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Software Books sorted by Average customer review: high to low .

Microsoft® Mobile Development Handbook

Published in Paperback by Microsoft Press (2007-05-30)

Authors: Andy Wigley, Daniel Moth, and Peter Foot

List price: $69.99

New price: $35.89
Used price: $36.00

Average review score:

Excellent Reference

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-07-17

I purchased this book, among others, to learn more about the compact framework. This has ended up being the one that is always on my desk and constantly referred to. There is information in here that is not on any google search, and the code used by the author to demonstrate complicated operations (such as creating opacity in CF forms), is easier and clearer than I have seen anywhere else. A very good book, and well worth purchasing.

Very complete

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-03-31

Definitely a good book: I found it very complete and easy to read. Useful and interesting, straightaway.

The best book from the best in the business

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-03-01

Got 2 copies for my moble development team. The book is simply invaluable. Either you read cover to cover, or select any chapter of special interest the result is in depth information and guidance. Very often our two copies are not enough for everyone in the team.

Great book

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-02-17

It is like my bitacora or bible when i am offline. I guess it has a little of everything you need to know in very compact book (i thought a 600 book will be wider but the size is great)

Comprehensive and clear resource for the mobile developer

Helpful Votes: 7 out of 7 total.
Review Date: 2007-10-08

This book is for new and existing mobile application developers who already have some experience developing applications using the .NET Framework, either desktop or compact version. If you are new to .NET, first read "Microsoft Visual C# 2005 Step By Step" by John Sharp or "Microsoft Visual Basic 2005 Step By Step" by Michael Halvorson. Those books can teach you the programming basics, and you will then be prepared to use this book to learn mobile application development. This book can help you develop mobile applications using .NET Compact Framework 2.0 and will introduce you to some of the new features that are in .NET Compact Framework version 3.5, which will be released with the next release of Visual Studio, currently code-named "Orcas."

Along the way, the book highlights features that are new to .NET Compact Framework 2.0 so that the developer who has experience building applications using the version 1.0 product can identify new features that are helpful. However, the main purpose of this book is to give you the essential information you need to design and build applications that work on a constrained device such as a Pocket PC or Smartphone, or on embedded hardware. It instructs you as to how to build and debug applications, how to design GUIs that work on small devices, and how to deploy applications. It also delves into problems that are unique to mobile device applications, such as how to design and build applications that work well with unreliable, slow network connections, which is the usual state of affairs with phone-enabled mobile devices. This book is a handbook for the mobile developer that explains how to tackle the common problems that mobile application developers encounter. The book is divided into three parts:

Part 1, Mobile Application Development Essentials, contains six chapters that everyone should read because they take you through topics that all mobile application developers must understand.

Chapter 1, ".NET Compact Framework--a Platform on the Move," is an introduction to the .NET Compact Framework and explains the tools you need to build applications for smart devices.

Chapter 2, "Building a Microsoft Windows Forms GUI," explains how to build effective Windows Forms applications on personal digital assistants (PDAs) and Smartphones.

Chapter 3, "Using SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition and Other Data Stores," looks at data persistence on devices in SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition databases and how you can build a graphical user interface that binds to data.

Chapter 4, "Catching Errors, Testing, and Debugging," shows you how to test and debug your applications on real devices and emulators, and how to trap and handle errors at run time.

Chapter 5, "Understanding and Optimizing .NET Compact Framework Performance," is about creating applications that perform well, something that requires a little more care to achieve on a smart device with limited RAM and storage than it does in a desktop application.

Chapter 6, "Completing the Application: Packaging and Deployment," looks at packaging and deployment and how Visual Studio 2005 makes it easy to build installation packages so that you can install your application on your target devices.

Part 2, Solutions for Challenges in Mobile Application Development, contains 10 chapters that examine areas that present particular challenges to applications running on a smart device.

Chapter 10, "Security Programming for Mobile Applications," is about security programming, an essential topic for any software developer, but of particular interest to mobile application developers who are responsible for keeping valuable data secure on a mobile device that can be lost or stolen, and must send data over public communications networks such as the Internet.

Chapter 11, "Threading," looks at how to do multithreaded programming in the .NET Compact Framework.

Chapter 12, "Graphics Programming" shows how to present UI that looks more polished and professional than one that is built using only the standard Microsoft Windows Forms controls from the Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Toolbox.

Chapter 13, "Direct3D Mobile", discusses how 3-D graphics can be implemented on a Windows Mobile 5.0-powered device using Direct3D. It starts simply with 2D graphics and then gradually moves into 3D graphics.

Chapter 14, "Interoperating with the Platform," explains how to call native APIs that are available in the underlying Windows CE operating system to perform tasks that are not possible using the .NET Compact Framework APIs alone.

Chapter 15, "Building Custom Controls", looks at developing custom Windows Forms controls that you can use in .NET Compact Framework applications.

Chapter 16, "Internationalization", explains how to create applications that are easily localizable to different cultures and languages.

Chapter 17, "Developing with Windows Mobile", looks at the Windows Mobile 5.0 managed APIs, a set of APIs that are unique to mobile devices and that expose system information and allow programmatic access to data stores such as Microsoft Office Outlook Mobile contacts, calendars, and tasks lists.

