Book Review: The Design of Design Essays from a Computer Scientist by Frederick P. Brooks, Jr.

Book Review: The Design of Design Essays from a Computer Scientist by Frederick P. Brooks, Jr.: Publisher- Addison-Wesley: ISBN- 13: 978-0-201-36298-5

Brooks’s latest book “The Design of Design – Essays from a Computer Scientist” is truly successor of Mythical Man Month. This book not only covers Design of computer system but also any design problem. As the title of the book is very clear, book is a collection of essays by Brooks on the design aspects of computer systems – hardware and software. These essays very clearly cover design process and various attributes of design.

The book also has few case studies ranging from home to IBM 360 system design. The case studies are the loose part of the book. Brooks might have presented better case studies which might be more relevant to computer scientists and engineers.

Over all basis book is fantastic and must read for any computer designer or architect irrespective of his experience.

Disclaimer: I did not get paid to review this book, and I do not stand to gain anything if you buy the book. I have no relationship with the publisher or the author.

One can get more information about book and related topics from:

1. Author at Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Brooks
2. Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Design-Essays-Computer-Scientist/dp/0201362988
3. Author at IBM archive: http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/builders/builders_brooksjr.html
4. Review at kottke.org: http://kottke.org/10/03/the-design-of-design
5. Informit.com: http://www.informit.com/authors/bio.aspx?a=CBFFA52D-D4B2-44E4-B525-94199B158A7C