When I started reading this book, I was impressed, but the more I read, the more I wondered for whom the book is really written. Would I purchase a copy if I saw it at my local bookstore? I finally decided I would not.

The book covers a case study utilizing the methods referred to in its title. It uses Rational Rose software to maintain the designs (objects, classes, message passing, and so forth) and to draw the various diagrams of these items and their relationships.

The preface defines the intended goals and audiences, but quickly points out that one is expected to already know Booch or object modeling technique (OMT) methods as treated in Booch [1] and Rumbaugh et al. [2]. Thus, this is not a textbook on either method, nor is it a third-party text on Rational Rose. The book serves none of its intended audiences (computer professionals and students), but it could work in a short course for managers who want to know what their analysts and other staff mean by “objects,” “object-oriented design,” “inheritance,” and so forth. Aside from this, it serves as a lengthy sales brochure for Rational Rose. There are insufficient details about using the majority of the software for it to be a text on Rational Rose. It is not “all you need to know and [that] the company left out of the manuals”; it is not even a good rewrite of the manuals.

The first stated goal is “to provide a sound understanding of the fundamental principles of the Booch and OMT methods” (p. xvii). But if I need to know the cited material first, this goal is, at the least, redundant. The second goal, to give example usages, is met. The third goal, teaching the application of the methods, is approximated, but the book demonstrates more than it teaches.

There are other problems with the book. The Rational Rose screen prints are considered part of the text and, as such, are left unlabeled, unnumbered, and unindexed. They are not always readable, either. There are a few errors in the text. References are buried in footnotes and are mostly to either Booch’s or Rumbaugh’s publications.

The book consists of two parts. Chapters 1 through 15 use the Booch methods and Rational Rose to aid in discovery, definition, diagramming, and recording of the core classes, objects, and relationships for a college registration system. Chapters 16 through 32 do the same, using OMT and Rational Rose instead. The chapters on the Booch methods are clearly written. One can readily identify the intent and see how Rational Rose can serve to maintain the design database. One can also see how Rational Rose can be used to reverse engineer a commercial class library; the Booch library is used to demonstrate this feature.

Since OMT is more general in its approaches and techniques, the chapters allotted to it tend to be denser. One needs to read this material with more care.

The same general sequence of activities is carried out in both parts of the book. Is there some problem that needs a solution? If so, what is the problem? What actors are involved, and how do they interact? What classes and objects can be derived from this conceptualization phase? One proceeds to the analysis and design phases, determining additional objects, messages, and the like; then operations and attributes (methods and properties); inheritance; object behavior; and consistency checking. Incremental delivery and other life-cycle considerations are also treated.

The book comes with cards one can mail to Rational Software to receive a Rational Rose reference card and sales literature. Having received the material, I can say that Rational Rose is potentially very useful. It will generate class definitions in a variety of languages, including C++ and Visual Basic. It can work in a group situation on several platforms and has other useful properties and methods. Thus, the software and methods are useful; the book is not, at least for its intended audience.