Programming Books

When I first started looking at Web Parts I couldn't quite grasp how they were different from other web technology. Darren was able to clearly describe how individual parts are created, and how to integrate them into a cohesive whole and helped me enormously in building modern websites.

This a very thorough and complete guide to ASP 2.0 Web Parts. After reading this book, I gained more knowledge than reading countless internet articles, numerous blogs and a few cumbersome books on subject. This book is a MUST Buy for anyone who needs to understand and/ or implement ASP 2.0 Web Parts. One added new value is the concepts outlined
in his book also work on ASP 3.5.

A must buy book if your working with webparts. Darren (The author) is also extremely helpful if you post web part related questions on his forum. The book is clear, concise and well organised. You will not be disapointed!

Ps. I have bought many many tech reference books from Amazon over the years. This is the first time I have ever posted a review. This book has been an invaluable reference for a large project I am currently working on.

Paul Hale (Domainscanners)

An all in one great introduction to web parts and even to some advanced techniques.

Web parts are a strong web UI element and this book has done a great job of talking about ALL the things that are necessary for proper web parts development.

This book introduces and explains a lot of concepts with Web Parts. This book SHOULD BE your starting point if you want to do any kind of web part development.

Key concepts:
- Web Part Connections
- Zones and how web parts behave inside them
- Tips & Tricks to get web parts to behave like they look in SharePoint
- Page Life cycle with web parts
- AJAX and web parts (little light on that topic)

I have done some basic web part development and read other articles on the web. This book by far brought a lot of concepts together and allows you to build a portal based on web parts.

very concise yet descriptive illustrations for creating a project with AJAX. Of course it is not a Bible for this technology, but a very very handy book which gived the basic idea.

The book jacket lists it as a beginner level book. It says: "Familiarity with HTML, JavaScript, PHP and CSS would be helpful but is not required." It's true that the project doesn't involve anything terribly complicated in any of these areas. Still, if ALL of these are unfamiliar to you, I'd guess it would be quite difficult to follow what is going on simply because there are so many components interacting. (Actually there are a few more involved as well: MySQL, SQL and XML).

Every step of the project is explained at a level that assumes you might not have seen that type of code before. But the exact syntax of each line of code isn't always explained so you may have to follow up with more reading and research if you want to adapt what you've learned to your own project later.

Several things I thought were particularly good about this book. One: given that browsers do a good part of the processing with AJAX through JavaScript, and given that you can't count on consistent behavior across browsers--or even on JavaScript being enabled, I was pleased to find that the project was designed to create a non-AJAX version first and then to add the AJAX layer on top of that.

Two: there was a good amount of error-checking built in to the application even though it is a fairly simple one. That's something as a not-so-proficient programmer I often find myself overlooking.

And three: tips on debugging in PHP and in JavaScript are included. Although they are pretty basic tips, if you are a beginner, they will be helpful.

I'd say this book can give you as much for your investment of time as many a day-long workshop would and at much lower cost.

I already have a book from Larry Ullman (on PHP5 and SQL). So I know the man is both a great programmer and an excellent teacher. I already know the basics of Ajax (XMLHTTPRequest object, asynchronous requests etc). But I'm always interested in studying case studies. The book was unexpensive and short so I went for it. And I'm really happy I did. The project developed in this book clearly shows how to deal with server side problems and even to deal with a client on which javascript is disabbled (or blocked by a security app).
Two thumbs up for this book.

Larry Ullman has done another excellent job in writing this book. Larry consistently produces products that are easy to understand and implement for any level of web designer/programmer. I highly recommend any book written by Larry, and suggest visiting his website, which is extremely worthwhile and fun.

His examples are easy to understand, and pertinent to the job at hand. I own several books by Larry, and have found them all to be very helpful, not matter what the task may be. Keep up the good work Larry, and I look forward to your next release.

The author succeeds in leading the reader through an example application utilizing techniques that have been lumped under the name "Ajax". I suspect that many readers learn as I do by testing and experimenting with code examples. To get the most out of the book, these readers should have access to a desktop or ISP web server with Php capability.

Throught out the book, the author refers the reader to other resources that cover topics referred to briefly or noted as simply not in the scope of the book. Examples are installing Apache/PHP, verifying data input, security considerations etc.

