Development Books

Do you want to learn really how powerful CSS can be? This book takes you from the ground up and helps you to understand not only the how to use css for layout but also why you use css. Starting off with the basics you get a good feel for how to write css in both the page itself as well as in an external stylesheet. The authors also explain the advantages and disadvantages of each way to include the styles. Then the book takes you through typography, which unless you are already an expert, you will gain a great understanding of exactly how the type settings really work with the text on a web page. Next, it dives into how to use the css to control your page layout with many different known techniques. You also will understand how these designs work so you can review them and walk away with the knowledge of how to leverage existing patterns and modify them to your needs. If you want to know how to design a page using css definitely get this book.

I have seen this book as very good reference for css. I just would like to have CD also with samples. It is must buy.

I had hoped to use this book as an introduction to using CSS and to help me update my online portfolio. While I did learn a good deal about CSS, this book was not nearly as easy to use as I had hoped.
First, a significant portion of the book is dedicated to a lengthy and repetitive sermon on why CSS is superior and should be used for all your presentation needs. It seems to avoid discussing the shortcomings of the system, or point out where you might need to resort to other solutions, such as JavaScript.
I am a person who learns by analyzing examples and learning to expand on the ideas in them. This, I think is where this book fails. The code samples in the book are incomplete and presented as fragments interspersed with explanation. The more advanced examples are so full of hacks to make presentation identical on all browsers, that they become unreadable. And the final straw was when I downloaded the dynamic-looking photo browser pictured in Chapter 12 and found that the dynamic functions simply don't work! (samples available at http://www.friendsofed.com/download.html?isbn=159059231X).
This is probably a good source for a designer already familiar with CSS. For a beginner, I recommend looking elsewhere.

This book does an excellent job of explaining CSS. My main focus is seperating content from presentation being my sites are search engine friendly.

Great for CSS beginers, I found everything here I needed to know to get started.

What is most amazing about this game is that it is completely self-contained! I can't remember the last time I saw an RPG that included everything needed to play for such a good price ... And the rules engine is very clean, elegant, and easy to learn. A winner, to be sure.

This is an elegant little system, sitting somewhere between conventional roleplaying games, indie games and even some card games, that scales right through from everyday qualities and actions to changing the fundamental laws of reality.

The object and method of the game: to _be_ the controller - then, once you're there, to keep the conspiracy running and keep down those pesky player characters, like you used to be.

All it needs now is some setting information to get a game started, until the players themselves change the world beyond recognition.

This a simple, broad, and almost seemingly unbound new manual for a more player controled genere. Control is a great means to introduce a more espionage type inviroment, where modern skills make you a powerfull president, or a mole in his empire. The most interesting aspect is that either could be considered the more powerfull, depending on your ability to black-mail, gather information, dodge a few bullets, or bash in a few heads.

Once in awhile, I will come across an independent game like this one and realize the fallacy in only ever looking at one or two major game systems. "Control" combines great premise and imagination with solid mechanics, and is much simpler to learn, set up, and start playing than any other conspiracy RPG I have yet seen.

A great change of pace for the players, allows them to "get even" with the referee. A great idea with a sleek and effective implementation.

I loved this book. Parker Palmer is addressing something that other books and inservices don't and that is the integrity that's at the heart of all teachers. He offers advice and encouragement to those who care so deeply and give so much to their students.

If teaching is part of your life's work, then this is a must read. It is both spiritual and practical in its wisdom and demands for authenticity.

This book is a gift to all dedicated educators. Parker Palmer's thoughtful text, The Courage to Teach, has been updated and expanded for this, his tenth anniversary edition. I love the CD that comes with it. I used this book in my graduate course last fall and my students really enjoyed reading it and discussing Palmer's ideas. One student commented, "From Parker Palmer I've learned how to think more critically....I find myself spending much more time thinking before speaking. Not just in class but in LIFE!" All of us who work in classrooms need to consider the impact of our words on others. This book is an excellent guide to understanding that it is not technique but one's identity and integrity that make a difference in the classroom.

This new edition is a welcomed reminder of the eloquent and insightful invitation Parker Palmer issued ten years ago to educators to go inside themselves and rekindle the passion that originally drew them to teaching. I am delighted to know that in the past ten years this work has evolved to include others in professions of the heart--namely everyone. This is a profoundly thoughtful and engaging book for anyone.