Part 3, New Developments, consists of a single chapter that provides an early look at the next version of Visual Studio and the next version of the .NET Compact Framework, version 3.5. The latest version adds new features for querying data collections, messaging, testing, and many other innovations and enhancements.

Murach's ADO.NET 2.0 Database Programming with VB 2005

Published in Paperback by Mike Murach & Associates (2007-08-01)

Author: Anne Boehm

List price: $52.50

New price: $30.00
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Average review score:

Best Tech Book I ever read

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-04-03

I am an ancient programmer switching from C to .NET. I have read a lotta books in my time and this is the best presentation and layout of a book I have ever seen. Its easy to read. Content is great. I wish I had found it first in my conversion to .NET. I am so impressed that I am checking out the other Murach titles for something to buy.

This book was the best on the topic that I have read.

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2007-12-27

I needed to learn ADO.NET for my job and this book was the best on the topic I read the entire book in about 3 weeks. Everything is explained wonderfully. I love how the examples are laid out on the right with explanations on the left. I also really found the program files extremely helpful. I opened each chapters program and followed right along with the book. All the examples are already created so that you can see how they work and even modify them.

I liked this book so much that I also bought the ASP.NET, SQL, and Visual Basic 2005...all topics I need to brush up on. As far as I can tell these other books follow the same great format.

From someone who thousands of dollars worth of technical and programming books...these are great even for beginners. However if you are not familiar with vb2005 get murach's visual basic 2005 to read first.

Highly Recommended for Someone Wanting to Learn ADO.NET

Helpful Votes: 3 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2007-11-03

As with the other Murach Press books I have reviewed, this book is extremely readable. It shows step-by-step how to develop database applications with VB. NET 2005 and ADO.NET. This book is best suited to someone new to database development with Visual Studio 2005 but that has a passing familiarity with VB syntax. If you are unfamiliar with flow control statements and VB syntax, you might want to look at Murach's "Visual Basic 2005" book first. I highly recommend this book for entry to mid level developers.

Another Winner from Murach

Helpful Votes: 3 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2007-10-26

ADO.NET is a huge and sometimes daunting topic to attempt to cover, but in traditional Murach fashion, this book has the capacity to make its reader an expert if read cover to cover. All of the important topics are coverered, including use of the base objects, data binding, typed vs. untyped data sets, and most importantly (in my opinion): use of object data sources.

The best part of Murach books (including this one), aside from the paired page layout, is that they make no assumption about the reader's skill level, and cover enough background on each topic to ensure that you will come away with a thorough understanding of not just what and how, but also why.

Both beginner and expert programmers alike will find this book extremely useful, and it's a great addition to the Murach family of programming reference and tutorial books.

To the point!

Helpful Votes: 4 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2007-10-04

I am a C# developer but when I started browsing this book I couldn't help it but to continue reading it. It is not only about the VB language itself, but instead, how to use it so solve software problems. It teaches how to better write software, best practices and approaches.
This book doesn't cover all the theory in the world about a topic. Also, not all topics. But it tells you how to use them and what to watch for.
I am glad to have read it.

Nanosystems: Molecular Machinery, Manufacturing, and Computation

Published in Paperback by Wiley (1992-01-15)

Author: K. Eric Drexler

List price: $69.99

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Average review score:

An astonishing tour de force.

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-04-16

It is rare to see an entire new field of study arise in science and engineering. It is even rarer to see it explored so lucidly by a single mind. "Nanosystems" is an astonishing tour de force.

This book is not light weight. It is not going to be readable for people who do not already have a substantial background in the sciences. It is an in depth and extremely careful analysis of the possibility of the creation of molecular machines and the fundamental physical limits that technology faces. The pages are packed with well described calculations and everything is fully footnoted and referenced.

Some people have criticized Drexler's vision, but is rare that the critics have actually read his work. In almost every case, he has already anticipated and discussed their objections in extraordinary detail. It is, in fact, amazing to see all the problems he has anticipated and analyzed, in depth and with great care.

If you are serious about your interest in nanotechnology, you must read this book. It will take you quite some time, but the information you will gain is invaluable, and much of it is available nowhere else.

My only criticism is that it is long past time for a new edition -- much has been learned in the last 15 years and it would be valuable to have it all collected in one place.

Good book

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2006-03-19

I think that this book clarifies all the aspects concerning Nanosystems, wrote by Mr. Nanotechnology: what is, how it is viewed, its possibilities.

I recommend for every one that wanna go inside the nanosystem's world.

A rare Fifth Star simply for its place in history.

Helpful Votes: 55 out of 58 total.
Review Date: 2000-05-22

Finally we may play with the "building blocks of matter" we've been hearing so much about. Here is an instruction manual, detailing the Elements, and their Interactions, while at the same time suggesting possible Design Models for construcion.

Curious about the subject?
Start with Drexler's Engines of Creation, instead. Maybe some other collections of theoretical applications to whet your appetite. Come back to this when you begin to see a bigger picture.

