Software Books

I used Dragon to first-draft Writing Nonfiction: Turning Thoughts Into Books. I was so impressed with the system, I included a chapter on using speech recognition to dictate a how-to book. Then I found Dan Newman's book. I recognized a number of things I had learned and found a whole lot more. Newman made the Dragon even more fun.

If you write a lot and are not an accurate, rapid typist, get speech recognition software. If you are fast and correct, keep on keyboarding. Dragon is good but you will have to make corrections. If you already make mistakes, it does not matter if you talk or type.

Dan Newman takes you step-by-step through using Dragon Naturally Speaking. (For coverage, click on Table of Contents in the left-hand column of this page.) He even includes trouble-shooting tips and resources.

Dan Newman is a great writer, gifted computer expert and a dedicated teacher.

As the author of 113 books (including revisions and foreign-language editions) and over 500 magazine articles, I highly recommend this book to anyone who has to write a lot. DanPoynter@ParaPublishing.com.

Why didn't someone write this book years ago? Dan Newman distills the complexities into concise explanations of perfect clarity. Dragonites need this book. All the problems I've been struggling with for years were solved in a few hours of reading. Talk about clear, easy organization. Thank you, Dan Newman!

This book not only covers Dragon NaturallySpeaking software but also offers several tips and examples on efficient speech recognition. The material is presented in such interesting fashion that makes this book fun to read. If you own Dragon NaturallySpeaking software, this book is a must to have.

Dave Newman's book is essential for any speech recognition user regardless of the amount of experience they may have. He teaches you techniques that help you improve your accuracy and speed. He also gives you pointers on how to optimize your software and hardware for maximum accuracy and speed. Dave provides a complete step by step guide on all the features of Dragon 4.0 with greater detail. He includes the new features such as surfing the web by voice. This book is a must have for making your speech recognition program usable in terms of reducing frustration and improving the overall performance of your software with his instructions which Dragon doesn't cover in their manual.

This is a really helpful book. I would prefer to read and Dan Newman's book than all the technical stuff in the Dragon manual, because it is so much more user-friendly. I have been using Dragon NaturallySpeaking since it came out in 1995. There is so much to know, and so much you can forget!! By reading this book, I am remembering some very useful tips, and learning some new ones. I would recommend this book to anyone using NaturallySpeaking.

The book covers in detail changes in the 2.6 kernel for driver developers including the various class es out there. It is an easy read and gives some good examples.

This book combined with Linux Device Drivers, 3rd Edition, must be available in the library of all the emebedded system developers, based on Libux.
This book, give more information than linux device drivers, another iformations for the new developers, that are starting developing emebedded systems based on Linux.
So buy it.

This detailed guide to writing Linux device drivers is a solid acquisition for collections strong in advanced Linux programming: it's for audiences with a working knowledge of operating systems and C - but not necessarily device driver writing - and brings together all the basic concepts and methods needed to address common programming scenarios. Many driver are discussed in no other book, making Essential Linux Device Drivers a 'must have' for any collection serious about Linux programming applications.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

Without a doubt, this is the best driver book I've ever purchased. In the first few chapters the author walks you through boot, interrupts, builds, installs etc so that you can make the most of his outstanding knowledge of drivers and driver design which fills 3/4 of the book. Even if you don't want to design or build your own driver, the first few chapters alone are worth the cost of the book and the knowledge he imparts about drivers is priceless. If you are a Linux Kernel analyst, you can do no better than purchase this. And as to his writing style.. I've read plenty of dry, boring Linux technical books but this one even has a most outstanding writing style. It was enjoyable to read. I cannot praise this book enough. If you're a newbie Linux Kernel Techie or someone who thinks they already know everything... you cannot go wrong. Buy it, read it and you will learn more about drivers than from any other book, and you'll learn a whole lot more besides.

I've been frustrated by many other Linux kernel and device driver books. The authors often make assumptions about the readers knowledge and gloss over areas that can be quite confusing.

To some extent, that's unavoidable: the Linux kernel is monstrous and very complex, and the hardware that drivers control can also be dark and mysterious territory.

I really appreciated this books approach. It's not that everything is explained in complete detail; that would be impossible. However, the author obviously tries very hard to give an overview, an orientation that will hopefully set your mind in the right direction, before diving into details. Throughout the book he adds "go look at this" suggestions that can help you understand whatever he's dealing with at this point.

