Refactoring is the process of recognizing and correcting problems in code that is functional. Since the code is working correctly, refactoring is something that is generally done late in the development cycle or perhaps not until the code has entered the maintenance phase. However, refactoring has proven to be so valuable that most recent books on software engineering spend some time describing what it is.
Performing a refactoring starts with identifying a "code smell", a segment or feature of the code that just feels awkward or unusual. This is not as hard as it may appear, many of the most common "smells" have been cataloged and the solutions identified. For example, the first "smells" covered in this book are:

* Obscure or overly descriptive comments.
* Overly long methods.
* Overly large classes.
* Overly long parameter lists to methods.

and all examples are coded in Java. Programming veterans will recognize most of these problems as old and venerated programming difficulties. With the exception of large classes, they have been part of the list of bad programming habits for decades. However, the solutions require a bit of thought, it is conceptually simple to make comments, variable names and method names more descriptive, but of course there are reasonable bounds that reasonable people can disagree on. There are only rules of thumb available to guide us, and Wake sets down his thoughts on this matter.
The real difficult problems in this list, and where this book is the biggest help in this section, is in demonstrating how to make methods and classes shorter. To factor out just the right amount of code and still maintain the same level of understandability can be a difficult judgement call. Programmers learn best by seeing worked examples, so the sequence of presentation is:

* Symptoms.
* Causes.
* What to do?
* Payoff.
* Discussion.
* Contraindications.

Coding veterans will most likely find the "contraindications" section of the exercises the most helpful. It describes reasons why performing the refactoring may not be the best decision.
The second set of refactoring exercises are:

* Unnecessary complexity.
* Duplication.
* Conditional logic.

This set of refactorings will also be familiar to coding veterans. Removing dead code, eliminating duplicate code, deleting magic numbers and using more efficient Boolean operations have been on the list of good programming habits for decades. Therefore, the refactorings in this section are fairly routine, as they do not require an object-oriented example to demonstrate them.
The most valuable section of the book is the second one, where the coverage is smells between classes, which are as follows:

* Data.
* Inheritance.
* Responsibility.
* Accommodating change.
* Library classes.

Most modern programmers will be familiar with the first section and will have already done many of them as part of their general coding practices. However, the "smells" in the second list are those that always seem to creep undetected into large programs. Therefore, they are harder to identify and often even harder to remove. I found the segment on problems in library classes to be the most valuable one of the entire book. I often use library classes in Java and there have been times when I have looked at a library class and been puzzled by how it is constructed.
The book closes with four small programs that are to be refactored as exercises. Large and complex enough to be worthwhile exercises, they are an excellent conclusion to a helpful book. Many problems are included and solutions to almost all are found in an appendix.
While this book is a good way to practice refactoring, it is not a good way to learn it. The classic book by Martin Fowler is still the best introduction to refactoring.

When the Enterprise arrives at the idyllic planet of Haven, where the legend is that your mere presence on the surface can cure illness, a package is beamed up. (This idea would be revisited in the movie "Insurrection.") It contains a message for Deanna Troi and betrothal gifts. Many years earlier, Deanna's late father had arranged for Deanna to be betrothed to Wyatt, who is now a physician. Even though she is happy on the Enterprise, Deanna agrees to honor the Betazoid custom and marry Wyatt. This will require her to leave the Enterprise, which hits Will Riker hard.
Shortly after the gifts arrive, so do the parents. We are introduced to Lwaxana Troi, mother of Deanna and one of the most obnoxious characters ever to appear in television. Extremely opinionated, vain and honest to the point of social ineptness, she manages to embarrass and offend everyone she comes in contact with. The primary explosion occurs at a reception, where Deanna finally explodes in frustration at the bickering between the parents.
Even though they have had no contact for many years, Wyatt and Deanna get along rather well, although Wyatt is surprised at her appearance. For many years, he has had a vision of a beautiful woman, and he has made several drawings based on that vision. He had expected Deanna to be that woman, but there is no resemblance between them.
Circumstances become very serious when a Tarellian ship arrives at Haven. The Tarellian civilization is one that self-destructed due to the release of an extremely virulent virus for which no vaccine could be created. Since the virus was so deadly, all Tarellian ships had been systematically hunted down and destroyed. At first, there is no evidence that the ship is inhabited, but eventually it responds to the Enterprise hails and one of the members of the crew turns out to be the woman in Wyatt's visions.
Wyatt then takes a small amount of medical equipment and beams over to the Tarellian ship to spend the rest of his life trying to cure the Tarellians.
This is an episode that deals solely with feelings. Those of Deanna for her mother, her feelings of duty as a Betazoid, her feelings for Will Riker and those for Wyatt. There are also the secondary feelings of Will for Deanna, Lwaxana's for Deanna and Wyatt's for Deanna. However, it all comes down to Wyatt's love for the woman of his vision, so much so that he abandons his previous life to be with her, knowing that he could shortly die for it. I generally find such romantic stories too sappy for my tastes, but this one was enjoyable.

