Review By: Garry Archer
01/13/2012Martin Abbott and Michael Fisher have followed their hit book, The Art of Scalability, with another hit in Scalability Rules: 50 Principles for Scaling Web Sites, a very good read for both novice and expert alike. They have chosen the rules they have had to implement the most.

I like that they run through the pros and cons of each rule in detail, followed by a synopsis of the rules at the end of chapter 13. I feel confident that we would see fewer slow and crashing websites if the rules of the book were used in conjunction with website creation and modification. I also was impressed by the how, what, when, and why offered at the start of each rule, as this gives the reader a heads up on the advantages and disadvantages of the rule.

The authors have a firm understanding of what it takes to maintain and scale websites in today’s environment, something we can all take advantage of through the rules they have set out here. They bring to mind the KISS principle in the very first rule, “Don’t over-engineer the solution.” All too frequently we see websites that are all bells and whistles and zero functionality.

The book gives not only the rule but also the when and why to implement said rule and, in some cases, a chart to assist in visualizing the example. There are plenty of acronyms, so keep your IT dictionary at hand.

The book will be a resource for years to come and can save companies money, time, and headaches. If you’re in the web business and want to grow, then put this book in you library but keep it close at hand. It is a valuable reference tool.