I think Chapter 2, which is a high level fly-by of the kernel in general, is an absolute masterpiece. That starts by pulling typical kernel boot messages and explaining what they mean and what's going on in code to produce them. It then goes on to discuss kernel locks, briefly looks at procfs and memory allocation, and closes (as each chapter does) with pointers to where to look in the source for the subjects discussed.

Chapters 3 and 4 flesh out basic concepts more, and then after that the book goes into details, picking both real world and fanciful examples of hardware and giving sample device drivers. Simple devices are presented first, while later chapters get into more complicated hardware, but in each case the same general format is followed: overview of the how and why, sample driver(s), how to most easily debug, and pointers to real kernel sources.

Very well done. I have no complaints - oh, a few minor typos, maybe, but nothing serious.

This would be the only textbook on physical diagnosis you would need EXCEPT the attendings are still using other texts. Listen for those carotid bruits and document those Homan's as students/residents but don't delude YOURSELF that they mean anything.

I hesitated to buy this book because of the title - "evidence-based" is often not so much an assurance of reliability as of nonreadability. However, of the twenty or so books on physical diagnosis I have perused this is by far the best - no single book will improve your clinical examination with more speed or pleasure.

Many good physical exam books exist, but this is the only one that really tells you what PE finding mean. It includes great tables that lists findings of particular diseases and gives the sensitivity, specificity and likelihood ratios. Other books will tell you that sign X is associated with disease Y, but no others tell you that if you see X that there is a high probability that the patient has Y, and a low probability if the patient doesn't have Z. The tables are even referenced to articles.

I am sure I wouldn't be wrong if I say there is no other book
to match the standards set by this book on "Physical Diagnosis"
A substantial amount of material has not even been mentioned
in other books. I must concede, I prepare all my teaching
clinics from this book.
This book is indeed a goldmine. I am looking forward to the
next edition.
Dr. Wiqar Shaikh
Hon. Asstt. Professor of Medicine
Grant Medical College, Bombay, India

this book is combination of ancient artistic physical signs with recently popular scientific evidence based medicine , great work that writer provide detail and clear evidence , all physicians must review their bed side skills with the evidnce ,their trend should be taught in every medical school .5 stars .

This book is unusually well written and presented. I find myself reading up on areas that I hadn't even intended to learn about. In fact, I'm having a problem staying focused; it's like discovering a treasure trove of wonderful detail. I am especially impressed with the coverage of IL.

Without exception, the presentation of this book is flawless; Simon has an extraordinary writing skill and technique. It's like getting advice from a wise man. You get the right level of detail that's not academic and impracticle, but rather exactly pertinant for immediate use.

I've purchased a lot of books over the years - well over 100 - and this is easily one of the very best books I'm come across, which is why I felt compelled to come here and praise it.

With .NET 2.0 so close, is it worth buying and reading a .NET 1.x book? The answer, in this case anyway, is definitely yes. .NET 2.0 builds on 1.x, making the majority of the material in this book relevant for years to come, and as most professional programmers will end up maintaining systems that, for one reason or another, can't be migrated to 2.0, having in-depth 1.x knowledge (which this book provides in bucket loads) is a great investment.

Even for those that think they know everything about .NET, this book will still educate. I've been a .NET and C# MVP since 2002, and I still found this book a worthwhile read.

If you have read Richter and Lowey and are looking for the next evolution in your learning THIS IS THE BOOK. As the CEO of a .NET consultancy all staff are required to read three books. This is the final book.

Right now the market is in a sad state. Only 1-2 in 100 can pass, as my company's interiew process (most do not know the difference in a value and reference type) is very, very hard

This is one of those magic books that is easy to read and will make you 'team Leader materiakl'.

Either lead, or 'get uut of t ey;.

Damon Carr CEO
agilefactor.com

The first two chapters (about 100 pages) on IL are worth the price of the book. I'd recommend for those who really want to get a picture of what is going on under the hood in .NET. Some of the later chapters are a little lite like the one on cryptography and windows forms, however, the coverage on topics like assemblies is fantastic.

A pretty intense book. Robinson aims to take you beyond the elementary books on .NET and its affiliated languages of C# and VB. Those often focus on simple syntax level explanations.

Here, he goes far deeper. Like drilling into the Intermediate Language. The basis for .NET compilers, that convert source code in various languages like those above into this form. Like Java bytecode. (Alas, though, no cute CAFEBABE here!) So you can program at this virtual assembler level if you have to. Maybe you need to optimise some bottleneck in your code?