Had I written a review of this episode shortly after it came out, it would not have been nearly as positive as this one. In viewing it again, I am struck at how well the two "unusual" characters of Q and Data are introduced. While to outward appearances he is human, Data is an android and we are immediately made aware of that as well as some of his "failings." Simple things such as whistling and humor are beyond his capacity at this time.
The outstanding feature is the introduction of one of the best characters to ever appear in a television series, Q, the impish God. Without question, he is a god, possessing mighty powers and yet he is using them to determine the worthiness of humanity to explore the stars. After the dark, foreboding and sometimes bloody descriptions of God in much of our religious literature, it is a pleasure to see one who puns and tests us with puzzles rather than in how well we slaughter our enemies. Of secondary interest is the mention of the Ferengi, although they are described as a people who eat those who displease them.
Dr. McCoy of the original series makes an appearance as an admiral, inspecting the medical facilities of the Enterprise. He is as irascible as ever, yet he also praises the Vulcans as an honorable race, worthy of respect. Data escorts him while he is on the Enterprise, and their conversation is one of the classics in the entire Star Trek genre.
The Enterprise crew gets together and their mission is to investigate Farpoint Station, a structure constructed with unusual rapidity by a people who wish to have the Federation use it as a star base. On the way to Farpoint, they encounter Q and we are introduced to the plot device where the saucer and weapons sections can be separated. This was not extensively used in subsequent episodes, which was unfortunate. Given that families are now on starships, it is my belief that such separations would be standard practice when there is the reasonable expectation of hostilities.
Q creates a courtroom whose spectators are survivors of an atomic holocaust. Humanity is put on trial through the crew of the Enterprise and then they are let free to continue their mission. When the Enterprise arrives at Farpoint, things are not what they appear to be. When the leader of the people who built Farpoint is questioned, he professes ignorance, yet it is clear he knows what is happening. Another "ship" arrives and begins bombarding the city near Farpoint. Rather than immediately firing on the new arrival, Picard seeks information and learns that the "ship" is in fact an intelligent entity that is trying to free its' mate, which has been transformed into Farpoint. By firing energy of the proper form into Farpoint, the Enterprise heals the creature and it frees itself. Q is impressed by this and announces that humanity has passed the test.
Given that there was very little to build on, this episode effectively introduces much of what is arguably the greatest television series ever. Therefore, it can also be considered the best episode of the series.

While this episode accomplishes one very positive thing, namely introducing the Ferengi to Star Trek lore, it does so in two very bad ways. The first is that the Ferengi are presented as sniveling liars, hardly creatures that would be expected to create mighty star ships and civilizations that span multiple planets. The second is that the storyline from the original series episode "Arena" is reused. TNG episodes that reuse plot devices from the original series always seem to lack some of the fire of their forebears.
The episode begins with the Enterprise in hot pursuit of a Ferengi vessel that stole a power device from a Federation outpost. As the ships pass close to a planet, both ships drop out of warp. Having only limited knowledge of the Ferengi, Captain Picard assumes that they are responsible for his loss of power and contacts them about surrender terms. To his surprise, the Ferengi agree to surrender and he then realizes that a force on the planet is holding both ships.

After searching out historical records, the Enterprise crew learns that the planet was a remote outpost in the Tkon Empire, a civilization that collapsed thousands of years earlier. Now that the Ferengi are also aware that it is the planet that is draining their power, Picard and the Ferengi commander agree to cooperate and send away teams to the planet's surface. The Ferengi immediately violate the agreement, but the Enterprise team manages to get the upper hand.
A representative of the Tkon Empire known as the Portal appears and issues a challenge to the away teams. Due to their devious nature, the Ferengi fail and it is up to Riker to answer the questions. He does so successfully, power is restored to both ships and there is a peaceful resolution of the dispute between the Federation and the Ferengi.
There is also a mildly amusing subplot involving the Chinese finger puzzle, where Data gets his fingers stuck in one during a briefing. While it adds some humor to the story, the idea that anyone, even an android, would play with such a puzzle during a briefing when the survival of the ship is at stake is preposterous.
To the credit of the series developers, the Ferengi reappear as an integral part of future episodes of TNG and later Star Trek series, and their sniveling behavior is eliminated. However, this episode must rank as one of the lowest, in that it is hard to see beyond their behavior in this one.

