Applied Languages Books

I went to Univ of New Haven, home of both Alice Fischer and David Eggert, and I took the Intro to C Programming course. Consider that NOTHING in the book corresponds to anything in the class (which was also put together by Fischer), and we're off to a lousy start already.

Since you're probably not planning to go to UNH, I'll stick to reviewing the book. In a nutshell, it's awful. Fischer & Co keep forgetting that this is supposed to be an INTRODUCTION to C, not an all-purpose compendium of all C knowledge. There's no rhyme or reason to the layout, and the self-test questions at the end of each chapter test you on topics that weren't even IN the preceding chapter. The writers make no attempt to explain just what the heck they're talking about, ever, and it also suffers from Lazy Example Syndrome, in that the examples given in the text are several orders of magnitude simpler than anything they ask you to do yourself. In short, the book makes no attempt to explain anything, ever.

I need to reiterate what I started with: I took the class that this book was written for, and even in that setting, it was completely incomprehensible. I can't even imagine how useless this book would be on its own. Avoid it at all costs. If you see a copy laying on the sidewalk, don't pick it up. If your friend wants to give you his copy, find a new friend.

i'm learning this book in Chinese edition,it's different from the books that written by Chinese authors.

This book is very wonderful for students in freshman. Very detail examples.. best Algorithms.. This is the most beautiful Book of Introduction of C. ...

I really enjoyed this book but I think that the title was misleading. There was as much (or more) information about web services and .net as there was about soap.

Overall the book covered a broad set of topics and showed some good example code. If you're new to web services and soap, and you plan on using .net, this book will get you good coverage in a small amount of time. If you don't intend to use .net, there are still some interesting topics, but the sample code won't help much.

I received this book, hoping to get some inside clues on how SOAP is implemented in .NET. I was running into some more sophisticated needs. I found the book to be full of general fluff. E.g., at the beginning it brings this corny motivation for SOAP that it's a better way for web page scraping. It actually believes that SOAP was made to replace code opening yahoo financials pages, and scraping stock quotes out of it. Hello? SOAP works along EDI and Corba. It's a simplified version of both that makes it easier and language/platform independent for those cases that don't need the full functionality of EDI or Corba.

Well, then there is a quote, where the author blankly asserts that posts are more useful then gets. I'm familiar with the debate about the pros and cons. But, an author just asserting one is better and putting as a reason 'trust me, baby, I'm smart', is just so pretentious.

To put it plain from flipping around in the book, I didn't find any good information, and the author just disgusted me with his way of writing and assertions. This is a total utter waste of time and money.

Here's what you get in the book: you will learn how to use .NET in order to shape your SOAP messages. There's a lot to know and understand: manipulating XML, creating custom attributes, debugging, reading messages. This book covers all of those items in detail and has the code to save you time. The book tells me exactly what I needed to know in order to make better use of SOAP in my .NET applications. Kenn teaches this stuff for Wintellect and developed the course on this. It's also pretty clear that the day jobs for both these guys involves writing Web Services. When you are done with the book, you will understand all you need in order to write your own Web Services.

I read the two other reviews and I don't understand why the readers are complaining. SOAP is one way to do Web Services and is the only thing that the authors talk about in the entire book. Perhaps this reader has a problem with the fact that, for the most part, SOAP == Web Services? As for the horrible waste of time review, I again think that the person didn't really look at the book. This is the best book I have seen to date which describes how to mold your SOAP messages, write custom attributes, etc. These guys explain pretty well what SOAP is for. Better for Web Page scraping? I think that reviewer simply picked up a copy in a book store, read 2 pages, and that's it.

I titled this review "just average" because I found this book to be very basic and not too interesting. My boys never got into the book. There is nothing special about it.

I grew up bilingual in NYC, and with the birth of my child, I wanted a natural way to incorporate Spanish into our lives (I now live in the NW). This book is wonderful, because the bright, contrasting colors make it possible for me to read this book to my newborn, and she is interested in the colorful illustrations, as weel as what I'm saying, in either Spainsh or English,and then my anglo husband can use it as well.

This book is well-illustrated, very colorful and a good way to teach French. Be prepared though, it serves the same purpose as flashcards would with the words in each language - rather than a story.

