is essentially what we knew all along. It is where one brilliant man calls the shots. It is a company run by a hard driving, energetic guy with a huge ego and extremely good in the modern business world. Anyone in his way is driven into the ground as he steam rolls over them. Even the author had to endure the imprint of Ellison's "two cents" on many pages in the book. That was a biography first.

Having said that, it is always nice to see some of the details spilled in a nicely crafted and entertaining fashion. Nobody can ever accuse Larry Ellison of not being a resounding success nor of being dull. For those reasons it is worth buying and reading and merits 4 stars. A good story but he still remains a mystery.

Jack in Toronto

This book is a comprehensive, detailed collection of Larry Ellison anecdotes and quotes from people around him. Author Matthew Symonds occasionally interjects himself, but mostly lets his sources talk. Perhaps for fairness, he quotes many people who disagree with each other about important decisions at Oracle. Perhaps for journalistic objectivity, he generally refrains from judgment. This shows the reader every perspective, even if it doesn't define context, chronology or direction. You get all of the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, though you may want a clearer box top picture. Some of the technology coverage will intrigue only tech industry buffs, but overall you will learn a great deal of interesting information about Ellison and Oracle. We also found that Ellison's character came most into focus when the book entered the world of yacht racing, his passion. The author also includes poignant, revealing anecdotes about Ellison's childhood and candid reports about his personal life. Larry Ellison was allowed to review the manuscript and his comments appear as counterbalancing footnotes on many pages. That guy, he always does things a new way - as you will see.

A fascinating book. I should note that I worked at Oracle for 12 years (1989-1991), though much too far down in the hierarchy to have had dealings with Larry Ellison himself. But when Symonds writes about the people that I did know and work for and with, he hasn't struck a single false note. He has captured very accurately the Oracle culture--a lot of very bright and very driven people, with of course a few inevitable mistakes thrown in.

In this book, Ellison comes over as one of the most insightful leaders in SV in the 80s and 90s. I wasn't always able to see this side of him, as I kept hearing negative reports from those who had been subjected to his (earlier, and admitted by him in this book to have been wrong) MBR (management by ridicule) approach.

I believe Symonds has done an accurate evaluation of Ellison, and Ellison, in his footnotes, comes over as a thoughtful person able to admit where he was wrong.

I highly recommend this book to any aspiring financial analyst. It is definitely worth it, even at the list price.

Want to master the fundamentals of basic finance using Excel? then this is one of the few books on the market that really meet this need. Want to set up more advanced mathmatics modeling? well as the introduction of this explains, this book is more like a cookbook: it lists the required basic ingredients and the culinary process but if you want to spice the dish (financial model) up, it is up to the individuals to dig out those advanced formulas from the financial trade journals and apply them to the models.

I first saw the first edition of this book in my college library. took it home and was EXCITED. I was looking for a practical book that would show me the intricacies of Excel for setting up financial models and this was like a god-sent. Like one of the other reviewers said, this book combined basic finance, Excel functions, and VBA programming. To add practicality to this book, Professor Benninga even showed how to download financial data from the internet. Granted it is rather basic, but it adds to the usability of his book, making it a well-round book.

The best parts are end-of-the chapter exercises. Solutions are provided in the accompanying CD-ROM. See how many ways can you solve the same problem.

Professor Benninga always outlines the assumptions and explains the parameters of each model. We should remember that in many instances, unrealistic assumptions lead to way-of-the mark numbers, rendering the whole modeling process and its calculations useless.

Want to become a advanced-level financial modeler? then master the fundamentals first! this book gets you started.

P.S. I also highly recommend to anyone just starting with Excel modeling to read William J. Orvis's Excel for Scientists and Engineers. It is a bit outdated but still highly useful for its chapters on curve fitting, VBA programming and raw data manipulation.

If you need to build a working valuation model, calculate the risk of a portfolio with 100+ securities, or figure out what return you might expect to get from a portfolio of high-yield bonds, then you'll find Simon Beninga's "Financial Modeling" merits far more than five stars: this is one book that is indispensable.

One of the biggest problems I ran into during my MBA program was the way my professors taught Corporate Finance. I had great profs, true, but they were teaching theoretical concepts from theoretical textbooks. Sure, you learned the basics: CAPM, net present value, basic options and futures, Arbitrage Pricing Theory, VAR and TEV, but I have always maintained that the best way of learning a subject---particularly corporate finance---is by getting your hands dirty and digging into the guts of the material.

Since Corporate Finance, off-balance sheet instruments aside, isn't very dirty, the best way to get a hands-on practical approach in terms of Capital Structure, the appropriate discount rate to use in pricing an asset, risk, and optimal debt and dividends is to program in Excel and Visual Basic. The problem is that many top finance texts don't offer supplemental material to translate the theoretical concepts into actual valuation and spreadsheet models, which any financial analyst will contend is the life-blood of the industry.

