Computers Books

Ron Penton, Data Structures for Game Programmers (Premier, 2003)

I don't normally get all googly-moogly over programming books. In fact, I just took a quick look back at my reading log since 1999, and a select few have gotten four stars, but nothing above that. But I picked up Penton's nine-hundred-page tome on Thursday and I finished it on Sunday. Nine hundred pages in four days. I've only been keeping track of page counts over the past year, but the books I've read that have come closest, page-wise, have been Robin Hobb's lovely novels, three of which I read earlier this year hovered around eight hundred pages. I read the shortest of them in eight days. And I love Robin Hobb.

Data Structures for Game Programmers is a wonderful book in no small part because Ron Penton was still an undergrad while writing it. Which is, of course, also the book's main problem, because someone like me who last saw ivy-covered halls well over a decade ago is likely to be sick with envy that some little greenhorn has already found his way into the world of professional computer-book publishing (and by "professional" here I don't mean "published by recognizable press," I mean "the kid's already published three books in three years, and they're ALL monstrous tomes, when does he have time to program?"). But let's face it, you expect something different when you read a book by a young writer, be it the hot new novelist or the new kid on the programming block. And Penton delivers it; Data Structures for Game Programmers is, if you're a programmer, the most readable computer book you've ever come across. Penton seems to have a healthy disrespect for textbooks, which he alludes to a few times in the course of the book, and it shows in his writing; he wants to write something that will teach you more than a textbook by being more accessible. And in this goal, he succeeds. Brilliantly. I learned more about C templates from reading this book than I have in any other three books devoted to nothing but templates, and here they're just referred to a few times in passing. How is this possible? Because Penton explains things in language far easier to understand than that of most programming books; simply put, he hasn't yet been so overwhelmed by jargon that he can't see when he's written something the layperson might not be able to understand, which is a common ailment among programming authors.

Also, there's been some minor grumbling from some critics about the book's insistence on reinventing the wheel. Of course it does. That's how you learn to program-- you bang away at it, doing something that's already been done, until you figure out why it's done that way. There may be five or six people on the planet who can read it in a textbook and immediately figure out why it's the case (and, one assumes, they are the same people as those critics), but the rest of us are much happier seeing it this way.

If any computer book publishers happen to be reading this, you, especially, should be reading Data Structures for Game Programmers. See what it's like. Try to get the rest of your authors to emulate it. You'll have much happier customers that way.

This is one of the handful of books I've read since getting a library card again (a total, in fact, of four since 2003) that, after returning it to the library, went back on my Amazon wish list, because I want a copy for myself.

i wanted a book to brush up on some data structures since i've been out of programming for a few months. plus, most of my learning of these has been self taught and from the internet where there is limited (good) writings on more complex subjects such as programming. so i wanted to have a fresh perspective. not only does the book contain very useful details in many areas and to the point information (gets to the first data structure by page 14!) but the author somehow makes this stuff fun to read.

the author doesn't go hugely in to depth in some areas but that's pretty much what i wanted since i am already familiar with how to use most of the stuff. very good book and i'd highly recommend it. hope this author continues with more books!

This book actually teaches Data Structures!! Data Structures are the essence of programming. Ron manages to present all the basic Data Structures and the most famous algorithms in a clean and gentle way.

Many many thanks to Ron Penton for his help! Ron Penton really knows how to write a book! His way of writing shows that he knows the subject perfectly and presents it in a way that anyone understands what he is talking about. No matter how hard the topic is! By the way, Ron Penton has a great sense of humour!

If I could I would give one more star for the GREAT job he did with the CD. Although I intended initially to learn Data Structures, I also learned SDL. Perfect combination for someone who wants to start writing games!

A pre-requisite for any book on Data Stuctures is that the person should be comfortable with the syntax and semantics of programming in a high level language such as C++ or Java. Hence this book assumes that you are comfortable with C++ and OOP. There is no such thing as Data Structures for Absolute Beginners. So discard the review with 2 stars. Overall this is an excellent and interesting book on Data Structures.

