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 | | Modern Systems Analysis and Design (3rd Edition) by Jeffrey A. Hoffer, Joey George, Joseph Valacich ISBN-10: 0130339903 ISBN-10: 0-13-033990-3 ISBN-13: 9780130339904 ISBN-13: 978-0-13-033990-4 Hardcover 2001-06-19 Prentice Hall Find Lowest Price |
Reviews | ||
"Just the facts ma'am" This book is a difficult read. Most writers infuse something of a personality into their writing, even a textbook. I read a lot of books, mostly non-fiction (programming books, networking books) with some fiction thrown in here and there. The authors may know about the subject and clearly they do, but I found myself reading the text in a monitone voice and my eyes glazing over every couple of sentences. Thats because each sentence is just another fact, freeze dried and stuck next to another fact and eventually you get a very wordy paragraph. Add them all together and you get pages and pages of facts. I felt like someone took a vacuum and sucked out all of the life out of the text. Seriously, I was tempted to look at the preface to see if the authors added the instructions to "just add water before reading". It really is that dry. If that is your reading style, then this book is for you. I couldn't read more than a couple of pages before having to take a break. | ||
Expect a textbook, not a real "how to" lesson I used this book for an online course and I really felt like I was slogging through it. Obviously it's a textbook, but there are probably books out there that get to the point in fewer words. Most chapters are 30-50 pages long, and though some of the examples are helpful, overall the impact of the material is lost in paragraphs that never end. I would say if you aren't in a course that is using this text as a supplement, buy something else. The examples aren't good enough to give you a sense of database structure or systems diagrams without some real world comparison. | ||
It's OK The data itself is fine. It does explain the information in an understandable way. Unfortunately, the font is tiny to make up for the large parts of information in the margins. Also, there is a slight shine to the paper itself which gives a glare when reading the text. | ||
Extremely thorough treatment of Systems Analysis... This summer, I took a class in which we read this entire book. Yes, all 600+ pages of text (thankfully we weren't tested on the index). This HUGE book presents a very thorough treament of the Systems Development Life Cycle and the profession of Systems Analysis. From Project Planning to System Maintenance, hardly a detail gets shunned. The book overall emphasizes the traditional SDLC, but weaves in some discussion of newer methodologies such as: Extreme Programming, Object Oriented design, CASE tools, and other agile methodologies. And if anyone wants to know what a Systems Analyst does day to day on the job, Appendix 1 spells it out pretty thoroughly. Anyone thinking of becoming a Systems Analyst should at least read this appendix, if not the entire book. The book doesn't emphasize customer service to a great degree. As a working Systems Analyst, I find that customer service skills come in handy every single day. Appendix 1 does mention this skill, but not in an overly detailed manner. Information Systems in general deemphasizes the customer side of things ("User error!!!" still gets mockingly shouted across many help desks and support centers), which accounts for some of the problems that the industry as a whole faces (sometimes we're a little too easy to outsource). So a little more on the importance of customer service might have improved the book. In the end, this book is a textbook. The going gets rough in many places as details pile upon details. But to understand some of the complexities of system development, a detailed approach probably represents the best way to go. So if you're looking for pleasure reading, look elsewhere. But if you want a detailed, granular, sometimes heady, complex treatment of the analysis side of Systems Development, this book offers more than you'll need for the traditional approach to the SDLC. Those looking for details on XP or OOP should look elsewhere. | ||
Good S.A.D Book I used this book to learn system analysis and design while taking graduate course. The book is well-written and the layout is pretty good. The authors broke down the information in such way you can understand easily. The book also has some exercises that help you practice what you learn. I kept the book and plan to use it a reference. I will recommend it if you are serious about learning System Analysis and Design. | ||