Programming Books


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

Programming
Microprocessors and Interfacing: Programming and Hardware
Published in Hardcover by Glencoe McGraw-Hill (1991-12)
Author: Douglas V. Hall
List price: $76.50
New price: $58.50
Used price: $1.21

Average review score:

AN Excellent Book for learning the 8088 Microprocessor
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2000-03-22
This is a great book for beginners using the 8088 concepts for programming and interfacing.Clears most of your doubts without consulting your lecturer

A Great Book for Beginners
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2000-07-30
I Bought this book on an impulse at the book shop while buying some books on programming. I've never regreted that decision. Its a really good book dealing with the simple basics of microprocessors and digital electronics along with fundamentals of assembly language programming. Any one who wants to learn more about how computers work should buy this one..... I definitely rate it 5-star.

How do you manage to combine that subjects like this.
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 1999-03-08
This type of writing is included excellent contents and I like all subjects in it. I am trying to teach the chapters. I don't have an original book. I've borrowed one from the library. I think this one is an old version. I have difficulty get it and borrowing. I always recommend it to students. I want to know if you have and on the CD some documents like this.If I have all documents about this book I will actually help my students. As far as I'm concerned all instructors interested in the microprocessors should read this book.

Excellent book for microprocessors and interfacing!
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 1999-01-07
Explaining 80x86 family processors. This book is very good to start learning how to program microprocessors. Not only that, the author explains how to do interfacing. Buy this book! You won't regret it....

Programming
Microsoft Office Document Designer: Your Easy-to-Use Toolkit and Complete How-To Source for Professional-Quality Documents (Bpg-Other)
Published in Paperback by Microsoft Press (2004-09-01)
Author: Stephanie Krieger
List price: $29.99
New price: $10.44
Used price: $6.49

Average review score:

Beyond Awesome, really!
Helpful Votes: 27 out of 28 total.
Review Date: 2005-06-05
I am a business consultant that works with Microsoft, HP, Oracle, HP, Xerox etc. and teaches how to conduct sales presentations to CXOs for a living. I can say that this book has taken the look, feel and ease of creating a first class executive level business case to a level I could have not imagined. At first it is quite daunting and overwhelming. But I had to get some business cases together for 50 marketing professionals in Sydney on a special workshop and I crashed into it. The MODD system once you "get it" is easy, fast and addictive. I ripped through Excel, PowerPoint and Word integrated data and information in no time flat with the MODD tools. It scared me it worked so well. This stuff is like awesome and it is refreshing to actually see a program work without a hitch. ( I wonder how they did that?)Krieger has made me look really, really good. Go for it!

Great integration of programs, Excellent CD
Helpful Votes: 32 out of 40 total.
Review Date: 2005-02-28
I have trained over 3,000 people in Microsoft Word. None of them had ever heard of or used styles. Styles are necessary if you're going to use Word correctly. So, I bought this book for two reasons. First, I find that a woman writes a better book about learning software. I think women authors seem to explain software in better detail, especially for beginners. Second, the back cover describes a CD that has "Dozens of professional designs and layouts." I like examples for learning.

So, I opened the book. It looked very good. Good topics, easy reading, nice coverage of Word, Excel,and PowerPoint. But, not a single reference to Word styles. Did I waste my time? No. I then looked at the CD and guess what? There is more information for Word users on the CD than in the book. Don't get me wrong - the book is good. But the CD has articles that explain more about how Word works than most people know. And as for styles, I found them when I loaded the samples, they were filled with styles. And, the CD tells much about their use.

How about Excel and PowerPoint? They are also covered very well on the CD, along with great examples in the book.

So, this book is about integration of three programs, yet each is covered very well. In today's world of business, if you know how, you can always find a job. You will learn the "how" with "Document Designer." You'll also learn the "why", and, if you know why, you can always be the boss.

Extremely Helpful for Creating Documents + Great Tools
Helpful Votes: 32 out of 37 total.
Review Date: 2004-11-24
This book is like having an assistant to help with my documents. I create a lot of my own documents at work, and they have to look good. The book is a true help with that, not to mention the tools that come with the book. And, I can't believe how many how-to articles and tip sheets come along with the tools on the CD. Those articles are so great for quick and practical answers to the whatever I need to get done - I use them all the time.

