I haven't even read the book but I agree with the publisher/editor's postings.
The in-a-nutshell sormat has been GREAT! over the last few years for me. It's missing the point to say that you can't learn UML from the book.
That's not what nutshells are for.
They are like cliff's notes.
You can't really "get" Ulysses by Joyce from the Cliffs notes, it's not very adaptable to the
chapter summary- character description format of
Cliff's Notes, But, Lord of the flies with its simple plot and obvious symbology can easily be summarized and bulleted into a CLiff's Notes format.
If the Nutshell book for UML provides the technical details and implementation reference information needed by Users who are already familiar with the concepts but maybe don't stuff their head full of a memory map's worth of buzzwords and acronyms a nutshell book is a perfect development aid.
I mean, let's face it, a C++ object is a glorified C typedef struct statement, and most of the UML concepts are glorified versions of logic diagrams and flow charts.
OOA & OOD & UML are not some holy kabala like entities/tools, although they can appear that way with the high class terminology used by the Three Amigos. A Nutshell reduction of these terms is just what a hit-and-run developer needs to
survive - what with in the Methodology Elite waging class Warfare against the "old school" engineers who just want to deliver quality product on-time, under budget and with a testable verifiable process that minimizes risks. I mean, let's face it,
Design is not a natural science. Its an
arform and the process of codifying and and enumerating the industry standards for the design process need more "cut-to-the-chase"
guides and less flotsam and jetsom of the higher abstract mumbo-jumbo that a lot of designers like to spout just because they've learned a new jargon.
Thanks Oreilley for all your help over the years.
Learning the jargon for a hot new "paradigm" is 90% of the battle and a very valuable weapon in protecting oneself from the engineers who like to think that knowledge of "paradigm" makes them elite. Most new paradigms are rehashed versions of older ones and can be learned by anyone ina couple of days.
Sorry for the Rant
alr