Software Books

I went back to College at the age of 62. I am working on my Building Cons-
truction Degree. I was taking two CAD courses. But the book that was being
used was 2 1/2" thick, and weighed 4 lbs. It was extremely hard to follow
and hard to learn even basic commands from. Then I found Auto Cad Pocket
Referance, by Cheryl R. Shrock. I purchased that first, it helped me finish my two CAD courses. I then purchased Auto Cad Begining. I am using
this to hone and keep my Auto Cad skills up to date. I highly recommend
this and all other works by Cheryl R. Shrock. For being easy to use, and
learn from. If you want to learn a complicated process these are the books
to use. Because they make it simple. I give it 100 STARS.

I GOT AN EXCELLENT SERVICE. THE BOOK ARRIVED ON TIME. PRETTY GOOD SERVICE.

It is a book that is well made. The CD helps understand.

so i got this book for a class but it is so self-explanitory who needs a teacher!!!!!!!

this book is great and honestly...if u want to learn auto-cad this is the book to get!!!

This is one of the best books on AutoCad I have ever used.
I thought Acad was difficult but this book made it so easy.
And it doesn't have a lot of stuff to read. Short and to the point. And it has examples and exercises.
I bought the advanced book also. It is great too.
I suggest this book for anyone new to AutoCAD.
Trust me ....it's not hard after all.

Want to take your Mindstorms creations to new hieghts? Go beyond RIS? The ya have to get this book, a follow up to Dave Baum's Definitive Guide to Lego Mindstorms. You will not only see more NQC programming, but pbForth as well, and an excellent section on constructing your own sensors. If your the kid who doesn't grow up, an engineer at heart, and the owner of more than one RIS set because you are obssessed with Lego Mindstorms, then you cannot do without adding this book to your collection.

I don't know if I like the "Extreme" in the title. In many ways this book just covers the basics. In some ways I like this book better than Baum's "Defintive Guide to LEGO Mindstorms", because it's not so NQC centric. In other ways I prefer the DGLM because it had more info on structural issues. There is a knack to making good LEGO structures, and a few tips really come in handy. I would have to say that I find the DGLM more extreme as far as the variety and originality of the projects.

If Definitive Guide was wonderful this one is even better.

These guys have done a good work with the book.

Special mention to Gasperi's Homebrew Sensors section.

One of my library's jewels

If the Definitive Guide was wonderful this one is even better.

Special remark to Gasperi section about homebrew sensors.

This guys have done a invaluable works.

One of my library jewels.

i work with c and assembler, also i work with maya and 3d studio max on the graphics end. black belt in all of those fields. this book is bringing me to my white belt to black belt knowledge in robotics.dont think buy.

"Michael Kleper's The Handbook of Digital Publishing is by far the best, and most complete, publication on this subject anywhere. This is the knowledge library of digital publishing. It will always be on my desk and is my reference source. Brilliantly written by one of the, if not the most, knowledgeable experts in this area. A must for everyone in our industry. Well done, Michael."

The Two Volume Graduate Course "We don't even want to imagine how many reviews, rewrites, update cycles were required for this project. For a time we thought the DTP industry would settle down and become almost static and routine. But the jump start of the Web, interactive multimedia and video have again driven people back to the books. We're not certain exactly how it was accomplished, but Professor Michael Kleper has very effectively squeezed a four-year degree course into two volumes.

The Handbook of Digital Publishing is much more than a coffee table book. The two volumes will quickly become dog-eared as professionals continue to refer to them to enhance and expand their capabilities and expertise. Thank goodness there is a companion Web site to accompany The Handbook. The author's biggest challenge is that The Handbook wasn't just a research/writing job...it has now become a career.

The books are heavy to say the least...fortunately there is a lot of substance, so it lightens the load...

Digital publishing is now the foundation of the communication arts. Kleper has done a great job to help users at all levels understand the tools, processes, and techniques for preparing graphics media in the digital era. His two-book set is jam-packed with solid info on crossing the chasm from analog to digital.

Michael Kleper's books are an incredibly complete and competent source of information covering an amazingly broad area. His insights into an industry he has watched from the beginning should be useful for everybody in this business, and his two hefty tomes are certainly the most complete collection ever compiled on the subject.

Highly recommended.