Even though most of us do not read poetry, there are many famous lines that we have heard and remember. While most often the line will be an opening one, that is not necessarily the case. In this book, the author has taken a famous line from a poem and then added a contemporary, humorous subsequent line. Examples are:

From "Essay on Criticism" by Alexander Pope

"To err is human, to forgive divine."

Followed by

"Some errors I forgive, though quickly. . . . Mine."

From "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

"Water, water, everywhere;"

Followed by

"The plumbing badly needs repair."

From "Marmion" by Sir Walter Scott

"Oh, what a tangled web we weave!"

Followed by

"The webs to spiders we should leave."

The "poems" are very funny, the wit demonstrated by the author is truly impressive. Each poem is also accompanied by an illustration, which makes it even funnier. I enjoyed reading this book and I am sure you will as well.

The setting of this story is Asia, specifically Hong Kong and the People's Republic of China. Kym Blaze is an agent of an organization called The Network and she is hunting a master criminal known as the Unicorn. As a child, she was a witness to a murder committed by the Unicorn and barely escaped being killed as a consequence. The Unicorn has resurfaced, and his master plan is to return the P. R. C. to a social, economic and political system based on Maoist principles. To accomplish this, the Unicorn has recruited a master trader, who has come up with a plan to manipulate the international financial markets so that they will crash. The ensuing chaos will give the Unicorn the opportunity to restore the P. R. C. to what he considers the ideal.
The book moves fast, there is intrigue, deception, many double agents and several battles. I enjoyed the book, although the psychological angle regarding Kym's flashbacks to when the Unicorn tried to kill her are overdone. Special-ops agents are trained to pursue the mission first, setting all personal feelings aside.
I also had a hard time accepting the premise of returning the P. R. C. to the days of collectivist communism. I have been there and have seen the dynamic economic nature of the country. The idea that it could be returned to such a condition requires too much suspension of disbelief, even for a work of fiction. What makes a good action/adventure thriller is that the major premise must be within the bounds of believability. While such an event would have been possible in the late seventies, there is no way it could occur in the twenty-first century. The bounds of believability were stretched too far for me.
These criticisms aside, the action moved fast enough to keep my interest and I recommend you take a look at it if you are interested in action/adventure stories based on secret agents and financial manipulation.

A wealthy man, Maxwell Broadbent, who acquired his riches by robbing ancient tombs, learns that he is dying of cancer. He considers his three sons to be failures, so he arranges to have himself entombed with all of his portable worldly goods. In this way, he hopes to challenge them to perform one great feat of accomplishment along the lines of what he did in his life. Since the art and other treasures that he took with him are valued at over 500 million dollars, there is a lot of room for greed.
The brothers are admonished to cooperate, but it does not start out that way. Philip Broadbent goes to a former partner of Maxwell who is now a private investigator. They immediately discover that Maxwell and his material went to the jungles of Central America. Vernon Broadbent, who is a member of a religious colony, joins forces with his teacher, a guru-like figure, and they separately follow the same trail. Unfortunately, his teacher is as incapable as he is to survive in the jungle. The third brother, Tom Broadbent, has no interest in the treasure hunt, but is the one most equipped to carry it out. He finally agrees to search for the tomb after being told that the collection includes a book describing all of the medicinal plants known to the ancient Indians. The book is called the Codex, hence the title of the book. Being a veterinarian, Tom can appreciate the value of the medical knowledge in the book, which may make it the most valuable item in the tomb.
After many trials in moving through a swamp, the brothers join forces and are guided to an ancient city by a fourth brother who has an Indian mother and still lives in the jungle. After a battle and discovering that their father is not yet dead, they emerge triumphant. They are also reconciled with their father, who realizes that each of his sons is successful in his own way.
This is an exciting tale of adventure, challenge and triumph, but it is also a tale of finding yourself and learning more about who you truly are. Each of the brothers learns the meaning of family and their father finally learns to understand and appreciate his children. I listened to it in my car, often finding excuses to stay in it just a little bit longer in order to get to the end of a climactic point.