Bottom line is this, you can find the information presented in DS4GP in any other good book on data structures but what sets this book apart is the presentation, organization, practical content and the writing style of the author.

It's definetly not for beginners or for a person looking for a very detailed book on data structures that covers AVL trees and red-black trees. But for the other 99% its a must buy.

i wanted a book to brush up on some data structures since i've been out of programming for a few months. plus, most of my learning of these has been self taught and from the internet where there is limited (good) writings on more complex subjects such as programming. so i wanted to have a fresh perspective. not only does the book contain very useful details in many areas and to the point information (gets to the first data structure by page 14!) but the author somehow makes this stuff fun to read.
the author doesn't go hugely in to depth in some areas but that's pretty much what i wanted since i am already familiar with how to use most of the stuff. very good book and i'd highly recommend it. hope this author continues with more books!

I love this book. It should be required reading for all undergraduate and graduate business students. I'll be looking for Windham's next book.

I must congratulate Ms. Windham on her excellent book "Dead Ahead". I think I must have read it more than three times by now. I am a consultant and my company is involved in web design and development. On many of my assignments, I relied on this book as a guide and many of her ideas have worked very well with my clients.

Our company provides e-commerce and web presence solutions. We use "Dead Ahead: The Web Dilemma and the New Rules of Business" by Laurie Windham extensively to help us provide effective solutions for our clients.

Dead Ahead covers the 'new rules' of web-based commerce, from using existing businesses and strategies to succeed to establishing recognition and associations via the internet. Important chapters on investing in the right technology and conducting e-business make for important insights on the rules and atmosphere of the web.

This was used as a text book in my e-business MBA class and would recommend it to others outside of class. It covered a lot of issues relevant to the topic. I enjoy reading books like this that are up-to-date in a dynamic industry.

My husband bought this for me when he bought me Photoshop Elements, and it was immensely helpful! I am now very comfortable in Photoshop, thanks to the easy to follow instructions and visuals.

The volume's strong point is its voluminous visual to illustrate every phase of digital photography from equipment to printing paper. It also bridges the gap from optical to digital photography. Technical in presentation ... for the experienced phohtographer ...

A profusely illustrated with more than 1500 full-color photographs, step-by-step 'how to' guide for taking great photographs and then digitally enhancing them using Photoshop, "Digital Photograph" by Michael Wright is very highly recommended both for its comprehensiveness and for being so 'user friendly' in its organization and presentation. Covering Photoshop essentials in general, including Photoshop 7 and Photoshop CS in particular, "Digital Photography" addresses simple and complex retouching techniques, removing 'red eye' from images, cloning, hand tinting, restoring old photographs, photo montages, digital painting, adding text to images, special effects, storing images, creating photo essays, printing, file size, composition, color theory, bracketing, lighting, backgrounding, and so much more. "Digital Photograph" is a single volume instructional guide that is strongly recommended for anyone aspiring to enhance their photography through Photoshop technology.

More pictures, less words, better understanding! This book truly is a step-by-step visual guide for taking pictures, and then whipping them into shape in Photoshop.

This book is not about about how to take better digital photos. It's a book that gives step by step instructions on how to do numerous photo editing. If you're not experienced in PhotoShop, then I highly recommend this book. For a novice, it might be a good refresher for you.

One of the things I love about this book is it actually does give step-by-step visuals on the how tos. It shows you what the photoshop box will look like, tells you were to find the tools you need, etc.

If that's what you're looking for, then this book is ideal for you. As I said, if you're a novice, it's a nice refresher or quick reference book.

I was mainly interested in the MES implementation part and I found those chapters quite inspiring. We are usually lead by "common practices" which form our experience and we'll use them throughout our work. But formalizing and being able to communicate a technology is always an issue (unless you're going to di it all by yourself).
Excellent.

"Domain Specific..." is another excellent book from the "Fraemwork collection". It is a set comprehensive reference books as well as a authoritative textbooks by experts in this growing research field.

The description of practical experiences as well as more conceptual descriptions, are usefull to understand the complexity of achieving high levels of software reusability.