I love this book! I loved it when the first edition came out ten years ago -- and I love it even more now, with the new beginning and ending. I also love the CD that comes with the book -- the wonderful conversation between Parker and his colleagues. Parker puts into words what so many of us have felt -- and he does it exquisitely. He says that we teach who we are, that the teacher's identity and integrity are more important than any technique or method. Good teachers have always known that -- but we've begun to doubt our own knowing in this mean climate that has left way too many teachers behind. This book is the perfect gift for every new teacher-- as well as for those of us who struggle some days to remember the passion that brought us to teaching in the first place!

The "Agile" umbrella includes multiple approaches/lenses from which to view, practice and evolve software and teams. Alistair's material offers an additional lens. So when reading this material, I don't believe it was ever his intent for people to pick up Crystal and say "This is it". Rather, this material offers an alternative framework of thought that would nicely meld/synthesize with other characteristics/practices/behaviors under the Agile umbrella of software evolution. I've not personally applied the material yet .. but could see it's inter-relationship to those things I do currently practice today under the Agile space.

I love this book. Recommended read for anyone who has to obtain requirements form customers. The book also has many team building elements and a great Agile roadmap.

Cockburn's writing style is fluid, the agile development topic is interesting, and his experience is very valuable.

The Crystal methodology is extremely lightweight, and is not saddled with the percieved "rules" of XP. This is *the* guidebook for the Crystal familiy. Pick a few of the 7 properties and get started building better software!

Lots of relevent information about Software Development project management. It give insight into ways of dealing with stuff I see every day at work. I am about 1/3 of they way through, it is well laid out, I'd recommend it for anyone that is a technology development group and want some good ideas for how to deal with projects.

This book definitely deserves 5 stars because : - Range of topics covered - Detailed - Clarity and treatment of the subject - Useful questions and answers at the end of the chapters - Clarity , again .

I am especially pleased with the organization and depth you present; one gets a good overview, yet can drill down for thorough understanding.

This book is amazing! . As a DBA , I keep on referring this book again & again . It has very useful information & can be used by anyone who wants a really good understanding of DB2

Cheers to the author for writing such a wonderful book!

I used Wiorkowski work for the tuning of a large DataWarehouse for a firm in the shipping industry.

Outside the IBM manuals, there are primarily three works for the tuning and performance of OS/390 DB2: Wiorkowski, Craig Mullins, and Lawson & Ford.

Each have their merits. Estimating how the the DB2 database engine works for large volumes of data is often an art, wherefore several texts and perspectives are clearly beneficial.

Wiorkowski's book is organized in an unconventional way. The chapters are not numbered but they are abbreviated with two letters (as the standard). Therefor the reader's overview of the table of contents is necessary. Fortunately this reflects important aspects and views of DB2.

Wiorkowski's work covers precisely and in depth many DBA issues.
For example (using the DataWarehouse example)issues which are necessary for optimising a single access method for a few tables in the DataWarehouse. We use pages 127-129 (partitioning index) and pages 218-219 for this purpose (logical partitioning index usage), among other things, and the notions of cardinality and clustering in a partitioned index.

Wiorkowski's book is in the category of serious works on optimising a database for a particular database engine (here OS/390 DB2): it demands attentive study.

The 2nd edition (March 2000) is the first to include V6 features and facilities. We certainly have a myriad of impressive features to use to our advantage in 2000 and Gabrielle covers them all as well as all you need to design and develop applications full of tips and techniques for performance.