Andreas Pfeiffer, Pfeiffer Consulting

Professor Michael Kleper's two volume The Handbook of Digital Publishing is an outstanding source on the foundations of the digital age of publishing. For those of us involved in some part of Graphic Arts/Publishing/Communications, and today that is just about anyone with access to a computer, digital technology has made accessible much of what was art and technique. Congratulations to Professor Kleper who has contributed a timely, thorough, and readable work. This is not just a collection of terminology and technology but a much needed companion to understand the digital publishing "tsunami" which has exploded as fast as the computer technology which underpins it. Happily, Professor Kleper has a lot of energy for he has opened the door to volumes three and more for those technologies still being created .....

Buy this book!

Nice step-by-step guide for building a web application that makes use of Hibernate. This fills in an important gap left by the official Hibernate documentation. However, a consequence of this approach is that much of the book ends up being devoted to explaining how to set up the chosen tools and frameworks (see table of contents). If you are instead looking for more in-depth information on topics such as session and object lifecycles, complicated mappings or performance, you'll find more information in the official Hibernate documentation (or in the corresponding section in the Spring documentation). This book really ought to have a less cute, but more descriptive title.

This book is a wonderful book for beginning hibernate. It has the right balance of theory and practice, and it is always right to the point and concise. I used it to get up to speed on hibernate 3 after not touching hibernate for two and a half years, and it was exactly what I needed. The paper quality is pretty bad, like some others have noted. However, I have read through about 70% of it (the only 70% I am going to read) and the paper/binding has shown no sign of deterioration, so do not let that keep you from reading it.

'Harnessing Hibernate' is a great resource for learning more about and how to use the Hibernate technology to map Java code to relational databases and vice versa. In today's programming world you want to be able to create object that directly map to database tables and fields. Not only does this allow for persistence and good scalability, it hides the SQL stuff that can otherwise make for difficult programming and puts them into familiar classes instead. Before this book there really wasn't great resources out on the market for learning about this technology but that is no longer the case. With 350+ pages spread over 14 chapters, good writing and separation of content this is a must have for all seasoned Java database and Hibernate developers.

***** RECOMMENDED

While I was at work one day, I decided to write the persistence layer of an application that my team was working on. I had minimal experience with Hibernate because I had worked on another project where a coworker implemented the persistence layer and used Hibernate. I got to see a bit of the magic that Hibernate provides, and I thought it would be excellent for my current project. My problem was that I did not really know how to set everything up.

I searched on Amazon for books about Hibernate, and I wanted to make sure I bought one that was fairly current so that I could see how to use it with the latest technologies. I came upon Harnessing Hibernate which is only a few months old. Even though there were only two reviews, after reading them, I decided to take a chance on this book. Wow, these reviewers were exactly right!

The authors take you through a music cataloging project. Their progression through the concepts is nothing short of amazing. They seem to give the perfect amount of detail and explanation at each step, and then you begin to form questions in your mind. They seem to anticipate them, because these questions always seem to be answered in the next section.

I should inform you that I often dislike reading books on computer technologies. I find that most authors tend to make the books as dry as possible, going on and on, ad nauseam, about every detail and idiosyncrasy of the topic. The authors of Harnessing Hibernate, however, make the book completely enjoyable to read. Their style is conversational, and they do not try to talk over anyone's head. They give you plenty of useful information that you can use immediately, and inform you of other sources to investigate if you want more information on a particular aspect of the material.

Anyway, if you want to learn Hibernate in a clear and concise manner, then you will not be disappointed if you buy this book. It will keep you reading, and you won't fall asleep while doing so. And hey, you'll understand all of the material and you will even learn a lot about Hibernate! I do not give complements lightly, but this is indeed a perfect book.

Harnessing Hibernate is a fine book, which uses the most efficient ways to achieve its goal. Though focusing on Hibernate, the book enlists the usage of various frameworks such as Spring Framework, Stripes and Maven.


Part I: Hibernate in a hurry: The core

Build:
The book starts with how you should build which used to be a dread. The authors choose to use Ant - Maven task, which is cool. I use Maven directly, but that's beside the point. Both approaches are better than finding the JARs on the web.

Database:
HSQLDB is what the book recommends and for some reason it makes sense . It really is the best way to go. I am not suggesting to format your Oracle DB server and install HSQLDB; but I am suggesting you stay focused and worry about the big DB later; the book goes back to a larger DB; so don't worry too much right now.