It is a historical fact that on September 1, 1894 a tremendous forest fire destroyed the town of Hinckley, Minnesota, killing over 400 people. The fire was so intense, that it can be described as a firestorm, a fire so powerful that the updrafts are capable of sucking people into the fire. As a consequence of the destruction, a forest fire monitoring program was begun in the United States. That event serves as the backdrop for this tale featuring the great fictional detective Sherlock Holmes.
A railroad baron named James J. Hill sends an agent from northern Minnesota to Baker Street in England to hire Holmes to come to Minnesota and bring an arsonist to justice. The agent succeeds in convincing Holmes to take the case, so he and his companion, Dr John Watson, journey to Minnesota. Upon arriving, they read a note sent by the arsonist, which was signed using the name Red Demon. This starts the case full throttle, where the search for the Red Demon forces Holmes and Watson to encounter a wide assortment of frontier characters. They interview and interact with a corrupt Sheriff, the local madam and some of her best girls, rough-hewn lumberjacks, townspeople and the people who run the railroad. Holmes is his usual persistent self, doing battle with those who would kill for gain and Watson is as loyal and at times as bumbling as ever. Holmes and Watson experience the great fire and emerge unscathed and victorious over their very dangerous enemy.
The author has created the appropriate mix of the history of the region as well as the style of the original stories of Sherlock Holmes. While there are a few times where you can recognize style differences and realize that this story was written nearly a century after the originals, they are not very numerous. It kept my attention from the first page to the last. If you are a fan of mysteries, especially the style used to describe the escapades of Sherlock Holmes, then I strongly recommend that you read this book.

The Rational Unified Process (RUP) was originally developed by Rational Software, which was recently purchased by IBM. Therefore, you now see the RUP sometimes referred to as IBM's Web-enabled software engineering process. As this name implies, it is a set of guidelines, some soft and others fairly rigid to the point of being a rule, for the creation of software. Like all useful principles of computer science, the RUP is a dynamic entity, being constantly modified to reflect the changes taking place in software creation. Therefore, if you are already familiar with the RUP and are wondering if you should read this book, the answer is an emphatic yes. If you are unfamiliar with the RUP, the answer is an even more emphatic yes.
The purpose of this book is to provide an introduction to RUP 2003, the latest iteration of the process. Like the previous books on RUP, it is written at a level suitable for managers. There is some necessary technical jargon, but nothing beyond what a software project development manager would be expected to be able to comprehend.
The book opens with a history of the RUP, what it is used for and the overall structure of the RUP. This is followed by a very brief introduction to fundamental concepts such as iterative development, architecture-centric processes and use cases. Necessary for beginners, most of this material can be skipped by those having experience in those areas.
Part II covers the various areas, referred to as disciplines. They are:

* The project management discipline.
* The business-modeling discipline.
* The requirements discipline.
* The analysis and design discipline.
* The implementation discipline.
* The test discipline.
* The configuration and change management discipline.
* The environment discipline.
* The deployment discipline.

While the steps used in the analysis differs from discipline to discipline, the following are common to all:

* Purpose.
* Roles and artifacts.
* Workflow.
* Tool support.
* Summary.

The tool support section is particularly helpful if you are evaluating the RUP for possible use in your organization. IBM/Rational has many tools that can aid you in your efficient use of the RUP. In fact, without software tools to aid you, much of the material in this book would be of theoretical interest only.
Large software projects require an overall organizing process to be imposed on them if there is to be a chance for successful completion. The RUP is currently one of the best such processes and this book will show the fundamentals of the process and how it can work for you.

The most endearing quality of this episode is that it showcases Dr. Crusher as an intelligent woman who can figure things out on her own. This is in direct contrast to so many other episodes where her lines often reduce to a variant of "I don't know . . . "
The episode starts when her aged friend Dr. Quaice beams aboard the Enterprise and begins talking about having lost his wife and so many of his friends. After hearing this, Dr. Crusher visits her son Wesley in engineering, where he is conducting an experiment. During the climax of the experiment, there is a flash of light, but it is confined to engineering.
Beverly then goes to visit Dr. Quaice in his quarters, but cannot locate him. After an investigation, she learns that there is no record of his having boarded the Enterprise. This is only the beginning, as slowly the Enterprise crew disappears. However, those who are left do not find this unusual, and they begin questioning her sanity. Eventually, all are gone except Dr. Crusher and Captain Picard and Picard does not find it unusual at all. The fact that there are only two people on that enormous ship does not have an affect on him. He also vanishes, leaving Beverly alone on the ship.
Through all of this there are two occasions when a vortex of some kind threatens to engulf her and pull her off the ship. Finally, when the Enterprise computer informs her that the bounds of the universe are slightly bigger than the Enterprise, she realizes that she has been transferred to an alternate reality that is collapsing on itself. With the aid of the Enterprise crew in the true reality, she eventually returns to where she belongs. The Enterprise crew does not accomplish this alone, her return is accomplished with the aid of the Traveler, introduced in episode 6, "Where No One Has Gone Before."
I consider this a good, but not great episode. The showcasing of Beverly Crusher as a thinking person was refreshing, although the inclusion of the traveler seemed unnecessary.