Garbage collection is also studied. Related to this is how to improve memory performance, including showing how to use a profiler effectively. Nontrivial subjects. Some of which, like the chapter on cryptography, really only hint at far greater complexity.

Most .NET programmers may not need to go to the levels of this book. But for those who do, it is good that it exists.

I love this book. It's a robust mix of exercises and software how-to, unique among all the FCP books I've read. I'm very glad to have it in my library.

I wrote this to Wolsky, might as well share it with the world:
Hi, guys. I met you at the fcpug last Weds and bought a (signed!) copy of your book. I haven't started to do the tutorial yet but I can't put the book down. It's so clear and easy to understand, and I'm already implementing the stuff I've picked up just from reading, "Now, did he say.... option X? Oh, wow, it works." It's the best book I've seen and I tend to look at everything in hopes that where one person confuses me another will set me straight. Anyway, this is a fan letter. And the writing is extraordinarily fine, literate and grammatical. Thank you.

The author is candid in his discussion about editing with Final Cut Pro. The most valuable information to me was his numerious comparisons between FCP and other editing software. For example, he points out those areas where other programs might be stronger in certain areas than FCP and specifies those programs. I read the book cover to cover and continually refer back to it as a guide and inspiratoin when editing.

Reading many, if not most, software instruction books, is akin to being clubbed by a thousand hammers...overload, overload. They are constructed as reference books, but one has to fight through tons on incidental material to figure out how to use the program.

Tom Wolsky's Final Cut Pro 2 book is, instead, a precise tool, which gets you cutting in no time. Wolsky's credits list him as an editor and a teacher, and his book make it clear he is outstanding in both regards.

At first glance you might think that this book is the same as the other FCP click-step books for the manual-adverse. You'd be wrong. Tom has crafted an excellent instructional work that richly supplements, rather than reiterates, Apple's enormous, exhaustive FCP 2 manual. Certainly he has featured many pages of clear dance-step instruction throughout the book. But, more noteworthy, Tom also incorporates a great deal of contextual insight into why certain features might be useful to the reader and draws upon his professional experience to give readers insights into the professional post-production process.

This book quickly became the mainstay of my FCP editing library. The only feature that would improve upon it is a spiral binding enabling it to lie flat while open!

This book walks the reader through the finite element (FE) method step by step. It is a very good introductory book and focuses on the Galerkin method of weighted residuals. I do wish that there was a hardback version.

This is how all books should be. Many terms other authors skip over are explained clearly. A must have, atleast for beginners.

Gives a very good introduction to "Finite Element Method" for those who have very little or no knowledge of it. It is an excellent reference and I wish the author decides to reprint it ,however, including the FORTRAN source code in a CD ROM.

This is the best introductory book I have read in Finite Element Analysis, it goes step by step in an easy to learn way.

This book is very good and refreshingly different from the other ones, but only if 1)you are interested in electromagnetic and other applications of FEA and 2)Are comfortable with variational formulations.

I was going to avoid reviewing this book because I'm too close to the authors and my copy was free so I thought I would be too biased, but the book merits a stellar review...bias aside.

Generator concepts are in bite size chunks and easy to follow, yet not so easy that they bore the reader. The book follows a natural progression in complexity and will be usefull to developers of all experience levels stepping up to the Generator plate.

The level at which the author's stand in the developer community gives them the opportunity to bestow their knowledge in "we know it all" manner, but instead they maintain a humbleness that says "hey, we're just developers like you who've had a lot more time on our hands."

Chock full of all the essentials, and the non-essentials, this book is a must have for the Generator developer (or the developer wanna-be) and looks to have a long shelf life.

Chris, Phil, Mike-nice work!

Finally someone to really take the shrink wrap off two of the best tools in the business. It shouldn't surprise anyone that the eccentric behind flashenabled.com would be able to show all of us common men how to take the next step with Flash and Generator. Awesome.

I was going to avoid reviewing this book because I'm too close to the authors and my copy was free so I thought I would be too biased, but the book merits a stellar review...bias aside.

Generator concepts are in bite size chunks and easy to follow, yet not so easy that they bore the reader. The book follows a natural progression in complexity and will be usefull to developers of all experience levels stepping up to the Generator plate.

The level at which the author's stand in the developer community gives them the opportunity to bestow their knowledge in "we know it all" manner, but instead they maintain a humbleness that says "hey, we're just developers like you who've had a lot more time on our hands."

Chock full of all the essentials, and the non-essentials, this book is a must have for the Generator developer (or the developer wanna-be) and looks to have a long shelf life.