The book is a excellent read for those who have already delved into one of the pre-Ajax volumes that covered MySql/PHP in depth and want an Ajax upgrade. Others with basic application implementation needs will benefit from the overview, example code and resource tips provided.

Business Process Change provides a very clear and comprehensive discussion of the methodologies surrounding successful business process management. This has become my new guide for developing a BPM Group within our organization. I very much look forward to more writings by Paul Harmon.

This is about the best Business Process book I have read so far. I worked in a IT transformation for a big Telecommunications company which entailed adopting a new approach to Business Process and Operational Process Development and I found this book very useful. This book with the book Business Process Management - Practical Guide to Successful Implementation provided me with most of the knowledge needed.

I have been leading business process management projects and working in the BPM space since the late 1990's. I found this book to be as complete and well written as any reference could hope to be.

From my perspective, this book does for BPM what Harold Kerzner's books do for project management - set the standard for others to follow.

I think this is the best book that I have seen that allows an organization to consider business process at the enterprise and department level. I have been engaged in business process management in the government for years, trying to define the processes, trying to communicate them, trying to improve them. This is by far the best treatment and guide I have seen. This is what I have been looking for and couldn't find.

In 2004, I worked in a business unit at my company that had experienced a period of declining performance. Our senior management felt that one of the causes was work processes that had become cumbersome and inefficient over the years. I was asked to sponsor a process improvement initiative to try to simplify and streamline how we did work. I didn't know where to start, so I went on a crash course to learn everything I could about improving business processes. I read some great books by Geary Rummler, Roger Burlton, Michael Hammer, and many others. I learned about things like process modeling, process redesign, process improvement, process automation, BPM tools, swimlanes, value chains, CMMI, process owners, Six Sigma, Lean, process architectures--and the role of IT in enabling all of this.

This intense study provided me with a valuable foundation of knowledge, but I still didn't know how pull all of the pieces together. Organizations are extremely complex systems. To improve performance, which approaches work best under which situations? Which tools to use? What skills are needed to improve and redesign processes? What's appropriate, and what's not?

In early 2005, I discovered Business Process Change, First Edition, by Paul Harmon. This book provided me with the big picture perspective of the BPM world that I sorely needed. It helped me to ask the right questions and to structure our process improvement plans more effectively. The issues we have been addressing require long term solutions, and this work continues today. But, we are building an infrastructure that will integrate people and technology into our process change initiatives to ensure the sustainability of our efforts and results.

The First Edition not only helped me organize a more effective process improvement strategy in our business unit, but I also consider the knowledge and perspective gained to be a significant factor in my being selected to lead our relatively new Center for Process Excellence (CPE), a central BPM group located in our corporate offices. The mission of our CPE is to promote a process-based culture throughout our company. We currently lead process improvement and redesign projects to solve specific business problems, and we have begun to develop process modeling skills in our lines of business. We are now focusing on establishing an enterprise business process architecture for our organization and securing executive support for large-scale business transformation.

Thankfully, I now have the Second Edition to consult as we continue on our process journey and take our work to even higher, more ambitious levels. I bought my copy two weeks ago, and while I haven't read it cover-to-cover yet, I have read enough to know that this is not the First Edition with just some cosmetic changes. It is a complete overhaul. It reflects the newest and best thinking in business process change and management today. Like the First Edition, it is a surprisingly clear, practical and useful guide. That's the bottom line for me--what works and how can I use it.

If there was ever a must read book for business process change professionals, this is it.

an excellent book on c for the advanced C user. This is definitely not a book for a newbie to C, but well worth adding to your library.

every day there are fewer reasons to purchase computer books. so much documentation is online or included as "man" or "info" pages that reference manuals have almost become extinct. "c in a nutshell" proves there can be real value in a book, even on a topic as "settled" as c. the reference is exhaustive, and there are many examples. but there is more to this book than just a c reference...this book really addresses the entirety of developing with common c tools like gcc and make, as well as adding discussion for memory management, pointers, and other thornier topics. the nice thing is that because the world of c isn't likely to change radically from this point, you can likely get use out of this book for another decade.