Know some, want to know more?
Definately read. But be warned, it is quite techincal when it is not being necessarily vague. This is a halmark. The basis of this book was Drexler's thesis for his doctorate in Molecular Nanotechnology, the first awarded (MIT 1991, I believe).

Serious about the topic?
You already have access to a copy...or should.

You might very well be able to download significant portions from Foresight's website (it's an org.anization, not a com.mercial); but I would suggest supporting them with at least the price of the book. They seem to be committed to developing this Potential responsibly.

Excellent Resource for Molecular Nanotechnology

Helpful Votes: 9 out of 11 total.
Review Date: 2003-12-02

This book is highly technical and assumes the reader's familiarity with physics, chemistry and the like. It was worth studying. I highly recommend everyone reading this book as the subject matter is inspiring. This book describes the inner mechanics of our (hopefully not too distant) future.

Thank You

Helpful Votes: 9 out of 29 total.
Review Date: 2000-10-19

Dr. Drexler, I carefully studied your book for the first time in February 2000. I studied it once again in August. I now frequently refer to the notes I have made in my copy of your book.

Your book is an excellent guide. Thank you for inviting me to the field of nanotechnology.

Sincerely,

Kenneth L. Buckingham, Founder Tiny Technology, Inc.

Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics

Published in CD-ROM by W.B. Saunders Company (1997-06)

Author: Behrman

List price: $240.00

Average review score:

Excellent

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-12-25

One of the best all around references I have found. It gives you the important info you need and cuts out the fluff.

Fantastic Reference Text for Chiropractors

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-05-21

This book is a must for chiropractors who's practice includes pediatric patients. It is a one stop source for everything I have needed in practice.

New Edition Available

Helpful Votes: 10 out of 11 total.
Review Date: 2005-09-17

The 17th edition of the Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics is available now. I have seen it on the publisher's website. This textbook is one of the main physician-level educational sources for pediatrics, and I highly recommend it for the personal libraries of all medical professionals as well as those in training. No matter what your field, there will always be the potential that you will become responsible for caring for a child. However, it is usually best to find the latest edition for any textbook.

THE Textbook of Pediatrics.

Helpful Votes: 5 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2006-09-25

THis is THE textbook of pediatrics. I own Rudolphs and Oski's as well. This is the book to buy (or read if you have MDconsult). It has the best diagrams, graphs, authors, and is the easiest to read. Don't waste your time with the minibooks such as currents or the mini Nelson's. Just read this one. You'll be glad.

In Depth Pediatric Reference

Helpful Votes: 8 out of 10 total.
Review Date: 2004-05-15

When I was on my PA Peds rotation, I often consulted this great reference in the medical library. Now, that I have my own book, I know its value. There is no other Pediatrics book out there that is better than this one. Don't waste your money on less expensive books like Current Pediatrics which doesn't cover half as many topics as Nelson. Also, for a great little pocket books, try Harriet Lane and Current Clinical Strategies Pediatrics 5 Minute Review.

.NET Framework Solutions: In Search of the Lost Win32 API

Published in Paperback by Sybex (2002-09-24)

Author: John Paul Mueller

List price: $59.99

New price: $39.20
Used price: $15.50

Average review score:

Excellent guide to get started using the Win32 API w/ .NET

Helpful Votes: 3 out of 7 total.
Review Date: 2004-03-28

I am an intermediate programmer, who in the past, has done some Visual Basic 6 and Win32 API integration programming. After learning VB.NET and C#, I found that the .NET Framework was missing some functionality of the Win32 API, which surprised me a little since Microsoft is really pushing .NET as the "API" of choice for developers.

I agree with the book that the .NET Framework is mostly targeted at business developers and the Internet for B2B and B2C applications, as well as internal Enterprise applications. Having said that, I have found the .NET framework lacking, and as the author points out, most likely due to how young it is in comparison to the Win32 API.

This book will get you up and running with making those Win32 API calls when you can't find that same functionality duplicated in the .NET Framework. There isn't much documentation on this subject matter on MSDN or the web (searching on Google), so this is pretty much it. The author did a great job, however, at times, the examples were a little light or topics weren't explained as thoroughly as they should have been. For example, the author will tell you what data type he used in place of a native Win32 data type, but doesn't clearly explain his reasoning for the choice. But other than that small complaint, this book is a must have for any .NET developer.

This book Rocks

Helpful Votes: 3 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2003-08-22

Let's face it, .NEt is really cool, but it isn't a finished product. For everything else, there's this book. He has some Great examples and explains everything amazingly well. I'm a book junkie and this is definitely one of the best books I've come across recently. I think this book would be a tremendous asset to anyone who wants to learn how to get around .NET's current limitations.

A Very Good Resource

Helpful Votes: 3 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2003-07-20

.Net Framework Solutions is a very useful resource for those .Net developers (using C# or VB.Net) who want to access the Win32 api from their .Net programs.A no of working examples (with source code available on accompanying CD) and lucid writing style makes this book a pleasure to read and can be very useful to avoid the traps in calling Win32 API. This book assures that you are not stuck with some problem because the .Net Framework does not provide support(which still lacks support for a no of Win32 APIs.)

Excellent companion piece to Adam Nathan's bible...

