Past Book Review (November 23, 2008): "Organizational Patterns of Agile Software Development"

Past book review (i.e. posted prior to starting this blog) for Organizational Patterns of Agile Software Development, by James O. Coplien and Neil B. Harrison, Prentice Hall PTR, 2004:

There must be other readers who find a bit awkward the following comments provided within the first page of the introduction: "O.K., we'll be frank: we chose 'Agile' for the title out of marketing concerns. It seems to be the current term of choice for the kinds of things we describe in this book. It is a term that rolls off the tongue more easily than other clever names that clamor for your attention on today's bookshelves". Now, the authors quickly follow these comments with the argument that many of the ideas shared here had their genesis prior to the Agile software development movement, they also note that the scope of this book is broader than "so-called" agile development. The authors attempt to describe their interest in "effective" rather than "agile" software development, and that some of the ideas provided within the pages of this book "would fit nobody's definition of agile". In addition, some of the patterns shared here, the authors continue, were criticized by one of the founders of Extreme Programming (XP), who noted that "anyone who worked on organizational issues was avoiding real work".