This is the first book on Office that's not a theoretical reference or a laundry list of all the stuff you can do but will probably never use. The book and the tools actually help me get my work done. The tools save a lot of time, and they help me do things I didn't think I could do (like complex page layouts in Word or formatting Excel charts). I think Office 2003 is great, but I can do a lot more with it since I started using this book.

This is EXACTLY what I was looking for!
Helpful Votes: 32 out of 38 total.
Review Date: 2004-11-22
After purchasing this book over a month ago, I have attained the necessary tools and techniques to be able to create complex looking documents that weren't hard to create at all. The book was easy to read and the CD that was supplied had really great layouts that helped me put together some of the documents I needed for my job. Also the various toolbars were really helpful, so I didn't need to go searching; it was right there! After using Office 2003 / XP for quite some time I felt that something was missing...and this was it.

Programming
Microsoft Solutions Framework Essentials
Published in Paperback by Microsoft Press (2006-09-01)
Author: Michael Turner
List price: $44.99
New price: $6.79
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Average review score:

Very good process framework description
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-10-19
A very good description of the MSF processes. Concise and essential; before reading this book I even didn't know of the existence of Microsoft Solutions Framework: at the end of the book I have confidence with the processes and the models.
The only thing that could be emproved is the description of Principles and Mindsets, that I found a little bit abstract.
Anyhow I strongly reccomand this book for all MSF neofites.

A Handy Team Building Guide for Project Managers
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2006-12-09
I got the book as a gift from a friend and found it helpful for my cross-country project. Although I have not done reading this book while writing this review, I found the approach in the book is very practical and would like to share my feedback. Team communication has always been a challenge to my US-Japan-China projects. Not only does everyone have different time-zone, experience, or priority/urgency, but some of us also cover multiple projects at the same time. The book shows an approach and I adopted to evaluate my solution delivery environment. After communicated the assessment and objectives to my team members what to expect and take pre-planning actions for cost control, quality assurance, scheduling, and risk control! Amazingly, the meeting was naturally turned into issue solving and team collaboration discussions. Most of us left for a clearer understanding of what we want to achieve in mind. It was something I was not expecting. It is a good tool to keep in mind!

Many good ideas on the SDLC
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2007-05-26
This book explores version 4 of Microsoft's Solutions Framework, the high-level guidelines Microsoft follows for their software development lifecycle. MSF, and hence this book, is rather abstract. Therefore, it won't tell you step by step what you should do. But hopefully you are aware that there is no such thing as perfect SDLC process- each situation demands finding the best solution for the specific context involved.

This book has some great points - from the foundational principles such as "foster open communications" and "partner with customers" to the way project "phases" are renamed "tracks" to emphasize their overlap. And therein lies the strength of this book - it forces the reader to consider just about everything that should be considered from inception through delivery of a software project.

In terms of drawbacks, the biggest one is that the book focuses virtually exclusively on huge teams in huge projects. The paragraph or two talking about combining advocacies is entirely insufficient. Even when one person handles most of a project, all the aspects need to be considered and covered. One drawback the book avoided was focusing on Microsoft and/or Microsoft technologies. Aside from a couple of minor plugs for specific product, this book is technology and product agnostic.

Overall, this book is well-written and useful.

Excellent material!
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2007-01-04
This is a mandatory reference to anyone who wants to use MSF in projects. In this book, Mike presents all the essential concepts and how to apply them.

Programming
Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition (SQL Server Series)
Published in Paperback by Sams (2007-08-05)
Authors: Prashant Dhingra and Trent Swanson
List price: $59.99
New price: $29.92
Used price: $25.72

Average review score:

Wonderful Reference
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-04-24
SQL Server Compact Edition is meant for storing data on mobile devices such as Smartphones and PDA's or for inclusion in applications running disconnected on some user's laptop in an isolated environment. This wonderful book written by Prashant Dhingra and Trent Swanson, two Microsoft developers, is a large book about a small topic, SQL Server Compact Edition. The authors take the time to cover every aspect of working with Compact from installing it and working with the tools necessary to building your database, to programming, to synchronization with a central server, to (my favorite topic) tuning and (my least favorite) security. The book's approach is to provide you with plenty of explanations and documentation, but then to focus on step by step instructions so that you can do the things you need to do with this handy tool.
The topics are not limited to the developer's side of the box, but instead spread out to cover installations, maintenance and various methods of synchronizing the data with central sources. All of it is covered in a great deal of depth, making this a very thorough book. They even go so far as to show you how to tune queries and adjust the database structure to optimize performance and enhance integrity. It's a very thorough book.
If you're just getting started with SQL Server Compact, I can recommend this book as a must read. If you need to just support Compact, not necessarily develop on it, this book is also very useful.

