How This Book Came About When we began writing for Rational Software back in 1998 for the now-defunct Rose Architect magazine, our intent was to provide project managers, product managers, and various other nonengineers with a grounding in some fairly technical material, allowing them to stand shoulder to shoulder with their technical team and обыкм not feel clueless Initially, our article topics varied widely depending on our own interests and current projects But as time went on, we slowly began to articulate some broader themes, and we developed an outline of topics that began to explore the critical topics in configuration management, and in ClearCase specifically As Rose Architect magazine was retired, the articles we wrote shifted from best practices in generic software development to all of the steps involved in developing an integrated, enterprise-wide change management solution For those of you who are not familiar with the history of Rational Software and its various content efforts, a brief recap: As Rational's flagship visual modeling magazine, Rose Architect, was discontinued, we redirected our efforts toward the Catapulse portal, a Rational spin-off company that was eventually spun back into Rational and then became the foundation for the Rational Developers Network (RDN) Then came Big Blue RDN is now part of IBM's developer-Works family of content Throughout all of these changes, we continued to develop content around ClearCase and Unified Change Management (UCM), attempting to help people understand the pitfalls and complexities of building and maintaining a multi-site change management solution Back in early 2003, Addison-Wesley approached us about writing a book At the time, we were both fully engaged in our current projects--Christian was developing a Web-based team collaboration tool, and Darren was inventing a grid-based workflow application--and we just could not make the time to add a book to our list of tasks But the seed was planted, and we occasionally talked about it We slowly began to investigate current authors and titles, and ultimately we outlined a book concept that we thought the market needed Based on our individual experiences and our shared understanding of both ClearCase and UCM, we decided that the book would provide an introduction to these topics for beginners and seasoned users alike The Goal of This Book Spend any time in a bookstore or online and you'll see that the market is flush with titles on software configuration management (SCM or CM), software development, and various object-oriented development themes For us, the problem with most such books is not so much the content but the writing style For the "nontechnical" reader, most of these books are just too, well, technical The majority of books on the market are written like textbooks The first one or two chapters are generally very basic, but the subsequent chapters immediately jump off the deep end, drowning the reader in technical jargon and architectural diagrams Almost every single one of these books assumes the reader already has some kind of background in software engineering And frankly, most of them are dry and boring We believe there are a number of problems with the approach taken by these books: They emphasize installation and configuration, not the underlying reasons for deploying a comprehensive change management solution--much less the decisions project managers must make before the software is even installed They jump very quickly from an overview to the main content; they tend to require previous experience in a specific technology or methodology Many of the diagrams and case studies in these books are simply too complicated for the nontechnical reader None of these titles was written with the project manager, analyst, or nonengineer in mind For the most part, humor is absent from all of these titles The Art of ClearCase ; Deployment follows some of the same technical footsteps as these other books, but we present the material in a way that a broader group of project personnel can use When people ask us, "Why this book?" our answer is that we hope to provide members of the extended project team and burgeoning CM managers with a better understanding of how an end-to-end change management solution, in general, can enhance an organizationis ability to deliver better products--and deliver them faster But we also hope to show how ClearCase, specifically, best meets those needs You may ask: What problems will this book solve? What questions will it answer? This book will help you to understand the fundamentals of software configuration management and ClearCase It will demystify many aspects of the technology and help you understand the business value of an integrated change management solution And most important, it will help you to make better decisions about the planning and management of your software development efforts We chose the title The Art of ClearCase ; Deployment because deploying and maintaining ClearCase really is an art Sure, there are some basic configurations that are mandatory for any ClearCase install, but overall the tool is powerful and flexible, allowing the CM manager and ClearCase users to retain a large amount of control over the solution they develop Building and maintaining a ClearCase deployment is an iterative process You'll make mistakes, and you'll constantly find areas for improvement--but over time, you'll also learn to further integrate ClearCase into your companyis business processes In fact, a finely tuned change management solution will become a major factor in your company's ability to stay competitive Our Writing Style We've received a lot of feedback about our writing style Admittedly, our language use and tone can be colloquial at times, but we prefer to write in the voice with which we are most comfortable Both of us present and teach on a regular basis, and we like to have fun with what we do We want to ease the reader into the subject matter, by using humor and by sharing specific examples of our own project experiences And so the book follows a natural progression, moving from broad concepts of project and change management to the more technical aspects of a ClearCase deployment Unlike other books, we gradually introduce the reader to important concepts, explaining at each step how the various acronyms and activities fit into the bigger picture We walk through the nuances of working within a modeling paradigm, and we help the reader understand the actors, the use cases, and the complete problem domain before embarking on a change management implementation of any size Whether or not you will be the primary user of your new CM system, this book will help you understand how the system works, and where you fit into the overall process Learning is a circular process Most people cannot read a textbook from cover to cover and retain all of that information Readers need some repetition of material throughout a book, to help reinforce key concepts, but they also need an organized presentation of the subject matter, so they can readily explore each topic and find the information they seek Our writing follows a specific pattern Many chapters review basic concepts covered in previous sections, because we feel that certain ideas need to be highlighted As you advance through the book, it is important to keep noticing these underlying themes to help drive them home Unlike other books in the broader category of software-development best practices, this book provides insight into the management, communication, and implementation issues surrounding the components of a change management solution It also covers issues and tactical responses to implementing both small, team-based ClearCase installations, as well as large, multi-site deployments found in many of today's global enterprises The book also shows how ClearCase can best serve these organizations Most chapters contain actionable steps that a project manager can follow, along with relevant examplesowith a story or theme to keep things interesting The unifying factor in this book is the use of real-world examples, with practical guidelines for designing and deploying an end-to-end solution, all taken from our own experiences in building these kinds of solutions We use a healthy dose of humor--in the form of stories, quotes, and anecdotes--to help make our points and keep the reader engaged And whenever a picture can help to make a point or to illustrate a concept, we include diagrams and visual examples to demonstrate new concepts and ideas To be honest, there are numerous books on the market that support the many different faces of change management, from configuration management tools to detailed methodologies, most with case studies on huge implementations Some of these books we even recommend (after you read this one, of course; see the bibliography) However, most of these books fail to mention all of the different tools in the change management continuum and how they work together with ClearCase--and even fewer attempt to explain the process and techniques with the nonengineer in mind What is missing from the libraries of most project and CM managers is a book that clearly articulates the strategies and practical guidelines for scoping and deploying ClearCase, from the initial modeling activities through the handoff to the training and support teams Who Should Read This Book The Art of ClearCase ; Deployment is targeted toward those readers who want to learn about the end-to-end change management product family with ClearCase at the core, and how each component fits into the larger product development organization--mostly from the standpoint of the project manager (and the nondeveloper) Although some of the material in this book is very technical, we assume the majority of readers have minimal knowledge of change management tools, object-oriented analysis and design, programming, or any modeling methodologies This book should serve as a guide for ClearCase novices and as a desktop r Авторы Кристиан Д Баклей Christian D Buckley Даррен У Пулсипер Darren W Pulsipher.  Переводчики:Издательство: Addison-Wesley Professional, 2004 г Мягкая обложка, 432 стр ISBN 0321262204.