Recommended Reading

Jeremy Sydik’s "Design Accessible Web Sites" (Pragmatic Bookshelf) explains how to build Web sites that are rich with content, while making all users feel welcome regardless of platform or constraints.

"The Myths of Innovation," by Scott Berkun (O’Reilly), discusses the history of innovation and how ideas become earth-changing technologies. He discusses the roles of collaboration and persuasion in the process.

In "Managing the Test People" (Rocky Nook), Judy McKay examines the challenges that are unique to the software quality assurance process, while presenting real-world examples for the benefit of technical managers inside and outside of QA and testing roles.

Andy Oram and Greg Wilson have edited a collection of developer experiences in "Beautiful Code: Leading Programmers Explain How They Think" (O’Reilly). The contributors go beyond formulas and reveal how they solved the most difficult and unusual problems they found when working on high-profile projects.

"Security Metrics: Replacing Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt" (Addison-Wesley Professional) is a best practices guide prepared by the Yankee Group’s Andrew Jaquith that attempts to bring together the quantitative viewpoint of management and the pragmatic approach of security professionals.

"Computer Architecture & Organization: An Integrated Approach" (Wiley) is an introduction to computer systems and architecture from Miles Murdocca and Vincent P. Heuring that connects the programmer’s view of a system with the underlying hardware and peripherals.

Dean Leffingwell, in "Scaling Software Agility" (Addison-Wesley Professional), attempts to demonstrate how agile principles that are generally seen as suitable only for small teams can translate to larger enterprises.

"Developing Quality Metadata" (Elsevier) builds on the experience of author Cliff Wootton, formerly technical systems architect for the BBC News Interactive Group. It demonstrates how to make metadata accurate and coherent with one’s own solutions, and how to approach problems with metadata proactively and productively.

Philip Tetlow, in "The Web’s Awake" (Wiley-IEEE Press), makes the case for the view that the Web’s complexity and scope have begun to outstrip our ability to control it. The author examines the virtual anatomy of the Web and attempts to present a sociotechnical perspective, rather than a strictly mechanical one.

"User-Centered Design Stories" (Morgan Kauffman) puts one in the driver’s seat, in what authors Carol Righi and Janice James call the first casebook for UCD. The reader is presented with dozens of work situations and asked to present solutions for the problems, which cover a number of key tasks and issues.