Managers and academics, will find a lot of material to help them decide if this is the way to go. Our research group in Web Engineering at the University of Sydney (weg.ee.usyd.edu.au) will us it extensively to improve our development practices.

An almost indispensable 3-volume reading to understand the success of framework technologies in today's software systems. The books include most of the top
articles on the subject, providing a thorough insight in both design and implementation issues regarding frameworks, also complemented with practical experience
about framework usage. Although the work is mainly concentrated on technical aspects, the articles are comprehensible enough to be taken as reference material by
a broad community, for example, software engineers, programmers, or technology managers. The books are useful for anybody planning to include
framework-based techniques in software development processes or planning to improve current object-oriented practices. It is also an excellent source for graduate
courses.

Volume 1 lays the fundamental concepts supporting object-oriented frameworks, and describes the problems and challenges that this
technology raises in software development. The book covers topics such as domain analysis, development concepts and approaches,
documentation, and management, among others. Of course, the compilation of articles makes some parts little redundant, but this is a minor detail compared with the
fruitful contributions made by the book. In particular, the articles on reusing hooks, hot-spot-driven development, composing modeling frameworks in Catalysis, and
composition problems, causes and solutions, are a sample of the outstanding level of this work. Each chapter adds at the end a number of related questions and
student projects aiming to reinforce concepts and promote further investigation. As a comment, novice readers should take the sections concerning hooks and
hot-spots carefully because these topics are presented in a slightly confusing way.

Volume 2 focuses on specific framework implementations, dealing with existing frameworks for different application domains, such as businesses, multi-agent
systems, languages and system software. In this book, the readers will find a level of detail much closer to specific implementations issues than in the previous
volume. Nonetheless, the writing style remains mostly clear and accessible for a quite broad audience. The case-studies and experience reports described by the
articles show an attractive industrial perspective of the framework approach, and more important, they go an step forward in the road of a more mature discipline for
software development. In addition, a
CD-Rom with concrete examples of these applications is included with the book.

Volume 3 completes this series with a number of domain-specific application frameworks developed by industry, showing how to apply the concepts and ideas of
the previous books in software products. In this line, it includes very interesting frameworks for manufacturing systems and distributed systems, among others. It also
goes through concrete software scenarios, illustrating the benefits of combining domain knowledge and object-orientation expertise. Although the level of the articles
is rather odd, the volume certainly provides the readers a realistic picture of the problems of building and adapting frameworks by learning from others' experience.
A CD-Rom is also included with this book.

Overall, these framework books collect the state-of-the-art on framework development, offering a comprehensive and
easy-to-understand guide for both academics and practitioners in the field. It is clear that framework technologies will not solve all the problems (perhaps they rise
more challenges than current approaches), however, taking advantage of the framework possibilities can make your development process more repeatable,
productive, and also less painful. The gains of this retrain are no doubt a good investment.

A great reference and compilation of timely material. For anyone interested in frameworks targeted to specific application domains, this book surveys a broad spectrum of example systems while providing detailed in depth information concerning the particular requirements and features necessary for each domain.

This book in conjunction with the books "Building Applicaton Frameworks: Object-Oriented Foundations of Framework Design" and "Implementing Application Frameworks: Object-Oriented Frameworks at Work" are a series of three books that constitute a complete and necessary guide for the design and implementation of application frameworks. They are based on multiple academic and industrial contributors experience building a wide range of domain-specific application framework. These books are very easy to read and understand and you can learn from them not only what a framework and an application framework are, but also how to apply this technology to real world domains, like manufacturing, health care, distributed computing, real-time systems, simulation environments, ...

First book, "Building Application Frameworks: Object-Oriented Foundations of Framework Design" introduces application frameworks, their benefits and problems. It addresses all the fundamental concepts behind OO application frameworks and provides guidelines for OO application framework development. It is organized in eight parts. Part one provides a complete overview of OO application framework technology describing what is an application framework, what are the problems and benefits of application frameworks and how to use, develop and evaluate an application framework. Part Two presents some historical application frameworks and discusses some general guidelines to increase the reusability of application frameworks. Part Three describes how to build a framework analysing a concrete domain. The rest of the book provides all the necessary information to completely build an application framework. It presents all the concepts managed in framework development, which are the different development approaches, how to test the resulting frameworks, the problems derived from integration and a question sometimes forgotten but very important, the framework documentation.