Extending the hand dealt to you by the development package is where the quality programmers are separated from the mere developers; often the difference between an adequate product and a great one. If you are a developer using Delphi and want to advance to a higher level of production, this book contains the necessary boost. Anyone moving into Delphi component creation will find it essential. From properly choosing components from the Delphi Visual Component Library (VCL) to building your own components and interfacing with OLE and COM, most of the major topics are covered in detail, with sections of example code to really drive the message home.
The book starts off with a brief explanation of the models used in Delphi, basic concepts of a component, and the analysis and design of new components. This is followed up by an examination of Implementation Details, the fundamentals of polymorphism, virtual methods, exceptions, RunTime Type Information (RTTI), streaming, messaging, OLE and COM interfaces, and optimization techniques. "Design Time Support Tools," opens with an overview of the Integrated Development Environment (IDE) and emphasizes the interface issues. Danny Thorpe wraps it all up with chapters on property and component editors, and experts and add-in tools.
This book contains many insightful points. The chapter on virtual methods and polymorphism contains the best explanation of the implementation details of virtual methods that I have ever seen. This chapter could serve as a reference in any study of object-oriented programming. I've incorporated many of these points into my own training course. As one whose main approach to OOP has been via C++, I found this material invaluable when teaching a course in advanced Delphi recently. The clear descriptions of the underlying implementation distinctions between virtual and dynamic methods may save you in the area of performance. Knowing and understanding why virtual methods will defeat the smart linking of the Delphi compiler/linker can reduce the size of your EXE.
When I am presenting exceptions and exception handling to experienced programmers, they always ask the following question: "What is the real difference between this and how we have traditionally handled errors?" In only a few pages, the author answers this question and puts forward two lists, "Rules of Thumb for Implementing Exception Handlers" and "Rules of Thumb for Raising Exceptions"; solid advice for both developers and educators who develop developers.
Optimizing code when there is "abundant" stack space (surely a hint of heaven!), multiple threads and different system-defined string types differ from traditional tricks. These topics are all covered in the chapter on optimization. Just because this space is available is no reason to misuse it. Knowing that the stack will never shrink over the lifetime of the thread should force you to rethink overuse. Understanding that long strings are allocated on the heap rather than the stack should cause an occasional re-examination of approach. It is also gratifying to see that there is also a short section on sledgehammer techniques, or put another way, "genuinely useful hacks."
There is also an occasional sweet sprinkle of humor. From polymetamorphicdata (care to guess what that is?) to TypInfo ("tip info") and GUID ("gwid") the jokes are appropriate and blend well into the message. However, they are grains of seasoning rather than the bulk of the flavor.
Delphi is a development environment that provides the opportunity to do many things quickly and efficiently. Add in a copy of this book and you are ready to harness the true power of Delphi by creating your own components and pushing things to the leading edge of software creation. Some sections can be read and appreciated just for their insights into object-oriented programming and design.

Published in Journal of Object-Oriented Programming, reprinted with permission.

This guys are crooks. They advertise a book they DO NOT have, get your money and never reply to your e-mails.

The book is supposed to be great, by the way.

This is purely a Delphi programmer's guide, but it unquestioningly well written, informative, and well-rounded: Anyone seeking to learn how Delphi's VCL component libraries work, how to development components of their own, or how to extend Delphi VCL components already available from Borland or third parties, should read this book. There is simply nothing else that comes close.

Mr. Thorpe's writing style is clear, concise, and does a great job of exploring the topic at hand. Any competent Delphi programmer will be well capable of undertaking VCL development on their own if they have this book at their side. One point to note about this book is what used copies go-for on Amazon.com (and elswehere): I typically see prices of between $50 and $100, even though the book was first published about 10 years ago. How many other technology books, particularly for a specific software technology, remain in such high demand after such a long period of time?

"Delphi Component Design" was written for the VCL [Borland's Acronym for "Visual Component Library"] as it was implemented in Delphi 3.0 - back in the mid to late 1990's: the implementation of VCL it describes is still the foundation underlying VCL as implemented in Delphi today, and is close enough to the modern implementation to still be a very useful text. However, since Delphi's product direction is to pursue .NET as opposed to enhancing the older VCL, the book's usefulness is limited to those who are seeking to maintain or enhance existing Delphi VCL-based applications. Even though I no longer work in Delphi, I still find myself called-upon often enough for Delphi support that I'm not going to give up my copy of "Delphi Component Design" quite yet - even despite the used copy prices I see!

The book is a breath of fresh air and covers a good basic foundation: attitudes of programmers, basic structures of OOP with objects:- various virtual methods, basic construction of building blocks, streams, other forms of communication and a few peculiar things to watch out on. I personally have no interest in databases were some may have. 32 bit is the way to go as I can now see access to the windows API with the assistance of the book and Delphi Pro.
Danny points out its not necessary to understand every base object behind the object you are building off from.
This is true if you wish to add a minor adjustment to a component. But this I believe this is a major miss conception if you are building a new and different component. And for this purpose the book dose not begin to address threading, what is happing in TObject, as TObject is not in Delphi Pro to view and is the fundamental object that every object is built from!!!!!!. This is no different than the Pascal 7 days when every one wanted to read the OOP code for them selves at an enormous cost for a copy.
I'm not saying the book should cover the windows API as that's another subject on its own, but how a action is handled through the Objects, or how a windows event is managed though OOP:- draw, mouse button.....
I need a book that should cover enough to be able to install an object into a base object like a speed button into an editor or a listbox connected to a speed button so something like TCombobox or TGraph is understood how each piece interacts and is constructed together as a unit. When the OOPer's get hold of this understanding the tools for Delphi could become available will become limitless to the users. VB definitely has this advantage over Delphi today because we do not understand enough to create something different or new. Give it another go Danny with an extra book, as it is easy to understand what you have written, be cursus to get such a difficult subject right. And you have made a breath of fresh air already into the subject that is very useful to those that have read your first book but some of us need to go further.

