Product Description

Learn C programming from one of the best. Stephen Kochan's Programming in C is thorough with easy-to-follow instructions that are sure to benefit beginning programmers. In its third edition, the style in this book remains true to the simple, instructional style of previous editions. It provides you with updated and relevant examples of how C programming can be used with small, fast programs, similar to the programming used by large game developers such as Nintendo. If you want a one-stop-source for C programming, this book is it!

Customer Reviews (31)

Hallelujah!
I wanted to learn C so that I could program microcontrollers.This is the book I chose after scouring almost every modern C book on the market.I looked at several books for about two months and was really discouraged from programming, because i had no faith in my text choices. They were either disorganized/scattered, too terse, or lacked a thorough linear approach that was presented with confidence.

This book was truly a godsend for me.I went through the first two chapters and I was hooked immediately to the writing style, flow, coverage/explanations, examples, etc.It took me about two months to finish the entire book and all of the problems at the end of each chapter.

All i had to do was read this book and do the problems.That simple.

Why can't all books be like this!?
----

Even a dum dum like me can learn C, so can you!

A very easy understand Programming book, I would give another star if I could.
-Like I stated above.-
-This book does an excellent job of building you to more and more advanced concepts.The book is well written for first time programmers, with little to no experience.The author really can't make it any easier than he did in this book.Many of the first few chapters can be skipped if you are only using this book to quickly learn C, and have some basic knowledge already.
-All the positive reviews are on point.
-This book is an excellent book for really learning C.

Great reference covering aspects K&R do not well enough
Face it, too many books, electronic and in print, that cover this language.What I enjoy most about Kochan's book is the presentation of material from a digestible introduction onto more complex topics but with the presentation of the core code first.

What I would expect that K&R do not always bring.I own both texts in print if it is not obvious by now and recommend both for understanding basic and essential concepts, especially about pointers and structs.For the price and heft, Kochan's book can not be beaten and his coverage of OOP especially in this time is appreciated.

No, C is not Object Oriented but I am looking at diving into Objective C (Kochan published a book) when I have learned more data structures.I am using this book for a class now that is Systems Programming and heavy with UNIX and, of course, C.If you buy it, I am certain it will retain value as a reference beyond completion of study.

More theoretical/academic than practical
Having not seen too many textbooks on this topic I'm not sure if it's considered very well-written. The explanations are mostly easy to follow but examples seem more theoretical/ academic than real world/practical. For someone out of college and working in the real world, it's not as practical and easily accessible as other popular titles on the shelves thesedays.

Review of Programming in C
This text book starts with the very basics of computer programming and is a good learning tool for people with a wide range of programming experience, from the no nothing to those who might already know a few languages. ... Read more

Product Description
Languages like C#, VB .NET, and Delphi include built-in support for events, and these events become very powerful when they connect the objects and components of a system. Events make it possible for such parts to interact without any coupling. And the resulting parts can be developed and tested individuallywhich keeps the code clean and simple.Component-based development (CBD) is an extension of object-oriented programming. CBD does away with the language and vendor-specific limitations of OOP, and makes software reuse more practical and accelerates the development process. Event-based programming is the next logical step in CBD, and makes components more reusable due to their decoupled nature. But event-based systems are easier to develop, which means theyre cheaper and more reliable than traditional OOP or CBD systems.This book teaches you how to develop software based on parts that interact primarily through an event mechanism. Youll learn how to use events in many different situations, to solve recurring development problems without coupling. The book introduces Signal Wiring Diagram, a novel form of software diagram similar to the circuit diagrams used by hardware designers. The book concludes with a series of case studies, incorporating all featured concepts. In a nutshell, youll want to pick up a copy of this book because it* Provides source code in both C# and VB .NET* Shows how to use an event-based paradigm to reduce or completely eliminate coupling between classes and components* Describes components, including coordinators, workers, builders, binders, and routers* Contains three complete case studies that model concepts being used to design small, medium, and large systems ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Good book but the world has changed a bit
I must say, I wish I had this book 2 years ago.It is a great book and well written, but the book suffers from time, and the rest of the world of messaging and event based programing advancing quickly with the addition of Service based Architecture, Enterprise Service Bus Systems, and Complex Event processing.

My view point may be specific, as I am an Computer Architect by profession, and have Managed Message Based Systems from multiple vendors, and currently working with Complex Event programming, using one of the best tools in the Market today.

What the book does give is excellent historical view on Event Based Development. The examples are also pretty good.My background is java, but as an old VB programmer, the vb.net and C# examples where not difficult for me to translate and understand.

Even with the book being geared toward .NET platform it gives a decent view of the whole world of Enterprise messaging including JMS Implementations, and Tibco based solutions.

Where the book falls short for me, is that the whole methodology of Event Based Programming has changed with the introduction of Complex Event programming, which includes the introduction to Rules Based Systems, the programming model has changed.I suppose in 2006 this was much more timely, but now things have progressed.Also some approaches to testing these types of solutions would be very helpful.

In the books defense, the book has the best chapter in the patterns of Event Based Programming with the Chapter Labeled, Event Based Interaction Patterns.Unfortunately, for me this chapters follows the worst 2 chapter of the mechanics of Event Firing and Signal Wiring Diagrams.I am not interested in using Semaphores as my means synchronizing or message coordination, or Wire Diagrams for circuits.

Overall, I think it is truly time for a new book on Complex Event Programming written with today's methodologies in mind.I would volunteer :).

Fantastic book on event based systems!
I have been programming event/message based systems for 25 years and never found a good book on this technique/methodology like this one. Ted does a great job at laying the foundation with a bit of theory (but not maths! So don't be afraid!) and then diving into practice. The text is clear, the diagrams are really good. He also reviews the different types of diagrams: UML state machine, sequence, activity, communication, component wiring diagrams as well as lollipop, SDL, catalysis and espresso diagrams. I was really interested in the chapter on Signal Wiring diagrams, even with my hardware engineering background I didn't know of their use in software engineering. He then quickly reviews a few patterns related to the subject and then dedicates a full chapter on functional roles in a more practical down to the code approach. He finishes the book with 3 case studies that will help understanding the ins and outs of event based programming.
Although the example code is supplied in two Microsoft languages (C# and VB Visual Basic) and being a Java person myself, the code is easy to understand and helps a lot.
I highly recommend this book and hope that a lot of developers will take on "Event-Based Programming". I do thank the author for the tremendous effort to put together such a good book, with a good balance between theory and practice.

In one word: "Bravo!"

A great reference on event based application design
This is the second book I have read from this author and as before I found the book very helpful.The book deals with designing applications more the way electrical engineers have been working all along, design each component as independent as possible(decoupled) and at the end hook them up in a way that it gives you the output you want. The book will be specially very helpful to the developers who desing and develop enterprise applications.

new way of system architecture
This book describes a new way of software system architecture to minimize coupling and increase testability; from the smallest to the largest systems. In an EB system, each part can be developed almost like a separate project, with events hooking everything together at runtime. ... Read more

Product Description

Innovations in hardware architecture, like hyper-threading or multicore processors, mean that parallel computing resources are available for inexpensive desktop computers. In only a few years, many standard software products will be based on concepts of parallel programming implemented on such hardware, and the range of applications will be much broader than that of scientific computing, up to now the main application area for parallel computing.

Rauber and Rünger take up these recent developments in processor architecture by giving detailed descriptions of parallel programming techniques that are necessary for developing efficient programs for multicore processors as well as for parallel cluster systems and supercomputers. Their book is structured in three main parts, covering all areas of parallel computing: the architecture of parallel systems, parallel programming models and environments, and the implementation of efficient application algorithms. The emphasis lies on parallel programming techniques needed for different architectures.