The Project Hierarchy:
This one, I must admit, I do not care for; I think Maven directory structure is better and one should not have to create this manually, but that's probably personal. This is later reviewed in Chapter 12: Maven in More Depth.

Core hibernate:
The book doesn't mess around too much. It explains how to configure hibernate and before long you find your hands in hibernate mapping. From chapter 2 through chapter 9 you'll find yourself in the core of Hibernate: mapping, hibernate configuration, persistent objects (creating and finding), collections and associations, richer associations, custom value types, annotations, criteria queries and a look at HQL.

Part II: Playing nice with others: beyond the core

MySQL - a nice short intro to MySQL is shown.

Hibernate and Eclipse - yes, this is in here too (and up to date Eclipse v3.3). And just in time for you to get ready for a later chapter, Spring and Hibernate, which is the way J2EE is going anyway (lightweight).

Maven in more depth - Maven does not have many books out there and this is a very nice in depth explanation. If you think you've gotten short changed, take a look at Java Power Tools (you'll love that book too). The chapter is enough to get you moving with Maven, and if your Maven experience is anything like mine, you'll never go back to Ant.

Hibernate and Spring - this book could not have gotten any better than this. Spring, is like a dream. Rod Johnson, Colin Sampaleanu and team have done it well. Unlike the other monolithic approach, Spring takes advantage of already existing frameworks and offers this invisible layer to allow you to focus on what's important; your business code... and, of course, the book delivers. It shows you how Spring simplifies Hibernate development. If you're new to layered development a la separation of concerns (SoC) the book first introduces you to the DAO pattern. It then continues with the reason so many of us like the Spring framework: HibernateDAOSupport and the HibernateTemplate. Although I prefer to use the HibernateTemplate directly and avoid loosing my one chance at inheritance, I agree with the book examples. The authors are tying to help you understand what kind of support Spring offers.

Stripes with Spring and Hibernate - Now, the book could just end here and be done with it, but no, it continues with the web app. I mean, wow. The book ends with style. It uses Tomcat - and I think it does it to prove a point. You don't need a fancy big server to get J2EE running these days. Stripes is a cool project to work with and I thank the authors for introducing me to a framework I was clueless about.

This book is truly amazing. If you're looking for an in-depth approach to Hibernate take a look at Java Persistence with Hibernate. If, however, you're an impatient developer this is the book for you. I think it offers just enough in-depth theory and it keeps you awake with frequent easy to understand code.

James Elliott, Timothy M. O'Brien and Ryan Fowler; I thank you all for writing this book.

/.Will

This is the ONLY book that any IMac person will ever need. I purchased four other IMac books before this one and only wished that I would've seen this one first. It has everything that you will ever want to know. It is well laid out and very easy to find whatever concerns that you might have in relation to the IMac. Good also for either beginners or long time owners of the beloved IMac.

I almost bought an iMac but went with a PC instead. I bought AppleWorks for Windows and an AppleWorks book by C. Ann Brown (don't waste your money on the book). I picked up Stauffer's iMac book at the library and I found it to be really comprehensive. There is a large section on AppleWorks. Some iMac books are sort of cutesy, but Stauffer's book shows you how to actually do something with your computer besides changing how your iMac looks and sounds. Why did I read an iMac book when I own a PC? I have found that books on Macs are written better than books for PC's. Try Maria Langer's book on Mac OS 8.5 too. Macs and iMacs for Dummies are good sources too.

I bought an IMac and needed some kind of hard copy to go with it. I purchased five other books before this one. If only I had known about this book first I could have saved a lot of money. This is the only book you IMac devotees will need. It has everything, including info on Kai's Photo Soap which no one else has. The title How to do Everything is very apt. But everything should be in great big letters because it is EVERYTHING.

I recently travelled back to the US to help my Dad get set-up with an iMac. While he loved the simplicity of the system, he did miss not having printed material to ponder (and no amount of "but we're saving the trees" would suffice). After an hour pouring over iMac books at Borders we chose this one (of course it's cheaper here!) because of it's thouroghness in covering the additional software included with the iMac. It has the best, most complete coverage of AppleWorks and Quicken of any book out there, as well as complete system coverage, setup information and and how to use the Internet with Navigator. I went back to Holland knowing my Dad can now figure anything out...excellent reference, buy this one!

Selected by MacHome's free eZine, HotTips Weekly

Book of the month for October 2000.