This book is all about what goes behind the curtains. If are a crazy developer like me and interested in knowing how Delphi designers implemented different mechanisms such as WIndows messaging OLE COM this title is a must

This book is a great tool for working with children on the Autism spectrum. Theory, assessment checklist and therapy activities are all included.

Do Watch Listen Say - is a book that I was required to purchase for a class. Although is was required reading, I found it to be very helpful in planning and implementing strategies for teaching a range of students, including late talkers and kids with communication delays in addition to those diagnosed with ASD. Highly recommended for both teachers and parents - easy to follow and read. Good hands-on suggestions.

I am a speech therapist and found this book to be a useful addition to my library, although I would suggest that anyone looking for information on autism check out multiple sources. There are simply too many viewpoints out there and too many different techniques for any one book to be 'the' book on treating autism. Also, this book was published in 2002 and at this point many of the suggestions will probably be nothing new to anyone familiar with the fundamentals of social skills training, using visual aides, and incorporating sensory techniques into therapy.

This book gives a good, balanced overview of how to effectively work with an autistic child. There were also a number of good suggestions and ideas for how to plan therapy sessions. I found some of the suggested activities to be a bit mis-matched in terms of ability level - some of the suggested 'games' for very basic skills, for example, seemed too complex for children working at such a beginning level. Overall, though, a good resource.

A practical book with some great advice for therapists and parents on having your autistic child OBSERVE AND LEARN FROM THEIR ENVIRONMENT! That is what we want right?

I like this book because it gave me practical advice to work with my son the very same day on suggestions that work.

For the holidays and birthdays give this book to your therapists/aides and teachers vs. another gift. It is a good, worthwhile read.

A very practical, hands-on approach to working with the autistic child.

"Escape from Corporate America" doesn't have the glitz and personality, the audacity and intensity, the big dream and the big promise, of Tim Ferriss' The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich, a book I found both inspirational and thought-provoking. On the other hand, "Escape..." is a good deal more practical, in that while Ferriss sort of glossed over the part about setting up a stand-alone business that generates thousands of dollars with little or no effort, Pamela Skillings leaves nothing to chance in helping you decide whether "escaping" is right for you, and if so, how to do it.

Leaving a job, even an unhappy one, is no small matter, and if the reader takes nothing else from "Escape from Corporate America," it would be that you need to give that the hard work and planning such a change deserves. Whether you're burned out, bored, or just vaguely unsatisfied, this book serves many of the functions of a professional "lifestyle coach" (at a fraction of the price). From helping you get to the bottom of why exactly you're unhappy with your current situation ... to showing you how to identify alternatives and weigh the pros and cons ... to helping you tell the boss you're leaving without burning any bridges, there's a lot of useful information packed into these pages. She even gives you seven pages of financial-planning worksheets to help ensure you have a clear picture of what you'll need -- and what you don't need -- as you make the big shift.

The dream of escaping corporate America takes as many forms as there are people to have the dream, of course, and Skillings has something to offer a wide variety of dreamers. Whether you're an entrepreneur who wants to conquer the business world as your own boss rather than someone else's wage slave ... or poet, artist, or musician who took a straight job to pay the bills and discovered with a shock that you now have a decade-long career you never counted on, I think this book can go a long way toward helping you start achieving what you're looking for. That might not be tangos in Argentina à la Tim Ferriss ... but even if it is, you need to start somewhere and "Escape from Corporate America" may help give you the tools you need to achieve what you want.

This book not only provides stories on real people who have escaped, it is a wealth of on-line information. It definitely inspired me to consider hanging up my corporate hat. I recommend this book to anyone who has ever felt that they didn't belong in the corporate world but were too afraid to try something different.