The main goal of the book is to present parallel programming techniques that can be used in many situations for many application areas and which enable the reader to develop correct and efficient parallel programs. Many examples and exercises are provided to show how to apply the techniques. The book can be used as both a textbook for students and a reference book for professionals. The presented material has been used for courses in parallel programming at different universities for many years.

Product Description
Learning Maya, the world's leading 3D animation and effects package, is a challenge, especially for those who want to master Maya's versatile programming features in addition to its built-in tools.Finally, here is a practical, step-by-step guide that shows how to use Maya to its fullest potential, beginning with the basics. Readers of Complete Maya Programming will first gain a thorough understanding of Maya's inner workings, and then learn how to customize and extend Maya with scripts and plugins that take control and productivity to new levels.Users new to programming can apply Maya's easy scripting language MEL (Maya Embedded Language), while more advanced users can work with the C++ API (Application Progamming Interface). Both a fundamental tutorial for Maya beginners and a solid reference for experienced developers, Complete Maya Programming is every user's guide to Maya mastery.* Provides a multitude of real-world examples illustrating applications of Maya programming.* Works with Maya 5. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (16)

many typos in the api section
I bought to learn the maya api--I did not use the mel section.
While this title may be one of the best maya programming books, it has
some problems, foremost of which is typos in the code sections. Note that
Code Examples are availible on the website, and there is an errata section.
Mostly--you can work around the shortcomings. Read it with the autodesk
docs--they supplement each other well--

Good mostly for MEL users
The book gives you a good insight into Maya programming. The MEL part seems to be quite good, but the C++ part is organized by a couple of examples. Altough they are useful lots of things are missing. A short reference, I would say, 10-20 pages of the API would be perfect.

Amazing book and essential for all Maya programming
I search the information about programming in Maya for weeks. This book is essential for maya programming (MEL and C++ API) and I only find it about this theme.

I recommend buy the volume II (Complete Maya Programming, Vol. II: An In-Depth Guide to 3D Fundamentals, Geometry, and Modeling ) and is great book too. If you going to buy this book, read after the second volume.

Excuse my english.

awesome
I was looking for a book that starts from basic stuff and easy to understand.
this book is a big help

Complete Maya Programming
You can indeed learn more by pressing F1 on Maya itself. The C++ API part (the one I was interested in) is really short and the examples rather simple (you can read it all in few hours).

The book is ok, but should be called "Very Basic Introduction to MEL and C++ API" and not "An extensive guide to MEL and C++ API" at all. ... Read more

Product Description
Beginning Mac OS X Programming

Every Mac OS X system comes with all the essentials required for programming: free development tools, resources, and utilities. However, finding the place to begin may be challenging, especially if you have no prior development knowledge. This comprehensive guide offers you an ideal starting point to writing programs on Mac OS X, with coverage of the latest release - 1.4 "Tiger."

With its hands-on approach, the book examines a particular element and then presents step-by-step instructions that walk you through how to use that element when programming. You'll quickly learn how to efficiently start writing programs on Mac OS X using languages such as C, Objective-C(r), and AppleScript(r), technologies such as Carbon(r) and Cocoa(r), and other Unix tools. In addition, you'll discover techniques for incorporating the languages in order to create seamless applications. All the while, you can follow along on your own system so that you'll be prepared to apply your new Mac OS X skills to real-world projects.

What you will learn from this book

• The major role the new Xcode plays in streamlining Mac OS X development
• The process for designing a graphical user interface on Mac OS X that conforms to Apple's guidelines
• How to write programs in the C and Objective-C programming languages
• The various scripting languages available on the Mac OS X system and what tasks each one is best suited to perform
• How to write shell scripts that interact with pre-installed command-line tools

Who this book is for

This book is for novice programmers who want to get started writing programs that run on Mac OS X. Experienced programmers who are new to the Mac will also find this book to be a useful overview of the Mac development environment.

Wrox Beginning guides are crafted to make learning programming languages and technologies easier than you think, providing a structured, tutorial format that will guide you through all the techniques involved. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Too different for OS X 10.5
I presumed that the book would still be useful for my iMac with OS X 10.5, but I have found it very tough going.There are enough differences between what the book describes and shows that I spend more time trying to figure out the 10.5 version of their 10.4instructions than actually learning how to program. That I am just beginning to learn how to program, my difficulty might reflect more about me than the book.

I also perhaps should have taken as a hint that if Wrox hasn't come out with a 10.5 version of this book, there might be a reason for it. The book seemed impressive enough that I though it worth a try. I regret buying the book since I doubt that I will really be able to use or benefit from it.

I will soon try 'Learn C on the Mac' by Dave Marks, published by Apress to see if that works better for me.
Lesson learned: don't buy computer books for versions other than what you have.

Slightly outdated
This book is quite helpful for the beginning Mac programmer.
However, lots of things have changed since it was published.
When you try to follow the "Try it out" examples, sometimes you get seriously stuck, because the "buttons" you are suggested to click no longer exist in the new versions of Xcode and Interface Builder.
Some discussed functions are now depreciated.
It's the time for the authors to think about a new edition.

nice book
I've just started to read the book (1st &2nd chapters) and it seems to follow the directions from previous reviews that lead me to buy it: it seems indicated to someone who, like me, is new to the OSX environment and is willing to do some programming on it.

Learn by Example
Been a great book for learning Mac programming so far. Very hands on with examples aplenty.

Simply not a good book.
I have been unfortunate enough to pick this book up as a starting point for Mac programming. Very heavy on sample code that's either not explained at all for a few chapters or just glossed over after you're made to type, compile and run it. Explanations are in the line-by-line format with no explanation of the larger context of what you're actually doing.

The book jumps around between new and legacy frameworks and environments as if a beginner needs to be confronted with more choices.

Oh and 200 of the 620 odd pages of content is about scripting, which again is split into UNIX scripting, Python/Ruby and AppleScripting...

I almost gave up on getting to grips with Mac programming until i thankfully threw this book in the bin and started again with something that's better structured. ... Read more

Product Description
Get a focused introduction to programming 3D graphics with the Windows Presentation Foundation 3D API. Complementing his book Applications = Code + Markup, award-winning author Charles Petzold builds on XAML essentials, teaching you how to display and animate 3D graphics under the Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0 and Windows Vista. You’ll get expert guidance and code samples in XAML and Microsoft Visual C#— helping you master the skills you need to create high-fidelity user interfaces.Discover how to:Define complex 3D objects with triangle meshesEnhance the illumination of 3D surfaces with light and shading effectsColor 3D figures with gradients, bitmaps, and drawingsAdd animation with transforms and vertex manipulationRepresent linear, affine, and camera transforms by using matricesCalculate vector angles, angles of rotation, and axes of rotationGenerate triangle meshes efficiently by using C# codeExpress rotation by using quaternion computationProvide a user interface for manipulating and drawing 3D figuresPLUS—Get Visual C# and XAML code samples on the Web ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

A must have 3D programming reverence
The Petzold books are some of the best for C++ and C# and WPF programming.The drawback to the approach Petzold uses is that one must still invest in another book or two by another author to get the full picture.Petzold for good reason works from the basics and does not use the Visual Studio wizards for the most part.It is important to know both however when developing code.But even so, this is an excellent reference book that has helped me immensely in learning and using C#, WPF and XAML.

Great Book
Every time I read one of Mr. Petzold's books, I'm impressed and pleased with the experience. Not only do all of his examples work, but the background information is relevant and useful in other areas of my development. I'm particularly pleased with the chapters on matrix transforms and quaternions. He does a great job of explaining this complicated mathematics.

Really good, but so light on animation
I really want to give this book a 4 or 5 star rating.Petzold goes into amazing detail about almost all aspects of creating 3D images.You really cant go wrong with this book if all you are doing is building static images.

But the books coverage of animation is sadly light.Even though there is a whole chapter on animations, its really light coverage and leaves me wanting for so much more.