Perhaps the visual appeal of the pictures could also help the children learn the words, but I find it tedious to "read" so as to familiarize my little one with the words. I'd use this as a supplement to using the words in other ways rather than a teaching device in itself.

The book is very good as a background for beginners in DSP, when they are going to use MATLAB, as a tool. The readers may undesrtand the text, without very sophisticated knowledge in mathematics and MATLAB procedures. However, it would be better, if the author could write more about several, used frequently, areas of modern DSP applications - new methods of time-frequency analysis (for example wavelets etc.), dynamic 3D image analyses, with many typical examples using MATLAB.

I used this book for a first course on DSP. This book is very practical. It is loaded with Matlab algorithms that will make your discrete signal processing simulation development enjoyable and challenging.
The Matlab examples cover just about every thing encountered in DSP development. It covers statistical signal analysis, adaptive filter design, FIR, IIR and other important topics.

Readers of this book should download the entire code examples used in this book off the website assigned to this book.

I bought this text as a self-study aid, primarily because the book is advertised as including the solutions to the problems at the end of each chapter. I was very disappointed to find that the answers are provided, but the zip files for the solutions are password protected and made available to only universities. What a shamocary. Other than that, the book has proved to be very light in the discussion section and heavy in the problem sets - so the solutions are very much needed to derive any good use from the material.

I have been developing a MATLAB toolbox incorporating OOP-Principles.
It has been quite painful, the MATLAB documentation covers the functions but provides little guidance.
This is a guide, it addresses many things that had been making me crazy, like...
- what should the relationship between get/set and subsref/subsasgn be?
- is nargout really as broken as it seems?
- what functions need to be overloaded to get MATLAB-like behavior?
- what functions can be overloaded to provide enhanced MATLAB-like behavior?
- how is inheritance done?
This book has little fluff, it sticks to its objectives throughout.
My only complaint is that there appears to be no website dedicated to it.

Quite simply, changes to Matlab's OOP features in the 2007 and 2008 releases made this book 100% irrelevant.

I agree with Dimitri. This book was published in 2007, but was written for Matlab 5 to 7.1. Matlab is now on 7.6 and uses a classdef .m file to create a class.

I had created some of my own classes from the Matlab help using classdef command and so was completely confused when I first started looking at the code in this book because it doesn't use classdef. Now I understand my confusion, the book is way out of date.

This is a beginners book for grey and bi-level image processing. This book is kept in a simple language, and is mathematically not too demanding either. However, it covers a lot of printed source code which is not supplied on a cd or floppy.

Most mathematical equations are given in blocks of C-code, so that the reader first has to figure out what the relevant mathematical equation might be. This book demands only some basic understanding of C, and as the author righly says (p.124): "Although the philosophy in this book is to present code that is as clear and simple as possible, rather than presenting the niftiest algorithms and most highly optimized coding technique, it should be pointed out that there are faster ways to scan through all of the pixels of an image".

This is a beginners book for grey and bi-level image processing. This book is kept in a simple language, and is mathematically not too demanding either. However, it covers a lot of printed source code which is not supplied on a cd or floppy.

Most mathematical equations are given in blocks of C-code, so that the reader first has to figure out what the relevant mathematical equation might be. This book demands only some basic understanding of C, and as the author righly says (p.124): "Although the philosophy in this book is to present code that is as clear and simple as possible, rather than presenting the niftiest algorithms and most highly optimized coding technique, it should be pointed out that there are faster ways to scan through all of the pixels of an image".

For those of you looking to enter the wild and wacky world of image processing, this book is all you need! It starts at a very basic and understandable level and leads you gently into an the area of computer imaging and image processing by matrix manipulation. Although this book is written, as its title suggests, for C programming, it gives a good basis for image processing in any language. The code examples are extremely useful if you are using C but you will soon find yourself confident enough to write your own. This is a definite must for all you budding image processors. Enjoy!

I bought this book a couple of weeks ago and have worked the exercises in the first four chapters so far. The exercises are perfectly chosen; the math is interesting and the programming is challenging, and there are thoughtful solutions to almost every exercise! It's obviously not appropriate for a future programmer, but for a mathematician who needs passing familiarity with programming it's perfect. Even if you don't want to use C++ in your work, a firm foundation in it gives you the freedom to branch out to Java, C#, or another language later on. I'd recommend it for anyone with a mathematical background who wants a fun introduction to C++.