Helpful Votes: 4 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2004-08-17

If you are doing .NET -> Native interop., this book should pretty have almost all that you need. Note that it does not cover COM (RCW) interop in that much detail and does not talk about CCW (COM -> .NET). However, the coverage of MarshalAs() and the clever examples that show how to deal with the complex DirectX structures are alone worth the price of admission.

What I liked best was the author didn't take the cop out solution (managed C++) unless it was absolutely necessary. Most of the code examples in the book are in C# and this might be of some concern to the VB.NET programmers. The chapters are well organized and there's an appendix with 50+ good tips on PInvoke. If you are still struggling with your PInvoke interop problem after reading this book, it's time to bring out the heavy weight (Adam Nathan's bible) -- good luck!!!

Atul

Great book overall.

Helpful Votes: 5 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2003-05-21

This is a great book for developers seeking to understand how to translate C++ datatypes in the Win32 API functions into C# and VB.NET. It's not in-depth like Dan Appleman's VB's Guide to the Win32 API in past years, but it's the first of its' kind for .NET. My only wish is that the author not have spent so much time on DirectX and instead provided more general examples of other API calls. DirectX coverage should have been left for another book aimed specifically at that technology.

Object-Process Methodology

Published in Hardcover by Springer (2002-08-26)

Author: Dov Dori

List price: $84.95

New price: $49.98
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Average review score:

Fascinating methodology of simplicity and usefulness

Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2003-01-19

I have been fascinated by the simplicity and usefulness of the
Object-Process Methodology paradigm and approach expressed in the book. As a
researcher in Science Education I have been grappling with how to represent
complex, technology-enhanced educational systems that involve humans,
processes and educational artifacts. OPM and the OPCAT software enclosed
were very instrumental in enabling me to model and represent the "big
picture" of educational systems I developed. With OPM I was then able to
gradually refine portions of the system to any desired level of detail.
The applicability of OPM to IT-intensive educational systems is a testimony
to the generic nature of the methodology and to the fact that it is useful
in so many domains. The combination of a single simple graphical model that
generates natural language on the fly is really unique and valuable. I
wholeheartedly recommend the book to anyone interested in modeling complex
systems, be they of technological, economical, or social nature. The method
is straightforward, easy to learn even for non IT-professionals, and most
rewarding in terms of the quality and clarity of the resulting graphical and
textual model.

Object-Process Methodology (OPM)

Helpful Votes: 4 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2003-02-03

This book describes how Object-Process Methodology (OPM) CASE can be used as a tool for generating complete system intent specifications by graphical object diagrams, precise semantic and syntactic language, and intuitive symbols, definitions and structures. As systems have become more complex, a prevalent problem in systems development has been the number of accruing errors. These errors can cause catastrophic failure in the worst-case in addition to intolerable schedule delays and cost overruns. Introducing errors as well as difficulty finding and successfully correcting them occurs because of the lack of proper analysis and design tools for complex system specifications. OPM has the attributes to mitigate against the possibility of system failure, providing comprehensive visibility for better schedule and cost control in product development. It enhances reuse of system modules, processes and software routines in different contexts, while reducing the chance of errors. OPM automatically generates intent specifications that are readily understood by both customers and product team members and are translatable to machine control subsystems. OPM is a holistic systems paradigm that extends the Object-Oriented (OO) paradigm and overcomes its major shortcomings by integrating system structure and behavior in a single integrated graphic and natural language model. OPM successfully tackles the task of development and lifecycle management of systems, products and projects. OPM is a significant extension of and a major departure from the OO approach. It incorporates the system static-structural and dynamic-procedural aspects into a single, unified model. Presented as a concise visual formalism by a set of Object-Process Diagrams (OPD set), it is automatically translated into a set of Object-Process Language (OPL) script, a subset of natural English. At the basis of the OPM philosophy is the observation that to faithfully and naturally analyze and design systems in any domain, processes, like objects, should be considered as stand-alone "things" (entities) that are not necessarily encapsulated within objects. This detachment and de-coupling of processes from objects emphasizes the duality and complementarity of objects and processes, and opens the door for structure-behavior unification. At any point in time, objects exist with some structure and state. This is the static aspect of the system. Processes affect objects by changing their states. This is the dynamic aspect of the system. System complexity is managed through a number of graphical scaling options: zooming into and out of processes, unfolding and folding objects, and expressing or suppressing object states. These mechanisms provide for selectively detailing a subset of things while still maintaining the high-level context of the details.