I'll admit that I'm a fan first and foremost of K&R, but this is a good reference too. It takes a little more time to explain some concepts than K&R, and does it in a way that can increase your learning. So while I wouldn't call this a drop-in replacement for K&R, it is definitely a good additional resource, one that I turn to almost as often as I turn to K&R.

A really good book that explains C clearly. I especially like the standard library reference that is included and also the sections on GCC and GDB.

Are you a C programmer? If you are, then this book is for you. Authors Peter Prinz and Tony Crawford, have done an outstanding job of writing a book that is a complete reference to the C programming language and the C runtime library.

Prinz and Crawford, begin with an overview of the C language. Then, the authors provide an overview of standard headers and a detailed function reference. Finally, they provide the necessary knowledge of the C programmer's basic tools: the compiler, the make utility, and the debugger.

This most excellent book will help you understand the key concepts, such as type conversion, dynamic memory management, working with pointers, and more. Perhaps more importantly, this book will help you get the job done.

If you are thinking about learning how to program in C++, this book is for you. I've used many books and must say that this is definitively the best book for absolute beginner. Greg goes at a nice pace that's easy for most to pick up. Book introduces program flow controls, scopes, functions, basic I/Os, arrays and pointers and touches up on object-oriented programming. Review questions and review excercises at the end of each chapter are helpful in testing your knowledge of a particular chapter. If you are looking for extensive OOP that book is not for you, otherwise a beginner cannot go wrong with this book.

If you have absolutely no idea of C++, this is a great book to begin. Though it does not cover much (any) of OOPs, its a nice book to get you hands wet with. This book can easily be read over a couple of days. I strongly recommend Greg Perry's sequel to this book "Moving from C to C++" for a neat understanding of OOPs. I read these two books and was doing great in my C++ course. The nice thing about these two books is that it gives the reader a nice conceptual understanding of why C++ is doing many of the things that is does as against C.

This book is an excellent book for learning C++. It teaches you the fundamentals, and it will keep you coming back for more and more reading because you are learning something about the language. I highly recommend this book to anyone who doesn't know anything about C++. I can't believe I'm learning C++! Buy the book, you won't be sorry.

Out of all the souce books I have on C++, this book is without a doubt the most user friendly and comprehensive that I have found. I consider myself lucky to have come across it. Obviously, the author not only knows his subject, but also knows how to write for the reader. For once, a book that purports to be for beginners is written for the beginner. If you can get your hands on this book, do it. The book stops at OOP which is a very good place to change course and speed.

I've tried learning C++ from many books from various authors. Many started out well, and, by so doing, led me to a false belief that they would actually teach me the language. Each time, I came away frustrated. Perry's book is, however, the one and only exception I have thus far found. Not only does it start out well, it STAYS that way. It genuinely teaches you C++. I find myself actually looking forward to reading and studying from it. This is simply the best book written to date on C++. Now, if I could only get Perry to write one on Visual C++, I would really be in business!

This books answers all the questions one can imagine about C++. It sure eplains the things which are usually not explained by other books. I suggest this book, to all who are interested in learning C++, as a must read book. It is surely a definite guide to good programming.

That review is very misleading. Yes, the authors first give a pithy, concise answer to a question that is not so simple. Of course that is not the full answer. What is a downcast? Yes, the first word after that is "trouble" (which leaves an important impression on the reader's mind.) That is immediately followed by 2 paragraphs explaining it in detail, followed by a programming example that is an entire page long. Then that question is followed up by more FAQs such as "Why are downcasts dangerous." (The answer is "they're like walking a high-wire without a safety net". This is followed by another paragraph of explanation.) This is less humorous and "annoying" than it is analogous to the truth and succinct, while leaving a mental image that the reader can retain after reading the detail.

Anyway, the book is very highly recommended. Every C++ programmer, even a beginner, should have at least 3 books, and this should be one of them. Different books have different styles. Others to consider are a reference such as Stroustrup's, a "tutorial" such as "Accelerated C++", a "hints and tips" book such as "Effective C++", and a basic book such as Lippman's primer. For those with some C background, "Thinking in C++" by Eckel is very good. The book is available on Amazon as well as free by Eckel on the internet.

see similar title by same autho

While this book provides good information on many basic concepts in C++, many of the author's snappy one-line answers are downright annoying. For example:

Q: What is a downcast?
A: Trouble.