Great for novice or experienced SSCE users
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-09-08
The book provides a good overview of SSCE; although I did find quite a bit of repetative content, especially in the introduction and first 2 chapters.
There are heaps of exercises and code examples to assist both the novice and experienced SSCE developer/administrator/windows mobile programmer and covers everything you'll need to know to get your first application running and/or synchronising with SQL Server 2005.
[...]

Good for learning MS technologies.
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2007-09-27
SQL CE based app uses - VS, SQL Server, .NET, .NET CF, Windows Mobile and SQL CE.The book explain the landscpae and how various pieces fit together.

The developer who want to learn all MS technologies can find it useful as example walkthrough them VS, SQL Server, .NET, ADO.NET, .NET CF, Windows Mobile, IIS Security technologies

Ofcourse must for teams who are developing using SQL CE.

A good read
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2007-09-16
The sheer size of the book was pleasantly surprising considering the subject matter. I was expecting something a lot smaller.

I agree with the other commenter that parts of it are a bit repetitive, but in the author's defense, it's a very fine line between being thorough and being repetitive and it's a lot better to err on the right side. I think he was clearly trying to make sure that newer developers got a firm basis in the technology even if it could be a little much. And, other than the first few chapters, there's nothing even approaching redundant.

The strenght of the book is the depth of examples. Can I say that every single scenario I've ever encountered or can envision was covered? Probably not. Can I say that every scenario that you'd expect to encounter and many advanced ones that you run into rarely are covered - Absolutely. The code is there for all of it and the examples clearly state everything you need to understand about the example. Moreoever, I have not been through every samplem but I've been through a lot of them approaching just about all, and I have yet to find a problem with them.

All in all I think the author did a phenomenal job and although it's a fairly dry (albeit critical) subject matter, the book is never boring. The coverage is always thorough and never leaves you wanting. He did as good of a job as can be done on this subject and his attention to detail is commendable.

If you're interested in doing Sql Ce development, this book is a must have.

Programming
Microsoft Visual Basic .NET: Comprehensive Concepts and Techniques (Shelly Cashman)
Published in Paperback by Course Technology (2003-05-06)
Authors: Gary B. Shelly, Thomas J. Cashman, and Jeffrey J. Quasney
List price: $96.95
New price: $24.59
Used price: $4.69

Average review score:

Basic, Pictures, Examples
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-07-04
This is a great book to get your feet wet with modern VB programming! He includes all of the code right there on the pages with details as to what everything does and what it means. His database is Microsoft Access; SQL Server Express or SQL CE would have been better, but they weren't out whenever this book went to print.

Visual Basic for the beginner
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-01-02
I would tell anybody that wants to learn Visual Basic to buy this book. It maybe long but the step by step details make it where you can work at your own pace.I found this book to be very well written for the person who has never used Visual Basic the information is written in each chapter to show how it is applied and builds on each chapter until you have a working project at the end. I hope this review will help in your decision to purchase this book.

Worth every dime!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2007-02-18
Product was as advertized and shipping was as promised. Great value for my money!!

It's a Shelly Cashman
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2006-01-10
It's a Shelly Cashman book, what do you expect, basically it's the same as all the other shelly cashman books, very indepth with good lessons and projects..enjoy!

Programming
Microsoft Visual C#.NET 2003 Kick Start
Published in Paperback by Sams (2003-07-04)
Author: Steven Holzner
List price: $34.99
New price: $19.54
Used price: $3.79

Average review score:

Great!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-04-28
As an experienced C++ programmer, I wanted to try C# out of curiosity. Obviously, I didn't want to read long-winded explanations of the most basic programming constructs -- I just wanted syntax and effective ways to use it. This book fulfills this purpose well. Within a few days, I was able to start writing real, useful C# applications. And, since I'm a game developer, I was able to find Managed DirectX tutorials and I've already written the fundamentals of a C# game engine!

So, if you know how to code, this book will show you how to do it in C#. Thanks, Steven Holzner!