OPM provides a new framework for specifying design intents and capturing the complexity of hardware and software interaction. Through OPL, it is possible to translate the process into a machine executable code. In addition, OPM can capture the dynamic behavior of the hardware attributes and software states in a single integrated graphical and textual language that is understandable by domain experts who have no programming experience. These traits of OPM ease the development effort for evaluating the system reliability during the design stages. Simulation and testing protocols can be automatically generated though future extensions of OPM to reduce lengthy system verification efforts.
The main benefit of OPM is its ability to identify system objects, processes, and the relationships among them in a structured way. The resulting OPD set becomes an excellent framework for identifying how to implement structural and procedural improvements. The resulting OPL script provides a well-defined set of existing and future specifications for the system. The ability to freely switch from text to graphics and back is of great value to understanding the system as a whole with a single graphic and textual model, without the need to consult various models and carry out mental transformation among these various models.
Based on my personal experience, the following points highlight the benefits OPM can bring to the particular projects described in this paper.
1. OPM is an excellent way to represent daily activities, products, processes and other complex things
2. OPM has allowed representing the complete system with its various aspects in a single model. The model specifies the systems function, structure and behavior aspects without sacrificing clarity.
3. OPM can be used as a common language to exchange design among members of a team.
4. Since OPM design is visual and textual at the same time, it is easy to explain the design.
5. OPL is very easy to generate from OPD
6. OPM will be a good tool for documenting the existing processes and as ISO documentation.

OPM is an Excellent Methodology

Helpful Votes: 5 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2005-04-29

I have used many methodologies over my career. Most of them are based around the object-oriented and structured design paradigms. I found out about OPM quite by accident about a year ago. I've been using it ever since. I have used it to model both hardware and software systems, as well as for business process modeling. It is an excellent methodology and I recommend it for anyone developing any kind of system.

One of the nice things about OPM is that it is easy: I was able to get a team "up-and-running" with the methodology in less than an hour of teaching them some basic concepts (try doing that with UML). Another feature is that you can use this for any type of project; you are not locked into a structured or object-oriented mindset like structured analysis or UML. OPM can handle both types of concepts with ease.

Finally, this methodology is fast. It is just easier and more intuitive to model in an OPM fashion. I've also found that others can comprehend the OPM models better than other methodologies too.

I used to be a UML advocate until I found OPM. I have found concepts that are difficult to model in UML are quite easy to model in OPM. It is just more flexible.

The book is really good by the way. It is very complete and gives plenty of good exammples. I congratulate Dov Dori and his team for providing something that all engineering disciplines can use to design their systems.

The way modeling ought to work

Helpful Votes: 5 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2003-08-11

OPM is a methodology for modeling systems, technical as well as any other system. In the techical world it compares with UML. OPM is designed with consistant and simple notations, uses simple rules that when combined can be used to model any system (real or informational) to any level of complexity that is desired by the system architect. Also, it integrates object modeling and process modeling in one diagram (although you can still keep them separate if you wanted).

UML uses complex rules to model complex systems, something that is very difficult to make happen, therefore it is very difficult to learn and use. OPM uses simple rules and consistant notations to model complex systems. After simple introductions to the methology, we have been able to start using it in our organization. More powerful and far simpler then UML. The way UML should have been done long time ago.

OPM: Finally a universal tool for system architects

Helpful Votes: 5 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2003-01-31

There is an eternal debate between system designers
and architects of software, products and large systems:
Is it ever possible to show structure (the arrangement
of objects) and system behavior (over time) in the same
representation? Dov Dori's book shows convincingly that it can
be done. Particularly powerful is the duality between
graphical system representation and natural language.
Also, the CD-ROM with OPCAT software allows one to follow
the examples in the book and apply OPM directly to a project.
The book is clearly written and will appeal to engineers,
computer scientists and software developers. A refreshing
contrast to the traditional way of looking a object-centered
systems architecting. This begs for more ... in terms of
connecting OPM to other tools such as Design Structure Matrices,
but also for representing highly complex systems over >2 levels
of decomposition.

On Cooking: A Textbook of Culinary Fundamentals (with software) (3rd Edition)

Published in Hardcover by Prentice Hall (2002-08-07)

Authors: Sarah R. Labensky, Alan M. Hause, and Software Sierra

List price: $114.20

Used price: $75.62

Average review score:

Culinary Arts.

Helpful Votes: 14 out of 14 total.
Review Date: 2006-10-06

One of the many neat features of studying at Cornell University is that, even if you're not enrolled in its famous School of Hotel Administration, you can attend one of the cooking and wine tasting classes organized especially for non-Hotel School students, and get at least a flavor of the five star culinary instruction provided by the chefs teaching at that school. (That is, you can do so if you're willing to get up an extra hour or two early on the morning of non-Hotel School student enrollment, and if you're lucky enough to beat the crowds or at least slip in as a substitute participant.) In addition to numerous recipes and pieces of valuable advice, information and memories -- particularly of the last night, on which we had to put together a four-course meal, fine dining style, complete with menu, garnishments and perfectly laid table -- Cornell's "cooking class" has enriched my kitchen by two items I have since found it very hard to do without: A professional grade chef's knife, and Sarah Labensky's and Alan Hause's "On Cooking," which we used as our textbook.

Much more than that, however, "On Cooking" is in fact a near-complete reference on everything related to the culinary arts, from the history of cooking to new foods developed in the 20th century, from sanitation and safety to nutritional values, from recipe writing to menu composition, from knifes and other pieces of equipment to edible kitchen staples, from the principles of cooking to various techniques and food presentation -- and of course, on every conceivable kind of food, from coffee, tea, spices and condiments to dairy products, stocks, sauces, soups, red and white meats, charcuterie, fish and shellfish, eggs, vegetables, potatoes, grains, pasta, salads, fruits, sandwiches, hors d'oeuvres, canapes, breads, pies, pastries, cookies, cakes, custards, creams and frozen desserts. Along the way, numerous tables, diagrams and pictures illustrate and exemplify the given information, making it easy to digest and memorize. The book concludes with an extensive bibliography and recommendations for further reading, and a detailed glossary of essential culinary terms.