Of the plethora of iMac books released since the computer's inception, I found this the clearest and most comprehensive. I like the "DO" angle, as opposed to providing an endless list of technical information. It may not be the best choice for a power-user in a quest for in-depth geektech info (well... You should have the AppleSource CDs if you are a Mac professionnal!), but every beginner and newcomer would benefit from owning a copy.

To subscribe to HotTips:

A good book with some very practical advise on how to succeed as a manager,but also how to deal with issues in everyday life. I think the managerial aspect of this book means it is more for those who already find themselves in lower management and want to move up the corporate ladder.
I appreciated the insight into life of the Author and the tips, quotes and "remember this" at the end of each chapter are well worth making note of.
Time will tell if it will get me a promotion ;-)

"It is one of the most beautiful compensations of life, that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Joel Weiss' inspirational book is geared towards career minded individuals who want to move from where they are today to a place of greater influence and success. The subjects covered in this book reach beyond the business world and can apply to anyone wishing to succeed in life. Some of the topics include:

Having a Positive Attitude
Being a Doer, Not Just a Talker
Putting in Extra Time and Effort
Being Gracious at Winning and Losing
Striving to be Fair
Being Responsible and Reliable

On the very practical side, this book teaches you how to prepare for meetings, map out your career, ask for what you want and communicate in a way that ensures success. Throughout the book there are tips like this called "Remember This:"

"The support and cooperation from the people around you will greatly determine your success. Don't try to go it alone. Use the best talent to brainstorm and help on projects. Delegate and recognize all contributions. Extend your network beyond your normal boundaries." ~ Pg. 41

After reading this book I can say I can think of a lot of people who would benefit greatly from reading this excellent book on living a more successful life. Even one quote from this book could change your life or send you in a new exciting direction. This book will be especially appreciated by anyone who intends to accept a promotion or who is already in management or a position where they have to make decisions for others on a daily basis.

This is the type of book you want to buy for all your friends as gifts because it will further their success and give them more job satisfaction over the years as they reach for their dreams. I especially enjoyed the "recap" at the end of the book, which has affirmations for success and it can also be used to measure your current success so you can make goals for your future.

"You realize you can learn from others and have become much more observant, identifying good role models for yourself." ~ pg. 139, Recap

~ The Rebecca Review

Found yourself dreaming of how to get ahead in the workplace? You aren't alone: Joel Weiss gathers not just the similar dreams of others, but the stories of those who have achieved their goals in How To Get From Cubicle To Corner Office. Every job shares some common skills and practices which speed up the entire process of getting ahead: Weiss' title is packed with professional and personal practices alike, all couched in real-life experiences which demonstrate just how to translate goals into achievements.

"How To Get From Cublicle To Corner Office" by Joel Weiss is the kind of book I wish I read when I was starting my business career more than 50 years ago. This is a practical fast-read guide to achieving success in the business world. There are no elaborate formulas or extensive theories. Rather,Weiss stresses the importance of basic skills that helped propel him up the corporate ladder. In a chapter titled, "Present the Unshakable Facts." Weiss quotes a memo from the late Harold Geneen, chairman and CEO of ITT, who wrote to him as well as 100,000 other employees under his command about "apparent facts. assumed fact, reported facts and hoped-for facts." Weiss cites his military experiences as an intelligence officer which enabled him to reach good solid decisions through a six-step process. And in a chapter, "Ask For What You Want," he related a story of sitting next to his CEO on a 3 hours plane ride, he presented his case that the company needed a chief adminisistrative officer and that he could do the job. The job was created for him and he became Chief Administrative Officer of the Burger King Corporation. This book is crammed with such examples and strategies on improving your status in a business organization . I particularly recommend it for the new college graduate and those in mid career.

This book is the accumulation of common sense from a very accomplished businessman, Joel Weiss.

Essentially, this book is all the important advice they don't teach you in school. I graduated from Yale in 2003 --it was a great school, but they didn't teach me a jot about how to succeed in business. This book has become my little bible for doing the right thing on the job. Some advice is common sense, like 'show up on time.' But other things I never would have known, like 'ask to read their business plan.' (You should have seen my boss's eyes light up when I asked to read the plan...)