Great For Experienced Programmers
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2005-09-19
This a a very good book for someone who has programming experience. Fundamental concepts are in the book, but they are not belabored. The book quickly gets on with C# and what it takes to create real applications that do something more than say "Hello World".

If this is your first experience with programming, then this book is not for you. If you have done some programming and are moving to C# for the first time, then this book is a great addition to your library.

No wasted time with this one
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2004-11-25
For any programmer coming over from another language, I really think this book offers the most bang for the buck (and for your time). I'm a VB6 programmer who wasted a lot of time and money on other books that either offer too much hand-holding (next to no code, everything through forms designer) and wasted time on extensive examples building software I'll never use or focused only on console C# applications with no explanation of topics like ADO.NET, winforms, etc. I need to use C# at work and like many programmers, I'm busy and have little time to waste. Yet, I also needed a comprehensive book because the real world of business programming requires the use of data-access technologies (ADO.NET), security, network technologies, etc. This book succeeds on all counts. The coverage is surprisingly comprehensive and details are well fleshed out. Even using ADO.NET in code is covered while many other books only cover using it through form controls in Visual Studio (anyone who writes database-connected applications knows that you really need a high level of control of shaping the data before you can present it). Nothing is dwelled upon for long so be warned that the book does move fast and info is densely packed into each page.

Excellent for people who know some programming
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2004-10-26
This is a very solid book. It assumes you know the basics of programming like loops, modules and the likes... If you are familiar with any regular programming language (like C, C++, Java, PERL, python, ruby, even shell scripting) then this books is probably your best bet to learn C# quickly.

There is no whole chapters made to get you to write a "for" loop here, you must have programming concepts to really benefit from this book.

As a programmer, I really enjoyed it and was able to get to work quickly on C# programs. If you are totaly new to programming, get another book to get your feet wet before jumping on this one.

Programming
Milennium Time Bomb: How to Prepare and Survie the Coming Technological Disaster
Published in Paperback by Huntington House Publishers (1998-10)
Author: Charles H. Coppes
List price: $12.99
New price: $9.95
Used price: $0.44
Collectible price: $12.99

Average review score:

Thrilling Bon Voyage to our Millenium with Future Hope!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 1999-08-16
Coppes states the y2k problem succinctly and in an objective, businesslike fashion. He outlines the principal causes and potential "explosion" of the Millennial Time Bomb by explaining well-researched premises that factor the impending event. Included in his work is a fantastic work of theology ("There is Hope") in which he explains the relationship of Old and New Testament prophecy to these events. It's a joy to read this dynamic jigsaw puzzle of research and organization. The chapter on preparedness aptly rounds out his message with a call to self-preparedness that anyone in their right mind will heed! You can't go wrong with this book. It will stun you, compel you, and eventually aims to motivate you to do what is right to leave you at peace with your eternal destiny...

Sobering view of end time ramifications of Y2k
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 1999-03-11
Mr coppes hits head on the many negative eventualities of Y2k and ties in what this means in terms of Biblical Revelation. His expertise in both Y2k and Biblical prohecy give a chilling view of what this really could mean. His challenging book may be a window into this disater and into the heart of God. you wont be able to put it down

A highly recommended Y2K book with a Biblical perspective.
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 1999-03-10
An uncommon perspective is offered as the story behind the story unfolds in this information packed book by Charles Coppes. Written from a Biblical perspective Charles Coppes offers practical advice and hope in the face of a serious global situation. I highly recommend this book if you are interested in reading all the facts regarding preparation for Y2K and other events which will shortly take place. Paul Moffitt

Shows how serious Y2K is and that Jesus is one's ONLY hope!!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 1999-02-27
Charles Coppes is well qualified to write such a book and has done an excellent job! He provides in depth analysis of the problem and explains why this will probably affect all of us much more seriously than our leaders and news media will admit! He gives key target dates in 1999 on which major computer breakdowns may occur long before the beginning of the year 2000! Thankfully he provides many helpful tips for preparing for the worst case scenario. Unlike other books on the subject, he shows the reader how the Y2K crisis will set the stage for the terrible "last days" forecast in the Bible! Finally and most importantly, Mr. Coppes shows that being spiritually prepared for what's to come is ALL IMPORTANT, e.g. getting right with Almighty God through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ!! In short, he paints a bleak picture, but gives us hope!!!

