Book Description
Describes a unique user-centered design method that helps the softwareproject team decide what information to provide and in what media, basedon user's information needs and project require- ments. DLC: Userinterfaces (Computer systems). ... Read more

Book Description
Provides an overall perspective in choosing a programming language inwhich to invest time and effort. Guides the computer professional inmaking informed decisions without getting into fine features andpeculiarities of computer languages. DLC: Programming languages. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

An outstanding survey of programming languages.
Cezzar's text was excellent in understanding the tapestry of languages that I have heard of or been involved with over past 15 years. This text superbly and clearly defined strengths and weaknesses, similarities anddifferences, and appropriate applications.Each language (or languagegroup) is then discussed in detail with full or partial programs comparingand contrasting them.

Its only failing is that it was written in theearly 1990's. Since publication, a new family of languages has beendeveloped that are designed to be platform independent.A new edition isneeded to show how Java and similar languages relate, fit into, and extendthe mosaic presented.

I highly recommend this book for decision-makersin the software industry, programmers who need to expand theirunderstanding of the field, and newcomers wishing to make a stake insoftware. ... Read more

Book Description
Author shows how real-world engineering problems can be solved using MAPLE as the principal tool. Features practical examples and detailedexplanations. Paper. 3 1/2 inch disk included. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Quite Difficult to Read
Although the information contained in this book is valuable, the layout is poorly designed and the language is very difficult to understand.
I recommend this to anyone who is looking for information about authentication systems, bu remember, this book is not complete (for instance not a word about SSL) nor easy to read. ... Read more

Book Description
Provides abstracts of nearly 300 standards & specifications, & listings on over 200 other Internet-related documents. Explains what each standardcovers, its appropriate software design catagory, & where to obtain copies of the complete document. DLC: Internet programming. ... Read more

Book Description
Provides the foundation and understanding necessary for proper design ofdatabases for today's distributed and multi-database architectures. DLC:Distribution databases. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Don't trust the examples given
This book is not difficult to understand. However, I find that this book's examples have too many errors. For example, in chapter 8, the examples given have errors. The result of the examples are not what I expected. Itmakes me feel whether my understanding is correct or not. Moreover, thereis no author email address in this book. The reader cannot send comments tothe author.

Well structured and easy to read, but not very useful
I read this book to get some ideas for setting up a database with multiple servers in different countries. One requirement was high availability and fast response times under the condition of instable network connections. Iam not a database expert, so I can not assess the accuracy and completenessof the material very well. The following is my view as a "novice"reader.

The book is divided into three parts: theory, distributeddatabase architectures, and multi-database architectures. Part oneintroduces relational algebra, SQL, database models (hierarchical, network,relational), ER-diagrams and such. Part two concentrates on homogenousdistributed database architectures. Part three is about heterogenous (e.g.mixed hierarchical/relational) distributed database systems.

The book isdemonstratively well structured and easy to read. The author begins with aroadmap, and each chapter begins with a statement of purpose, a descriptionwhat will follow and how this relates to the topic. I found part one to bea decent introduction to general database concepts. However, I had theimpression that the book is too shallow overall.One of the more noticableomissions (to me) is in the part about deadlocks: the author concentratesentirely on deadlock detection, while deadlock avoidance and deadlockprevention are not even mentioned. I can't say if this is because thelatter are not used in databases. Moreover, as another reader noted, theexamples are full of errors, which is quite annoying.

Altogether, thebook entirely failed to give me any hints for solving my problem. Datareplication, which is probably the one technique that I need to apply underthe circumstances described above, is mentioned in only one paragraph inthe entire book. The author instead focuses entirely on databasepartitioning. If you need that, the book may be for you, although I assumethere are better books on the subject. I do not recommend this book.

