* Welcome Andrew Stellman and Jennifer Greene

[David O'Meara]

This week, we're delighted to have Andrew Stellman and Jennifer Greene helping to answer questions about the new book Head First PMP.

The promotion starts Tuesday, December 4th 2007 and will end on Friday, December 7th 2007.

We'll be selecting four random posters in this forum to win a free copy of the book provided by the publisher, O'Reilly.

Please see the Book Promotion page to ensure your best chances at winning!

Posts in this welcome thread are not eligible for the drawing.

[Kristin Stromberg]

I already own this book and the authors' other book, "Applied Software Project Management". I cannot recommend them both enough! Head First PMP takes an excruciatingly boring topic and turns it into something fun and engaging. Thanks to the authors, I might actually stay awake long enough to get my PMP cert. Without them, no chance.

So I guess my question would be.... what's next?

[Paul Michael]

Welcome to JavaRanch! Saw the sample chapter regarding Risks and it looks really good and easy to understand.

Excited to get a copy of the whole book!

[Conrad D'Cruz]

Greetings Andrew and Jennifer,

I recently got my PMP cert and got done teaching PM skills for BA.

I am also planning on writing a book on PM and BA skills for Software development.

I want to test this reply before asking a question.

Thanks
Conrad D'Cruz, PMP

[Conrad D'Cruz]

I hasten to add that I don't need the book since I already am certified

However the question I had was about Agile Project Management. How does that book address project schedule management and project scope management?

Seems like those are at odds with Agile as it was originally conceived.

Conrad

[Jeanne Boyarsky]

Welcome Andrew and Jenny!

[Andrew Stellman]

Thanks for the great welcome!

Kristin Stromberg wrote:

I already own this book and the authors' other book, "Applied Software Project Management". I cannot recommend them both enough! Head First PMP takes an excruciatingly boring topic and turns it into something fun and engaging. Thanks to the authors, I might actually stay awake long enough to get my PMP cert. Without them, no chance.

So I guess my question would be.... what's next?

Cool, thanks! That's really great to hear... especially about "Applied Software Project Management". As far as what's next, O'Reilly just released our third book, "Head First C#", last week. I know that might not be all that interesting to Java programmers, but we're really proud of it, and we think it came out really well. (It's very different from "Head First Java".)

Our next project is called "Beautiful Teams". If you've read "Beautiful Code", it's going to be similar in a lot of ways. We're gathering stories from many different people from around the industry that will hopefully show you how they handled some tricky project and team situations. It'll probably be out in the middle of 2008.


Conrad D'Cruz wrote:

However the question I had was about Agile Project Management. How does that book address project schedule management and project scope management?

Seems like those are at odds with Agile as it was originally conceived.

They're not as different as you might think. I made another post about it in this forum, which links to a blog post I did about Agile and how it fits in (or doesn't fit in) with the PMP exam material.

Previous topic post: https://coderanch.com/t/130999/Agile/HF-PMP-does-it-fit

My blog post: http://www.stellman-greene.com/2007/04/27/what-about-agile/
[ December 04, 2007: Message edited by: Andrew Stellman ]

[Htay Hlaing Win]

Hi Andrew and Jennifer,
I am glad to know that Head First PMP is released. As I am collecting info to prepare for cert , I I found it quite useful . Is there any other would you like to recommand for us like begineers?

[Ryan Jumawan]

Hi Andrew and Jennifer,

I haven't read about this book.. would this be a full reference and guide PMP 101 to be successful in the certification? I mean for sure you have situational HF style description in this book.

Thanks,
Ryan

[Guruvikram Ramamoorthy]

I gave a thought to take my PMP for more than a year and as the topic is so dry never flipped more than 20 pages. Hope your book would let me achieve that :-)

[David O'Meara]

Welcome again to the Authors!

Please ask questions in a new thread, not this one.

[Paul Michael]

Originally posted by Andrew Stellman:
Cool, thanks! That's really great to hear... especially about "Applied Software Project Management". As far as what's next, O'Reilly just released our third book, "Head First C#", last week. I know that might not be all that interesting to Java programmers, but we're really proud of it, and we think it came out really well. (It's very different from "Head First Java".)

On the contrary, I'm a Java developer but I'm very interested in your Head First C# book!

My friends and I have been trying to order this from Amazon since mid November. When the book changed its status to "In Stock" on the 27th (early morning) we instantly added it to our cart. But unfortunately the shipping (not delivery) estimate Amazon presented was Dec 17 so we removed it again.

I tried again this morning after seeing your post and the shipping estimate is already showing an earlier date Dec 5. I guess it's time to invite my friends again to pool our orders.


[ January 28, 2008: Message edited by: Paul Michael ]
[ January 28, 2008: Message edited by: Paul Michael ]

[Andrew Stellman]

I'm pretty sure the Amazon kinks are worked out -- they should have plenty in stock now. Most of the problems like that happen because Amazon's initial order from O'Reilly is too small and the books all go out to people who backordered it. There were definitely a lot of orders in the first week that it was out. But those supply hiccups usually work themselves out within the first few days.

[Hema Menon]

Glad to see Andrew & Jenny at Javaranch!

[venkatesh rajmendram]

Hey Andrew and Jennifer,
welcome....

I am planning to write PMP...your book will be helpful. I am on javaranch since 7 years...I am thinking of PMP now...well lets see how it goes...

your book will be definitely helpful....

thanks
Venkatesh

[Bert Bates]

Welcome to the ranch Andrew and Jennifer!

And congrats on both HF books!

Bert

[David O'Meara]

Listen to Bert, apparently he knows!

[Ayub ali khan]

Hi,

I am sure this book would be interesting to read. Just wanted to know how is HF PMP different from other PMP cert books apart from HF style of presentation ?

Thanks and Regards
Ayub

[Andrew Stellman]

The biggest difference between Head First PMP and other books is that we don't ask you to memorize lists of things, use flash cards, or learn useless facts just because they're on the exam.

When we wrote Head First PMP, we started with the assumption that the best way to pass the PMP exam is to learn the important project management concepts, ideas, techniques and practices that appear on the exam. Every one of them is there for a reason, so we concentrated on giving you explanation based on project management ideas, and scenarios to demonstrate how every single one of these ideas would fit into a real-life project.

Also, we include many more exercises, puzzles and practice work than any other book I've seen. The book includes dozens of crosswords, fill-in-the blank exercises, matching exercises and other puzzles to help you learn the material. We also include the traditional end-of-chapter PMP-style multiple choice questions, but by the time you take them you'll already have had plenty of practice with the material. And we include a final review chapter with lots of questions and a big final drill, so that you've got lots of practice before you take our full 200-question practice exam (which we've been told is very similar to the real thing).

That's why we think this is the most thorough PMP exam prep book that you'll find.

[Ayub ali khan]

Hi Andrew,

Thank you for the detailed explation !!! I am planning to do PMP and HF PMP will definitely be a good resource to start with !!!.

Best Regards
Ayub