5 comments about Project Retrospectives: A Handbook for Team Reviews.

1. "Project Retrospectives" is one of the best written, best edited, most nicely presented, and most useful software books I've ever read. Norm Kerth presents a convincing argument for the value of taking the time to study past projects and learn from them. He then presents a rich tool kit of techniques for helping a project team explore what actually happened, what went well, what caused problems, and what happened that surprised them. Kerth's sensitivity to the complex interpersonal issues surrounding project retrospectives will help any facilitator, participant, or manager get the most out of these important learning activities.

   Despite the value of retrospectives, not every project team will find it possible to spend 2 or 3 full days reflecting on its experience. However, the methods described here can be scaled down so that any team can apply them. If a team doesn't take the time to learn how to improve, it shouldn't expect the next project to go any better than the last one. This unique book is a key enabler for any learning organization.




2. This book is intended as a manual for software developers intending to hold a project retrospective at the end of a large project. A retrospective is a little like a post-mortem. Much is learned during the course of a large project, and a project retrospective is a way to preserve that knowledge for use in later projects.

   A retrospective is different than a post-mortem in that a post-mortem sometimes implies that the project was a failure. Kerth makes it clear that as long as knowledge is gained from mistakes made, and that steps are taken to avoid the repetition of those mistakes, then no mistake is a total failure.

   Much of what Kerth writes about involves the tools and techniques of a facilitator. A facilitator is something like a psychotherapist for project teams. The facilitator's purpose is to get the members of the team, who sometimes do not work closely together either out of circumstance or preference, to share their opinions and observations about different aspects of the project in a non-threatening way.

   A facilitator must be an excellent communicator and should not offer his or her own opinion, only help others to express their own. In Kerth's opinion, much of what makes a project successful involves interpersonal communication and through a project retrospective a facilitator can help a project team improve their communication skills.

   I felt that the book offered some excellent suggestions. In particular, I liked Kerth's suggestions for illustrating to management of the value of a project retrospective. He provides an excellent checklist for preparing a proposal to management.

   I also liked his suggestions for demonstrating to project teammembers the value of failure. One suggestion is to have everyone watch a movie that involves project management, such as Kerth's favorite, Flight of the Phoenix. Another of Kerth's suggestions is to discuss the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger. Kerth suggests pointing out how the fact that four of the five books written on the explosion are oriented toward children shows how our culture shuns failure, and then discussing how analyzing the causes of the explosion helped NASA prevent similar accidents in the future.

   The book is intended for those intent on performing in-depth project retrospectives or project post-mortems. Much of the book consists of specific tips and techniques for those facilitating retrospectives. If I have a criticism of the book it is that much of the book is at a very practical level and that too little time is spent discussing how to make use of information garnered from project retrospectives in future projects.




3. Project Retrospectives is a must have for anyone who wants(or needs)to understand what happened on their last project. If you plan to conduct a retrospective, the book will show you how with exercises to use with your group. Even if you do not run formal retrospectives, the techniques in this book will help you get a more candid view of how things on your project work.



4. Norman L. Kerth is a professional with twenty years' experience in leading project retrospectives. In Project Retrospectives: A Handbook For Team Reviews, Kerth draws upon his extensive body of experience and expertise to crate an excellent and thoroughly "reader friendly" guidebook showcasing the process of reviewing, and revealing how to learn from the successes and failures of completed business projects. Case studies, preparing for a retrospective, leading a postmortem, and the skills for best learning and sharing knowledge gained from past ventures fill the pages of this down-to-earth and highly accessible guide which is especially recommended to those charged with the responsibility of improving corporate departmental and project team performances.



5. Norm Kerth's book introduces the retrospective ritual and a very good description on how and why to do them. Since published, Norm's book has become a mus-read in the field of software and I predict this will stay that way for quite a while.
   
   Project Retrospectives are review and improvement sessions which the project team does at the end of a project. A typical project retrospective takes a couple of days. During these days, there are a bunch of retrospective exercises which can be follows (and are described in the book). These exercises create a safe environment, help the project team remember the past and help them learn from it. An retrospective is not done properly if it doesn't also result in some improvement actions.
   
