Most software needs to be "maintainable" and have high "internal quality." But what does that mean in practical terms? Code smells form a vocabulary for discussing code quality and how well suited code might be to change. The smells also provide good indications as to what to refactor and how.

The shiniest software application in the world, shipped on time and under budget, is a failure if it doesn't make someone's job easier. Failures cost us customers and money. How can we design software that our customers want to use and that will reduce our cost of failure?

There is a natural relationship between the features in a product and the customer's satisfaction with that product, but not every feature influences customers in the same way. The best plan for satisfying customers, as author Mike Cohn explains, is to give them what they want.

We make software so that people can use it. Yet these users are so hard to define that they are often simply ignored. This six-step approach to Interaction Design can help you bring your customers down to size so that you can provide the right product for them.