This book, "Domain-Specific Application Frameworks: Frameworks Experience by Industry" is focused in the experience of industrial and academic contributors in the development of OO application framework in different domains. Each chapter covers step by step the complete development of an application framework in manufacturing, distributed systems, real-time systems, telecommunication, multimedia, chemistry and data visualization domains. It includes the motivation developers founded to choose application framework technology, the problems they had to solve and the final solutions they developed.

Third book, "Implementing Application Frameworks: Object-Oriented Frameworks at Work", shows step by step how to implement application frameworks in different domains. It is organized in six parts covering examples about i) Business Frameworks with different examples in sales and administrative domains, ii) Artificial Intelligence, iii) Agent Application Frameworks, presenting interesting frameworks for speech recognition, neural networks and agents. iv) Specialized tool frameworks, v) Language Specific Frameworks, vi) System Application Frameworks, which present and analyse the application of OO frameworks in combination with other methodologies as component-oriented programming, language constructs or constraint programming and vi) Experiences in Application Frameworks. This last section is very useful because analyse the lessons learned using the application framework technology.

I bought this book quite a while ago and I absolutely the format. It's a great resource to just pick up and get great ideas, verify that you are on/off the right track and generally learn how to get to the next level with XML. Highly recommended

The flexibility of XML can often mean that there's a gap between using XML and using XML effectively. Elliotte Rusty Harold's book Effective XML - 50 Specific Ways to Improve Your XML (Addison Wesley) is an excellent way to move towards the latter condition.

Chapter List: Syntax; Structure; Semantics; Implementation; Recommended Reading; Index

There are obviously a large number of books that will teach you the semantics of writing and using XML. But just because you can create an XML file doesn't mean that you've done it well or effectively. Harold's book provides a bridge to being able to create XML files that will be usable in nearly all situations. The book starts out in the introduction with explanations of terms that are often confused (element vs. tag, text vs. character data vs. markup, etc.). Then there are four parts of the book that include a total of 50 tips that will improve the quality of your XML usage. Some tips are pretty basic, like "Include an XML Declaration". Others are more complex like "Verify Documents with XML Digital Signatures". But every one is practical and useful for making sure that your XML is widely useable by all potential applications.

Excellent bridge book to read after you've learned the basics of XML. This is a book that, when taken to heart and used, will cause your coworkers to thank you.

Effective XML is a collection of about 50 tips for working with XML. Although XML seems is simple and easy to use, it's also easy to get wrong. I've often scratched your head and wondered why things like XML Schema, for example, just doesn't feel right. But it wasn't until I read Effective XML that I understood what was really awkward with it.

Because the book is so diverse (an amazing feat considering the small page count), it is hard to single out any specific part as being a reason to read the book. The book doesn't just talk about schemas, the infoset, etc..., it digs down and really explains what is good and bad about the technologies and what the best ways to apply them are. All I can say is that I use XML day in and day out and have learned everything I know by trial an error. I've made many mistakes along the way. I've tried my best to learn from them, but Effective XML was the book that made everything click for me. The best part is that the book went well beyond just helping me see my errors. I've already applied some of the ideas to new work I've done recently and have been able to head off some of the problems I would have encountered.


Effective XML is by far the best XML book I've ever read, and quite possibly the best tech book I've read all year. I might even have to add it to my favorite tech books list. If you work with XML to any significant degree, I can't recommend this book highly enough.

Elliotte Rusty Harold states in the introduction of Effective XML that the book is neither an introductory book nor an XML tutorial. Rather, it is a distillation of the author's experience using and teaching XML and how to use it effectively. The book does a great job of explaining how to use XML and its related technologies.

The book is divided into four major sections: Syntax, Structure, Semantics, and Implementation. Each of the fifty Items packs a lot of information into a few pages. The Items span topics such as why you should Include an XML Declaration (Item 1), Make Structure Explicit through Markup (Item 11), Program to Standard APIs (Item 31), and Write in Unicode (Item 38). Even the Introduction is valuable because it sets the definitions for XML-related terms used in the rest of the book that the author has found to be used interchangeably or inconsistently.

