Summary:

Ship It! avoids current fashion trends and marketing hype; instead, readers find page after page of solid advice, all tried and tested in the real world. This book is a collection of tips that show what tools a successful team has to use, and how to use them well. Developers will get quick, easy-to-follow advice on modern techniques and when they should be applied. Aimed at beginning to intermediate programmers, this book will show you: Which tools help, and which don't How to keep a project moving Approaches to scheduling that work How to build developers as well as product What's normal on a project, and what's not How to manage managers, end-users and sponsors Danger signs and how to fix them Few of the ideas presented here are controversial or extreme; most experienced programmers will agree that this stuff works. Yet 50 to 70 percent of all project teams in the U.S. aren't able to use even these simple,well-accepted practices effectively. This book will help you get started. Ship It! begins by introducing the common technical infrastructure that every project needs. Readers can choose from a variety of recommended technologies according to their skills and budgets to get the job done. The next sections outline the necessary steps to get software out the door reliably,using well-accepted, easy-to-adopt, best-of-breed practices that really work. Finally, and most importantly, Ship It! presents common problems-and danger signs-that arise and offers real-world advice on how to solve them.