Pam's approach to escaping corporate America is realistic, direct, and is almost as if she's walking you through the process while standing right next to you and making sure you tackle every step without any obstacles. Her approach is extremely practical and doesn't even need to be read by the corporate worker; anyone looking for some sort of job change (or even a book for leisure reading) will get ideas and inspiration from Skillings's detailed writeup of how you can take charge of your career, find happiness, and pursue your dreams.

A well-written, well-researched book with great personal stories. Escaping corporate America is a hot topic, and this is a hot book. Read it. Enjoy it.

This was a nice little book. I especially liked the cheery yellow cover. It is divided into three sections and 12 chapters as follows:

I. Plan your escape (1-4)
II. Exploring your escape routes (5-11)
III. Going over the wall (12)

1. This is not your father's job market
2. The trouble with the rat race
3. True callings and wrong numbers
4. Let's get practical
5. Corporate jobs that don't suck
6. Take a break
7. Swim in a smaller pond
8. Go solo
9. Build a business
10. Follow your creative dreams
11. Make a difference
12. Going over the wall
A. Have a nice escape
B. The escape toolkit
C. Meet the escape artists

I thought the book was well written and well organized. I liked the 5-page quiz entitled "Are you a corporate casualty? The author has invested 12 years in corporate America. And then she bailed. She now operates her own consulting shop. She says she spent 3 years talking to 200+ people in order to research this book. And it shows. The book's content makes sense, sounds like it has been well researched, and provides value to anyone who is thinking of following the author's lead and "escaping."

Since I am a SCORE (Senior Corps of Retired Executives) counselor who helps members of this book's target audience on a daily basis, my favorite chapters were 8, 9, and 12. Those are the topics I usually discuss with my SCORE clients. But this book covers all the basic options available to someone who is tired of the rat race and wants something different. 5 stars!

From Cinderella to CEO was a great read, a lot of fun; Full of good advice. If you've had a job, you'll see yourself in many of the stories; I know I did. This would be a wonderful gift for a new graduate.

Cary's delightful journey into all the archetypes that fairy tales present helps us realize that the big bad wolf, the wicked witch and the trolls under the bridge whom we encounter at work can be sidestepped to our advantage--and gracefully.

She taps the age-old wisdom that helps us find our path safely through the forest of the corporate world. I've known Cary since she was about 10 years old, and she's always been wonderfully refreshing. The same Cary shines through in Cinderella to CEO .
Patrice Dickey, author of BACK TO THE GARDEN: Getting from Shadow to Joy

Cary Broussard's terrific new business book is filled with straightforward and powerful advice on how to get where you want to go in business. The great thing is that she does it by using our favorite fairy tales as metaphors for life in business. She takes us back to a time (our childhood) when we believed that anything was possible. By taking us there, she makes us see that in fact almost anything really is. It's a book, you'll come back over and over again.

Absolutely loved it! This book is a great tool for a woman at any point in her career. It's appropriate for men too!

I started the book and finished it over the weekend. I wasn't expecting to want to read the book cover to cover, but I couldn't help it! I am buying this book for all my girlfriends for Christmas.

I have to say, this book is awesome. It taught me how to build models and understand why I am doing what I am doing. I use it all the time and hopefully he will release a new version for us folks who will outgrow this one. Covers all bases and it's worth 2x what I paid for it...

this is very good because it teaches step by step and it makes sense too.

The book is a very clear, step-by-step of all the processes involved in making a game character leading up to the animation. The animation is covered but not in as much detail. Everything else is though, including the awesome rigging machine which comes with the book.

Its refreshing to see that someone wasnt limited by a publisher to keep the book size down, and he obviously was able to take his time really illusrating every step.

Its a great book.

This is my first time to write this kind of review, therefore, I don't know how to do a good one. But what I can say for this book is it is easy to follow and the method of modeling that I have learned from it is very useful. If you can follow the tutorials patiently, you can gradually build a very good foundation of your modeling skill. ^-^.. I am looking forward for the next edition.

1)This book highlights some important issues in modeling & rigging that no other books bother to emphasis.

2)The accompanying CD contains very insightful scripts (that acutally works) - goodies other books only PRETEND to give.

3)It guides beginners and ease them through relatively advanced topics in character animation.

4)If you really need to achieve something in a hurry in Maya. Yes, this is the book to get.