Item 24, Choose the Right Schema Language for the Job, provides a typical example of the great information contained in Effective XML. This Item discusses the strengths and weaknesses of four schema languages: W3C XML Schema Language, DTDs, RELAX NG, and Schematron. The use of programming languages to handle situations that the schema languages can't handle is also discussed. The Item ends with a set of questions to think about when selecting the schema language to use.

I found the book very readable and like that the information is presented in digestible chunks. Effective XML isn't meant to hype XML but to identify what the actual capabilities of XML and its related technologies are and how best to use them. The book does an outstanding job at this task.

Full disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of the book for review.

This is not a book explaining XML. This is not a book that goes into any depth on XML APIs. It is not a book explaining any one XML format like XSLT, RSS, or XSD.

Instead it is a book on how to work with XML. How to design an XML application to take full advantage of the facilties of XML: schemas, processing instructions, XSL transforms, namespaces. It is all structured to slowly introduce you into the complexities, and deserves to sit up on the bookshelf with Effective C++, Java and Enterprise Java.

If you already know the basics of XML, it is actually quite a good way to learn about some of the more esoteric concepts -from the pragmatic perspective. Too many XML books rant about how wonderful some feature like XML schema's extension stuff is, why XML is the most universal format ever, SOAP and WS-* the best protocol for distributed systems ever, and XQuery everything you need for an XML database.

This book bursts the bubble of hype with rational analysis of what makes sense, and what doesn't. Item 28: Use only what you need, is my favourite: A review of the main XML specs and analysis of what really matters, which comes down to #35, navigate with XPath.

If you are designing an XML schema/system/application, you need this book. If you have to put up with architects telling you about WS-MetadataExchange, WS-Transfer and RDF, you need a copy to roll up and hit them over the head. And, if like me, you are involved in standards bodies that produce XML related things, you need to buy a copy for all the other participants, so that what you produce will actually work.

Remember that XML is a language designed for use by people and machines. The machines have the upper hand. But with this book, and some thinking, you can design XML applications that people can use.

This book is one of the best books I have read on Flash 5 techniques. I actually felt like I learned something after reading this book and going through their exercises. It answered questions I have always had when an animation did not work. He pretty much goes step by step with every exercise. He makes it easy to reread what you messed up on so you can do it again. Definitly a great teacher. If you are like myself and don't want to spend thousand's of dollars on a one or two day course learning the fundamentals of Flash 5, this book will definitly satisfy your needs.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough! It is simply the easiest
and best book out there for designers who wish to learn flash, bar none.
I started out knowing nothing about Flash 5 and created a great game
based on the old 50's Invaders from Mars movie, that everybody raves
about. Artists and graphic designers are usually not programmers, and
nearly all books about Flash are for programmers and are very hard for
us artists to crack into.

If I were to write a book for computer graphic design, I would use Mr.
Kaldahl's EZ Flash 5 as my blueprint to follow.

When I first received this book, I started my first project. I started getting excited because I was actually creating with flash! That is pretty much where the excitment ends.
This book is great for total beginners...which I was...but once you are done with the VERY SIMPLE projects, you really have no more than a beginners knowledge of flash.
That is why I am back at it again, trying to find another flash book to help me through my next stage which is putting MY ideas into creation.
See, the book didn't really help me learn to do the things I am interested in doing with flash. I don't care how to make a ball roll across the screen...if you know what I mean.

I strongly suggest for those of you who really want to learn how to use Flash, to buy this book. This book serves as a "beginner cookbook"! Last Fall, I took Flash 5 course by Brad Kaldahl and his book is excellent! In his introduction, he states:

"If you have never worked with Flash you will appreciate the easy to use, short, step by step projects. Rather than describing each palette and menu item and giving an explanation of what they do, you will learn by doing. From the second chapter on, you will be quickly producing exciting web content.