Or this:
Q: Why is downcast dangerous?
A: It's like walking on a highwire without a safety net.

Or this:
Q: What is contravariance?
A: The glue that holds OO together.

Many people will find the one-liners amusing, I am sure. Personally I think they are a waste of paper. Good practice should always be making definitive statements in the one-liner, and put the descriptive ones in the paragraph that follows, not the other way round.

To sum up: good technical advice, dubious style.

Excellent reference material that should always be within arm's reach. You can either find a quick answer to a problem, or peruse the book from cover to cover. Answers are fact filled, minimalistic but complete. And sprinkled with humor. Will help make intermediate C++'ers experts

I bought this book for general project evaluation purposes, for a project that I was called in on that was in trouble.

Well worth the read - a lot of it is just good common sense, straightforward project management process, but it provided a great roadmap for validation of my plan to put the project back on track.

Definitely would recommend it - it's an easy read; I finished it in under 5 hours on the flight out, complete with note-taking. Kudos to E.M. Brennatan for writing this in a straightforward fashion.

It is a law of nature, grouped under the general name of entropy, that it is easy to mess things up and very hard to straighten them out. In fact, it is the natural state of nature to tend towards increasing disorder. This law also applies to software projects, since they are naturally very complicated entities; they easily reach a point where difficulties compound to the point of dysfunction. The author calls this state a catastrophe, although in my opinion that is an overstatement.
A catastrophe is a major disaster, far beyond what most software development projects actually are. Granted, there are problems, but most of the situations described in this book are ones that can be recovered from with more effective planning and focused execution. The author puts forward a ten-step plan for disentanglement:

1) Stop the project - not permanently, just long enough to examine the project in detail before things get worse.
2) Assign an evaluator - a disinterested party is assigned to perform an honest and unbiased appraisal of the project and what is going wrong.
3) Evaluate the project - the evaluator takes the lead in doing a complete dissection of all aspects of the project, what is being done right and what is going wrong.
4) Evaluate the team - examine the people working on the project and determine if all are suited to their jobs and if all are performing at the appropriate level.
5) Define minimum goals - determine what is considered to be the minimum level of achievement that will be considered a success.
6) Determine if the minimum goals can be achieved - if the minimal level of success is not possible, then the decision must be made to terminate the project.
7) Rebuild the team - this step has two basic components. Personnel changes if necessary and reinvigorating those who are going to remain part of the team. One of the greatest tasks is to overcome the defeatist mindset.
8) Risk analysis - attempt to identify all possible risks and assign a reasonable probability of occurrence to all of them.
9) Revise the plan - as circumstances change, modify the plan to reflect the different conditions.
10) Create an early warning system that will flag the appearance of problems when they are not yet serious.

These ten steps are each the topic of a chapter. Exercises for further practice are included at the end of each chapter, although no solutions are given.
I enjoyed the book; it contains a lot of sound advice on how to right a rudderless software project. Most of the advice will work only on a project that is not yet seriously out of control. Quite frankly I don't believe that a ten-step plan like this is powerful enough to get the most dysfunctional death marches back to a point of potential profit. Therefore, while I believe that the advice is sound, it is limited in scale, where the measurement is of the level of dysfunction in the project. On that basis, I can recommend the book.

Catastrophe Disentanglement : Getting Software Projects Back on Track teaches the kind of skills you hope you never have to use. It's something like taking a CPR class for project management. You hope you never have to administer CPR in real life, but when you do get put in that position, you're really glad you have that training to fall back on. That clear, logical list of steps can mean the difference between life and death. In the world of project management, the skills taught in this book can save projects and careers.

This book differs from traditional project management books in that it focuses on corrective rather than preventive measures. The author teaches two critical things. First, he presents a set of criteria used to recognize a project that is in need of rescue. This is an important step! Once a project is identified as seriously out of control, you can apply the steps presented in this book to bring it back on track and guide it to a successful completion. This book will give you the reasoning and courage necessary to make hard decisions.

