Debugging the Development Process: Practical Strategies for Staying Focused, Hitting Ship Dates, and Building Solid Teams

This is a good book on software development process improvements. Steve talks about practical strategies for staying focused, hitting ship dates and building solid teams. These strategies are common-sense but are often ignored by managers, project manager and technical leads.Chapter 1 talks about "laying the groundwork" -- priorities work, establish goals, coding priorites. How true this is ... how often have we started development when we are unsure of what the management wants to achieve out of it.Some of the other strategies include having 40 hour week(hmm ... reminds me of Extreme Programming) and about the danger of having working 12 hours per day. He also spoke about ensuring personal growth in dividuals, and how it directly helps the company.This book is written in simple english, straight to the point. To everyone doing software development, this is a must-read!!!

Steve talks about all of the problems I've found common in the software development industry that stress out the development team. His discussions of problems he has faced in his own development efforts provide valuable tips on handling the pressures from management, staff and deadlines. I highly recommend this book for anyone who assumes a leadership role, not just in the software industry, but in all industries where pressure and deadlines exist.

The author's style is wonderful- much more personal than most texts dealing with management, while still managing to be more than a collection of 'cute' anecdotes. This book will provide the greatest benefit to professionals, such as myself, who have had a few years experience in software development processes and are looking for that 'next level' of guidance. In that respect, Steve Maguire's writing is effective because he presents knowledge to the reader as if from a mentor to an apprentice.I would, however, contrast it with another work which I believe to be equally important though radically different- "The Mythical Man Month". Where Maguire writes as a seasoned guru with an arm around your shoulder, Brooks writes like an evangelist and discusses software development on an almost religous plane. "The Mythical Man Month" also approaches the subject in a broader, more philosophical sense. In the end, I feel that I've gotten more out of each of these books having read the other. While contrasting in terms of eras (mainframe vs pc) and environments (short-sleeve button-down IBM vs hacky-sack Microsoft), it's interesting to note how many conclusions are shared between these works.Bottom-line: read this book, you'll love it :)

I loved this book and bought several copies for my senior management! It really helped this "newbie" supervisor to get started on the right foot! I'd recommend it to anyone who involved in software development. It's a book you'll want to keep within reach on your shelf at work.

Highly recommended reading for anyone whose profession is software development. Steve's no nonsense approach is extremely easy to read and follow. His recommendations for leading software development teams are dead on. This book should be a MUST READ for ALL software development team leaders and managers