Programming
The Minimum You Need to Know to Be an OpenVMS Application Developer
Published in Paperback by Logikal Solutions (2006-12)
Author: Roland Hughes
List price: $90.00
New price: $90.00
Used price: $149.95

Average review score:

This is a "Must Read" book!
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2007-11-14
Running at around 800 pages "The Minimum you need to know to be an OpenVMS Application Developer" by Roland Hughes is a complete reference book for people wishing to learn, develop and/or maintain code in the OpenVMS environment. The premise of the book is simple: to create the same simple application in different common languages used for development under the OpenVMS system. These languages are Basic,Fortran, Cobol, C and C++.

To accomplish the premise, Mr Hugues gives a rather thorough introduction to the fundamentals of the operating system whose topics range from the basics of logging-in to Symbols, Editors and their configurations and the OpenVMS's command line language DCL. Even goes so far as to cover developing a basic import program using DCL and indexed files. These first chapters are a lot harder to read for all those not too familiar with the OS itself and at times the information is given at a breakneck speed which might warrant the usual re-read from time to time. Once the basics are covered the author lunges into Basic and then veers for a few chapters giving us further introductions to OpenVMS tools like FMS, CDD, VMSMAIL, VMSPhone. The author also takes a look at setting up DEC's CMS tool for code management and the MMS (Module Management System-the make utility of the OpenVMS OS). The author continues then on to Fortran, Cobol, C and C++, and finally gets to the database programing section where he discuses both MySQL and DEC's own RDB database. Assignments for further study are included at the end of every chapter, and also included with the book comes a cd with all the code used in the book.

The approach taken to follow the premise is very deliberate and follows the order of the chapters in the book very closely. I don't recommend reading this book out of order. The author himself on the introduction recommends that the book be read once through first and then used as reference. As an example the chapters where the author veered off into after Basic to cover FMS,CDD,CMS and MMS, are an integral part of the book and are constantly referenced throughout the following chapters on Fortran, Cobol, C and C++.

The author uses a colloquial writing style in the book that is easy to read. From time to time he veers off to give further insights to the points he is trying to make but never looses sight of his main objectives, and this is laudable considering the amount of information being dispensed. This is mostly seen in the form of anecdotal information sometimes to clarify his own code other times to give more of a historical perspective. This colloquial style partnered with the unique structure of the book makes for a very interesting contrast as this book could be seen as a reference manual but at its core its a lot more of a personal account on good OpenVMS programming practice by Mr Hughes. A fact that he himself doesn't hide as he relates his opinions on such practices as well as many other subjects throughout the book with a great sense of humor which makes for a much more interesting reading.

Mr Hughes great sense of humor and insight culminates in this book's final chapter called "Ruminations and Observations" which has nothing to do with OpenVMS but is more of an opinion piece on a few subjects that touch all of us that work in IT. These subjects range from the real reason Y2k happened to offshore computing to avoiding a hellhole shop, and are bound to make more than one programmer laugh with glee and more than one manager blush.

In conclusion this is a must read for anybody wanting to learn to write code in this most venerable of Operating Systems.

It's like learning from a mentor instead of a manual
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2007-08-09
Reviewed by Regan Windsor for Reader Views (8/07)

While at first glance "The Minimum You Need to Know to Be an OpenVMS Application Developer" may look like a classroom textbook, you don't need to read very far into it to realize it is much, much more. Roland Hughes has managed to write a comprehensive guide on the OpenVMS operating system and a variety of the tools, languages, and databases used, as though he was standing over your shoulder mentoring you through the process. In addition to source code, best practices, and tips and tricks, aimed at saving the novice developer hours of frustration, Roland also includes critical historical information on various applications. This information transfer is critical to the success of the IT industry and consequently the success of all companies whose systems are impacted by the historical trends in application development!

"The Minimum You Need to Know to Be an OpenVMS Application Developer" covers the fundamentals of OpenVMS, including hardware and software, as well as some tips on choosing an editor, and then starts the reader off with some hands-on exercises that build throughout the book. Also included are some end-of-chapter exercises (with answers included at the end of the book) to ensure the reader has grasped the key elements of the chapter.

