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Extreme
Programming Installed
by Ron Jeffries, Ann Anderson, Chet HendricksonModesty
limits what we can say here. Unquestionably, however, this is
the finest book so far by these three authors. XP Installed
addresses the practical issues of running an XP project.
Highly recommended, of course.
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Planning
Extreme Programming
by Kent Beck, Martin FowlerKent and Martin focus here
on the planning and management process of XP. Buy them all, own the complete
set!.
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Extreme Programming Explained : Embrace Change
by Kent Beck This is it! The first official XP book, Kent's own manifesto
explaining the thought and history behind the XP discipline.
The whole site's about XP, I needn't go on here. The site wouldn't exist, I wouldn't be
doing this, were it not for Kent's "turning all the knobs up to ten" with XP. |
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Humane
Interface, The: New Directions for Designing Interactive
Systems
by Jef Raskin
Jef Raskin has written a wonderful and thought-provoking
book on human factors. He starts with a clean slate and shows
how products can be easier to learn and use.
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Adaptive
Software Development
by James A Highsmith III
Is your project just too big or too complex for XP? Check
out Jim's excellent book on how to bring lighter methods to
large and complex projects.
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Learning
Python
by Mark Lutz and David AscherPython is an
object-oriented scripting language with much of the flavor of
Smalltalk. It is as powerful as Perl, but is readable and OO
from the beginning. This is a good introduction to Python and
will get you on the road.
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Python
Essential Reference
by David M. BeazleyBeazley does a good job of covering
the built-in Python features, and the key modules you need to
know about. The book doesn't cover everything you need,
but it's pretty close.
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XML
By Example
by Benoit MarchalMarchal covers everything you ever
needed to know about XML and XSL in one book - at least
everything I needed to know. His native language isn't
English - I'm guessing French - and a native English speaker
as editor would have avoided some odd constructions. But
you'll barely notice. Good stuff.
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Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code (The Addison-Wesley Object
Technology Series)
by Martin Fowler Refactoring is a core element of Extreme Programming. Keeping your
code clean at all times means that as you learn what you really need, the code will be
ready to go that way. This book by Martin Fowler (author of Analysis Patterns and UML
Distilled) is a wonderful introduction to the subject, and includes a catalog of over 70
refactorings, each one of which can make your program better. Highly Recommended!! |
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UML
Distilled : Second Edition: A Brief Guide to the Standard Object Modeling Language
by Martin Fowler, Kendall ScottThis book will tell you everything you need to know
about UML notation. It will enable to hold your own in UML sessions, against all but
the best UML-slingers. |
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Zen Computer : Mindfulness and the Machine
by Philip Toshio Sudo Delightful! Don't miss this one. Spiritual, not sappy, not
religious.
Zen Computer also asks you to physically acknowledge the machine. Before you start
and after you finish working, make this one simple gesture toward your computer: give it a
nod ... In Samurai thinking, when the sword is in the hands, it houses the soul. |
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Design
Patterns : Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software
by Erich Gamma, Richard Helm, Ralph Johnson, John VlissidesThis is the famous
"Gang of Four" book, covering over 20 of the key design patterns of
object-oriented programming. Highly recommended. |
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The
Design Patterns Smalltalk Companion (Software Patterns Series)
by Bobby Woolf, Kyle Brown, Sherman R. Alpert, Sherman AlpertThis is a companion
book to the Gang of Four, showing how to implement the GoF patterns in Smalltalk. A
good read, with very useful examples. Valuable on its own ... but you really should
have both! |
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Smalltalk
Best Practice Patterns
by Kent BeckThis is the book from which most of our coding patterns are taken.
It describes clearly what good Smalltalk code is, and how to write it. Highly
recommended. |
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Analysis
Patterns : Reusable Object Models
by Martin FowlerThis is Martin's excellent book describing a large number of
analysis patterns from business. Use this as a resource when you wonder how to
represent the various business objects your users need. Do try to apply Martin's
simpler examples first: don't assume you must go to the most complex model. |
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Surviving
Object-Oriented Projects : A Manager's Guide (Addison-Wesley Object Technology Series)
by Alistair CockburnAlistair is another believer in small development processes.
This new book is full of good advice on surviving your projects, based on
Alistair's surveys of a large number of successful and unsuccessful OO projects. |
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Rapid
Development : Taming Wild Software Schedules
by Steve McConnellThis is a big book, full of practices for software development.
Very thought-provoking - but be sure you need all the mechanisms he recommends.
It would be good to have everything here in your bag of tricks, but pull it out
only when it's really needed! |
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Software
Project Survival Guide
by Steve McConnellHere Steve is telling new leads everything he thinks they should
know about surviving their first project lead situation. There's a lot of good
material here, but be warned: Steve is getting into Big Methodology in this one. |
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Code
Complete : A Practical Handbook of Software Construction
by Steve McConnellAnother big book, this one is for the C programmers, though many
of the ideas transfer to other languages. An excellent book focusing on how to
create good solid reliable code. I still look back at it from time to time, even though I
hope never to write another C program as long as I live. |
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Debugging
the Development Process : Practical Strategies for Staying Focused, Hitting Ship Dates,
and Building Solid Teams
by Steve MaguireI really like this little book. It's divided into sections by
project phases, and has short writeups on key topics. Good advice on spotting and
dealing with trouble. |
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Writing
Solid Code : Microsoft's Techniques for Developing Bug-Free C Programs
by Steve MaguireThis is another C-oriented book. I liked reading the stories
of how they did it at Microsoft, since the 'softies have produced a lot of successful code
in their attempts to rule the world. If you have to do C, check this one out. |
 


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Quality
Software Management : Systems Thinking
by Gerald M. WeinbergI like Jerry Weinberg. He's a lunatic: I like that in a
person. He writes from a technical and psychological perspective, describing how to
think about what you do. Many of his books are out of print or hard to find.
This series is one of my favorites. See also:
Quality
Software Management : First-Order Measurement
by Gerald M. Weinberg
Quality
Software Management : Congruent Action (Congruent Action, Vol 3)
by Gerald M. Weinberg
Quality
Software Management : Anticipating Change (Vol 4)
by Gerald M. Weinberg |
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