Recipes are chosen to match individual chapters, and provide both a practical application and a more profound understanding of the respective chapters' subject matter. They include everything from American and international classics (assorted muffins, scrambled eggs and eggs benedict, focaccia, club, Reuben and other sandwiches, minestrone, French onion soup, gazpacho, New England clam chowder, Cesar, Roquefort, Thousand Islands and other dressings, various mayonnaises, coleslaw, cobb salad, Asian chicken salad, salade Nicoise, potato salad, Thai noodle salad, spanakopitta, grilled portabella mushrooms, carpaccio, lemon curd, hummus, various salsas, guacamole, pesto, hollandaise, bolognese, barbecue, bordelaise, bearnaise, Madeira, mornay, tartar, bechamel and other sauces, various stocks, broths and consommes, polenta, various kebabs, pilafs and risottos, paella, falafel, quiche lorraine, pizza, cannoli alla siciliana, macaroni and cheese, fettuccine Alfredo, clams casino, gravlax, oysters Rockefeller, fillet of sole bonne femme, matzo balls, duck confit, chorizo, chicken cacciatore, coq au vin, chicken curry, pico de gallo, chicken and veal fricassees, osso buco, chili con carne, Swedish meatballs, assorted burgers, meatloaf, T-bone, pepper and other steaks, cassoulet, chateaubriand, tournedos Rossini, beef Stroganoff, entrecote bordelaise, boeuf bourguignon, Hungarian goulash, ratatouille, baked beans, spaetzle, gnocchi, hush puppies, roesti potatoes, gratin dauphinois, baked potatoes, crepes, applesauce, New York cheesecake, sabayon, frangipane, assorted pies, tarts and tortes, various meringues and sorbets, creme brulee, chocolate mousse, chocolate angel food cake, sponge cake, brownies, ladyfingers, Madeleines, toll house cookies, gingerbread cookies, buche de noel, and spiced cider) to more unusual dishes such as:

Chilled cherry soup
Perfumed shrimp consomme
Beet vinaigrette
Shallot curry oil
Walnut pesto
Nopal cactus salsa
Pink peppercorn beurre blanc
Crayfish butter
Zucchini bread
Potato cheddar cheese bread
Salmon and sea bass terrine with spinach and basil
Salmon croquettes
Grilled red snapper burger with mango ketchup
Tex-Mex turkey sausage
Sauted pork medallions with red pepper and citrus
Marinated loin of venison roasted with mustard
Roast pheasant with cognac and apples
Stuffed wontons with apricot sauce
Wild rice and cranberry stuffing
Goat cheese ravioli in herbed cream sauce
Spicy sweet potato and chestnut gratin
Grits and cheddar souffle
Potato-ginger puree
Cilantro puree
Grilled seckel pear with sherry bacon vinaigrette
Balsamic raspberries
Figs with berries and honey mousse
Kirsch mousse
Pistachio citrus cheesecake
Chocolate flourless cake
English muffin loaves
Oatmeal stout ice cream
Quince jam

At 1100+ pages a veritable brick, despite its size "On Cooking" has become as much a key part of my kitchen as my chef's knife, my tea infusers, and various other pieces of equipment. I don't harbor any intentions of becoming a professional chef (nor any aspirations to even remotely that level of culinary skills), but I love to cook, and this is one of the cookbooks I'd be least likely to part with -- ever.

"Cookery is become an art, a noble science; cooks are gentlemen." -- Robert Burton, British author (1621).

A gem!!!!!

Helpful Votes: 14 out of 14 total.
Review Date: 2005-03-31

This was my first textbook at culinary school and it is by far the most comprehensive collection of culinary information I have ever come across.

It references everything from Nutrition to proper knife care, from meat cuts to the proper way for handling an array of ingredients. If you are serious about cooking, you will find the answers to all of your questions within this book, not to mention a great collection of recipes from restaurants around the US.

Does exactly what it says on the tin...

Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2007-02-04

This is the Basic Skills text book at the Culinary Institute of Las Vegas, and it is GREAT! It breaks down the basics of cooking by food item (poultry, starches, breakfast, etc.), but then each chapter is subdivided into cooking methods (braising, roasting, etc). There are handy tables for cooking times, properties and suggested cooking methods as well. The recipes are tried and true, but they also work extremely well as the foundation for anything you want to create! The beginning of the book gives good information on the history of chefs that have molded modern cuisine as well as kitchen equipment, knives, basic knife skills and seasonings.

Highly reccomended by this die-hard culinry student!I often refer back to this book when looking for alternate recipes in my current classes as this is, by far, the most outstanding book I've purchased for school.

An Excellent Resource

Helpful Votes: 9 out of 9 total.
Review Date: 2006-01-17

While this is essentially a textbook for culinary students, On Cooking is still very accessible. I would reccommend this book to any amateur wanting to learn more about the concepts behind cooking, rather than just reading and following a recipe.

