Amazon.com (ISBN 0201309580, Hardcover)

For a cutting-edge take on how to manage today's object-oriented, iterative software development process, take a look at Walker Royce's Software Project Management. This readable, comprehensive guide shows how well-managed software teams can produce better, more profitable software in less time.

The book begins by outlining the "traditional" waterfall approach to software development. The author looks at what changes for management when it comes to today's iterative software processes. Written with an eye toward management (with plenty of tables and figures for project estimation and planning), the author takes you through common pitfalls of managing software.

Besides reviewing older studies and metrics, the author offers his own 10 principles to managing software, along with hints for all facets of development, from initial inception to construction and deployment of software. The author provides detailed project milestones and other deliverables to help you manage software better, including a breakdown of tasks for your team that will help maximize your efficiency.

After a look forward at what better software management means for return on investment (ROI), the author presents several very useful appendices, which include software metrics (like COCOMO), as well as a description of the CCPDS-R missile command system (which used many of the author's management principles). Overall, this groundbreaking title will be useful to any software manager or project leader seeking to get control of software costs and improve team efficiency. --Richard Dragan