The chapters that follow cover various tools, languages, and databases for developing applications on the OpenVMS platform. Beginning with DCL and Utilities, moving through DEC, FMS, CMS, CDD, FORTRAN, COBOL, C/ C++, covering Object and Text libraries, as well as Message Utility, Mail and Phone, describing MySQL and RDB databases, and ending with a chapter on the authors observations on the IT industry. Each chapter includes an overview, a discussion of functionality, and other relevant historical information, tips, tricks, best practices, and much more, and then works through several programming examples and exercises (source code provided). Many of the exercises walk the reader through the same process with the various languages, providing an appreciation of the trade-offs between them. Where more advanced functionality is available, Hughes provides a high level overview of what the additional functionality can provide.

"The Minimum You Need to Know to Be an OpenVMS Application Developer" should be on the desktop of anyone new to the OpenVMS platform and on the bookshelf of those seasoned veterans looking for a comprehensive reference book. Hands-on programming throughout the book provides a highly effective learning tool, and the best practices, advice, and knowledge transfer from the author gives the reader the unique feeling that they are sitting down next to a mentor, being coached through the tricks of the trade!

one of the most readable IT guides out there
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2007-07-09
Do you want to be an OpenVMS Application Developer? If you don't know what that is, then you probably don't need this book, but if you do, you've found the seemingly most comprehensive and readable guide to doing so. Roland Hughes' offering, "The Minimum You Need to know to be an OpenVMS Application Developer" is an abundance of information that you cannot afford to be without.

Here's some background: "OpenVMS (Open Virtual Memory System) is a high-end computer server operating system. As a multi-user, multiprocessing virtual memory-based operating system (OS), it is designed for use in time-sharing, batch processing, real time, and transaction processing. It offers high system availability through clustering and distributes the system over many machines." In other words, you need to know this!

This isn't a beginner's guide, to be sure. However, those in the IT industry will be thankful to Hughes as he describes uses of: the MMS and CMS tools from the widely used DECSET OpenVMS software development toolkit CDD FMS the RDB and MySQL databases. He describes other tools found in OpenVMS application development such as VMSMAIL, and PHONE. The book works readers through and around a single application which is developed in each of DEC BASIC, FORTRAN, COBOL, C and C++ using a variety of tools. On the accompanying CD, full source code is provided.

Hughes' language is easy to understand. He doesn't speak over the heads of the readers, nor talk down, and his tome is not the dry textbook form you may be used to. He uses humor and easy going guidance, making this likely one of the most readable IT guides out there.

Drawing on his vast experience and knowledge, Hughes rewards himself and the reader with a final chapter on the IT field. His guidance here is not so technical but rather personal when deciding where a developer wishes to work. His attention to company restrooms is something I did not expect to read about but is likely very valuable information. If you want to be an OpenVMS Application Developer, this is the book you need.

An Essential Guide For Every OpenVMS Application Developer
Helpful Votes: 5 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2007-01-12
OpenVMS (Open Virtual Memory System) is a high-end computer server operating system. As a multi-user, multiprocessing virtual memory-based operating system (OS), it is designed for use in time-sharing, batch processing, real time, and transaction processing. It offers high system availability through clustering and distributes the system over many machines. The ability to distribute both the application and a single transaction across multiple nodes is the heart of clustering; otherwise, it is just networking.

Roland Hughes' book, The Minimum You Need to know to be an OpenVMS Application Developer, offers Computer Applications Developers, Consultants, Systems Analysts, and developers switching to OpenVMS, a detailed and informative companion guide to understanding and implementing the applications and modules needed to operate and maintain OpenVMS.

From logging into OpenVMS, each chapter charts a systematic guide to operating and sustaining the application coding and programming of essential modules running on OpenVMS. Such languages, tools, and databases as DCL, DEC BASIC, FMS, COBOL, CDD, FORTRAN, C/C++, MySQL, and RDB cover the heart of what you need to know as a maintenance programmer. Using a created lottery tracking system, Hughes generates a single application and develops it in each of the following: DEC BASIC, FORTRAN, COBOL, and C/C++. As well, Hughes shows readers how to use CDD, CMS, and MMS with these languages. By repeatedly applying the same method in different languages, Hughes demonstrates in a clearly written and easy to follow guide, how a programmer knowledgeable with one language can become skilled in others. The CD-ROM that comes with it contains the source code developed in the book allowing readers to learn the advantages and disadvantages of each language.

Well-illustrated examples with detailed analysis, descriptions, and definitions, allow the reader to follow the book while working with the server, thereby learning the "nuts and bolts" of creating, understanding, and managing command files. Each chapter details troubleshooting tips, error handling tips, reducing debugging time, as well as the Do's, and Don'ts of writing applications. Following each chapter, there are exercises to enhance comprehension of the modules and applications in OpenVMS.