And the real problem with this book is, who creates static 3D images?You most likely do 3D AND animation together.

So if you need the guts details on 3D WPF rendering than this book is for you.I you need guts on animation, not so much.And if you need 3D rendering and animation, than you might as well get this book, but know that you'll need to look elsewhere for animation details.

An excellent and practical introduction to WPF 3D
First, maybe it's worth mentioning that unlike most other books on 3D out there, it concentrates solely on WPF 3D, right from the beginning, and it assumes you have enough knowledge of C# .net/WPF. It doesn't "waste" half of the book trying to teach you C#/Visual Studio/XAML etc... it's a very good attitude. If you need to learn WPF/C#, read another book first. Charles Petzold has a great book on WPF, for example.

And to the book - It teaches most fundamental elements of 3D and how it's done in WPF. Meshes, models, camera, lights, textures, transforms and some basic 3D math are all there. There's also a chapter about quaternions.
Most of the material is well written, and good examples are given throughout the book, just where needed, and all well explained. The examples compile without any problem in Visual Studio 2005/2008 (the Express editions are enough btw).
All the examples are in C#.

Most of the material tends to be pretty practical and useful for real-world application. And that's particularly true to the last chapter, which try to inspire you with real world usage of WPD 3D and examples.

Just note that most of the material isn't very advanced. You'll have to learn more by yourself to write really useful 3D applications. But the book is just what it should be - gives you a very good jump start and leaves the rest for you to explore.

I highly recommend this book for anyone with knowledge of WPF who'd like to jump to the WPF 3D wagon.
Many WPF books dedicate a chapter or 2 about 3D. Even if you read one - this book have much more material and practical info about WPF 3D than those, so I highly recommend in this case as well.
Also, people with knowledge of other more advanced 3D platforms (DirecX/OpenGL) who'd like to know WPF 3D will also find this book useful.

Great intro to 3D Programming
This book is a fantastic intro into the world of 3D Programming.It explains the concepts in an easy to understand format and gradually eases you into the more complex aspects of 3D.Also, because it is for WPF it makes it a cinch to get up and running quickly.I've also found that this book is a great way to get acquainted with 3D and these concepts are easily transferrable into the more complex 3D languages (ie: Direct3D and OpenGL).I highly recommend this book for anyone looking to learn 3D or to expand their WPF repetoire! ... Read more

Product Description

This state-of-the-art survey, reflecting on the teaching of programming, has been written by a group of primarily Scandinavian researchers and educators with special interest and experience in the subject of programming. The 14 chapters - contributed by 24 authors - present practical experience gathered in the process of teaching programming and associated with computing education research work. Special emphasis is placed on practical advice and concrete suggestions.

The authors are all members of the Scandinavian Pedagogy of Programming Network (SPoP), and bring together a diverse body of experiences from the Nordic countries. The 14 chapters of the book have been carefully written and edited to present 4 coherent units on issues in introductory programming courses, object-oriented programming, teaching software engineering issues, and assessment. Each of these individual parts has its own detailed introduction.

The topics addressed span a wide range of problems and solutions associated with the teaching of programming such as introductory programming courses, exposition of the programming process, apprentice-based learning, functional programming first, problem-based learning, the use of on-line tutorials, object-oriented programming and Java, the BlueJ environment to introduce programming, model-driven programming as opposed to the prevailing language-driven approach, teaching software engineering, testing, extreme programming, frameworks, feedback and assessment, active learning, technology-based individual feedback, and mini project programming exams.

Product Description
.NET 3.5 will help you create better Windows applications, build Web Services that are more powerful, implement new Workflow projects and dramatically enhance the user's experience. But it does so with what appears to be a collection of disparate technologies. In Programming .NET 3.5, bestselling author Jesse Liberty and industry expert Alex Horovitz uncover the common threads that unite the .NET 3.5 technologies, so you can benefit from the best practices and architectural patterns baked into this newest generation of Microsoft frameworks.While single-topic .NET 3.5 books delve into Windows Presentation Foundation and the other frameworks in greater detail, Programming .NET 3.5 offers a "Grand Tour" of the release that describes how the four principal technologies can be used together, with Ajax, to build modern n-tier and service-oriented applications. Developers have struggled to implement these patterns with previous versions of the .NET Framework, but this hands-on guide uses real-world examples and fully annotated source code to demonstrate how .NET 3.5 can make it easy.The concepts and technologies that this book covers include:XAML -- Microsoft's new XML-based markup language for UI, used with WPFWindows Presentation Foundation (WPF) -- a new presentation framework and graphics subsystem for Windows that puts Vista-like effect in your graspAjaxWindows Communication Foundation (WCF) - a new standards-based framework that enables applications to communicate across a network using a variety of protocolsWorkflow Foundation (WF) -- framework for defining, executing, and managing workflowsCardSpace -- framework for managing the identities of your usersYou'll learn how to use each of the four frameworks alone and in concert to build a series of meaningful example applications. Examples are written in C#, and all of the source code will be available for download at both the O'Reilly and the authors' site, which offers access to a free support forum. br />Between them, authors Jesse Liberty and Alex Horovitz have nearly forty years of experience in delivering commercial applications for companies such as Citibank, Apple, AT&T, NeXt, PBS, Ziff Davis, and dozens of smaller organizations. Their combined experience is valuable for telling the story of .NET 3.5 and how it will shorten the development life cycle for applications developers, and enhance your productivity. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

Well written and easy to follow
This book offers a great introduction to the basic .Net 3.5 Framework.While I consider it something of an overview book, it does offer enough meat to get you into the various subjects like WPF, LINQ, ect. Useful working code samples are offered for each subject. I highly recommend this book for the experienced programmer who wants to learn what .Net 3.5 has to offer.

Quickly get an overview of .net 3.5 and C# 3 features
This book "only" has 450 pages, so it can only describe quickly the new features of .NET 3.5. And there are many new features in .NET 3.5 ! If you want an in depth, expert, coverage of the subject, choose a 1500-page-book, or a specialized book. Not this one.
But this book is really good if you want a quick overview of a subject. For example, you can get up to speed with LINQ in a couple of hours. Of course you won't know everything about the subject. You'll get the 20% of the knowledge that is needed in 80% of cases.
This book is also pleasant reading. Jesse Liberty knows how to teach that stuff.

Too much of the wrong things, not enough of the right ones
I have about 5 years of .NET programming experience, limited to .NET 1.1 and 2.0. I bought this book thinking it would be a good "quick hit" to learn, in overview form, about all the new technologies introduced in the two latest revs of .NET; not looking for in-depth coverage of any one subject, just enough to give me my bearings and get me started.

One thing that emerges clearly from reading the book is, this was in fact the authors' intent. In the very first chapter, it says "Our goal is to show you the 25% that you will use 85% of the time... this may well be the only book you need to consult about those parts of .NET that are not central to your business."

And indeed, the first chapter or two do provide a good description of the .NET 3.5 landscape: basically, there are a specific set of about 10 technologies that make up the bulk of what's new: XAML (a new form of UI markup that underlies WPF and Silverlight), Microsoft's take on AJAX, LINQ, WCF, Workflow Foundation and Cardspace.

From there, the book moves into a more specific treatment of each technology, and this is where it really wanders off into the woods, never to return. There is one principal reason for this: using examples the wrong way. Example is the book's central, if not only, teaching method, to the exclusion of necessary conceptual introduction, background, advance organization, and (often) even explanation of the examples themselves.

For instance, let's consider one major new concept-- the "lambda expression" from the chapter on LINQ. The example is shown ("customer => customer.FirstName == 'Donna'"), and then here is the explanation, in its entirety: "The lefthand operand, 'customer', is the input parameter, and the righthand operand is the lambda expression. In this case, it checks whether the customer's FirstName is 'Donna'."