Chris, Phil, Mike-nice work!

Want to learn Generator? This is it, bar none!
As a Generator and Flash trainer I always look for good material to add to class for future reading, this book will not only top the list but will be integrated into all future classes. Having used Generator since 1.0 I thought I knew many of the tricks but this book showed me a few that I have never seen before and will use immediately.
If nothing else know that the authors are top of their game and that the material for this book matches their excellence.

This book is a must-have resource for anyone interested in working with Generator. Mike, Phillip, and Chris not only know their stuff, but they did a great job at sharing their knowledge in a way that even a novice can understand. They are able to share their real-world experience, and make using Generator just a little (maybe even a lot?) more palatable for the average Flash user.

Four years into the Christian life (1958) I was given this book. How did I like it? Thus far, in July of 2008, I have bought and sold or given away over 1100 of them. There is nothing else like it. It permeates every aspect of life. Children, grands and greats learn how to live and raise children who do not rebel, having no law to rebel against. We evangelize using the principles of grace. We grow older with no stress, all thanks to what Chafer has written and what God has provided.

Helping the Christian to understand the great gift of grace that has come through the Lord Jesus Christ.

This book was a life-changing read for me. Chafer's exposition of grace displays probably the clearest exposition of a classic presentation of dispensationalism and its position on the difference between law and grace. It presents lines of discontinuity in the drastic way it is needed in today's church. Law is not Grace - Grace is not Law, to confuse the two is tragic. Beyond anything, Chafer makes sure we understand how foolish and dangerous it is to infuse and confuse law with grace and confuse the two. Luther clearly saw this great discontinuity in the bible between law/grace (more so than the Reformed churches), truly bringing freedom to the person dead in sin. This is not to imply that Luther was dispensational, clearly not so, its just that both sides see a clear contrast in the law/grace economies.

I could comment on all the distinctives Chafer applies from this system of discontinuity such as the Sermon on the Mount, the Sabbath, the Christian Life, etc. but I'll leave that to your reading. What is clear is that Chafer sees a drastic, drastic difference in these economies, sometimes I think a little too discontinuous. This is not to say Dr. Chafer is wrong, just that he seems to emphasize the differences to the extent that it misses the continuity between the dispensations and the progress of history and God's revelation. I think this is a bit problematic even though I am a dispensationalist and love Dr. Chafer's works very deeply. This has already been revised in expression and corrected in dispensational teaching (see Ryrie's 'Dispensationalism', Renald Shower's 'There Really is a Difference') for quite some time, but it is still important to know that it has been corrected.

I think its very important to understand this since Christians from other views (primarily Covenant teachings) have given solid, solid critiques of the 'classical' understandings of Dispensationalism (as taught by Scofield, Chafer, Brookes, A.C. Gaebelein, etc.) and Dispensationalists have listened (please see the great dissertation by Todd Mangum titled 'The Dispensational-Covenantal Rift, 1936-1944'). Poythress is a high suggestion, also Hoekema's 'The Bible and the Future', and Hans K. LaRondelle's 'The Israel of God in Prophecy'. Please steer clear of foolish and error filled critiques such as John Gerstner's book, 'Wrongly Dividing the Word of Truth' and many others. Though I am still a dispensationalist, these (former) works are important to help us to understand that both 'extremes' lead to an imbalanced perspective. When I say 'imbalanced' I mean that the Classic Disp. position tends to be almost dualistic in its thought of earthly/heavenly which is problematic and I do thank others for those kind of critiques. However, the other side (such a Covenant teachings, etc.) when very consistent upon emphasizing that everything is a spiritual shadow, type, etc. seems to err on the side of a metaphysical problem in the Christian faith. Clearly we don't want that either.

Also, one last slight critique; Chafer holds to a view of Christian filling of the Spirit that is an either/or on/off teaching. I think the view errs slightly because you are not filled with the Spirit simply by confessed sin and repentance in the life of the believer. I believe the filling of the Spirit has to do more with a walking of obedience than an instantaneous experience of spiritual filling/spiritual life. Though this is minor, it has been critiqued by others and I feel they are correct in their critiques of Chafer on these points.

However, with all that being said, Chafer's work should be read by every Christian because it is so clear and thorough on the teaching of grace as the thread through which the history/progress of revelation is seen. It truly brings the bible together for a Christian who has applied themselves to the study of the scriptures. It sheds so much light on the scriptural truths of justification, assurance, growth in grace (progressive sanctification), and our expectation of the return of Christ. Truly a monumental work by Dr. Chafer that is vital for the growth in grace of every Christian. Highly recommended.

