Review by Billy Barron

"The Unified Software Development Process" by Booch, Jacboson, and Rumbaugh (Addison-Wesley; ISBNs 0-201-57169-2) describes a process for developing object oriented software. The hard thing to understand is how this is any different than the Rational Unified Process documented in another book. My conclusion is that it isn't. This book is just longer.

It should be pointed out that this is not a neutral book as it is written by the co-owners of Rational Software and their process relays on using tools which they sell. However, on the positive side, at least, it doesn't beat this to death.

The book is unusual in that it has parts that are appropiate for developers as well as project managers. Both are handled equally well. Project manages will like the book because it describes the phases, iterations, and risk managements. Designers will like the technical step-by-step information.

The book is very easy to read and easy to understand. The sentence structure at times gets very repetitive, but actually that is the worst weakness of the book, which says a lot (that the explanations are not the core problem).

This book is a must read for any serious OO designer or project manager. Even if it wasn't a good book, which it is, it is going to be the default process used in many companies.