review by
Jerry Singleton, March 2009

When I ordered this book, I only had the title to go by. I was expecting a high level of detail on how to create software without all the overhead. Instead, I now have a book with a bit less detail, but more content on "LEAN" Software Development, and how it is similar to (different from) and related to "Agile" Software Development. Not what I was expecting, but I'm not disappointed.

I do not think the book is as detailed as it could be for something that is in a series called "Theory In Practice." However, there are certainly some good definitions, clarifications, and descriptions. If you are not familiar with Agile and Lean, these will give you a better understanding of the Lean philosophy.

Although I have tended to be doing a lot of what the authors describe (in a methodology still in development itself), I appreciate the additional information for areas I have not gone too deeply into, for various reasons.

If you have never tried eXtreme Programming, Agile, Lean, etc. this book may be useful for you to evaluate the potential benefits and a roadmap to get there. I recommend it for this purpose.