As an educator I designed this text because there are no book that tell you where you should start and provide a logical, easy to understand, progression for learning Flash. Both my students and I agree that the most enjoyable way to learn complex software is with short projects that show cool, fun, interesting technigues that can be used (or modified) immediately."

Authors who plan to write books on graphic design, animation or 3-D models should follow his example!

Be warned. Experienced users of other graphics software packages, looking to jump into Flash may find this book a little simple and repetitive. Having said that, let me also say that this book was exactly what I needed to get started. As a long time Photoshop/Illustrator/Pagemaker user, I was anxious to learn more about Flash and it's capabilities. I had even tried a couple of times to get through the provided lessons/tutorials, without actually retaining much.

The simple projects in this book allowed me to approach the otherwise non-intuitive Flash interface in a way that, while sometimes sophmoric, was at least not intimidating. In fact, rather than feeling dumb (as I sometimes do when reading instructional graphics books) this one actually made me feel pretty smart.

Take that for what it's worth. For the reader's reference, I consider myself to be of average intelligence. So I would say that the target audience for this book is somewhere slightly below average. Which, in this case, was just what I needed to get my feet wet. Having finished the book, I would not consider myself a Flash Master, but I think I've got the basics pretty well down. Now if I could just find a good intermediate level text....

I couldn't put this book down until I finished it. Kerry does a great job of taking the reader behind the scenes at Fox.

It looks like I'm one of the few reviewers that didn't work for Fox Software. However, I have used and developed in FoxPro a lot over the last 15 years. It's still the best RAD tool that you can buy despite its treatment by Microsoft.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I think that anyone who has worked in software or worked for complete butthead would also like it and relate. It's so well written that I just wish it were longer.

Recently, I read Mr. Nietz's book while on vacation and found it to be very interesting and hard to put down. Within a couple of days I was finished with the book. This book is for all audiences and you don't need a degree in computers to enjoy it. I highly recommend this book and I look forward to reading other books by Kerry in the future.

Once I began this extraordinary book, I could not put it down. It's a page turner with a story that will appeal to all readers. I worked at Fox Software with Kerry for over 4 years. This story of Kerry's experience at Fox Software is a wonderful reminder that how you get to the top is more important than how high you get.

There have been many stories of what the inside of the high-tech business looks like from the most famous and successful business leaders. Most of these stories are attempts to write history and promote themselves. This story is about a hard working and honest guy who wants to work hard and make something of himself by joining a small software company. After reading this book you can tell that Kerry wrote this book to just share his experience. He is not trying to promote himself, and by doing so he tells a story that so many people can relate to, and he records for all of us a fascinating story of a small software company at a time when the industry was growing exponentially.

This story has a happy ending, despite all of the obstacles presented in the book, Kerry and others continued to work hard and were rewarded years later at Microsoft. I am looking forward to more great books from Kerry.

FoxTales is an excellent read. Once I got started, I simply could not put it down. As an employee that actually worked in the offices of Fox Software, I always felt that Fox Software was a company that succeeded more in spite of its uppermost management, rather than because of it. At times Fox was an exciting and awesome place to work and at others, it was humiliating and torturous. Kerry does a great job of presenting the experience as a whole and of wrapping up a series of somewhat loosely related events into a very entertaining story. It's nice to see someone tell the outside world what it was like at Fox Software.

If nothing else, Dr. Fulton had an excellent eye for talented developers and he certainly did manage to assemble an incredible team. It's great to see how Keary and others were eventually rewarded by Microsoft for their efforts and perseverance.

Exquisitely illustrated, beautiful layout and easy to read, this book provides insight into the making of these groundbreaking computer games. Richard Kadrey has created this volume clearly showing his love and appreciation of the Myst game. This book should be included in the library of every design college, as it shows the development, mapping and design process of the creation of Myst.

The book has an introduction by Rand and Robyn Miller and is divided into four parts: Inception, Preparation, Construction and Completion. Included is even a lexicon of the D'ni grammar.

Well worth the wait and the price!

