Whether this book will meet your needs depends on your perspective and requirements. Let's address in turn the two audiences for which the authors intended this book:

1. Function Point practitioners: Almost one-third of this book's main pages contain rules out of the IFPUG Counting Practices Manual Release 4.1, (89 out of 285 pages), and the rules are interspersed with the authors experience and opinions. Readers who are looking for an overview of the rules together with illustrative case studies will benefit from this book's treatment of function points. Certified Function Point Specialist (CFPS) exam candidates will also be pleased that there is an entirely new exam based on the 1999 IFPUG rules (IFPUG 4.1) included in the book, which the authors state was "perhaps the single most popular section of our first book". One caution or perhaps, relief, (depending, again, on your perspective) is that the book presents proposed solutions to Function Point counting issues, (such as how to count report generators), that are as of this reviewer's knowledge, yet unresolved by the IFPUG Counting Practices Committee. For those function point practitioners seeking definitive answers to these issues, they may find solace in the authors' approach. To others seeking an official IFPUG position on the questions, they should still contact the IFPUG counting practices committee directly for definitive IFPUG positions. (Note: the committee consists of approximately one dozen qualified, Certified Function Point Specialists).
2. Non-practitioners: Function Point Analysis (FPA) has long been misunderstood by software quality and IT managers alike. Part of this confusion comes from the polarization and passion of "professionals" when it comes to function points. Opinions expressed in print and presentations run the gamut from glamorizing function points as the cure-all for all that ails the software community, to reducing them to a technical metric inappropriate for today's software. The truth falls in between - and in fact, there are as many positive uses for Function Points in software as there are for Square Feet in building construction (my analogy). While this book does not rely on analogies, it scores points on its explanation of function points as a "unit of work". In the Chapter titled Executive Introduction to Function Points, the authors suggest ways to present the value of function points to senior management by positioning them as a unit of work: "A unit-of-work metric should enable the CIO to measure productivity and business value of the software deliverable on a level playing field. Regardless of the economic or presentation techniques used to display IT performance, such as ROI and Balanced Scorecards, establishing a cost per unit of work should be a fundamental element of a manager's financial tool kit. Function points are an effective, and the best available, unit of work measure."

The prior release of this book in 1996 was titled "Managing the Software Process", and fortunately, this sequel expands on the original premise. Besides updating the 1994 IFPUG rules (IFPUG 4.0) to the current 1999 rules (IFPUG 4.1), positive aspects to this edition include: the aforementioned "unit of work" explanation, case studies that illustrate both the authors' proposed solutions to counting issues, as well as sample software applications, suggestions about counting software developed with newer technologies, and a new practice exam intended for CFPS candidates.