This book is well-written with material clearly presented. Its use of interesting mathematical examples, rather than the more typically forced and artificial ones in other texts, makes it an enjoyable book to read. The author's interest in the subject is evident, and infectious. The book is suitable for beginners, as the author presents material in a manner almost as if he's teaching us what he himself has recently learned and still remembers the problems beginners might experience.

There are, however, a number of problems, most minor but some more serious. In the minor category is the editing which could be somewhat improved. As early as page four a sentence contains an extra "is". On page 12 the author presents a formula to determine the range of minimum and maximum integer values and inadvertently and incorrectly uses bytes rather than bits in the formula. Fortunately, most of the technical editing errors are obvious with careful reading, and may even help readers feel they are really understanding the material.

Also in the minor category, and possibly reflective of the author's emphasis on using C++ for mathematical applications rather than on C++ itself, is his references to C++ items by names that differ from those commonly used by most C++ professionals. For example, he refers to the '<< insertion operator' as 'the << operation'. When introducing 'endl' he identifies it as the endl object, rather than, as is common, a 'stream manipulator'. He makes the stated choice not to use the more common C++ term `function' but chooses to refer to these program entities as procedures, so as not to have any confusion between the mathematical and computer uses of this term.

However, many mathematical terms are "overloaded". For example, 'modulus', is used with different meanings in arithmetic, complex numbers, set theory, elliptic functions, etc. Thus, the author's terminology decisions appear unnecessary for the intended audience, particularly, as these decisions make it a bit more difficult for readers to use other C++ references. The use of more common C++ terminology should provide greater value to the intended audience than the choices made by the author.

The author usually uses good coding practices, although there is the occasional slip. As one example, Program 3.5 finds the greatest common divisor of two integers using a 'for' loop. The loop ends when a variable exceeds the first number entered. This code is inefficient if the first number entered is greater than the second. If so, the values should be swapped before the loop, putting the smaller value first so the number of times through the loop is not unnecessarily large. This would improve speed without loss of generality.

Occasionally programming idioms that appear to be carry overs from a language other than C++ are used. They work, but are often not the most appropriate, efficient, or error reducing way to code in C++.

The more serious problems arise from the author statements about C++ constructs without regard for the ISO standard. He states that in the expression a%b, b can even be "zero!" (the explanation point is the author's). However, the standard notes that when the second operand of either the '/' or '%' operators is zero the behavior is undefined. Generally this results in runtime errors. In Exercise 2.3 readers are asked to determine the results of (-1)%3, (-5)%(-3), and 5%(-3). No reference is made to the ISO standard's statement that if both operands are not non-negative than the sign of the result is implementation-defined. There are similar problems with the author's answers regarding division by zero in problem 2.6. C++ beginners, the target audience, will not know which material presented here is inappropriate for standard implementations.

Although the book has 496 pages, and is 9+ inches high, it is relatively smaller than many other introductory C++ textbooks. This is due both to its comparatively lower page count, and its width which is about one inch less than some other popular introductory C++ texts such as Prata's or Deitel's. This has it pros and cons. Because of its smaller size and weight the book is much easier to hold and use. It also means the author has chosen to select those topics he feels most important and leave out many others. Of course a consequence of this is that the book contains less C++ content.

In spite of its deficiencies this is a book that's hard not to like. With a technical scrub by a C++ professional using the ISO standard, and the use of more common C++ terminology this book would be a standout. Its organization, writing, and explanations are exceptionally clear and the book is surprisingly, for a C++ text, entertaining. However, Chapman and Hall's pricing appears inappropriately high considering the book's relative size and paperback binding.

If the deficiencies mentioned above can be corrected, this would be an outstanding C++ text. A book I wouldn't hesitate to highly recommend as an excellent choice not only for mathematicians, but for others interested in quickly developing the skills needed to program quantitative problems in C++.

It is jus so so, like most books by either oxford or cambridge, a bit too concise and lack of explanation. Use complicated code to achieve simple goals. If you are a novice, want to computing in C++, don't buy this one.

I used this book to teach myself the subject matter. It is well written and uses the powerful advantages of object oriented programing. My only real criticism is the lack of a source diskette.