My favorite thing about this book is the format. Each chapter is only 5-6 pages long, and covers a specific piece of advice. Joel backs up every piece of advice with a story or two from his own experience, which really gives the book a human element. Each chapter ends with a few famous quotes to back up the main theme. This is a book to read, and re-read for advice. It sits by my bed, and I'll read a chapter or two to psych me up every once in a while.

This isn't some new 'job philosophy'--it is about 30 specific suggestions for doing well, getting promotions, and even creating new job positions within a company. It matters less and less where you went to school--people only really care about job performance.

I have to say that this would make the perfect graduation gift to anyone planning to get a job.

Excellent insight into a topic and technology that seems likely to become prevalent on a global scale in the very near future.

Whilst my interest in buying this book and researching i-mode is more from a business rather than technical perspective, both angles seem to have been covered equally well. I appreciated Frengle's well thought through and clearly outlined discussions on a broad variety of topics relating to i-mode and the mobile industry in Japan. The text was very useful in clarifying a number of questions I had and overall I felt the contents in the book was easily accessible and user friendly.

It's definitely worth a read for anyone interested in the mobile industry in Japan or i-mode in general.

I was developing Java apps for i-mode phones in under 4 hours. That was after reading 2 chapters. The rest of the book was a bonus read. The text is a bit outdated w.r.t. European WAP phones, he doesn't seem to realise we have long battery lifes too, WAP on gprs to boot! That's not going to stop me giving it 5 stars. One of the downloads you really need is no longer at the link published in the book. I sent an e-mail to the author late one night pointing this out. When I woke and checked my mail he had answered and I could get what I needed.

This book was worth it as a "get started with i-mode development" and was interesting as a "how they made wireless internet economically viable".

Frengle definitely hits the nail on the head in this book: He tells us all we need to know about the i-mode business model, the i-mode content business, and i-mode's history. Calling this book a 'primer' is apt--it gives us the basic information we need to understand i-mode. But Frengle goes further, in the technical sections, telling us how to program i-mode Java programs, design data driven i-mode applications, and even simple things like how to get sounds on to an i-mode phone, and how to optimize graphics for use on i-mode.
Frengle knows his stuff, working in this field, it says on the back cover, in Tokyo. That definitely matters to me, and is more than can be said for the author of the other book (i-mode Crash Course) that I read about i-mode.
Great job! So, now that we have this excellent book, when do we actually get i-mode in Boston? AT&T Wireless will get the same five stars from me when they do that!

This book delivers exactly what the title promises, and more, with its surprisingly broad and deep look at every aspect of i-mode. In addition to being a guide for programmers, "i-mode A Primer" has valuable information for business readers. Although the focus is on i-mode and DoCoMo in Japan, the case studies in particular provide lessons applicable to anyone considering a mobile solution. Although I haven't had a chance to play with them yet, I'm looking forward to exploring the goodies on the CD included with the book.

An excellent buy. Very readable and well laid out, I'll keep this one within arm's reach for easy reference for the next long while.

PS Okay, I'm not sure what my review title means, but I thought it was catchy.

I like to explore new topics and areas within computers to see what other things are out there. This book is an insight into a whole new arena for me. Judging from the content and the detail of the content, this author has certainly has shown me that he is one the foremost experts on the topic of i-mode.

Over 480 pages make up this manual which covers the model that Japan has found to be the best cash-for content model out there. In part 1 of the book you have the opportunity to look into the history of the i-mode as well as the hardware and software beginnings.

Part 2 is the i-mode environment, who would use the product, what type of audience can and do you target. Making it work so you can enhance the revenue. Finally part 3 is how to develop in i-mode. What application are used for development and the language used to create i-mode pages.

While most of the concepts are still a little beyond my understanding with the cd included , which has Java SDK, Forte for Java, a demo of Adobe Go Live and several other applications, I am beginning to understand what it takes.

Overall the author has spent a great deal of time and effort inputting together a seriously complete reference manual - well done.

I've enjoyed everything that I've bought by Rick Sammon and this is no exception. He's thorough and helpful

Rick hac combined basic photography with digital enhancement..Believe me when I say you need to edit almost all your photos to make them really pop. This book is easy to understand and gives you the basics to improve your digital photos while learning photoshop elements or cs2.

I enjoyed this book. It reads easily and quickly and many of the photos are stunning. It introduces and de-mystifies some of the more difficult PhotoShop functions but was not detailed enough for me in some examples, to use these functions without further instruction. I found it inspiring enough to order a more in-depth book with precise step-by-step instructions, Rob Shepperd's Outdoor Photographer Landscape and Nature Photography with Photoshop CS2, to teach myself some of the techniques in-depth. Recommended for anyone wanting an overview of CS2's possibilities and an opening to begin exploring it.

