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More process patterns
Ambler S., Cambridge University Press, New York, NY, 1999. Type: Book (9780521652629)
Date Reviewed: Feb 1 2000

I use Ambler’s Process patterns: building large-scale systems using object technology [1] as a supplement in my object-oriented design class. That book defines the project life cycle and development states. This new book, a sequel, introduces the management, testing, and delivery states of development. It is organized into three parts plus a 38-page introduction. Chapter 12, “Parting Words,” which is a single page and is not listed as a chapter in the index of the book, simply gives the URL for the Process Patterns Resource Page (part of Ambler’s Web site, www.ambysoft.com) followed by a glossary. I liked two other things about this book: the well-organized index and the complete abbreviation list provided at the beginning of the book.

According to Ambler, “Process Patterns and More Process Patterns summarize my experiences developing large-scale, mission-critical software for a wide variety of organizations, as well as my experiences helping these organizations understand how to effectively and efficiently develop object-oriented software. I believe that these two books will provide an excellent starting point from which your organization can define an OOSP that meets your specific needs” (p. xxxvii). The author achieves his goal.

Chapter 1, “Introduction to More Process Patterns,” summarizes key concepts from the previous book. The emphasis is on a review of the object-oriented software process (OOSP) and the Capability Maturity Model (CMM). Excluding chapters 1 and 12, the book consists of the three key parts “Deliver,” “Maintain and Support,” and “Tying Up Loose Ends.” Part 1 contains chapters 2 through 6. Part 2 is composed of chapters 7, 8, and 9. Part 3 is left with chapters 10 and 11. The author distinguishes between phases and stages as follows. A project phase is a large component of the OOSP. The four project phases are initiate, construct, deliver, and maintain-and-support. A project phase is depicted by a process pattern. A project stage, on the other hand, is defined as a component of a project phase. Iteration is expected in each phase of the project, which advances in a serial manner. A project stage is also depicted by a process pattern. For example, the four stages of the deliver phase are test-in-the-large, rework, release, and assess.

Chapter 2 discusses the deliver phase. Chapter 3 is devoted to the test-in-the-large stage, which ensures that the application works as a whole. Chapter 4 covers the rework stage, in which critical defects are fixed. This stage can be viewed as a mini-construct phase, since the construct phase is composed of model, program, generalize, and test-in-the-small. Chapter 5 describes the release stage, which is fundamentally responsible for application deployment. Chapter 6 explains the assess stage, which is essentially a lessons-learned type of activity for the benefit of the project staff.

Chapter 7 describes the final project phase, maintenance and support. This last phase of a project comprises the support stage and the defects-and-enhancement stage. Chapter 8 is about the support stage, which responds to the needs generated by software change requests (SCRs). Chapter 9 focuses on the defects-and-enhancements stage. In this stage, general feedback about the system is generated through the identification of defects, which paves the way for system enhancement as part of the same stage.

Chapter 10, “The Project and Cross-Project Tasks of the OOSP,” focuses on the big-picture issues associated with the OOSP, which is composed of the initiate, construct, deliver, and maintain-and-support phases. The tasks of the OOSP apply to all project phases and stages. Example tasks are managing projects, people, and deliverables. Reuse management is explained in this book as an OOSP task. Ambler’s approach to reuse management is one of the best conceptual approaches to this difficult notion that I have seen. A key to the reuse management task explained in chapter 10 is that the effectiveness of reuse increases as reuse progresses from the code level to the domain-component level. Between the code and domain-component levels, there are levels of reuse with increasing layers of abstraction. These are inheritance, template, component, framework, artifact, and pattern. Chapter 11, “Introducing the OOSP into Your Organization,” reviews the overall process of tailoring OOSP for your organization. OOSP consists of four serial project phases, 14 iterative project stages, and nine project/cross-project tasks. This chapter also reviews the CMM and the Software Engineering Institute’s IDEAL model for process improvement. All these models are woven together to provide advice for introducing OOSP into an organization. As can be imagined, chapter 11 is very busy. To fully achieve the goals of this chapter, a small book is needed, and I hope the author expands this chapter to produce such a book.

This book will help readers understand key development issues so that quality systems can be delivered in a process-driven and repeatable fashion.

Reviewer:  M. M. Tanik Review #: CR124829 (0002-0057)
1) Ambler, S. W. Process patterns: building large-scale systems using object technology. Cambridge University Press, New York, 1998.
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