No doubt, any food lover will continue to reference this book time and time again. Worth its weight in gold!

On Cooking

Helpful Votes: 9 out of 10 total.
Review Date: 2005-09-30

This book is a huge help for anyone seeking more knowledge in the culinary arts area. It provides you with many tips on how to cook in high quanity. It also has many wonderful recipes!

Oracle 9i JDBC Programming

Published in Paperback by McGraw-Hill/OsborneMedia (2002-05-17)

Author:

List price: $49.99

New price: $24.00
Used price: $9.86

Average review score:

Awesome book

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2002-10-13

If you buy just one Oracle Java book, this is the one to buy!Just the tuning chapter is well worth the price.

Also covers Java stored procedures, EJB programming, servlets and JSP. I liked the conciseness of the book.

An excellent work

Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2003-11-10

Rarely one comes across a book so complete as this one. What I liked the most in the book was COMPLETENESS in its discussion. Must say that the author is very precise and consistent in his approach for all topics throughout the book. Just like Mr. Tom Kyte, (Does he need any introduction?), the author too does not hesitate in sharing his personal preferences on dos and don'ts and also shares his personal preferences on the books for advance readings. Advance Java Programmers might be little disappointed if they evaluate book from Java Programming perspective alone but the book is mainly related to JDBC programming for the Oracle Environment and he has covered much more than that for that matter.I must say that for quite sometime I was looking for a book of exactly this kind, and sure this has found a permanent place in my bookshelf now.A brilliant work by Jason Price, will look for more such books from him in future!

Nicely Done AND a Quick Read!

Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2002-12-31

I wish more books were written like this. Price did a nice job of balancing depth with usability as well as explaining JDBC standard features with Oracle JDBC specific extensions (and their performance characteristics). It was a very quick read yet I didn't feel slighted in any way. I can see referencing this text frequently as I occasionally require to tap into more Oracle specific features from within Java (JDBC) applications.

An enjoyable read

Helpful Votes: 6 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2003-01-24

I've been programming with Java and Oracle for about 3 years now, and this book shines the light on things like best practices when using Java and Oracle together. This book is a must have if you are using Java and Oracle: kind of like the Thomas Kyte book "Expert-one-on-one" is now.

This book teaches you not only how to do things, but _why_ you want to do things a certain way. Because of that, this book is streets ahead of anything else available on Java and Oracle - even the other Oracle Press Java books.

This book even teaches you how to use JDeveloper to create Java programs.

If you're a newby or an expert, this book will be useful when using Java and Oracle together.

The only book you need on Java and Oracle

Helpful Votes: 7 out of 7 total.
Review Date: 2002-10-09

I spent quite some time reading through the various books on Java programming and Oracle, and this book really stood out as being the best. It covers everything you need: SQL, PL/SQL, Java, JDBC, and J2EE components (EJB, servlets, and JSP). It even covers how to use JDeveloper. I highly recommend this book.

The Painter 5 Wow! Book (3rd Edition)

Published in Paperback by Peachpit Press (1997-12-30)

Author: Cher Threinen-Pendarvis

List price: $44.95

New price: $5.48
Used price: $0.01

Average review score:

Excellent!!

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 1999-02-23

Easy step-by-step examples with plenty of illustrations as samples!! Easy to use...excellent!!

Tons of hints, tips & techniques

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2000-05-02

I loved this book. It contains tons of hints, tips and lots of different techniques. It also has a lot of color reference pictures and artwork. Instructions are clear and easy to follow, but some experience with painter will help a lot.

For a smaller book, it covers a lot of ground. It contains several different traditional art techniques with information on to make each brush look as realistic as possible by using different settings.

It also has instructions on how to apply scanned paper textures, color a scratch board, & make hot beveled metal. It covers create a tide pool, melt text in water, make a cloned mosaic, use light to add dimension & make draping weave as well.

The best Painter 5 book!

Helpful Votes: 12 out of 12 total.
Review Date: 1999-12-01

This book is the best book on Painter 5! Examples are easy to follow. I do find new tricks in this book. Good for beginners and intermediate readers. I got a book called Painter 5 f/x which is very bad. I am looking forward to buy the Painter 6 Wow Book.

The only Painter 5 book you'll ever need...

Helpful Votes: 12 out of 12 total.
Review Date: 1999-08-10

Don't waste your time with the other inferior books on Painter 5, this is the book you'll grow to love. Even if you're a beginner or not especially artistic, this book will have you doing things you never thought you could do. The fact that the author and publisher have added a special update to their website for the new feaures in version 5.5 makes me all the more happy that I bought this book. You won't be disappointed either. This book does the near impossible by taking a complicated, multi-layered program and making it seem easy and within your ability to master. And it also makes it fun!

What a great book!

Helpful Votes: 7 out of 8 total.
Review Date: 1999-05-22

I love this book. It contains tons of hints, tips and lots of different techniques. It also has a lot of color reference pictures and artwork. Instructions are clear and easy to follow, but some experience with painter will help a lot. For a smaller book, it covers a lot of ground. It contains several different traditional art techniques with information on to make each brush look as realistic as possible by using different settings. It also has instructions on how to apply scanned paper textures, color a scratch board, & make hot beveled metal. It covers create a tide pool, melt text in water, make a cloned mosaic, use light to add dimension & make draping weave as well.