   I've used Norm's exercises in my own retrospectives and they work exceptionally well. This book is therefore a treasure of practical advise. If you feel uncomfortable when reading the first description (as some exercises might), try not to discard the exercise, but try it out. Often you will learn and find that they work surprisingly good.
   
   In the world of Agile Development, retrospectives have become an essential part of any agile method. These retrospectives are iteration retrospectives (or heartbeat retrospectives). They are shorter, but the ideas are the same. Much of Norm's exercises can also be used in that context.
   
   As mentioned earlier, a must read for anyone serious in product development.

No comments about The Software Test Engineer's Handbook: A Study Guide for the ISTQB Test Analyst and Technical Analyst Advanced Level Certificates (Rockynook Computing).

No comments about Fedora 9 Linux Desktop Handbook.

5 comments about MCSA/MCSE Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-350): Implementing Microsoft® Internet Security and Acceleration Server 2004 (Pro-Certification).

1. Very helpful for exam 70-350 and daily tasks as IT Network security administrator.



2. Very nice book , I recommended it for all specialist in Microsoft networking, and systems.



3. This book does not base itself in only Microsoft scenario, it covers networks and security in a wide context.
   Well written, gives you the ability to deploy and understand the ISA SERVER, which by itself is an excelent software, and the environments which your are deploy in.
   You don't need to be an expert in IT to comprehend this book, but need to know a little about protocols and TCP/IP.
   Who buys it can enjoy a good travel through the network boundaries world.
   I didn't rate it 5 for 2 reasons. First, the book says, sometimes, you have got an enterprise isa cd, but you have got the standard one.
   The author, sometimes, endeavours so much in assuring your understandable of the subject that spend a few pages more than needed. Another drawback is the excess of "plan, analyse, get information" advices. It becomes repetitive through the pages.
   Well, that is it, a good book and enough to pass the certification exam by yourself.



4. The writing style is somewhat dry.
   
   The enclosed software (ISA server 120 day evaluation) and the computerized test questions make the book worth the money.



5. I used this book (ISA 2004) as the primary material to study for the Isa 2006 70-351 Exam.
   
   It more than covers the foundations of ISA Server and with some time spent on MS.com researching ISA 2006 enhancements is all that was required.
   
   I am becoming a huge fan of the MS Press books and this one is no exception.
   
   Perhaps a little more focus on Enterprise rather than the single chapter would be good as there are a few Enterprise questions in the exam, but still that takes nothing away from this text.
   
   5 Stars!
   
   Mark Grogan

5 comments about UNIX Systems Programming: Communication, Concurrency and Threads (2nd Edition).

1. True, this is a text book. So it has longer examples, and it likes to put "Exercise" for all of its sections. However the book also makes an excellent reference. It was well written, and has nice diagrams to explain things like IO redirection, forking, semaphores and other basic concepts of Unix development. Its dated, and does not talk about some newer IPC capabilities such as in Linux and Solaris 10, but it makes a good introductory book...



2. Well he fixed all his bugs. He thinks he is in spiral model of life cycle publishing, Good Grief!
   
   Added few more projects which are poorly written, especially project www redirection - chapter 19. When I am paying 60 bucks, I expect some quality content. Oho, well maybe my expectations are more because he is targettng the student community. They are not paying you to read your book but they will download of some p2p file sharing network. We pay so I think I have every right to demand. The difference is obvious when a book is written by academic professor versus a professional software developer with tons of experience.
   
   I would suggest, stick to Richard Stevens, unless you are in that Texas school where he teaches.



3. This is the type of book that doesn't leave you with more questions than it answers. It doesn't just discuss the concepts and then you're on your own for coding. It gives you enough code and explanation so that you can implement mutex locks, semaphores, threads, etc. It doesn't force you to go search online for code samples. I refer to this book often, and not just when writing code for Unix.



4. I read it in one of the book store in three hours. I bought it a month later. It saved me several times. One of the best books I have ever had.



5. This book contains the answers to almost any question concerning communication, concurrency and threads. All of the included code works fine, but is often ugly. At least the ugly code is available online if you are too lazy to write your own, or type it yourself.
   3 stars because this book follows the typical computer book pattern. It's too big. Huge examples and discussion for rarely used features, when a table enumerating specifics would be better. There is alot of fluff, but at least the material is there.