I had to go on-line to learn that a lambda expression is a new, compact way of creating a delegate for an anonymous method, and that these delegates are a major element in the LINQ extension methods, whose parameters generally take the form of "Func(T, TResult)". (I also learned the meaning of "delegate", "anonymous method", and "Func(T, TResult)" from material on-line; to its credit, the book did go into some detail on what "extension methods" are.)

This mode of presentation was very typical-- leading off with an illustration in a vacuum, then following up with an insultingly oversimplified explanation. The section on AJAX was probably the worst.

As for an treatment of anything NOT specifically called for in the examples, forget it. I think the authors must be assuming that, in each case, their example (usually a two-screen application) will actually represent a direct analog to 85% of all usage for the new concept, and that nothing further is needed. Speaking for myself personally, I did not find that to be the case. I would have liked more explanation and less "Hello World".

As a very poorly fleshed-out framework, this book had some value. As I went through it, I at least got enough exposure to know which concepts I would need to understand in order to begin working with .NET 3.5. However, I had hoped for a book that would then go on to actually provide me with such an understanding. In that respect, this book was a major disappointment.

Definitely not worth the money
For programmers, this book has almost nothing in the first five chapters. Then the remaining chapters are exteremely superficial and barely passable. One star is the least I can give for this book. Go for Pro C# 2008 and the .NET 3.5 Platform (by Troelsen) from Apress if you really want to learn about the .NET 3.5 platform...it's worth every penny you invest in it...

Jesse Liberty Hits Another Home Run!
If you are familiar with programming books you should make it well worth your while to get to know Jesse Liberty asap.He's an amazing writer that puts books out in warp speed time.Content is always good, writing is clear and concise and he is a joy to read.With 'Programming .NET 3.5', Mr. Liberty does it yet again.My only complaint with this book and a rare one that I make is that this book is TOO short.With only 14 chapters, this book needs more content, even with 450+ pages.Newer focus is on WPF, AJAX, Silverlight, LINQ, WCF and the like but some older content would be nice to have as well.

If you need to learn about .NET 3.5 you would be remiss not picking up this text to get up to speed and working right now.You get this book you will NOT be disappointed!!

McKinnon Overview

01. Into to .NET 3.5
02. XAML Inro
03. WPF Basics
04. Applying WPF
05. Introducing AJAX
06. Applying AJAX
07. Introducing Silverlight
08. Design Patterns with .NET 3.5
09. LINQ
10. WCF
11. Applying WCF
12. Introducing Windows Workflow Foundation
13. Applying WF
14. Applying CardSpace

***** HIGHLY RECOMMENDED ... Read more

Product Description
This book offers a concise distillation of signal processing theory for three-dimensional audio effects in games and simulation technology. Many books on the market only provide a superficial treatment of 3-D sound or how to merely access high-level APIs, such as OpenAL or DirectSound.

"Three-dimensional Audio Theory for Simulation and Game Programming," however, gives the reader insight into the technical underpinnings of such audio libraries. The material can be read and understood in a reasonable period of time, thereby making it much more valuable to the aspiring or working professional tasked with audio implementation details. ... Read more

Product Description
This book is about writing software that makes the most effective use of the system you're running on -- code that interfaces directly with the kernel and core system libraries, including the shell, text editor, compiler, debugger, core utilities, and system daemons. The majority of both Unix and Linux code is still written at the system level, and Linux System Programming focuses on everything above the kernel, where applications such as Apache, bash, cp, vim, Emacs, gcc, gdb, glibc, ls, mv, and X exist.Written primarily for engineers looking to program (better) at the low level, this book is an ideal teaching tool for any programmer. Even with the trend toward high-level development, either through web software (such as PHP) or managed code (C#), someone still has to write the PHP interpreter and the C# virtual machine. Linux System Programming gives you an understanding of core internals that makes for better code, no matter where it appears in the stack. Debugging high-level code often requires you to understand the system calls and kernel behavior of your operating system, too.Key topics include:An overview of Linux, the kernel, the C library, and the C compilerReading from and writing to files, along with other basic file I/O operations, including how the Linux kernel implements and manages file I/OBuffer size management, including the Standard I/O libraryAdvanced I/O interfaces, memory mappings, and optimization techniquesThe family of system calls for basic process managementAdvanced process management, including real-time processesFile and directories-creating, moving, copying, deleting, and managing themMemory management -- interfaces for allocating memory, managing the memory youhave, and optimizing your memory accessSignals and their role on a Unix system, plus basic and advanced signal interfacesTime, sleeping, and clock management, starting with the basics and continuing through POSIX clocks and high resolution timersWith Linux System Programming, you will be able to take an in-depth look at Linux from both a theoretical and an applied perspective as you cover a wide range of programming topics. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

A good teorical review of the Linux System calls and the GLIB functions.
You need some background to get a real approach from this book...
Good to get some tips on how the system works an why, really good explanations for all the points exposed, isn't a "Linux Specific" book, mostly based on POSIX and when not is well distinguished, also include some peculiar calls from other OS.

The book truly is for all developers
I have been programming C/C++ professionally since 1986 and was surprised at how much I've learned in the first few chapters.

One of the programs that I've been working on is an I/O intensive conversion from a legacy platform to Linux.The original code took about 8 minutes per gigabyte of data to process.I had worked and squeezed every trick I could think of and got the application down to 10 seconds per gigabyte.From what I learned in just the first few chapters, I was able to knock an additional 3% off the application performance.(It has been mentioned that I should state that I had been unaware of fread_unlocked and fwrite_unlocked before the book ... see comments for more detailed discussion).

When I finish the book, I fully intend on passing it over to one of our junior members so that they can benefit from it.

Not worth money
If you expect the quality of the author's other books from this book, you'll be disappointed. It just lists system calls and their descriptions that you can find from man pages without any serious examples. It doesn't provide any insight or thorough coverage you can find from other books such as Steven's book (Advance Programmng in Unix environment).

From the book title, I expected the author's insight over interface between user space program and kernel but it just looks like that it copied man pages in some order. If you want to learn sysetm programming in Linux environment,look for other books, seriously.

Easy to read-Your first step into system programming
Up-side
Its a very easily readable book.
Unlike other heavy weight books on system programming in this book code is very simple. All the codes are on one place no extra header files.
So if you are new to system-kernel programming, like my self, this is the book for you.
I did have problem reading kernel development books("Linux device driver" Linux kernel Programming). But after reading this book so many things are in perspective now. I cold do advance study in kernel development.

Down Side.
Some light/sweet projects could have made this book the best.
Some socket programming examples would be nice.

a disappointment
nothing really useful in this book, too shallow to do anything with it, i like his other books though, but this one certainly is not good, if at all. ... Read more

Product Description
Do you need to know how to write systems, services, and applications using the TinyOS operating system? Learn how to write nesC code and efficient applications with this indispensable guide to TinyOS programming. Detailed examples show you how to write TinyOS code in full, from basic applications right up to new low-level systems and high performance applications. Two leading figures in the development of TinyOS also explain the reasons behind many of the design decisions made and, for the first time, how nesC relates to and differs from other C dialects. Handy features such as a library of software design patterns, programming hints and tips, end-of-chapter exercises, and an appendix summarizing the basic application-level TinyOS APIs make this the ultimate guide to TinyOS for embedded systems programmers, developers, designers, and graduate students. ... Read more

Product Description

Paradigms of AI Programming is the first text to teach advanced Common Lisp techniques in the context of building major AI systems. By reconstructing authentic, complex AI programs using state-of-the-art Common Lisp, the book teaches students and professionals how to build and debug robust practical programs, while demonstrating superior programming style and important AI concepts. The author strongly emphasizes the practical performance issues involved in writing real working programs of significant size.Chapters on troubleshooting and efficiency are included, along with a discussion of the fundamentals of object-oriented programming and a description of the main CLOS functions. This volume is an excellent text for a course on AI programming, a useful supplement for general AI courses and an indispensable reference for the professional programmer.

