Software Process Dynamics Book Review

Having been around software process engineering for over 15 years it is nice to see it presented with a dynamic view, instead of the common static view. It doesn't claim to be the next silver bullet, but it does do a great job of putting all the silver bullets to come about over the past several years in their place. It offers a refreshing realistic view on the state of software processes, and then moves into how to capture their essence with simulation software and system dynamics. The author makes it clear that the book defines system dynamics as a methodology to implement systems thinking and leverage learning efforts. The book also discusses discrete-event simulation, and the trade-offs throughout. Here is a good paper on discrete-event simulation and using it to gauge CMMI levels of a given process. The book also does a great job of relating simulation to the CMM levels. The overall theme is not one of predictions, but rather one of learning and deeper insight into software processes. The author clearly defines and explains the different contexts of process model. He explains it as it is used for simulation, life-cycles (waterfall, RUP, WinWin, MBASE, agile, etc.), and frameworks (CMMI, Six Sigma, etc.) The first chapter of the book is available on the Wiley web site. It contains a lot of great information. The author also has a book site that I have noticed being updated over the past couple of weeks. The book is very well written and it has a nice logical flow to it. I would recommend this book to anyone involved with software engineering. Project Managers, Architects, and Developers all stand to gain from it's insight.