Practical .NET for Financial Markets (Expert's Voice in .Net)

Published in Paperback by Apress (2006-04-04)

Authors: Samir Jayaswal and Yogesh Shetty

List price: $84.99

New price: $77.37
Used price: $77.35

Average review score:

Great Book

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-01-23

I have purchased several markets development books and this one beats them all. It has a fantastic overview of the markets, the language is awesome & the detailed instructions on how you can build your system ground up is fabulous. I'd recommend it to everyone from Beginner to a Pro - "A must buy !!"

Excellent beginners guide

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-01-19

For me, just beginning in this field, this book is a gem.
It has great explanations of the lingo/structure of the financial markets as well as useful code examples.

Great .NET Book for Financial Developers

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2007-06-15

'Practical .NET for Financial Markets' by Samir Jayaswal is a very specialized book for all financial developers. Laid out over 9 chapters with 500+ pages of detail this is a wonderfully written reference for this niche market.

If you are a .NET developer in the financial industry you owe it to yourself to pick up this great resource!

***** RECOMMENDED

Excellent Capital/Money Markets (Securities) Text for .NET Developers - Strongly Recommended

Helpful Votes: 12 out of 13 total.
Review Date: 2006-10-18

This text is excellent in what it sets out to do and five other reviewers have said so with 5 star ratings. I agree very much with the reviews of Ted Hrudz and Gulli Ellee, in particular - they are well said and spot on. I think I must make a few comments of my own, however. I have managed financial software projects in the last seven years and have experience in developing and implementing capital and money market securities software, and prior experience in implementing equity software, so I have some background and interest in this area.

First the positives: This books succeeds enormously at providing a very good introduction to equity markets and front and back office software development from a .NET development lead, architect or developer perspective. In less than 500 pages the authors manage to provide a very good and reasonably comprehensive/broad tutorial in several aspects of financials as well as .NET and the book makes reasonably easy reading for such technical subjects. Most of the relevant and interesting topics are covered or touched on. The reviewers I mention above itemize most of the .NET and financials topics covered so I will spare you the repetition.

The authors are obviously very knowledgeable in both the securities domain and the .NET architecture and development technologies and issues and convey their knowledge expertly. This book makes an excellent introduction (but ironically advanced/intermediate in several respects) to the domain concepts and requisite architectural/developmental .NET features. Having said that let me add that you will need more than this book if you seriously plan to undertake financial software development with .NET. You may need to supplement your knowledge in both areas with some of these books, depending what you already know or have been involved in:

Securities/Electronic Payments Domain: 1. Securities Operations: A Guide to Trade and Position Management by Michael Simmons; 2. Corporate Actions by Michael Simmons; 3. After the trade is made by David M. Weiss, Revised 2006 Edition; 4. How the US Securities Market Works by Hal McIntyre (2nd Edition); 5. Gobal Securities Operations by Jeremiah O'Connor; 6. Trading and Exchanges: Market Microstructure for Practitioners by Larry Harris; 7. An Introduction to Financial Technology by Roy S. Freedman. 8. You may also need to understand Secure Electronic Payment Systems (see texts by Weidong Kou, Mostafa Hashem Sherif)

Technology (.NET Framework, Visual Studio & SQL mainly) : Books by some of the best authors such as 1. Juval Lowy and Alex Ferrara (.NET 3.5, SOA/WCF, Web Services, Remoting, Messaging, Application Logging, Threading, Component-based/Distributed Architectures, Application Security Design, etc.); 2. Chris Sells (Windows Forms in VS 2005); 3. David Sceppa, Brian Noyes, Fabrice Marguerie or David Ratz(ADO.NET 2.0/3.5/Data Binding or LINQ); 4. Stephen Walther, Alessandro Gallo, Cristian Darie, Marco Bellinaso (ASP.NET 2.0/3.5 and AJAX); 4. Nick Rozanski (Software Systems Architecture); 6. Itzik Ben Gan (MS SQL 2005-8); 7. Secure Coding against hacker attacks using books by Gary McGraw/Billy Hoffman/Michael Howard such as 'The 19 Deadly Sins Of Software Security'; to explore such topics in greater detail.

I think the author could have added the equivalent VB.NET code for VB developers and architects. That is the main beef I have (and the book is a bit too expensive, buy it online for a rebate. It should have been paper back to reduce the price for readers) but I still thinks it deserves a 5-star ranking . Bravo to Samir Jayaswal and Yogesh Shetty, the authors!

.NET ala Security Trading

Helpful Votes: 5 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2007-01-11

The authors' experience building a .NET application for a trading house shows. As a result I learned a little about the domain & saw several well written "how to" .NET examples based on it.

Two negatives might be worth considering before spending a fair amount of money. First, not much (anything?) about building high performance applications. Lots of talk about needing performance in the securities market, little in the way of delivery. Second, the book is based on .NET 1.X "best practices". The chapter on 2.0 reads like a last minute techno-tour.