Table of Contents
Chapter 1 An Introduction to Catastrophe Disentanglement
Chapter 2 When Is a Project a Catastrophe?
Chapter 3 Step 1--Stop
Chapter 4 Step 2--Assign an Evaluator
Chapter 5 Step 3--Evaluate the Project
Chapter 6 Step 4--Evaluate the Team
Chapter 7 Step 5--Define Minimum Goals
Chapter 8 Step 6--Can Minimum Goals Be Achieved?
Chapter 9 Step 7--Rebuild the Team
Chapter 10 Step 8--Risk Analysis
Chapter 11 Step 9--Revise the Plan
Chapter 12 Step 10--Create an Early Warning System
Chapter 13 Epilogue: Putting the Final Pieces in Place

I would recommend this book to anyone involved in software projects.

Good book, good subject, well covered. The book builds an organized process around the rescue of a failed (or failing) software project. The steps are easy to read and understand, and seem well thought out. Some good methods for identifying projects headed for serious trouble. Also, some useful guidance on how to handle political (not just technical) problems. Obviously, the result of significant experience. Well recommended.

There are plenty of books that try to help you keep your project on track. But what happens when you are sitting on a catastrophe and you don't know how to salvage it? E. M. Bennatan fills a necessary niche with the book Catastrophe Disentanglement : Getting Software Projects Back on Track.

Contents: An Introduction To Catastrophe Disentanglement; When Is A Project A Catastrophe?; Step 1 - Stop; Step 2 - Assign An Evaluator; Step 3 - Evaluate The Project; Step 4 - Evaluate The Team; Step 5 - Define Minimum Goals; Step 6 - Can Minimum Goals Be Achieved?; Step 7 - Rebuild The Team; Step 8 - Risk Analysis; Step 9 - Revise The Plan; Step 10 - Create An Early Warning System; Epilogue - Putting The Final Pieces In Place; References; Glossary; About The Author; Index

If you're in IT for any length of time, you'll be part of a project that is massively over budget or late. Rather than just continue the death by 1000 cuts or a quick mercy killing, Bennatan presents a ten step process that allows an organization to take a (hopefully) objective look at the project and decide what can possibly be saved from it. I was impressed that it wasn't a long drawn-out procedure either. The plan calls for an evaluator (or a small team for huge projects) to come in and quickly assess the environment... what's been done, the climate of the team, and what could be redefined as a "minimum system". At the end of this process, the organization should be able to either kill it off with the knowledge that it can't be saved, or continue on with a redefined set of deliverables that are achievable. It won't be everything that was originally wanted, but it will be more than you'd get by letting it die. I was also impressed with the "What Can Go Wrong (And What To Do About It)" section in each step. He doesn't present this as some cut and dried panacea that will flow smoothly every time. It may not be an easy task, but the book will give you the help you need to make it all work.

Definitely a book that is worthy to be on every IT project manager's bookshelf, as you *will* need it some day...

This book is a great beginners guide as well as a reference booklet for veteran programmers.

Ms. Hamilton's style as an author is unbelieveably clean and understandable.

I am a neophyte script writer. I needed to learn basic PERL to set-up several web sites.

The book provided me with a very straight forward process to write scripts. As a self instruction book the arrangement and flow of the text was excellent. It was a great accomplishment to see my scripts work the first time. The only trouble that I encountered is when I didn't follow the process steps in writing the scripts.

I highly recommend this book.

I bought the previous edition of this book in 2001 because another reviewer recommended it and mentioned the added bonus of signing up with the CGI 101 hosting service. I bought the book AND started a web site with CGI 101. I have not regretted the past five years. The author has been helpful and communicative during the few occasions when the web site went down.

I can understand how someone who wants to be a guru (like the previous reviewer) would be disappointed, but this book is great for explaining most of the features anyone would need. Check out the [...] web site if you don't want to believe me.

This book is extremely helpful for anyone completely new or clueless on the subject of cgi programming. This was my first book on the subject of cgi's (w/ perl) and honestly, it was the best primer in regular expressions in perl. Let me stress its name is suggestive of the content... that is CGI 101 is for beginners. That was a good thing in my case since I was completely clueless when it came to dynamic web programming. It was my first purchase on the subject and I still consider it the most helpful.

