Software Project Survival Guide: How to Be Sure Your First Important Project Isn't Your Last. Redmond, Wa.: Microsoft Press, 288 pages, 1997. Retail price: $24.99. ISBN: 1-57231-621-7. Available from Microsoft Press 1-800-MS-PRESS (1-800-677-7377). Buy SPSG from Amazon.com in paperback or Kindle formats or from O'Reilly in Ebook format.

 Overview

Software Project Survival Guide (SPSG) is responsive to the problem that many people in the software industry are thrust into positions in which they are given responsibility for the outcome of a software project but are not given any formal or informal training in how to make that happen. SPSG provides an introduction to the steps that successful software projects follow that can be read by both technical and nontechnical readers.

Unlike Code Complete and Rapid Development, SPSG does not provide you with limitless options. It lays out one specific approach to software development that works pretty well for most projects most of the time. The plan described in SPSG is designed to address the most common weaknesses that software projects face. The beginning project leader can use the approach described in SPSG as a pre-fab project plan. The extremely knowledgeable software developer will sometimes be able to come up with a more customized development plan than the one described in SPSG. But the plan described in SPSG will work much better than no plan at all, and "no plan at all" is the most common alternative.

Top Level Contents and Detailed Contents

Survival Guide Website

Excerpts

Reviews

Amazon.com's interview with Steve about SPSG.

Transcript of Steve's talk about SPSG at the San Jose Computer Literacy store.

Corrections