Customer Reviews (8)

Amazing book about designing programs
Don't let the title of the book fool you: Yes, it presents all its code in Common Lisp and yes, the domain it discusses mostly is Artificial Intelligence, but PAIP (as it's affectionately called by fans) is a book about the general process of designing programs and implementing them. It's just a by-product that along the way you will learn Common Lisp (which is a very interesting language) and will get familiar with some very interesting problems in the fields of AI, code optimization, search, compilation and OOP/

Peter Norvig is a masterful programmer and writer. His code is excellently thought-out and designed, and shines with originality and clarity at every snippet you read. Every chapter has interesting insights and great code in it. Reading through this book from cover to cover is a behemoth task, but even starting small is great. Norvig even includes several exercises *with solutions* for each chapter, which really helps understanding the material.

In short, PAIP is one of the best books about programming and computer science I have ever read. It is highly recommended.

One of the Best
"Paradigms of Artificial Intelligence Programming" is one of the best books of computer science that I have ever read.I put it up there in the pantheon with "Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs".I have found more useful and mind expanding material in these case studies than I have in many other books on computer science. I highly recommend this book to anyone, even if they have never used Lisp.

Norvig's Corollary to Greenspun's Tenth Law of Programming
This book has been called "The best book on programming ever written".I'd have to agree--it is certainly the best that I've ever read.

William Zinsser said, "The essence of writing is rewriting" and the same can be said for writing computer programs.Norvig's book presents this process--how the limitations of a program are overcome by revision and rewriting.What sets Norvig apart as a writer is that, amazingly enough, he can write about debugging (the most dreaded part of computer programming) and make it a fascinating read!

Lisp has been getting a higher profile lately because of essayists like Paul Graham and Philip Greenspun; in particular,Greenspun's Tenth Rule of Programming which states: "Any sufficiently complicated C or Fortran program contains an ad hoc, informally-specified, bug-ridden, slow implementation of half of Common Lisp." So, should this book be read as an exhortation to return to Lisp as the preferred programming language?

Paradoxically, I think not.One third of the way through the book, Norvig shows us how to implement Prolog in Lisp.From then on out, most of the AI techniques he presents either directly use Prolog instead of Lisp (such as his excellent discussion of natural language processing using Prolog) or use Prolog as a base to build on (such as his discussions on knowledge representation).

From this we can abstract what I'd like to call Norvig's Corollary to Greenspun's Tenth Law of Programming: "Any sufficiently complicated LISP program is going to contain a slow implementation of half of Prolog".I'm leaving out the "ad hoc", "bug-ridden" part of Greenspuns's law, because Norvig's programs are neither.But it is quite remarkable the degree to which, once having absorbed Prolog, Norvig uses Prolog as the basis for further development, rather than Lisp.

Is this a book about Prolog then?Again, no.What is the take-away message?It is this: as our world becomes more and more complex, and as the problems which programmers are facing become more and more complex, we have to program at a higher and higher level.

Norvig does not stop at just embedding Prolog in Lisp.He also shows us how to embed scheme as well.Excellent discussion on the mysterious call/cc function and on continuations.

In a capsule review, it is impossible to really give an overview of a 1,000 page book like this one. But the scope and heft of the volume really needs to be commented on: the programs presented in this book are like basis vectors, the totality of which nearly span the space of programming itself. In no way should this be considered "just an AI book" or "justa LISP book".This book transcends language, time, and subject matter.It is a programmer's book for the ages.

An Excellent Reference on WHY to write good Lisp
This book is equally excellent regardless of whether you wish to regard it as:

a) A historical study of Artificial Intelligence, with USABLE examples of code, or

b) A book presenting techniques for programming in Common Lisp.

As a reference about Common Lisp, it is certainly lacking, but this is no great problem when both the Common Lisp HyperSpec and Steele's book are readily available in electronic form.It provides something more important: SIGNIFICANT examples, and significant discussions on WHY you would use various Lisp idioms, and, fairly often, discussions on HOW pieces of Common Lisp are likely to be implemented.Its discussion of an implementation of the LOOP macro, for instance, provides a very different point of view than the "references" to LOOP.(Contrast too with Graham's books, which largely deprecate the use of LOOP.)

From an AI perspective, it is also very good, providing WORKING SAMPLES for a whole lot of the historically significant AI problems, including Search, PLANNER, symbolic computation, and the likes.

It would be interesting to see parallel works from the following sorts of perspectives:

- The same sorts of AI problems solved using functional languages (e.g. - ML, Haskell), to allow contrasting the use of those more modern languages.Being more "purely functional" has merits; such languages commonly lack macros, which is something of a disadvantage.

- The use of CL to grapple with some other sorts of applications, notably random access to data [e.g. - databases] and rendition of output in HTML/SGML/XML [e.g. - web server].

Not advanced, but good and vast
The strength of this book is its combination of breadth and completeness: there is working code (well beyond the toy stage) of a large number of different AI systems that cover a large subset of what is commonly considered AI.

The programming itself is rather basic, and very straightforward.In many places an advanced programmer would have avoided a global variable, unified code through the use of higher-order functions, had functions communicate through a shared local environment, created a lazy list, you name it.

The author avoids most of these more advanced approaches in order to present the ideas behind the approaches without being sidetracked into programming technique issues, and that is the correct choice for this book.Even as it is, there is already the duplicity of teaching Common Lisp and teaching AI programming.

That being said, the code in general is not bad at all, even though I wouldn't want my students to learn CL programming from it.The author has simply bent down to the level of, a good C programmer, and worked from there.His main intention being to teach AI programming approaches, he has spent much less time to raise the programming level of his audience.

Knowing the author's level of Lisp programming, I can't wait to see a book by his hand on how to use abstraction as an organising principle in programming. ... Read more

Product Description
.NET 3.5 will help you create better Windows applications, build Web Services that are more powerful, implement new Workflow projects and dramatically enhance the user's experience. But it does so with what appears to be a collection of disparate technologies. In Programming .NET 3.5, bestselling author Jesse Liberty and industry expert Alex Horovitz uncover the common threads that unite the .NET 3.5 technologies, so you can benefit from the best practices and architectural patterns baked into this newest generation of Microsoft frameworks.While single-topic .NET 3.5 books delve into Windows Presentation Foundation and the other frameworks in greater detail, Programming .NET 3.5 offers a "Grand Tour" of the release that describes how the four principal technologies can be used together, with Ajax, to build modern n-tier and service-oriented applications. Developers have struggled to implement these patterns with previous versions of the .NET Framework, but this hands-on guide uses real-world examples and fully annotated source code to demonstrate how .NET 3.5 can make it easy.The concepts and technologies that this book covers include:XAML -- Microsoft's new XML-based markup language for UI, used with WPFWindows Presentation Foundation (WPF) -- a new presentation framework and graphics subsystem for Windows that puts Vista-like effect in your graspAjaxWindows Communication Foundation (WCF) - a new standards-based framework that enables applications to communicate across a network using a variety of protocolsWorkflow Foundation (WF) -- framework for defining, executing, and managing workflowsCardSpace -- framework for managing the identities of your usersYou'll learn how to use each of the four frameworks alone and in concert to build a series of meaningful example applications. Examples are written in C#, and all of the source code will be available for download at both the O'Reilly and the authors' site, which offers access to a free support forum. br />Between them, authors Jesse Liberty and Alex Horovitz have nearly forty years of experience in delivering commercial applications for companies such as Citibank, Apple, AT&T, NeXt, PBS, Ziff Davis, and dozens of smaller organizations. Their combined experience is valuable for telling the story of .NET 3.5 and how it will shorten the development life cycle for applications developers, and enhance your productivity. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

Well written and easy to follow
This book offers a great introduction to the basic .Net 3.5 Framework.While I consider it something of an overview book, it does offer enough meat to get you into the various subjects like WPF, LINQ, ect. Useful working code samples are offered for each subject. I highly recommend this book for the experienced programmer who wants to learn what .Net 3.5 has to offer.

