Programs Books

For donwloading this book's sample code, it points to www.phptr.com/tapadiya/dotnet/, which no longer works. Instead, go http://www.tapadiya.net/pradeep/ComPlusBook.htm#CodeSamples, a link I finally found after 10 minutes of Google search.

When a new topic is covered, the author provides an introduction to the problem. It often helps to get the right perspective on what you study. It's very far from being a dry reference book. I found it to be written in an easy to understand the language, detailed enough and not too wordy, and to explain things in a practical way. I like Tapadiya's style, in general. I liked his other book (about COM programming) too. I enjoyed reading it.

The book is not for those who are looking for a general programming tutorial. I think it requires some experience in software creation, although maybe not a whole lot.

It's a great book, so pick it up because it's a low price for all that info.

For new viewers, this is a great way to catch up on past story of your favorite characters. See why Luke and Cassadines have fueded. Learn about Laura and her mother Leslie. There are several pictures from the show, but be aware, they are black and white.

I am the list owner of a GH fan group and I use this book to give weekly questions to the list. The members love seeing who will send in the correct answer first. Some who have viewed for many years have been stumped on occassion.

If GH is your show, this book is a must. It would make a really nice gift for someone you know who is a fan, too.

This is one of the best books that I have read on General Hospital. A Wonderful collection of photos and facts. By the time you are done reading this book you'll be ready for a game of trivia pursuit and win. Reasonably priced.

And most important, this book came through for me in an area that I have not found in the other books -- variables, functions and expressions. Roberts eases the reader into this area, which is by far the core of Authorware's strength and flexibility. Then the reader gets into two or three chapters that deal with this area in depth. The material was so good I couldn't help but want more, but alas, I think an entire book could be written on just variables and functions.

Even though I use Authorware 5.1, I found this version 4 book 100% useful -- all it lacks is info on how to use 5.1's Knowledge Objects -- which surprisingly is also absent in the newer Authorware 5 books that I have seen. But from what I've heard from other folks, the lack of K.O. information is no great loss. I just hope that Nick Roberts comes out with another AW book one of these days -- maybe on AW 6 when it hits the market.

In "Suspense"'s "Donovan's Brain", a multimillonaire's brain is kept alive by a scientist, played by Orson Wells. In "The War of The Worlds", Earth is invaded by martains. In "Lights Out"'s "The Metor Man", a semi vampire alien haunts a human couple. There are many more classics in this collection. Get it!

One wit said that all the intelligent people were listening to the dummy and all the dummies were listening to "The War of the Worlds." But that is unfair. When I listened to the show the first time, I was struck by the realism of the radio announcer's panicked description of the Martian attack. It reminded me of the broadcast of the Hindenburg tragedy, and I wasn't at all surprised to learn that the actor who played that part had consciously tried to model his delivery after that broadcast. We'd like to think we're smarter than our countrymen from that earlier time, but you need only look to the recent Y2K panic to realize we're not as sophisticated as we think.

"The War of the Worlds" isn't the only gem in the collection. "Donovan's Brain," "The Martian Chronicles," "The Time Machine," and "Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea" are classics by anyone's definition. The other stuff isn't quite as good as these excellent episodes, tending toward sci-fi formula stories and space opera, but the high quality of the named shows would be hard to equal in any genre.

The fifties were the "Golden Age" of science fiction writing, with talents like Robert Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, and Alfred Bester all in their prime. Judging from the quality of the offerings in this collection, fifties radio sci-fi measured up quite well against printed science fiction.

I highly recommend this book. The only issue is its availability, I find it hard to believe that the publishers have not cashed in on this book (did n't republish - currently out of print) as it is a real winner and a gem to have.

Listed below are the chapters.

1. PL/SQL At A Glance
2. Writing Simple Routines
3. Program Flow Control
4. Accessing the Database
5. Complex Datatypes
6. Creating Programs
7. Using Object Types
8. PL/SQL In Different Environments
9. PL/SQL And Application Performance
10. PL/SQL Fundamentals
11. Blocks, Stored Programs, Packages, Database Triggers And Stored Types
12. Declarations
13. Procedural Constructs
14. Built In Functions
15. Oracle 8 Supplied Packages
16. Extended SQL And PL/SQL Support
17. External File I/O And Background Job Control
18. Support of LOB Datatypes
19. Event Notification And Intersession Communication Support
20. Advanced Queuing Support
21. Miscellaneous Packages