Product Description

Almost all software projects are risky. The goal of every project manager is to somehow deal with the cost and schedule uncertainty while meeting your customer's needs. In Object-Oriented Project Management with UML, Murray Cantor describes an elegant, UML-based approach to managing object-oriented projects guaranteed to deliver high-quality software on time and within budget. * Sample project schedules, budgets, database templates for managing use cases, and a work-breakdown structure
* A spreadsheet workbook for managing incremental development
* A development tracking diagram

Prior to joining TASC, Dr. Cantor was a development manager at IBM, where he oversaw the development of high-end graphics and multimedia systems.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #968415 in Books
• Published on: 1998-08-03
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 368 pages

Amazon.com Review
Filled with real-world advice for managing software projects, Murray Cantor's Object-Oriented Project Management with UML shows you how to tackle any project using UML and the latest thinking on project management. There's little doubt that this even-handed, commonsensical guide can benefit anyone who manages or designs object-oriented software for a living.

The best thing about this book has to be its honest, real-world mix of software engineering theory and real-world practice for managing object-oriented software development. The author refuses to be doctrinaire and continually offers valuable nuggets of practical advice. Regarding the pitfalls of one software development process, he writes, "I am sure someone has succeeded, but I have never seen it done." Later, he advises managers to "never show panic."

The book doesn't skimp on specifics with a sample case study on a jet fighter trainer simulation system that has a budget of over $22 million. The book also provides real numbers for project estimation, bug tracking, and resource allocation. You'll even find numbers for measuring productivity, including KLOCs. Numerous sample documents (including sample meeting agendas) round out the tour here. The book offers plenty of good advice for working with upper management, customers, and development teams throughout the software development process.

While there's certainly no substitute for actual project management experience, Object-Oriented Project Management with UML may be the next best thing. The author's tour of how to manage object-oriented software development offers dozens of savvy tips and a very thorough guide to using some of the best available techniques for software management. This book is perfect for practically minded IS managers or project leaders who want to see how their software development process can be improved using UML with rigorous management techniques. --Richard Dragan

Topics covered: object-oriented project management overview; obstacles; UML basics; use cases; class diagrams; lifecycle models: waterfall, spiral, RAD; time box model and controlled iteration; Software Development Plans (SDPs); budgeting; project estimation; management tips for inception, elaboration, construction, and transition phases; software metrics: KLOCs and COCOMO; measuring productivity; and sample meeting agendas.

From the Publisher
As object-oriented development becomes more mainstream, applying project management techniques to object-oriented software development has become important to project managers, software developers, and engineers. There are now full-day tutorials offered at major object conferences such as OOPSLA, and at companies such as IBM and Lockheed Martin. Cantor, who teaches a training course on the subject, offers a complete, step-by-step guide through every phase of object-oriented project management.

From the Back Cover
Almost all software projects are risky. The goal of every project manager is to somehow deal with the cost and schedule uncertainty while meeting your customer's needs. In Object-Oriented Project Management with UML, Murray Cantor describes an elegant, UML-based approach to managing object-oriented projects guaranteed to deliver high-quality software on time and within budget.

Prior to joining TASC, Dr. Cantor was a development manager at IBM, where he oversaw the development of high-end graphics and multimedia systems.

Customer Reviews

A Timely Book for Managers and Sophisticated Customers Alike
Murray Cantor's Object-Oriented Project Management with UML is of value to both the young manager looking for guidance and the seasoned manager looking to ground one's practices. The book is an engaging read that blends best practices with personal opinions. The author is careful to distinguish his personal opinions from the rest of the text and is conscientious to appropriately cite the work of others. Some 70 plus references are listed in the bibliography. In fact, what comes across is Mr. Cantor would prefer software managers to have a repertoire of books on one's shelf. I myself keep returning to Walker Royce's Software Project Management, a Unified Framework, Grady Booch, James Rumbaugh, and Ivar Jacobson's The Unified Modeling Language User Guide, as well as Mr. Cantor's O-O Project Management. Managing great software teams within projects is tough in today's environment of complex solutions, anxious customers, and shrinking time-to-markets. It takes more than just common sense. It requires a game plan and an awareness of when to be flexible. Mr. Cantor lays out a series of methods that focuses on attacking project complexity, leveraging team dynamics, and what needs to be accomplished when in the controlled, iterative development lifecycle. The underlying theme is risk management. Software projects will likely be adventurous for the foreseeable future as we seek ever larger scale systems, but if more engineers and customers were grounded in the techniques espoused by this book a lot more businesses would achieve their goals.

A beginner's book bound to gather dust after the first read
There is no doubt that this book is very good for somebody, who is going to start working in a software engineering environment. However, there are a couple of points which indicate that one should look around before deciding upon a purchase. (Even with the current price of 24 $)

Here are my points of concern:

- The chapter on object technology is really a half-hearted introduction and not very useful for getting started in this field.

- The book relies heavily on just a few references. Those references are recommended repeatedly. One of them is the doubtful 'Journey of a Software Professional' (Hint: Check out the mixed reviews.)

- The author can't resist recommending the 80-20 rule throughout the different project phases. This is hardly inventive and adds to a certain degree of repetitiveness.

- The case study is more entertaining than informative.

- The third part of the book (consisting of only one chapter) simply gives the impression that the book was rushed out for print.

I am not quite sure why this book merits a hardcover and on some occasions throughout the book, I could not help thinking that the layouters tried to increase the number of pages by adding a few commentary boxes ('Tips') here and there and enlarging diagrams to 'poster-size'.

Despite all those complaints, I have to say that the book helped me to gain an overview of the management process of a software product. But, after my first reading, it now gathers dust on the bookshelf ...

Wrong Emphasis on Project Management
This book cannot be recommended. Experienced project managers will find a better and more balanced treatment of these topics elsewhere, while neophytes will be seriously misled about the role of a project manager and his responsibilities.

The books main thesis is that by using object-oriented approaches, UML and an appropriate methodology the new project manger is well prepared to be successful. Nothing could be further from the truth. Managing a software development project has very little to do with any of these.

Throughout the book we look in vain for proper treatment of the real issues a project manager faces: requirements elucidation, senior management involvement, change control, risk management, user involvement, etc. Where these issues are not ignored they are dismissed in a few lines. To find out why projects succeed or fail all managers should read the CHAOS report.

Despite its title the book seems curiously dated. Many of its claims were also made about structured methodologies nearly twenty years ago. Here are some examples.

In the Introduction the author boldly states "..we in the industry really do know how to manage software development." This is beyond positive thinking and way into deep denial. Where ever you go and what ever group of users you ask, by and large the response is the same: most software sucks. We remain very bad at managing software development.

We are also told "..developers are still the best source of software managers". Rubbish! There are certainly cases where developers have become good software development managers. However for the most part, good developers are miserably unhappy and fail to perform well as managers. Developers who become managers often do so because they have false idea of what they will be expected to do. A false idea that’s perpetuated by books like this.

On the plus side, the book contains numerous references many of which new project managers would benefit from reading.