Quickly get an overview of .net 3.5 and C# 3 features
This book "only" has 450 pages, so it can only describe quickly the new features of .NET 3.5. And there are many new features in .NET 3.5 ! If you want an in depth, expert, coverage of the subject, choose a 1500-page-book, or a specialized book. Not this one.
But this book is really good if you want a quick overview of a subject. For example, you can get up to speed with LINQ in a couple of hours. Of course you won't know everything about the subject. You'll get the 20% of the knowledge that is needed in 80% of cases.
This book is also pleasant reading. Jesse Liberty knows how to teach that stuff.

Too much of the wrong things, not enough of the right ones
I have about 5 years of .NET programming experience, limited to .NET 1.1 and 2.0. I bought this book thinking it would be a good "quick hit" to learn, in overview form, about all the new technologies introduced in the two latest revs of .NET; not looking for in-depth coverage of any one subject, just enough to give me my bearings and get me started.

One thing that emerges clearly from reading the book is, this was in fact the authors' intent. In the very first chapter, it says "Our goal is to show you the 25% that you will use 85% of the time... this may well be the only book you need to consult about those parts of .NET that are not central to your business."

And indeed, the first chapter or two do provide a good description of the .NET 3.5 landscape: basically, there are a specific set of about 10 technologies that make up the bulk of what's new: XAML (a new form of UI markup that underlies WPF and Silverlight), Microsoft's take on AJAX, LINQ, WCF, Workflow Foundation and Cardspace.

From there, the book moves into a more specific treatment of each technology, and this is where it really wanders off into the woods, never to return. There is one principal reason for this: using examples the wrong way. Example is the book's central, if not only, teaching method, to the exclusion of necessary conceptual introduction, background, advance organization, and (often) even explanation of the examples themselves.

For instance, let's consider one major new concept-- the "lambda expression" from the chapter on LINQ. The example is shown ("customer => customer.FirstName == 'Donna'"), and then here is the explanation, in its entirety: "The lefthand operand, 'customer', is the input parameter, and the righthand operand is the lambda expression. In this case, it checks whether the customer's FirstName is 'Donna'."

I had to go on-line to learn that a lambda expression is a new, compact way of creating a delegate for an anonymous method, and that these delegates are a major element in the LINQ extension methods, whose parameters generally take the form of "Func(T, TResult)". (I also learned the meaning of "delegate", "anonymous method", and "Func(T, TResult)" from material on-line; to its credit, the book did go into some detail on what "extension methods" are.)

This mode of presentation was very typical-- leading off with an illustration in a vacuum, then following up with an insultingly oversimplified explanation. The section on AJAX was probably the worst.

As for an treatment of anything NOT specifically called for in the examples, forget it. I think the authors must be assuming that, in each case, their example (usually a two-screen application) will actually represent a direct analog to 85% of all usage for the new concept, and that nothing further is needed. Speaking for myself personally, I did not find that to be the case. I would have liked more explanation and less "Hello World".

As a very poorly fleshed-out framework, this book had some value. As I went through it, I at least got enough exposure to know which concepts I would need to understand in order to begin working with .NET 3.5. However, I had hoped for a book that would then go on to actually provide me with such an understanding. In that respect, this book was a major disappointment.

Definitely not worth the money
For programmers, this book has almost nothing in the first five chapters. Then the remaining chapters are exteremely superficial and barely passable. One star is the least I can give for this book. Go for Pro C# 2008 and the .NET 3.5 Platform (by Troelsen) from Apress if you really want to learn about the .NET 3.5 platform...it's worth every penny you invest in it...

Jesse Liberty Hits Another Home Run!
If you are familiar with programming books you should make it well worth your while to get to know Jesse Liberty asap.He's an amazing writer that puts books out in warp speed time.Content is always good, writing is clear and concise and he is a joy to read.With 'Programming .NET 3.5', Mr. Liberty does it yet again.My only complaint with this book and a rare one that I make is that this book is TOO short.With only 14 chapters, this book needs more content, even with 450+ pages.Newer focus is on WPF, AJAX, Silverlight, LINQ, WCF and the like but some older content would be nice to have as well.

If you need to learn about .NET 3.5 you would be remiss not picking up this text to get up to speed and working right now.You get this book you will NOT be disappointed!!

McKinnon Overview

01. Into to .NET 3.5
02. XAML Inro
03. WPF Basics
04. Applying WPF
05. Introducing AJAX
06. Applying AJAX
07. Introducing Silverlight
08. Design Patterns with .NET 3.5
09. LINQ
10. WCF
11. Applying WCF
12. Introducing Windows Workflow Foundation
13. Applying WF
14. Applying CardSpace

***** HIGHLY RECOMMENDED ... Read more

Product Description

• Programming allows developers to create a sequence of instructions that enable computers to perform certain functions and tasks
• Offering the basic best practices and skills for novice programmers, this book helps readers gain new skills for writing programs and developing applications
• Teaches programming using C++ and explores scripting with JavaScript and VBScript, which are all free and don't require the reader to purchase any software
• Includes programming projects and real-world code examples that can be modified and expanded upon

Customer Reviews (8)

Good book for intro to programming
So you're interested in programming?Then this book is a good start to get an idea what programming is all about.I finished the book in 3 days!

Programming entry level
'Beginning Programming' is an entry level introduction to programming, about as dumbed down as it can possibly get - and that is what is so great about it.

There are not many books targeting readers with absolutely no previous knowledge of programming, wanting to learn the very basics before moving on to an introduction course or book using one specific programming language. 'Beginning Programming' fills the gap nicely.

The book starts off with outlining the history of programming, explains what benefits programming skills will give you, discusses some common myths in a real honest way, and thoroughly details learning paths. Exercises are plentiful, the tools and language code samples shown (Java, C++, VB, JavaScript) are highly relevant.

In the following section authors Katie and Adrian Kingsley-Hughes move on to meticulously teaching the fundamentals of computers and machine language, coding, number systems, interfaces and tools required for a programmer. The paragraphs on the importance of picking a good chair and keyboard (!) illustrate just how deeply their book delves into detail.

Describing problem solving, compiling and debugging, file and registry interaction is done, before wrapping the book up with a great section on programming from problem identification to the distributed product. The brief appendixes provide a glossary and information on further resources, and how to obtain every needed kind of tool.

What I most appreciated while reading 'Beginning Programming', was that the authors took time to introduce the fundamentals before moving on to actual coding (which was very simple). Coding is not introduced until half way into the book. It is sad colleges and universities do not allow students to acquire a thorough grasp of the basics, but dive straight into learning the first programming language. Students would benefit from starting off with a book like this.

On the down side, 'Beginning Programming' does not mention the important subject of object oriented programming at all, and the description of graphic user interfaces is just too short, not even showing code samples. I missed a demonstration of tools like NetBeans or MS Visual Studio Express Edition (both are free). Also, the publishers have not bothered to proof read the book properly. Language is sub standard, and the errata is a wee bit long.

My Opinion - "Beginning Programming"
I think this would make a good text for a beginning programming class.The authors touch on various programming languages, though I would prefer to see sample code in all languages (or at least have it available online) so an instructor could choose which to use.

Takes deciphering
I am about half-way through the book and I am frustrated with its incomplete references, errors, and ambiguities.

One of the problems I have encountered was getting the recommended C+ compiler to work.That problem is discussed both here and on the WROX website.The book fails to give a simple explanation of how to configure the computer to make it run.Thankfully, I had enough independent knowledge to prepare the required configuration files and to restate the path, but that may not be so trivial for a complete tyro.