With a wealth of experience, Roland Hughes provides thoughtful and knowledgeable observations about the IT field. One important bit of knowledge he conveys: "IT is a way of life, not a job." With easy to follow instructions and detailed examples, I highly recommend this informative and well-mapped book as an asset to those in the IT industry, as well to students entering the computer-programming field.

Tracy Roberts, Write Field Services

Programming
Modeling & Simulation-Based Data Engineering: Introducing Pragmatics into Ontologies for Net-Centric Information Exchange
Published in Hardcover by Academic Press (2007-08-03)
Authors: Bernard P. Zeigler and Phillip E. Hammonds
List price: $84.95
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Average review score:

New insights
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-11-06
It is often the case that a new area of inquiry, comprised of elements from seemingly disparate disciplines, yields surprising insights. Zeigler's and Hammonds's effort is no exception. While linguistics has from time to time informed mathematics and computer science, to my knowledge little has been done to date towards the application of semantics and pragmatics to this type of data exchange.

The prose is concise, clear, and conversational. Given the complexity of the two topics and the more or less mutual exclusivity of their lexicons, readers whose experience has been acquired only in the one or the other of these two disciplines will nevertheless quickly become comfortable in this discussion. The authors provide many examples to illustrate their line of reasoning, all drawn from a wide variety of sources.

As an IT professional with 15 years' experience and an advanced degree in a foreign language, I found this book satisfying, illuminating, and provocative. While it is intended to address a specific engineering problem, its implications extend well beyond its stated purview. Heartily recommended for those who would like to think about the synergies of data engineering and pragmatics, and also for those who want to think about what might be beyond the horizon.

This is the theoretical and pragmatic foundation...
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-09-23
This book offers to the reader a thick and consistent theoretical background for dealing with ontologies (i.e., languages for describing "a state of the world".) Both authors merged very carefully their knowledge and disciplines [social and computer (engineering) sciences] in a complete and homogeneous framework.

In the new research area of computer-based problems, dealing with complex systems induces increasing efforts for building unifying modifiable ontologies describing the systems, data and communications. Large digital data are described and abstracted through more and more complex software. Computer-based problems need to have strong theories to map very quickly evolving technical evolutions. Developing such theories allows to build a common field for discussions and specifications to participate all together bringing tools and incremental concepts (concepts of concepts of concepts...) Always thinking of knowledge of knowledge (or metaknowledge) models can be constructed. Using such a philosophy, ideas become program-independent and right issues and perspectives are more easily identified. Knowledge can be organized to cognitively map real systems to computer-based models. This is what offers us this new book. But that's not all!

More than neutral/specifiable mathematical structures, this book provides precise mappings and discusses usual notations and current orientations (XML, HTML, UML, MDA, etc.) Actual generic large applications (geospatial sensor data, natural languages, hierarchical constructions, WWW, etc.) and a plethora of didactical examples are presented. Lastly, a web-based interface allows the reader to experiment his understandings.

Even researchers from the modelling and simulation field will find here a way to deal with digital input data.

According to me, this book is the starting point (and foundation) for those who intend to build soundly ontologies through computers in a modular, generic and hierarchical way: government agencies, developers, standards organizations, researchers, etc. They will find here the precise technical solutions they are searching for, as well as a common evolutive language to model data for dynamic systems. If all problems could not be grasped in one book, the latter will pinpoint major issues in such an abstract way that people are able to identify easily them and to find further solutions.

This book is definitely for those who intend to increase their knowledge on ontology, develop mental models and want to talk and search together in a controlled and original perspective!

Excellent approach for advanced modeling and its application to net-centric environments
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-08-23
Addressing the compatibility issues raised in sharing data between collaborative organizations that employ different approaches to representing data becomes a major concern in today's net-centric computing environment. Effective information exchange requires not only an agreement on the syntax and semantics to be established between data producers and consumers, but also a common understanding of the pragmatics, namely the intended use of the data in specific situational contexts. It is the development of a generic ontology framework called System Entity Structure (SES) to describe both static and dynamic world states and a set of openly available tools to support automated creating and testing of the data model, then, that is at the center of Bernard Zeigler and Phillip Hammonds's new book Modeling & Simulation-based Data Engineering.

