The Project Management Professional certification exam is an important asset to software developers who want to move up to management, and for many projects, it's a requirement. Given the depth of knowledge required to pass the exam, studying for it is a niche book market unto itself. O'Reilly's Head First PMP is a typical member of the unique and whimsical Head First book series -- full of interesting ways to learn a majority of the important material, but lacking the last 20% of the effort necessary to fully prepare a reader for the exam.

Writing analysis

Head First PMP is not unlike other Head First books in terms of teaching style and presentation. It reads quickly because each page is a collage of photos, drawings, diagrams, faux handwritten notes, sidebars, and margin scribblings; there is less of a focus on straight, ordered text, and more of a focus on the presentation of ideas in a variety of interesting and entertaining ways. The book takes situations that are slightly silly but can easily be applied to real-life project management, such as a newly hired project manager who is tasked with reigning in a project that is never finished, and a development team that has to produce "Cows Gone Wild III."

Instead of a practice PMP exam, Head First PMP uses more unusual methods to help readers retain knowledge. You're given crossword puzzles, asked to rearrange refrigerator magnets, create lists, and complete sentences or phrases. While I don't feel that these cute exercises are sufficient for teaching someone exam material -- nothing can replace a practice test -- they are extremely effective for teaching concepts, best practices, and design patterns, which is what this book is all about. There are some test questions at the end of most chapters, but they are in the Head First style and don't directly translate to the PMP exam material.

For a book with such wacky formatting, the editing is impeccable. I did not find any typos, coding errors, spelling mistakes, or punctuation gaffes in the entire book. That's not to say that there are none, but the reason why I point out mistakes like these is that they are horribly distracting to readers and can break their concentration and possibly mislead them.

Putting the book to the test

I can read the book and gauge whether or not it is appropriate for the readership, but I will probably never take the exam that this book references, so you may be inclined to disregard my opinion. However, if you head over to Amazon.com and read some comments from actual PMP exam takers, you'll find that some of them have issues with Head First PMP. Specifically they say that while this book has many fine qualities, it is incomplete and cannot serve as the sole source of preparation for the PMP exam. Looking at the book's errata page I see a long list of mistakes, errors, and omissions. I realize that producing a Head First book is a huge undertaking that consumes a lot of time and resources. However, where errata like this may be forgivable in a book on Java, Ajax, or object-oriented design, there is no excuse for carelessness in a book that prepares people for an exam. You must pay close attention to accuracy in this situation, and I don't think the authors and editors appropriately ramped up their level of care on this project.

Secondly, any book that prepares readers for an exam should include a practice exam. In this case, it is ethically acceptable to include practice tests with the book (in some cases, giving out a prior year's exam, or anything like it, can be considered unethical), so the authors should have done that.

One major step forward in this Head First book is that it actually includes some test questions at the end of each chapter. They are in typical Head First whimsical style, and frequently address the reality of project management, but they do not accurately represent what readers will face on the actual exam. Lack of reader interaction with the material has been a frequent complaint of mine in previous book reviews; I'm glad to see that at least one publisher is beginning to see the wisdom in asking readers to apply the knowledge a book is trying to impart.

Conclusions

I found Head First PMP to be an outstanding resource for teaching project management in a software development environment. Anyone who works in any level of that industry should read this book. However, I don't think it serves as an appropriate independent resource for people studying for the PMP exam. It is certainly an important book in a collection of recommended books, but at this point it does not accurately cover the processes, terms, and concepts that a reader has to understand and remember in order to become a Project Management Professional.

Again, I'm not a PMP, so my opinion may not count for much. However, the consensus among Amazon reviewers who were critical of Head First PMP is that this book should be one of a handful of titles aspiring PMPs should buy and read.

Addendum: Some of the O'Reilly staff who worked on this book have commented that the second edition of Head First PMP will correct all of the errata from the first edition, and include information on taking a practice exam. Right now there is a practice exam available on the O'Reilly Web site, so that does make up for not including a hard copy with the book.

Discuss this article or get technical support on our forum.

Copyright 2008 JEM Electronic Media, Inc. No reprints without written permission.