There are ambiguities that arise from unqualified uses of "it" and "this."For example, on pages 141-42, there is a suggestion that a very basic block of code be prepared in an editor and saved.The discussion then shifts to compiling the code, but the example provided confusingly shifts to a different file (test.cpp) and then shifts back to the file that started the discussion (template.cpp).The references are imprecise.

There are careless comments such as the one appearing on page 153: "To make the others run, you put all of them in the code."That statement would be clearer if the word "code" was replaced by "in the code for the main function."

There are troubling typographical errors such as the block highlighting on page 164 which should be limited to the first four "cout" and "cin" lines and should exclude the last "cout" line.

Other matters that bug are mismatches between code and the output illustrations.Precise copying of the code on pages 176-177 does not produce the output in the accompanying illustration.The same comment can be made for the material on page 180.

My impression is that this book was not carefully proofed, and precision is essential in any book that purports to be a fundamental, introductory text.

Buggier than a porch light. Novice beware!
This book is likely to frustrate true beginners. In attempting to work through the excercises, the C++ complier the authors recommend refused to compile the sample code. Two frustrating hours later pursuing solutions on the Borland web site, I managed to create two configuration files, edit my environmental variables, and finally get the code to compile. Such geek gymnastics are certainly beyond most "beginners," and are likely to cause them to give up the whole idea of learning to code.

Shame on Borland for providing a compiler that was apparently never beta tested on XP(!), and shame on Wrox for failing to provide adequate instructions. There are a few answers of varying quality and coherance on their forum, but you shouldn't have to resort to the forum to run the very first compiled program in the book.

If you aren't familiar with how a compiler works BEFORE reading this book, you are likely to run aground sometime around Chapter 7. Save your money. ... Read more

Product Description
This book offers a concise distillation of signal processing theory for three-dimensional audio effects in games and simulation technology. Many books on the market only provide a superficial treatment of 3-D sound or how to merely access high-level APIs, such as OpenAL or DirectSound.

"Three-dimensional Audio Theory for Simulation and Game Programming," however, gives the reader insight into the technical underpinnings of such audio libraries. The material can be read and understood in a reasonable period of time, thereby making it much more valuable to the aspiring or working professional tasked with audio implementation details. ... Read more

Product Description
Get practical, hands-on instruction for learning the Composite UI Application Block (CAB) and the Smart Client Software Factory. Using just your fundamental Microsoft Visual Basic or Visual C# skills, you’ll work through seven lessons that present real-world scenarios. Each lesson is based on proven classroom guidance—building the skills your need to easily create user interface components for smart-client solutions.Discover how to:Generate a shell application and implement prefabricated or custom CAB servicesUse work items and controllers to share resources in loosely coupled applicationsOptimize visual information display by using Workspaces and SmartPartsAdd and modify menus, toolbars, and status bars by using the CAB user interface extensionAnnounce and receive asynchronous events within an applicationInvoke methods in the Action Catalog service to coordinate application business-logicMatch CAB constructs to Windows Presentation Foundation ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

not a bad book
Its not a bad book but its not exactly what I was looking for. Having said that there are not many books telling you what this does, so it becomes a must buy.

A lost opportunity
Many of us who are developing applications using CAB/SCSF could use a comprehensive "How To" book on this topic.Unfortunately, this book didn't sieze the opportunity to deliver such a book.There is *some* good information in the book, and the Introduction chapter nicely whets the appetite. Unfortunately, the rest of the book falls far short of providing the necessary guidance and examples to make it truly useful.There is certainly enough information in CAB/SCSF to fill a book with at least twice the content of this one.It makes me wonder whether the book was rushed to market or whether the author and editors just lacked the will and fortitude to write the type of book that this could have been.

Essential read if you are the intended audience
If you are looking for a 3k page bible on SCSF and CAB, move along partner, because this ain't it.
If, however, you have been wanting to work with SCSF but couldn't find a good starting point, this is your book.If you've heard the alluring call of SCSF's decoupled architecture and want to get your feet wet, this is your book.If you've done The Walkthrough and found that you still didn't understand what it really *meant*, this is your book.If you are developing in the SCSF but want to read about pitfalls, tips and tricks from someone who has already traveled that road, this is your book.
This book begins top down by explaining the decoupled architecture and its benefits.It then dives down a level and explains how the WorkItems, Collections and Services work together to enable the decoupling.Finally it dives one more level and hits upon some key Services, Event Brokering, Action Catalog and some of the other "big" pieces of SCSF.At key points you get prudent advice about how real products are using SCSF features in deployed applications in the real world.

To summarize:If you are already an SCSF god, there is nothing new here for you.If you are an SCSF neophyte, this book is a worthwhile read to shortcut the SCSF learning curve.

Must Read Introduction
David's book provides a necessary foundation for anyone wanting to become proficient with CAB programming. Unless you are already an experienced CAB developer or are looking for low level CAB framework details, this book will be of great benefit. A real asset in helping you understand the complexities of CAB, the SCSF and get you started toward successful CAB development.

An important read.
I found this book to be well worth the money.

CAB on its own is a large topic, add SCSF and the amount of information is overwhelming.David's book is an attempt to distill and present enough information to shorten the learning curve, and enable someone to make an informed decision about what CAB can do for them. This book is not intended to replace the official Software Factory documentation, but it does provide a valuable piece of the overall puzzle.

David's book clearly explains some of the history behind how CAB became what it is today and how real world experience is guiding CAB's evolution. There are examples which leverage David's experience with the product to supply valuable information available nowhere else.

There is certainly a need for more detailed documentation and David shows in this book he has the knowledge and experience to write a volume 2 on CAB & SCSF Advanced Topics. And I for one hope he does so real soon. ... Read more

Product Description

This is the Mobipocket version of the print book.

“Some books are different-the content can't be Googled from the Internet, the authors have real-life experiences to share, the code can be used in real-world projects. This is one of those books.”

–Neal Myrddin, Independent Developer

“Chris and Michael nail the soul of Windows Forms 2.0. This book provides an insightful view into the design of Windows Forms and the integration of new 2.0 features. It is just as applicable for the first-time Windows Forms programmer as the seasoned line of business developer. The ‘What’s New in 2.0’ appendix is worth the price of admission alone.”

–Mike Harsh, Windows Forms Program Manager, Microsoft, Inc.

“This book takes an amazingly broad and deep technology, and breaks it into manageable pieces that are easily consumed. You cannot survive building a complex WinForms application without this book.”

–Ryan Dorrell, Chief Technology Officer, AgileThought

“Windows Forms 2.0 Programming offers something for every .NET developer. Experienced developers will appreciate the in-depth coverage of new 2.0 features, including the most comprehensive coverage of ClickOnce deployment, multithreading, and the new designer integration found anywhere. Developers new to Winforms programming will appreciate the coverage of the fundamentals all Winforms developers need to know. Whether you’re an experienced WinForms developer or just beginning, you need this book.” 

–Fritz Onion, cofounder of Pluralsight, author of Essential ASP.NET, and ASP.NET MVP

“I don’t want just a description of the WinForms widgets. I can get that online or from other books. What I want is a roadmap for pitfalls to avoid, and innovative solutions for common problems. That is where this book shines. All of us who found the first edition of this book to be an indispensible part of our reference library will appreciate this updated edition that describes WinForms 2.0.”

–Johan Ericsson, Software Engineer, Agilent Technologies

“The books Chris Sells writes are always insightful and this newest addition is no different. This book in particular is for those who want to understand not just the flashy surface of Windows Forms 2.0, but also how it fits into the .NET environment. Readers will have this book at their desks, not stuck on their shelves, for quite a long time.”

–Yoshimatsu Fumiaki, Software Engineer based in Tokyo Japan

“Chris and Mike have done an excellent job presenting the information you need to be successful with Windows Forms.”