Despite having read all the five star articles, about how wonderful this books is. I was still utterly blown away by it when i received mine. The book cost me about 85$ with shipping, but I live in DK so in addition I had to pay extra tax totaling a cost of over 100$, despite that this book is still well worth it. note however if you live outside the US. you might want to check shipping options since this book is very large (about 35cm in height)and it will cost a great deal to ship, thus you might get it via regular mail (witch takes forever). For anyone interested in CG, computer game history, Myst, D'ni, or Multimedia, This book is an absolute must!

"From Myst to Riven" is a positively amazing book that follows the arduous journey of the Cyantists from creating two of the greatest games ever made. All the way through Inception, Preparation, Construction and Completion, Kadrey takes such an in-depth look at the inner workings of Cyan that you feel as if you helped them along in making it. Breathtaking visuals and intriguing narrative make this a book that's a must-have for any hardcore fan.

Most computer games don't much for me. I'm not into shoot-'em-ups, and I learned back in the days of the original ADVENTURE and ZORK that I wasn't that great at puzzle-solving. Oh the other hand, I've been playing MYST and RIVEN regularly for years, even though I haven't solved that many of the puzzles. I'm what this author calls a "tourist," a player who just likes to wander about the Ages of these games and gawk at the exquisite artwork and music, and marvel at the fantastic realism the design team has managed to put into their worlds. This book brings all that out in some detail, describing how Rand and Robyn Miller came up with the basic ideas, how Richard Vander Wende turned all their plans on their heads and made the game the masterpiece that it is, how even the sounds you hear are apt to be clues (I never knew that!), and -- above all -- how none of the team let themselves be hurried in their quest for something as close to perfection as they could manage. Like Tolkien, they even invented a detailed language for the D'ni. Amazing stuff.

This gigantic book features stunning full page renders of key scenes from Riven, as well as various high resolution screencaptures. It also takes you through the entire process of making Riven, from the completion of Myst to the completion of Riven. It shows you how the story was developed (and additional bits to the story), how the stunning photo-realistic graphics were acheived, how the sound was done, how the design and visual look came about. In the background, it tracks Cyan's rise from a small company in a garage into one of the most profitable independent game designers in the world. Being a fan of the whole Myst universe and of computer technology in general, I absolutely love this book. I have it on my coffee table. While I have other things to attend to, my guests can flip through it until I have time to sit down. The process that went into making Riven was enormous and complex, and I salute Mr. Kadrey for getting down into words.

Hex is an amazing sci-fi trilogy that will keep you enthralled from the very first page. In the late 21st century, scientists created the Hex gene to improve human knowledge of computers. The project was later abandoned, but mutants with the gene, known as Hexes, continued to be sought out and exterminated.
Years later, Raven, a Hex and possibly the most dangerous teenager in the world, along with her brother, Wraith, travel to London in search of their younger sister, Rachel. There they meet Kez, a streetrat, and Ali, a popular and rich girl who has just discovered that she is a Hex. Soon the group becomes engaged in a dangerous mission that could cost them their lives.
Containing interesting characters with distinct personalities, excellent descriptions, and an imaginative portrayal of the future, Hex is one of the best science fiction books you'll come by and the fitting start to a great series.

I read all three books in the trilogy over a year ago and have recently come to pick them up again. The best feature of the book is the idea, I love reading sci-fi books that don't actually feel sci-fi - the books that I enjoy explaining the plot to friends and family. The reason I didn't give the book five stars was because there wasn't enough romance, and there is always room for romance - where are we without it? Also I would have loved to have more information about the way of life that far ahead into the future, on a more day to day level. The last reason is because i didn't like Raven, although i know why she was cold and heartless I think hope goes a long way but i never felt she would change - it is definitely a first for me to love a book and not love the main character. Despite this the book left me wanting to find out more so it definitely earned four stars.

if youve seen the old movie hackers, then you'll love this. I love the dysfunctional family life of brother and sisters, the way the main character is a female, who feels alienated from the world around her because everyone else feels inferiror to her talents. Its a well written series, ive read all three hex books, and i was compleatly satisfied...hmmm, well it woul dhave been good if there was a little romance, but you probably cant have that. You fall in love with Raven, and hate the people she hates, you find them utterly annoying :D its a gotta read

The book was very well done. A bit cliche, but a good read all the same. The characters are believable and the book doesn't make you want to gag with details and mindless information. The only real complaint I have is something seemed to be missing from the explanation. I couldn't finger it, but there was just something not there. But it's definately worth picking up.