With that in mind, Simon Beninga's "Financial Modelling" is a kind of "Joy of Cooking" for initiate investment bankers, corporate financiers, controllers, analysts, and anyone who wants to use core Corporate Finance concepts in the real world. Beninga goes through the standard laundry list of Corporate Finance text topics---from the optimal risky portfolio to the term structure of interest rates---and shows you how to translate these concepts into workable spreadsheet models that can illustrate, illuminate, and get to the heart of a problem.

If you're a new MBA or financial analyst, you'll find much to love in Beninga's approach, and by pairing the newly expanded 2nd edition up with a top theoretical finance textbook (Ross, Westerfield et al.'s "Corporate Finance" is a fine example) you'll get the most out of your MBA program and have a solid foundation for building Excel and Visual Basic financial models that work.

I liken "Financial Modeling" to a cookbook, in that Beninga provides all the ingredients necessary to the model at hand: he begins with a sprinkling of theory, whether it's modeling a bond portfolio's immunization, calculating the cost of capital, estimating a portfolio's Beta with no short-selling, or pricing put and call options using both the binomial theorem and Black-Scholes. His writing is spare, terse, and to the point, but I have learned more about advanced corporate finance theory through Beninga's marvellously pithy writing and copious Excel examples than I have in reading ten 'top of the list' finance books.

In addition to nicely expanded sections on options (including portfolio insurance) and leasing (including the technically sophisticated subject of leveraged leasing, which requires Excel to comprehend), Beninga concludes his sprightly little tome with a section on getting the most out of Excel (useful little shortcuts that a financial analyst will need but may not have heard of) and a nice little introductory primer on programming in Visual Basic.

"Financial Modeling" is an absolute essential if you're going to make Corporate Finance your profession. For an equally elegant and practical treatment of building discounted cash flow models for businesses, the reader would be advised to pick up Beninga's "Corporate Finance", which, while not equally oriented in spreadsheet modeling, is one of the most terse, accessible, and reasonably technically sophisticated Corp-Fin books on the market today.

This is is spectacularly effective guide to basic financial modelling using Excel and VBA. Far too many financial textbooks confine themselves to theory without giving the student any guidelines on how to put what they have learned into practice - a startling omission in what is a pre-eminently practical field. Benninga has attempted to fill that gap, and he succeeds brilliantly. Using very clear language and a step-by-step approach, he teaches the reader how to actually construct for himself or herself a series of different financial models that are immediately applicable in the real world. There are sections on corporate finance (cash flow) models, basic portfolio models (CAPM applications) and a really good one on option pricing models that has saved my bacon on more than one occasion! Other sections cover topics such as fixed income and Excel/VBA issues. In conclusion, this is a very impressive text, complete with usable models on CD-ROM, that can take you from novice to mid-level quant in a few weeks!

David Banks does a masterful job of telling the story of the internal battle between Windows and Internet Explorer. It is insightful story over the struggle for strategy. Written in the tradition of the Wall Street Journal Bank's paints colorful vignettes of the key personalities and imbues the struggle between these two groups with drama.

However one of the interesting ironies of the business press is that journalists confuse themselves with their subjects. (I know of very few who went from covering a beat to running a company.) Unfortunately the more famous the publication you write for, the less you seem to remember that. This book simply fails when Banks puts on this business analyst hat. Luckily when you hear the scraping of the soapbox those pages are few and can be easily skimmed.

If you're interested in an internal history of Microsoft during the browser wars, buy this book.

David Bank used to cover Microsoft for the Wall Street Journal. In this book he describes the period 1997-2000 at Microsoft as it coped with the success of Windows and Office and the threat of the Internet to the continuation of Microsoft's dominance. From e-mail snippets and interviews with many current and former Microsoft employees, he presents the "protect Windows" perspective of Bill Gates and Jim Allchin and contrasts that with the "do the new internet thing" perspective of people like Brad Silverberg and myself and others. Obviously Bill Gates prevailed and so a lot of people left. Overall I think a very balanced presentation -- you at least understand why Bill did what he did, even if you don't agree with his decision. Several juicy quotes from me. :-)

David Bank does a good job of getting into the meat of the Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer story, and he was much help in helping me write my unauthoprized bio of Microsoft's CEO BAD BOY BALLMER.

It's true that no completely scientific studies have been done on Dvorak vs Qwerty, but it hardly takes a study to see that Dvorak is better. Qwerty was created before touch typing was ever dreamed of. It's no better than an alphabetic arraingement.