–Jessica Fosler, Dev Tech Lead, Microsoft

“This book is the ‘must have’ teaching and reference book for WinForms 2.0.”

–Jim Rittenhouse, Senior Software Engineer, Siemens

Windows Forms 2.0 Programming is the successor to the highly praised Windows Forms Programming in C#. This edition has been significantly updated to amalgamate the sheer mass of new and improved suppo... ... Read more

Customer Reviews (29)

Extremely redudant writing style, but not many better choices.
I am wondering whether the authors are paid by the number of the words in the book. I find this book is extremely verbose. It is easy to find a paragraph like this. "Unfortunately,xxxxxx(500 words). Luckily, Windows Forms provides the necessary additional yyyyyyyy(500 words)." Why he cannot shrink them into one sentence, "Windows forms provide xxx feature because yyy. xxx is doing aaa." I find reading the author's bubbling annoying and counter productive, but this could be true for many technical books nowaday, good technical writers are rare.

I love it!
Full of information, otherwise not available.
Complete samples, easy to read.
still in use, even with VS.2010!

Awesome Book
I really love your wonderful book, Windows Forms 2.0 Programming in C#.It is so well-written and full of very relevant user-interface tricks and tips and I am also impressed with the way it is organized.I first found out about your book through the MSDN webpage when I was looking for how to implement a document-centric user interface in C#.And I happened upon the series of articles entitled "Creating Document-Centric Applications with Windows Forms," and I enjoyed those so much I bought the book.

I am currently using Visual C# 2008 Express Edition and managed to, with your code and tips and tricks plus some third-party libraries I found off the internet, I have produced a Visual Studio-clone for Java.I love programming in C# and .NET. It's too easy.

I am also a prolific programming author myself.You may have heard of me.At one point you could type my name into the Visual C++ 6 Help Search and articles would pop up if you had MSDN installed.I've also published several tens of articles in Visual C++ Developer magazine and on The Code Project.

Thanks again for the great book!

great
Do not buy "training Kit" from Microsoft unless you are a genius or you are already familiar with the subject. They are not for the new kids on the block.
Instead by the Step by Step books or this one Microsoft.Net Development Series.
This book is discriptive and great. A+for this book.

An excellent "go to" resource for WinForms development
After many years of scientific programming using C++ and MFC, I was looking for a book to help make the transition to application development using C#. The authors' treatment of fundamental concepts like dialogs, printing and background worker threads, complete with descriptive examples, continues to make this book extremely useful as a reference in new projects, and when porting legacy code to Windows Forms.

Appendices that deal with the differences between MFC and Windows Forms, as well as a C# implementation of document management will be of particular interest to MFC programmers.

This is a highly recommended addition to any .NET programmer's library. ... Read more

Product Description

This is the eBook version of the printed book.

Build several fully functional games as well as a game engine to use for programming cell phone and mobile games with Beginning Mobile Phone Game Programming! The included CD provides the tool, code and graphics necessary to complete all exercises covered in the chapters. Beginning Cell Phone Game Programming demystifies wireless game programming by providing clear, practical lessons using the J2ME Game API. You will learn how to use the most popular mobile programming language, Java, to build compact games that can run on any Java-enabled device, including mobile phones, pagers and handheld computers. You will also learn to add a splash screen, create a demo mode, keep track of high scores, and test, debug, and deploy your games.

Topics covered include:

• How to construct a game engine to drive mobile games.
• How to use Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME) and the Java Game API to get the most performance out of your mobile games.
• How to implement sprite animation and control interactions among moving sprites.
• How to play sound effects and music in mobile games.
• How to take advantage of wireless networks to build mobile multiplayer games.
• How to design and develop a variety of different games spanning several video games genres.

Customer Reviews (10)

product review and amazon experience.
the book itself is a good book for programmers developing a mobile java game. the printed copies aree clear... delivered on time... great experience

Useful not only for cell phone game development!!!
This book shows a overall and objective vision about game development (mainly concepts). I think that for beginners it's the best way to start a game (not only for cell phones, but for any system).

I recommend the book (and Amazon service)!!!

Best so far
This was the book that got me interested in mobile games. I love it. Well written, good examples that are easy to follow, and it covers everything including graphics, audio, and AI. It also uses MIDP 2.0 which is the de facto standard. Another book by Wells is not bad but Wells assumes MIDP 1.0 and teaches from a single game project, Star Assault, which is too big and besides, not always easy to follow. However, Morrison is really straightfoward in comparison. If there is a downside, it might be that Morrison, like all the others I've looked at, assume the Wireless Toolkit. Firstly, the WTK has no debugging facilities which makes learning and fixing games harder. Secondly, games in Morrison are WTK 2.1 which means you'll have problems if using WTK 2.2, the latest version at the time of this writing. If you are serious about learning and writing J2ME games, you need to get Eclipse and the Eclipse plug-in, EclipseME. You'll still have to get the latest WTK since EclipseME depends on it. However, you can import all of Morrison's projects and single-step debug them. (Remember to read the EclipseME pages on setting up the J2ME debugger; otherwise, the debugger won't work.) I've also used Morrison with Sun's NetBeans Mobility Pack. I prefer Eclipse since it seems to have a larger community.

Very good book
I have been using this book as a textbook for a one-semester introductory course to game programming. Thanks to the book the students can learn themain principles of game development in an environment that guarantees that they implement their own variations withing a tight time constraint.

The course has a heavy hands-on component based almost completely on the game samples from the book. Amazingly, the students are in the lab when I come, and they stay when I leave.

I used the book successfully in a Linux lab with Eclipse, EclipseME, WTK 2.2, GIMP, Rosegarden, Audacity, and Tiled, with some small help from timidity and awk.

Absolutely Amazing !!
It's the only Java 2 ME game programming book I love ! This book explains all about Java Game in Mobile device and in an easy way. I bought this book on September 2005 and becoz of this book, I grabbed the 3rd national J2ME programming competition in my country on November 2005. Very useful for beginner and intermediete. But this is only a game book, so it doesn't tell u about how to make form, list, choicegroup, textfield, etc. U must have another book that teach u those. Congrats to the author for making this quality book ! ... Read more

Product Description
This beginning guide reviews HTML and also introduces you to using XHTML for the structure of a web page and cascading style sheets (CSS) for controlling how a document should appear on a web page. You?ll learn how to take advantage of the latest features of browsers while making sure that your pages still work in older, but popular, browsers. By incorporating usability and accessibility, you?ll be able to write professional-looking and well-coded web pages that use the latest technologies. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (16)

Wonderful
This book is really good for us beginners.I recommend doing all the examples it tells you to do.I did even some of the examples shown, because the more I practice it, the easier it is to remember.A good book.

Should be your SECOND book on the topic
Anyone serious about learning web design should consider this book. It is a superb textbook, offering six chapters of solid (X)HTML education followed by excellent introductions to style sheets, design theory, and scripting. Used in conjunction with the free code download (available from the publisher's web site), it does exactly what it says on the tin.

That said, I would not recommend this book for absolute beginners or dabblers in web design. Simply put, it IS a textbook... the black and white illustrations are simply not sufficient to get a grasp of color, layout, and the like - you must do the end of chapter exercises. Further, the sequential instruction presented in the book hampers its use as a reference; it can answer "what does this tag do?" but not "how do I do that?"

Bottom line: if you have a little HTML experience and have already read a thin "newbie book" on the topic, then you are the ideal student for this excellent self-study course.

An excellent book...
This is an excellent book in order to learn actual web page design. It's really easy to follow by non-english speakers (like me, I'm spanish).

It has a lot of usefull information about HTML, CSS and general web design.

Highly recommended!!!

Programmer
I as a programmer think that this book is a productive book, the guy go over all the materials you need to learn step by step and smoothly.

Excellent - Informative
It's an excellent and informative book! It helped me very much to teach the item to a very "difficult audience"! ... Read more