Ship It!: A Practical Guide To Successful Software Projects

techniques a successful project team has to use, and how to use them

well. You'll get quick, easy-to-follow advice on modern

practices: which to use, and when they should be applied. This book

avoids current fashion trends and marketing hype; instead, readers

find page after page of solid advice, all tried and tested in the

real world.

Aimed at beginning to intermediate programmers, Ship It will show you:

Which tools help, and which don't

How to keep a project moving

Approaches to scheduling that work

How to build developers as well as product

What's normal on a project, and what's not

How to manage managers, end-users and sponsors

Danger signs and how to fix them

Few of the ideas presented here are controversial or extreme; most experienced

programmers will agree that this stuff works. Yet 50 to 70 percent of all

project teams in the U.S. aren't able to use even these simple, well-accepted

practices effectively. This book will help you get started.

Ship It begins by introducing the common technical

infrastructure that every project needs to get the job done. Readers

can choose from a variety of recommended technologies according to

their skills and budgets. The next sections outline the necessary

steps to get software out the door reliably, using well-accepted,

easy-to-adopt, best-of-breed practices that really work.

Finally, and most importantly, "Ship It " presents common

problems that teams face, then offers real-world advice on how to

solve them.