I highly suggest this book for anyone looking for an entry point on the subject of CGI programming.

One of the nicest (and at times, accursed) aspects of perl is that with a small amount of knowledge, you can do anything. If you have an informal background in programming (so that you have the analytical mindset), you can spend a weekend reading about Perl, then go build anything your heart desires. It'll take more time and be messier than the accomplished programmer's works, but you can do it.

That is exactly what I did with this book. I read the first edition, some six, maybe seven years ago, and then went on to build whatever I wanted. A year or so after reading it, I made a content management system replete with a gui interface that my employers could use. This book was the inspiration for years of Perl code creation, and employment.

Now, you won't learn as much as you would with any of the standard Perl books (such as Programming Perl, by the O'Reilly publishing world), as it's a project based approach to Perl learning. You aren't inundated with theoretics and syntax that you could then apply; instead, you receive the fundamentals, with some useful code snippets that you can put into your own code, and go forth to create.

In short, it is a delightful read, and I highly recommend it to any user who prefers a practical approach to learning, versus a theoretical one. If your aim is to go directly into a Perl programming job, then you may want to look elsewhere, but if you want to be able to build web applications, this is a quick easy read that will provide you with the tools to create all that you might want.

Cons: The book seemed slightly long for what it was, kept reusing the same semi-obscure examples from the writer's experience, and didn't always go in the directions I wanted it to go (for example more detail on world building, settings, or individual story scenes would have been appreciated).

Pros: It didn't matter that it didn't go where I wanted it because it was still very entertaining and unexpectedly beneficial to follow the writer on his path. The book is solid from start to finish and doesn't have a false air of superiority about it; everything is very practical and friendly. Definitely a good read that rewards the effort.

I've known Lee Sheldon for several years. He is one of the most pleasant and knowledgeable people I've met in the game industry, so I was very much looking forward to this book. Suffice it to say that I wasn't disappointed.

Writing for games has a lot in common with writing for other media (e.g., character and theme) and a lot that is unique to itself. Lee does an excellent job of covering both aspects - so much so that I would recommend this book to writers with absolutely no interest in interactive media. (I've read my share of writing books over the years, and this one stands at the top of the heap.)

Of particular interest to me were chapters 3-6 on character and chapter 14 on modular storytelling, the most elegant way I've seen of organizing a linear experience into a non-linear structure. The book also does an excellent job of discussing storytelling in massively multiplayer games and provides extensive background material, much of which is intended to set up and justify Lee's modular storytelling model - rather more background than necessary, actually, since you should be sold on the need for something like modular storytelling long before he gets around to explaining it.

The book's does have a few faults. For example, a couple of the later chapters feel out of place, and the text is dusted with a handful of puzzling and sometimes repeated typos (Eowen? Kalishnakov?) But these are of little consequence and should not detract from your enjoyment.

Highly recommended.

This book is excellent. Sheldon is witty and insightful and his book is a joy to read. I can't really think of anything negative to say, although I should perhaps mention that this book is pretty focused on RPGs and adventure games, since these are the genres which have traditionally relied most on story. Anyone interested in developing their understanding of storytelling in games should definitely pick this book up.

I am working on forming a game development studio, and our team is in the middle of producing our flagship title, an RPG entitled "Revolution's Dawn." I am the main writer of the script, and I just recently finished reading this book. Where I thought my duties as a writer were finished, I now see new openings to provide dialogue and sidequests to fill in the backstory, plot gaps, and other means of enrichment that I didn't see before. Because of having read this book, my team and I can now take this game and bring it into the realm of what we intended it to be-a vehicle for telling a story.

While the title of the book is "Character Development and Storytelling for Games," the book really focuses more heavily on the latter. I was expecting the former, but by no means am I complaining! I have been able to break through blocks in my own role as a writer for this project.

If you are looking for the "right" way to write your story, you won't find it here. What this book does instead is to open doors, and then let you decide whether to walk through them or not. And even then, you still have to choose for yourself what to do once you've walked through them. If you are looking for new openings in crafting your game _and_ writing your story(and synthesizing them both together), this is the book for you.

