Semantics in Business Systems: The Savvy Manager's Guide (The Savvy Manager's Guides)

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I was skeptical that the book would be relevant to a small company's projects, but I got lots of good ideas that we can start implementing right away. Because the world of the semantic web is still so new, even our small company has a chance to contribute to a lot of the ontologies that will be used in our industry for years to come.

As a professional data modeller, I found this book impressive, inspiring, and distressing.It is impressive because the author has done a good job of encapsulating a broad set of what on the surface appear to be completely unrelated topics--metadata, business rules, data modeling, XML, etc. Except that I am interested in all of them, which should already have told me that they were related. He managed to balance the level of detail for each of the areas, not getting either intimidating with detail or too superficial to be useful.I found it inspiring because I really have been interested in this subject for many years and just didn't know it. In my data modeling practice I have always focused more on the meaning of concepts than on how they might be physically represented in databases. The author's admonition to companies to spend more time (and money) considering semantics could be in my marketing materials. My current problem is that data modeling has become passé and it is tricky to market my services. I like to distinguish myself from other data modelers in that I think I am better than most in understanding semantics, but I never described it that way. Semantics now gives me a way to rework my marketing message.I found this book distressing for the same reasons I found it inspiring. It points out that far from being a closed issue, this field is just beginning. The amount of stuff I still don't know is really troubling. The bibliography seriously scared me. Part of the problem is that my undergraduate degree was in philosophy, but in addition to the fact that I really have trouble after all these years remembering who said what, I now realize that my education in that subject was seriously superficial. Now I am going to have to take a refresher course!While I often see myself as an old curmudgeon who hates new ideas, I see this book as a challenge to me to get my intellectual act together. I welcome that and I am glad to see that there are still exciting things to be done.

Dave McComb's book is about semantics, and it is a terrific advertisement for his understanding of meaning and communication. Drawing on a lifetime of experience, he explains the basic ideas in simple, unpretentious language, introducing semantics as the branch of philosophy that deals with meaning. Then he motors on through classification, vocabularies, taxonomies, ontologies; data and object-oriented modeling; state machines, schemas, metadata, natural language processing, business rules, document and knowledge management and much more. McComb ties everything together logically, and proves that it is possible to describe some of the core ideas of software in words that anyone can understand. The last few chapters present some of the latest buzzwords, such as XML, Web services, Service Oriented Architecture, Business Process Management, Enterprise Application Integration and the Semantic Web.This book is very well written, and can be read in a single sitting - its 300 pages took me about five hours, making the occasional note and skipping nothing. When you have finished, there is still more value at the end: a reference section, where all the concepts mentioned in the book are summarised in logical order; an excellent glossary; a "resources" section 30 pages long stuffed with book references, URLs and the like; and a professionally compiled index. The book is well produced, too. Its binding is suitable for frequent use, there are no typos or other careless errors, and the many diagrams are attractive and easy to understand.Anyone who is involved with producing or maintaining software stands to learn something new and useful from reading this book. Even if not, it would still be a fascinating read.

This book is extremely readable, particularly given the complexity of the subject. It is conversational without sacrificing the detail or precision that is necessary in a book of this nature. McComb's "tell to you later" approach to some of the topics was very refreshing. It was almost like reading a mystery. He gives a glimpse of an intriguing issue and tells you that he will explain it later. This kept me reading, just like a well written novel would. You could almost hear McComb talking to you about the subject and clearly it is a subject he both knows well and enjoys discussing. His examples and definitions were extensive, easy to understand, effective and to the point. The glossary and the resources appendices alone are a significant contribution to the subject of Semantics in Business Systems. The chapter transitions are very well done and helpful, particularly for a person in the early stages of understanding the application of Semantics to the development of Business Systems. They are concise, effective and readable. McComb also makes excellent use of background summaries. His history lessons and comparisons to common or similar experiences helped me relate to the subject. He uses experiences we all have in common and they brought me into the subject matter he was discussing, even if it was unfamiliar. The examples he gives, comparing the shift to Semantics to earlier transitions and similar technology developments, acted as a friendly guide through a territory of unfamiliar ideas and concepts. If you lived through those earlier transitions, they give you insight into what is going on in the world of Semantics today.Where he could, McComb uses common everyday language. Even when covering more advanced concepts, he uses the most familiar terms possible. This is not just a matter of semantics; it helps keep the reader on board and gives a sense that the topic can be mastered. And when new terms were introduced, it was clear they were not arbitrary. They were needed because the reader was entering new territory. The figures McComb included were relevant, to the point and very easy to follow. I thought they were effectively placed and helped me a lot in understanding the text. One of the greatest strengths in this book is the very effective use of examples. They are right on target, easy to understand and succinct enough to make the point quickly. The product and vendor knowledge McComb provides is extensive. It brought the subject of Semantics to life. There is no better evidence of the emergence of a technology trend than seeing people in the marketplace providing tools and offering services that develop and implement the new concepts and approaches. The contrasts that McComb creates are also very helpful. They can be found in his text, examples, figures and tables. They helped me develop a clear understanding of how Semantics is different from related technologies and techniques and how it is the same. As well

Great job of demystifying semantics...good job of explaining concepts in easy to understand format. Good diagrams help convey concepts that will be the foundation of the next wave of business systems development. Examples are comprehensive without being tedious.