The book contains too many errors
The book is good in the sense of the simplicity with which the author tries to explain and introduce the concepts. However, it is full of errors: I could not find one example without errors. Specially in Chapter 4, whichintroduces SQL, there are too many errors. That is unforgivable!! I thinkthe author of this book did not even check what he was writing. I do notrecommend this book to anyone until a serious revision of all the examplesis perfomed! ... Read more

Book Description
This book is aimed precisely at teaching commercial fundamentals of Cprogramming. Covers ANSI C fundamentals, performance, and error handling.Contains real-life exercises and introduction to OsmanStandard Cconventions. Paper. DLC: C (Computer program language) ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Gimmie a Break
I picked up this book because I used to work with the author. I was curious, especially because he wasn't what I would call a C expert. Yikes! A book this big on good C practices?Save your money. There is nothing here that a good programmer cannot intuit just from reading K&R. ... Read more

Book Description
This expertly-authored, one-source reference provides an answer to the Y2K problem by revealing practical, how-to instructions on planning,preparing, and executing a project that will make your company Y2Kcompliant. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Quite good & easy to understand.
I enjoyed reading this book. It is quite interesting and also easy to understand. I will be happy if some more details of Y2K solutions are given. ... Read more

Book Description
Your complete guide to planning, designing, implementing, and managingmultistation image storage and retrieval systems that operate underwindows applications. DLC: Image processing. ... Read more

Book Description
What's inside a computer? How does information get into and out of the computer? Can faster, more powerful computers be invented? These questions and more will be answered in Computers. Learn about computers from the gigantic machines with mechanical switches to the computers of today. ... Read more

Book Description
Shows how applying risk management to each stage of the softwareengineering model can help the entire development process run on time andon budget. DLC: Software engineering. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Unique perspectives on software engineering risks
When I first read this book in 1997 I thought it was interesting, but quirky.When I recently re-read it I had the benefit of four more years of experience and more scars from grappling with many of the issues that this book addresses. The 12 chapters in this 225-page book cover a spectrum of issues and factors that most books on software engineering risk management only lightly touch upon or overlook completely.

The chapters are sequenced as follow: 1-Introduction, 2-Industrial Espionage, 3-Software Engineering, 4-Software Metrics, 5-Security, 6-Process Maturity Models, 7-Asset Valuations, 8-Security Threats, 9-Security Controls and Tests, 10-Safeguards, 11-Economic Analysis, and 12-Reiterative Processes.

Chapter 2, Industrial Espionage leaps out at you and tells you that this is not a run-of-the-mill SW risk book.If the risks are not obvious, consider the threats to intellectual property that can manifest themselves when development is contracted out or contract labor is used to augment an in-house development team.If this book goes into a second edition I hope the author also includes patent issues as well, because the book was published in 1996 and since them two significant legal cases (State Street Bank vs. Signature Finance Group, Inc. [1998] and AT&T vs. Excel Communications, Inc. [1999]have set precedents that add further to this particular category of risk, and may merit a separate chapter on patent risks.

Each of the other chapters exposes risks--some obvious, and some not-so-obvious--inherent in software engineering models and their associated processes. Bear in mind that while this book introduces quantitative methods, it is no substitute for a book on software engineering risk management if you are new to the topic.The reason is this book covers the subtleties and often overlooked aspects, but is not an introductory text on the subject.

My favorite chapters are 4 (software metrics), 67 (asset valuations) and 11 (economic analysis) because those are areas in which I am interested.I also liked chapter 6 (process maturity models) because it exposes risks that need to be considered if you are in the process of selecting or implementing one of the models (CMM, SPICE, etc.).

Overall, this is a useful and interesting book if you have a great deal of prior experience in software engineering, SQA or process implementation.My only complaint--and it's minor--is Chapter 5 (Security) should have been grouped with the related chapters (8, 9, and 10). If you fall into the audience I cited above you'll benefit greatly from this book. ... Read more

Book Description
This book highlights the advantages and disadvantages of various software development lifecycle models, and describes when to apply testing -- and when to use other, more cost-effective techniques. It also shows how to incorporate V&V techniques if your organization does not have a written procedure, and explains how to implement the inspection process. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Comprehensive
I wish I could count the times I've seen second and third rounds of development occur because the first round produced a working version of a product the customer didn't want. With all of the emphasis lately on rapid development, especially now that the web has everyone working on "internet time", there has been a noticeable lack of discussion on ensuring the software produced fits the needs of the customer and is of reasonable quality.