Anyone who touch types knows that some words are harder to type than others because you have to reach for awkward keys or one finger has to do too much work. Dvorak simply makes the common keys easier to get to and all but eliminates the need for one finger to type two letters in succesion. Just think of a word that's easy for you to type in Qwerty (e.g., flask), and consider that the majority of words you type in Dvorak feel like that. Do you believe these agenda driven jokers or your own fingers?

This isn't rocket science. I don't need a study to tell me that a layout designed for touch typing will be better than one that was designed to keep primitive machines from jamming, and I don't trust the authors of a book who will set aside common sense and ignore the obvious in their quest to prove their pet theory.

Also, I think Microsoft is a great company and we're all better off because it exists, but to deny that their OS monopoly gives them a huge advantage in the marketplace for other software products is a special kind of idiocy which can only be obtained through decades of academic isolation.

No economist (or team of economists) has produced during the 1990s research that is as compelling, as exciting, as important, and as well-grounded in both theory and data as that of Stan Liebowitz and Stephen Margolis. These guys' work is truly and deeply impressive. And their writing is a joy to read.

They tackle some of the most challenging issues at play in modern economics -- and they succeed brilliantly! Because of the research these two scholars produced earlier in this decade, it is inexcusable for anyone to trot out the success of the QWERTY keyboard or that of the VHS tape as examples of "inefficient lock-in." Because of the research they have done, and report clearly, in this new book, it is now inexcusable for anyone to claim that Microsoft's market success is due exclusively -- or even principally -- to "path-dependency" or "inefficient lock-in."

Liebowitz and Margolis show beyond any reasonable doubt that in those markets where Microsoft achieves and maintains a large market share, it does so by offering consumers deals that consumers fine attractive. Period.

WINNERS, LOSERS, AND MICROSOFT is economics at its finest and most relevant.

There are a lot of myths about why products succeed or fail. Many claim that customers get "locked into" products simply because they arrive on the scene first even when much better products are available. Some claim that Microsoft has taken over different markets despite inferior software simply because of the monopoly that it has in operating systems. Liebowitz and Margolis provide straightforward, convincing, and imaginative evidence that these claims are false.

It is amazing how many stories like the superiority of the DVORAK keyboard hang around for years with no supporting evidence. They make for great stories, but as these authors point out they are false.

If you want to learn about how markets work, read this book.

Finally, the previous commentor's remarks about these authors being bought off is offensive and false. Liebowitz and Margolis wrote about these issues a decade before Microsoft became involved in its current legal problems. Anyone who reads this book will realize that Microsoft would have been a lot better off if they had hired them rather than the lame effort they got from the MIT business school dean.

Well-researched, well-thought, and well-written book provides a compelling business case for an iterative software development process. Rather than focus on the mechanics of the Unified Process, as one might expect, the author presents justification for transitioning from a traditional software engineering approach to an iterative approach.

Conventional software engineering is first presented, along with its drawbacks. The changing software landscape is examined, and future success factors are identified. The factors are then tied into the new process.

Thorough coverage of many different angles, including an excellent section on metrics, estimation models (and the evolution of COCOMO), team development, culture changes, etc.

Great read.

This is a book that lives up to its title. It begins by explaining the pitfalls of the traditional models, and then introduces the reader to the new "Architecture First, Iterative" model. The material is organized well. Each chapter has something good to offer. Some chapters explain a concept in great detail, and just when you get a feeling that you are lost, there appears a section that makes "pragmatic" sense!! Good explanation about development Life Cycles, Workflows and the Iterative development model. There is a lot of emphasis on early integration, which I believe is the right way to develop software. Royce points out that Software Testing (Assessment) should not be treated as a separate entity in the software development life cycle. Instead it should be woven right into the framework, thus becoming an integral part of each phase in the Life Cycle - again, a very crucial and significant idea. One may have to tweak the ideas to suit specific needs, but the book delivers the right message in general. A must read for Software Project Leads and the likes......

"Unjustified precision--in requirements or plans--has proven to be a substantial, yet subtle, recurring obstacle to success." --quote from author Walker Royce.

The false dream that "writing the specifications to the utmost detail will ensure that the engineers create the perfect product, on time" is so prevalent, yet so wrong. Along the way to the finished product, the path is littered with discarded spec that can't be met for technical reasons, timing issues or a chain of dependencies for marketing reasons (if you remove Feature X, then Feature Y is useless.) The author goes on to write that software management is not an exact science; there are gray areas, dependencies and a constant situation of flux that has to be managed.

Royce gives case studies for software evolution and recommends changes in the management process, including a VERY valuable core set of metrics. The author is no ivory-tower professor; he developed the methods in this book and tested them in a large project for TRW. This book should be required reading for every software project manager.