I'm shocked this got a good review in the TESOL Quarterly. It's really pretty awful. The basic idea is that a phrase such as "If I were you..." is psycholinguistically distinguishable from "If I were the king..." because the former has a pragmatic function (giving advice) and was therefore selected to be used as a "formula" or an unanalysed chunk. The idea is interesting, but he does an awful job of presenting it. The book is filled with contradictions. For a phrase to gain the status of being a "lexical phrase" it must have a function, and it has a pragmatic function if Natinger says so, and not otherwise. Thus "a ___ ago" has the "function" of expressing time relations, and so gets to be a lexical phrase. Likewise "How do you do?" has the function of greeting. But "Have a nice day" is not a lexical phrase, but rather a cliche, because the function of "saying goodbye" for some reason doesn't count. It's ironic that a man who teaches others how to communicate in English is himself barely capabale of this task.

I bought this book because it was extensively referenced as a seminal book in its field by nearly every other book I have read on the subject. I'm glad I did. It's an excellent aid for teachers of English, especially for teaching English as a Second Language. The first half of the book deals with theories of language learning and teaching, but the second half gives great practical tips for helping students understand how to use "chunks" of language as shortcuts to organizing their own discourse, and as aids in understanding the discourse of others. The chapter on learning more efficient ways of comprehending classroom lectures is one that is especially useful for students. I've used many ideas from this book in my classes with GREAT success.

You do need a basic understanding of applied linguistics in order to read this book, but I found that it was well worth the extra effort it took to work my way through some of the more difficult concepts in Part I. By the time I got to Part II, which focuses on the more practical aspects of classroom application, I was glad I did. I loved this book!

The good thing about this book is that it becomes clear that linguistic imperialism is really just a widespread (but not universal) shambles in English teaching. It also becomes clear that this shambles is the result of an unholy alliance between shabby EFL "professionals" and undeserving elites in certain countries where English is taught as a non-native language. It follows that effective reform of paranoid language policy in the relevant countries can deal with the problem of linguistic imperialism as defined.

The author has no need for preposterous "linguistic theories" of the kind that crop up in Pennycook's work, for example. We don't have to worry about the possibility that colonialism has somehow attached itself to the English language, for example. Nothing in Phillipson's book rules out straightforward reform of language policy.

Indeed, the strength of this book is the fact that it does not distract from the fact that the responsibility for reform lies with the policy-makers in the countries where these neo-colonialist relationships exist. Indeed, by pointing out the problem in unpretentious terms, the author is arguing that reform of language policy is the key to breaking the relationships which lie at the heart of the problem.

This is far superior to Pennycook's work, which focuses on the responsibility of the western teacher (who is expected to shoulder the white man's burden by being self-critical, while ignoring the malpractice going on around him).

Phillipson loses a star for not making it clear why theoretical linguists don't police the field better. We can guess that they have little to gain, and a lot to lose, by doing so, but this is left to the imagination.

Phillipson's Linguistic Imperialism is an important book and I doubt that any serious discussion of English as a World Language should avoid a discussion of his work. Linguistic Imperialism raises the point (all too often disregarded) that English Language Teaching doesn't happen in thin air, that it is connected with politics and ecconomy.

Phillipson argues that the center (that is the English speaking countries of the West) have used English to supress the people of the former colonies. This phenomenon he refers to as "linguistic imperialism". He deals with 5 tenets,or rather fallacies, which have been used for such imperialistic purposes; the most important of these fallacies are that English is best taught monolingually (without using other languages) and that it is best taught by a native speaker.

While Phillipson raises many interesting points (the fallacies of ELT among them) his overall thesis has to be rejected on the following grounds (to name but a few):

on its in-built power asymmetry, that is that the devloping countries are seen as being incapable of independent decisions.

that fact that linguistic imperialism is not falsifiable: there is no scenario where Phillipson would admit that English DOES fulfill a useful role in a third world country.

Phillipson's left-wing terminology and tone: imperialism itself is a left-wing term.

a country's linguistic ecology is to complex to fit into Phillipson's neat "black and white" scenario.

Phillipon's book can thus be only a start for a discussion on global English. For further reading I recommend Kachru's "The Alchemy of English", Crystals "English as an International Language" (critical reading necessary) and Pennycook's "The Cultural Politics of English as an International Language."