No comments about C Programming for the Absolute Beginner, Second Edition (For the Absolute Beginner).

No comments about Beginning C# 3.0: An Introduction to Object Oriented Programming (Wrox Beginning Guides).

5 comments about UNIX Network Programming: Networking APIs: Sockets and XTI; Volume 1.

1. This is one of two must-have UNIX books ("UNIX Network Programming" and "Advanced Programming for the UNIX Environment"). After I had been using UNIX for a long time and was getting into more advanced UNIX programming about a decade ago, these two books were recommended. I checked around and made comparisons. Sure enough, I had to agree. I bought both of them and use them a lot, even when doing Windows programming.

   As an example, I had to reference them again this weekend. I am using Visual Basic and C++ under Windows to connect some UDP/IP communications between applications. Once again, these books were indispensable (even after looking at online help, Google, Microsoft Knowledge Base and Experts-Exchange). Any Internet professional should have both of these books on their shelf.




2. The coding examples weren't so hot in my opinion but this book
   provided exactly what I needed to jump on the UNIX network programming bandwagon and remains a reference tool.



3. Though book is preety straight forward.
   It rarely talks about tricks,code is highly redundant in the sense that everywhere error checking is being done.
   Which makes it highly boring is that if you are dealing with some kind of N/W installation or S/W trobuleshooting.
   Talks much more on code,



4. If I want a dog, I won't buy a cat.
   The good thing of a cat is, it won't bark.



5. The Best series of books to learn Network programming from. The BEST in the world. Nothing comes close. Richard Steven rocks always !

2 comments about Game Design: Principles, Practice, and Techniques - The Ultimate Guide for the Aspiring Game Designer.

1. Recently I started to entertain the idea for a game prototype I had in mind, since I was a bit green on the process I wanted to find a book that will cover the basics and make it all crystal clear for me. Unfortunately most books on the topic were severely out of date, unnecessarily complex or even too expensive to warrant a purchase. That's when I found Game Design: Principles, Practice, and Techniques and being recently published, it was an added bonus. This book not only takes the reader through the entire process of the production cycle, but it keeps everything light and entertaining with just the right balance of type and a wealth of colored illustrated pages, just the way I like it. And with illustrations on practically every page, it wasn't hard for a visual guy like me to read the book from cover to cover. (Why are there no programming books like this is beyond me)
   
   Jim Thompson, Barnaby Berbank-Green, and Nic Cusworth keeps the book extremely consistent between the three of them, so well in fact that you won't realize when another author took over.
   
   The book is broken up into 3 chapters; the first begins with a brief history in video games and takes you through the genres, styles and popular game mechanics used today, which are broken up with practical case studies.
   The second chapter then moves unto elaborating on what you previously learnt and applying it to the real world. Everything from creating a game design document to gathering inspiration for concept art, level design and actually taking you through the process of creating a low poly solider from concept to completion. However keep in mind most of the topics are just the fundamentals to get you going, and rarely spans more than two pages since there's so much to cover, but it's all well written and flows like a gentle summer breeze. The third chapter then takes you through the pitching process, prototyping and a discussion on industry standard tools.
   
   All in all it was a great book to read and money well spent, I've learnt quite a bit, and the only topics I wished they covered more was some programming and asset management, but as it stands the book still makes a great reference and resource.
   
   Would I recommend it? Absolutely! Especially if you're a bit fuzzy on the process of taking a game from idea to prototype and beyond. Here's hoping for a 2nd edition expanding into more advanced discussions.



2. Just a caution for buyers - this book has no code what-so-ever. It is meant for english/literature majors. It has terms about different genres of games and different types of games like the HUB game etc. The information is useless. Why on earth would you want to know things that are obvious and of no use? I don't get the point of this book. If you are a person who doesn't know how to define the term "game" or who has never heard of "game", well then maybe this book is for you.

1 comments about A Guide to Computer User Support for Help Desk and Support Specialists, Third Edition.

1. Excellent book. Good for anyone's collections. Helpful in help desk support. Well-written book. Good examples and cases.