By delineating the critical relationships that best structure a data engineer's domain of interest with the extra expressive power, the proposed pragmatic framework captures the exact intent of the data producers and consumers, which, in turn, allows for effective conversation and appropriate downstream processing. The SES framework is formulated as a labeled tree comprising basic elements and relations that satisfy a set of formation rules or axioms. With the supporting tools, it can be defined in a restricted form of natural language and subsequently be mapped into various computational forms, including eXtensible Markup Language (XML), Document Object Models (DOM), XML Document Type Definition (DTD), and XML Schema. A standard way of restructuring and pruning different SES representations is provided to improve representation utility and harmonization. The Pruned Entity Structure (PES) provides the basis for static and dynamic world state descriptions, efficient extraction of data, and more advanced form of information exchange. As the authors put it, "the SES together with the Discrete Event Systems Specification (DEVS) formalism offers a powerful system-theoretic framework for specifying families of dynamic services that can execute in simulated or real-time and interact with other services in a net-centric environment."

Throughout the book, a broad range of easy-to-follow examples, case studies, and exercises is provided to consolidate the concepts and methodologies presented in the text and to give readers significant hands-on experience. This book is addressed to all those who are concerned either with data engineering in general or with interoperability in multi-institutional collaboration. Any reader with a general knowledge of ontology and discrete-event modeling and simulation will be able to benefit from the authors' insights.

rigorous and novel methods and framework approach to solve data harmonization and ontology integration problems
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-08-18
For those who are working on complex problems of data interoperability and reuse of data sources in distributed environment, especially GIG/SOA, this book provides rigorous and novel methods and framework approach to solve data harmonization and ontology integration problems effectively. The authors present the pragmatic frame concepts, ontologies, System Entity Structure (SES) framework, and modeling and simulation based data engineering, all of which are useful methodologies to achieve automated interoperability testing at syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic levels in a net-centric environment. The book identifies complex problems encountered in harmonization and testing and illustrates framework and approach to implement such solutions in software tools and services. The concept of SES is being implemented in a commercial software with some online support. It is a truly fine resource for data and system engineers who look for solid approach to solve complex real-world problems!

Programming
Modern Pirates: Protect Your Company from the Software Police
Published in Paperback by Morgan James Publishing (2006-04-01)
Author: Alan L Plastow
List price: $24.95
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Average review score:

Excellent Book
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-05-03
This is an excellent book and a must read not only for IT professionals but for anyone in any organization or home that has software, graphics, sound files,shareware, freeware etc.

Very few people understand the potential liability they face when any one of these is not properly licensed or it infringes on any copyright. The potential fines for illegal use of any software are staggering and frightening.

I have taken Al's on-line course also and that is incredible! Every IT professional and senior executive out there should take this course. Can you really afford not to?

If you conatct Al he will show you case after case of huge fines levied against individuals and corporations. The software police are very active and you could be next!

Modern Pirates
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2006-05-03
This book is a MUST read for anyone who owns a computer. Even more so for those responsible for or managing their companies technology portfolio. This book is the first thing I've seen on the market that really addresses Technology Portfolio (Asset) Management in terms of what you need and should be doing.

Fun Read on a Most Serious Topic
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2006-04-28
This is the first publication I've seen outside of some certification courses that tells it as it is while offering important insights and solutions. Modern Pirates opens portholes of little known insights into Software Asset Management and associated fields. As I read it my mind kept asking, "Who are the real pirates?" You won't fall to sleep reading this one. It's an unusually fun read on a most serious topic.

MODERN PIRATES is a must read for those who know little or nothing, or have misconceptions, about the field of Software Asset Management. It is also a very handy review and reference for us veterans, although I did learn interesting new things. It would make a thoughtful gift for the unbelieving boss.

Modern Pirates is a great I.T. Asset Management Tool
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2006-04-12
Modern Pirates is probably the only book being published today that deals with I.T. Asset Management, and it consequences, and is a must read, not only for I.T. Asset Managers, but for any level of management, from the CEO on down of any company. Real life examples of what can happen to any size company should run a chill up the spine of any manager. I found this book to be great and very informative reading as written by an extremely knowledgeable person in the I.T. Asset Management field. I highly recommend this for all to read. In this day and age of software compliance actions costing companies millions, you can't afford to not read this.


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