This book reminded me of Einstein's "Theory of Relativity." It starts with a quick summary of simple absolutes about the concept of the grace of God, and then blows your mind with their implications.

After reading it, I wonder how those who think they are still under The Law, or those who think you can lose your salvation, define grace. I doubt they've thought through the implications of their beliefs or tried to reconcile them with the concept of grace, supposedly the foundation upon which God deals with us.

I can't recommend the book highly enough. For those unused to reading early 20th Century proper English, it's worth the investment of time and effort.

This is the best book ever written on God's Grace.
If you want to have a thorough understanding of God's
Grace, than this is a must read for you!

I learned alot from this book and I have been programing foxpro from the dark ages in 1991! These guys know their stuff. If you program foxpro for money you need this book.

Granor and Roche do an excellent job of explaining the treasures and pitfalls of VFP3. I found this book after I had been banging my head against a particular problem for several days, and was able to find the answer immediately, where no other book I had checked gave the answer. They document both how VFP3 works, and how it _should_ work. Most of the book still applies to VFP5, and presumably it will still be good under Tahoe.

Even though this isn't out yet for V5.0, it's still worth the freight. In-depth discussions of each command, property, event, method, etc. It's saved me hours of aggrevation, and I even curl up with it in my spare time!

FoxPro is both wonderfully powerful and maddeningly quirky, as is well documented in this excellent volume. Having used FoxPro to develop and support commercial software products for many years, I have a large library of FoxPro books, and this one is by far the best. It is exhaustive in its coverage of concepts, features, bugs, and documentation errors, and includes many excellent examples. If you are serious about FoxPro, buy it.

Although the book was intended for VFP 3.0, it is an excellent introduction to FoxPro Object Oriented Programming. It is intended as a short introduction and command reference and it does that well.

As it was written near 2000, a chapter or two suffer from obsolescence already, but the excellence of the rest of the content make it very forgivable.

Adamsky has produced a superb guide to the Hiring Process that is of great interest to Executives, Recruiters and Job seekers alike. The book is applicable to a wide range of industries well beyond the IT industry.

The book provides a great deal of actionable ideas that you can put into place now to improve your hiring practices, land the best candidates, and keep them as satisfied productive employees. Similarly, the book helps potential applicants better understand the hiring process and get inside the mind of hiring managers. It also contains a plethora of valuable and interesting ideas and commentary on the HR landscape. Truly an enjoyable and informative read !

As the MIS Director for a large educational institution, I have felt the impacts, first-hand, of recruiting and retaining top IT professionals in a tight job market. Yet there is clearly a methodical approach that can be followed to target the "right" employees and, once hired, ensure that they remain happy and content within your organization.

This book does an excellent job of outlining that process in a simple, easy-to-follow, step-by-step approach. The author not only covers all aspects of the hiring process but also reminds us of best practices that we too often (and too easily) forget to ensure success once we bring top players on board.

This book was pertinent and informative. I intend to pass it around to all of the managers on my staff.

I didn't actually buy this book but won it as a door prize at an industry trade show. I tossed it in my briefcase and didn't give it much thought to it until I was stuck in an airport on my return trip home. Although I don't hire a great number of "information technologists", the book was filled with excellent advice for any manager. His advice applies to the dynamics of locating, interviewing, hiring and retaining exceptional individuals. I like to underline when I read, and when I finished the book I realized I had underlined just about everything! Don't let the title throw you off because this is an excellent resource that truly cuts across all industries. He has his hand on the pulse of human nature, and an incredible insight into those people who understand how (technically) the world works.

I have already given a copy to a friend that owns a small company and has found it a challenge to find and retain good people. If my friend follows the program outlined in the book I am sure he will see the results. One thing I really liked about Adamsky's writing style is that it's light on philosophy and academic drivel and packed solid with the experiences of someone who has obviously been in the trenches.

I feel better prepared to operate in today's challenging job market after reading this book.

As an IT professional I have had occasion to be on both sides of the interview desk. This book clarified and reinforced many of the beliefs that I formed from these experiences. However, I derived an even greater benefit from those sections that challenged my preconceptions. Mr. Adamsky's use of logic, examples, and self-deprecating humor helped me to see things from a different viewpoint. I am confident that a company can only benefit from the encorporation of his strategies.