Great Software Debates by Alan M. Davis (2004, Hardcover)

In Great Software Debates, Al Davis, shares what he has learned about the difference between the theory and the realities of business and encourages you to question and think about software engineering in ways that will help you succeed where others fail.

In short, provocative essays, Davis fearlessly reveals the truth about process improvement, productivity, software quality, metrics, agile development, requirements documentation, modeling, software marketing and sales, empiricism, start-up financing, software research, requirements triage, software estimation, and entrepreneurship. He will get you thinking about:

• The danger of following trends and becoming a ‘software lemming'
• Is software development art or engineering?
• How to survive management mistakes
• The bizarre world of software estimation
• How to succeed as software entrepreneur
• How to resolve incompatible schedules and requirements

If you are in the software industry and do not know which way to turn, Great Software Debates provides valuable and insightful advice. Whether you are a software developer, software manager, software executive, entrepreneur, requirements writer, architect, designer, or tester, you will find no shortage of sound, palatable advice.

Industry Reviews
"...hardly a week has gone by that I have not referenced it or recommended it to co-workers and friends...a concentrated treasure of suggestions, explanations, and principles." (<i>Ubiquity</i>, October 19, 2005)
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"This book deserves a place on any software engineer's bookshelf&#8230;it will make you keep your brain in gear, an essential quality for software engineers&#8230;" (<i>Computing Reviews.com</i>, March 11, 2005)
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"The author shares what he has learned about the difference between business theory and reality, encouraging readers to think about software engineering in ways that will help them succeed where others fail." (<i>Computer Magazine</i>, November 2004)