Rakitin addresses these issues and more in this book. As the title indicates, he concentrates on Verification ("are we building the product right?") and Validation ("are we building the right product?"). However, the subtitle to the work "A Practitioner's Guide" provides much more insight into the actual scope of this work.In the discussion of software inspection meetings, for example, Rakitin give guidelines regarding not only the mechanics of who should attend and when materials should be distributed but he also provides insight into what to expect as a moderator and how much should be expected to be accomplished in the meetings themselves. There are a number of statements in the book that begin "Experience has shown..." Rakitin's extensive experience has manifested itself throughout the book transforming the dry, checklist-like discussions found in so many other books into discussions about how people work and communicate with each other.

This isn't to say there couldn't be more. Although what's presented is very good, there are points in the book where I found myself wishing for additional discussion. Perhaps in future editions Rakitin will be able to expand upon, say, requirements collection or configuration management.

There are also things that could be updated if the book were to have a revision. For example, a brief discussion on OO methodologies is provided where Fusion from HP is outlined. This could obviously be expanded to cover the Rational Unified Process, Rational's effort to provide UML with "meat" the modeling language alone could not have.

As Deming observed and Rakitin noted, "The quality of a product is directly related to the quality of the process used to create it." To this end, Rakitin attempts to provide the reader with ready-made tools, checklists, outlines, and forms to aid them in the maturation of their software engineering department. These items, which appear in approximately 80 pages of appendices, give the reader a variety of starting places for just such an initiative.

Brooks said "no silver bullet" and he was right. Quality software is possible only through a methodical, rational, and scientific approach. Rakitin goes a long way towards that in this work. I highly recommend it.

Practical Book giving practical approach to complex subject
Software Verification and Validation by Steven R. Rakitin. A practical book by a practical author, presenting the steps required to set up a formal and complete Verification and Validation program for softwareproduction.Mr. Rakitin sprinkles pertinent quotations throughout the bookto support his case that software quality programs (detection) cost lessthan simply releasing a "buggy" program to your Customers. Theauthor also teaches the lessons of this book at IEEE lectures; I attendedone in March 1998.At these lectures, the author fleshes out and makesmore interesting many of the points made in his book. As an ASQ CertifiedSoftware Engineer, S. Rakitin has the credentials to expound on manyaspects of quality programs set up to deal effectively with the major &crucial issue of the lack of software quality today.There are 169 pagesof text, describing a good program, but the author has also included some87 pages of appendices (from "A" to "H") which give youa cook book or recipe approach to different aspects of software quality. The author gives you good leads to other sources of information on softwarequality. The book would profit from another good editorial review, reducingthe wordiness in some chapters and tying the whole story all together.Forexample, Rakitin continuously uses "SEI" which (as far as I cansee) is not defined in his book.SEI = Software Engineering Institute.In Chapter 4, the author attempts to establish a cost/benefit justificationfor implementing a software quality program, but misses and then, later, onpage 90 (Chapter 7), he DOES lists the pertinent reasons as, "...lowersupport costs, ... fewer maintenance releases, ... higher customer satisfactionand, as a result, increased sales". An astute editor would havemelded all of this together. Overall, this book is directed at thepractitioner, whether a hardware quality engineer required to set up asoftware quality program, or a novice who has the same task.It is apractical book, generally well written, ... Read more

Book Description
A highly organized, up-to-date directory of more than 300 standards,guides, and technical reports related to the software engineeringindustry. Provides readers with an overview of each existing standard, its area of application, and where copies can be obtained. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Guide To Software Engineering And Specifications
With the help of this book it contain the best sellers of the world and with this book we are able to know how to deal not only with the people but also with the Software Developers who are working in a firm. ... Read more