Great ideas, questionable book layout
Rating:
4 / 5
Other reviews here applaud this books content. I agree completely with their positive comments, and will not repeat them. Instead, I want to point out one shortcoming.
This book could have done a better job at laying out the descriptions of each pattern. In one of the opening chapters, in a section titled "Structure of Patterns in this Book", the author lists the different parts of each pattern. Title, picture, context, problem statement, problem description, solution summary, and unresolved issues are some of the different parts of each pattern description. My complaint is that in the chapters on each pattern, only the 'unresolved description' section is actually labeled. Labeling each section (as is quite common in other pattern books) is much easier for the reader, and makes the book a useful reference.
Provides crucial SCM translations
Rating:
5 / 5
The authors provide useful generic definitions of the critical SCM patterns. They go onto provide direct mappings between specific tool vocabulary and the patterns. This mapping has been instrumental in establishing a common SCM vocabulary in cross division projects. SCM education and planning are greatly streamlined due to this important translation. "Patterns"is an essential dictionary on all SCM adventures.
Essential SCM resource for all experience levels
Rating:
5 / 5
I'm a fan of patterns because of the succinct way they convey knowledge and practices, so I rushed out to purchase this book. I was not disappointed for a number of reasons. First, it is true to the concept of patterns, and second, it is all practical with no ivory tower preaching.The patterns given in this book comprise a complete picture of software configuration management, and will allow you to fully understand the scope and complexity of implementing, managing and continuously improving an SCM process. From the following list you'll see that these patterns are end-to-end:
- Mainline and active development line, both of which are designed to manage baselines, as well as to promote stability in the code base.
- Private Workspace, repository, private versioning, and private system build patterns are the essence of SCM as well as reflecting best practices in team-oriented integration and testing while preserving the integrity of the code base.
- Third party codeline is an interesting pattern that I've not encountered, but one that is highly useful when you are working with subcontractors, or have outsourced some development. The patterns for task level commit and task branches are also useful approaches to team-oriented development, whether internal or distributed among subcontractors.
- Codeline policy, smoke and unit test patterns govern the SCM process and prepare for the transition from development to QA. These are core patterns that are directly tied to the development process.
- Release line, release prep codeline, and regression test patterns cover the promotion to QA and release management portions of the development process. In addition to the patterns, which are the main value of this book, the clearly articulated chapters on pattern language, SCM concepts, and other contextual information further enhance this book, and is yet another reason why anyone interested in SCM should make reading this book a priority. The supporting web site (ASIN B0000AA6G3) contains errata, a downloadable quick reference card, and sample chapters from this book. If you are still undecided visit the site and you'll find sufficient information with which to decide.
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