The most dangerous person in the 24th century is a 15-year-old girl named Raven --- and officially she doesn't even exist. Why? Raven is a Hex --- part human, part super computer. In the late 21st century, Hexes were created by genetically enhancing human children. Hexes can reach into the Net and access information systems from around the world. They can move around the World Wide Web the way other teenagers stroll around a mall. Raven has awesome powers --- she can control computers with her thoughts. Raven is in hiding, though, and she would like to keep it that way. If the secret government finds out that she is alive, she will be killed.

Children with the Hex gene must either fight for their lives, hide away, or be exterminated. The government doesn't want its people to know that Hexes exist. The CPS, a secret government agency, is on a mission to seek and destroy all Hexes. Most die no matter what they do. Raven's sister, Rachel, is already presumed dead, even though she had never shown any sign of being a Hex. While searching the Internet for some sign of Rachel's existence, Raven runs across another fate that Hexes face. A fate worse than death. It is this discovery that will eventually lead Raven, along with her foxy non-Hex brother Wraith, to the place where Hexes die.

HEX is book one of what promises to be an outstanding series by Rhiannon Lassiter. Lassiter does a great job of making the people in her books as real as possible. Even the minor characters have great personalities.

There is a reference to a New York disaster and some talk about terrorism, which takes some of the fun out of this book. This is minor, though, and doesn't take away from the fact that HEX is a book that you are cursed to enjoy.

--- Reviewed by Kat, recent high school grad and young adult fiction diva

This book is absolutely solid, especially in its explanation of how consulting firms work. It has a number of helpful tips for what to look out for and what "smells funny" in a contract, and is good value for money just for that alone.

The salary information in it may be a little out of date, and the sample size of salaries is so small and spread out that it's difficult to know what the statistical significance is.

just what one needs to know about consulting in IT.fantastic

This book is good as far as providing lots of useful information, but I can't use its advice just yet as I am just getting into the computer field. In other words, its too advanced for me right now. I am going to order another book listed here, The Secret Path to Contract Programming Riches..." It seems to be perfect for those who want to start from scratch in the computer industry.

But, I will keep this Janet Ruhl book for reference when I am more ready to make the move into contracting.

This book is great for computer contractors or for those considering going into computer contracting. I read this book when I first contracting about five years ago (I thought I had already reviewed it, but my review does not show up). The information is still current and is greatly helpful for those, like me, who want to cross every 't' and dot every 'i', or at least to try to. A great deal of valuable information inside.

In my first book, "The Secret Path to Contract Programming Riches", I chose Janet Ruhl's earlier book, "The Computer Consultant's Guide", as required reading for an overview of the ins & outs of the consulting lifestyle, because it was the ideal complement to the highly specific and technical instruction for the raw beginners targeted in my book.

"Janet Ruhl's Answers for Computer Contractors" will now replace it, as required reading in the next edition of my book, for many reasons:

1) It gives promising contractors everything they need to maximize and maintain a contracting career.

2) It reveals the absolutely important insiders' tips on working with consulting firms, contract brokers and recruiting firms - I've been contracting for over ten years, and I've seen some really wonderful brokers and some really shady brokers. Read this book and put yourself a step ahead of them all.

3) It has answers to practically every important contracting question one can imagine.

4) It helps you decide if the contracting lifestyle is right for you and helps eliminate fears about moving into contracting.

5) By design, it is much more specific to contractors than her earlier book.

Bottom Line
If you are already a salaried computer professional or want an in-depth look at the contracting profession and have an itch for a more flexible, potentially more rewarding and higher-paying career, then I have no doubt that this book will be worth its weight in gold to your career! Now that we have this beneficial guide, I see no reason for anyone to have any unanswered questions about the contracting profession.

~ Michael Nigohosian, Author - "The Secret Path to Contract Programming Riches"