I really enjoyed this book, and I think it's definitely worth considering if you're interested in how stories can be told in video games. I've bought plenty of books about video game design and storytelling. (I'm a programmer who's been making video games professionally for about 10 years -- I wish more people would include their personalbackground in their book reviews...) Some books on game design are written by people who obviously have more "static media" backgrounds like books or movies, and don't understand the fundamental problem of making a story in a situation where the audience has freedom to do what they want. Another problem that a lot of people don't understand is that people playing a video game don't necessarily WANT a story, in the sense that they are playing a video game because of the interactivity, and not to watch a 10 minute cutscene to learn some back story. If they wanted to watch a movie they'd pop in a DVD.

I think the author really understands these difficulties. You want to make an emmersive worl, but you need to do it very quickly. So he talks about dialog, and how to convey as much information as possible in as few words as possible. He talks about how to get the player to sympathize with a chaacter, from the situation that characetr is in, to the design of the character art, to the words that the character says. All of the information is very practical, not like some books that leave you with a bunch of high-level nonsense that doesn't work in a real game. I really appreciated that he wasn't one of these "video games are mindless because they don't tell a story" type of guys. Or acting as if video games need to learn how to tell a story in order to "grow up" like movies or TV have. In a straight up action game or fighter, you don't need as much of a story as you do in a more adventure game. Playing a video game is a just a different experience, and the story has a different role, it's NOT the holy grail like some people think. Rather than trying to tell you how to convert video games into novels, he describe ways that you can inject story without taking away from the inetraction. I think he makes a good case that in almost any game, you can introduce just a bit of characetr depth and relationships, without stopping for a ten minute cutscene, and it adds value to the game.

This author's background was originally in TV, but he also has considerable experience in video games. I felt like he has a good background to be writing the book, and was speaking from experience.

The only negative comment about the book is that I found several of the chapters to be very similar. Like you'd be reading a chapter, and you'd think, "Hey, didn't I just read this exact same thing a few chapters ago?" Actually, you didn't, this chapter is covering a very slightly different topic. In other words, I think he could have consolidated a few chapters, which would have saved me some time. I suppose this makes it easier to jump around, since you don't rely on information from previous chapters. But I found it a little repetitive.

All in all, a really good book for anybody interested in video game design or storytelling in general.

This is a GREAT book for people who know COBOL and need to know the differences among the COBOL versions. This book is LOADED with programming tips.

Covers how to improve coding techniques along with the differences in COBOL versions. Great for seasoned programmers too.

This book is for programmers who learned OS/VS COBOL or COBOL II and are now upgrading to COBOL/390. This is IBM's latest version of COBOL, with an emphasis on open systems and object orientation. There are a lot of new features in COBOL/390 and David Shelby Kirk describes them clearly and thoroughly.

The book was written for experienced professionals, not for novices or entry level programmers. The book does not explain basic syntax of statements or other organizational aspects of a COBOL program. I wrote the book for the professional programmer who already knows COBOL and wants to move that skill to a higher level. This includes incorporating the COBOL language with the enterprise server environment for effectiveness and efficiency, and creating extended software architectures.

To my knowledge, there are no other books that focus on the advanced techniques of COBOL in the IBM enterprise environment. This book introduces new techniques for program structure and memory management and explains the major components of optimizing programs within the IBM enterprise environment. If you are developing enterprise applications, this is the book for you. IBM has made major expansions in COBOL in recent years and this book will help you unlock those new features.

For the basics, this is an excellent writeup and you SHOULD have it. What is NOT covered is LE and object programming. Intrinsic functions are slighted but you can figure them out.

The author is very upfront about not covering the object extensions - I can almost forgive him. But these are the future - our top management is very object/web oriented.

I think there is a slide on the LE coverage. After we went through the Y2K conversion, our programs are loaded with language environment calls. Section 3.13 is a listing only of what should have been a great amount of detail on using LE calls and intrinsic functions.

In defense of the author I did find an example of the function used with a date (on page 384) MOVE FUNCTION CURRENT-DATE (1:8) to WS-GREGORIAN which is close to our shop standard MOVE FUNCTION CURRENT-DATE (1:14) TO WS-DATE-TIME.