Known for his ability to find provocative answers to the most puzzling questions, Tom DeMarco explores a wide range of issues in twenty-four masterful essays.The offerings range from the wise to the kooky -- in fact, many of them defy categorization. But all are marked by the author's eye-opening perspectives on topics that demand your professional attention.Drawing together several essays published in such journals as IEEE Software and American Programmer, plus ten all-new papers never seen beyond his circle of colleagues, Tom DeMarco tackles a multitude of tough subjects and wrestles fresh insight out of them. Here's a compact, compelling edition of this acclaimed consultant's views on software engineering.Subjects include management-aided engineering, documentation, desktop video, productivity, software factories, teams, measurement, icons, and more!Essays Include* Why Does Software Cost So Much?* Mad About Measurement* Software Productivity: The Covert Agenda* The Choir and the Team* Management-Aided Software Engineering (with Sheila Brady of Apple Computer)* Lean and Mean* Software Development: State of the Art vs. State of the Practice (with Tim Lister)* Twenty Years of Software Engineering: Looking Forward, Looking Back* "If We Did Only One Thing to Improve . . ."-- plus fifteen more!