Before I give you my review of Rick Sammon's new book, Idea To Image in Photoshop CS2, let me tell you a bit about me. I am an enthusiastic advanced amateur photographer--with roughly 40 years of experience that includes published magazine and Associated Press photos and numerous awards. I gave up my wet darkroom a few years ago for digital photography, image editing in Photoshop and ink jet printing. But, enough about me; let's get on to the important stuff and why you're reading this review: my thoughts on Idea To Image in Photoshop C2. So, what kind of book is this, and who is it for?

What Kind of Book is This?
Strictly speaking, this is not a how-to-do-it book. Yes, it has many examples of how Rick created his photos and associated effects. And, looking in the Table of Contents, you'll find a goodly list of projects that offer numerous techniques, such as, A Note Paper Effect, A Quick Pencil Sketch and Speed-Aging A Photograph. But the crux of the book is an attempt (mostly successful) to teach the reader how to take a concept for a photograph and, through a combination of careful planning, good photographic techniques and post shoot Photoshop image enhancements, create professional-level images.
There are three sections to the book: Chapter 1 on how to get ideas for innovative images; Chapters 2 through 4 about actual shooting and enhancement techniques, and Chapter 5 on how Rick (and you) can envision and carry through projects, as the title of the book says, from idea to image.

Who is Idea To Image in Photoshop C2 for?
This book is definitely not for absolute beginners in either photography or Photoshop. Rick assumes some basic knowledge in both areas. And, since this is a project-oriented book, he assumes the reader wants to learn, not only how, but also why, Rick recommends each technique. Rick also goes to great lengths to explain where each concept he describes fits into the scheme of the creation of the final image.

Conclusion
The obvious question now is, will this book at least return your investment? If you're looking to up your photography/Photoshop skills beyond the basics, to what Rick refers to as photographic artistry, the answer is yes. Rick's premise is that any photographer only gets out of a photographic project what he or she puts into it, and besides reasonable skill and imagination, that also means sufficient time. If you're willing to put in that time, this book will prove an excellent guide.

Idea to Image in Photoshop CS2 - Rick Sammon's Guide to Enhancing Your Digital Photos is a different sort of Photoshop book. Most Photoshop books focus on showing you what can be done to enhance your image. Idea to Image approaches from a different perspective. Rick Sammon encourages you as the reader to focus on your final vision prior to capturing the image. Throughout the chapters he sprinkles in an assortment of suggestions and examples designed to aid with composition, and timing. Learning when to take the picture, and encouraging you to experiment and think beyond a single shot.

The book is 202 pages long, and very reader friendly. In reviewing other Photoshop books I often conclude that you can jump in anywhere that interests you and start playing. With Idea to Image I think it best to start at the beginning and read it in order at least through the first two chapters. There is a lot of good advice in the opening pages and to skip past it would be a mistake.
Once you get into the book, like most Photoshop books, the lessons are brief and well encapsulated allowing you to quickly access what you need to know to try a new technique. The book encourages you to explore and experiment, always-good advice in my mind. I always encourage my friends to push beyond the obvious application of a technique and think of unique ways to apply a new style.

Idea to Image is a great book if you are in need of a little creative boost. While some of the subject matter would be beneficial to beginner photographers, there are surely better places for a novice to look for help. The more I know about Photoshop the more I realize how much more there is to learn. Idea to Image is a great reminder to focus on the final image, not just the viewfinder, and it is a welcome shot in the arm when your creativity is waning.

To me a review is most meaningful when you know a little something about the person writing the review. I have been an avid amateur photographer since the late 1970's and have been selling my work since 2004. Photography isn't my day job, but it does provide a welcome supplement. I have been shooting with a Canon Professional Digital SLR since 2003 and perform the vast majority of my post processing work in Photoshop. I began with Photoshop 7 and currently work with CS2. I am a member of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP) and make extensive use of the abundant educational materials available on the member website. I have read well over two-dozen Photoshop training guides with one overriding goal in mind; producing the best images possible.

The book talks about scripting and it accomplishes it's goal. There are examples of vbscript, jscript, an hta, and vba. It is apparent that the author favors jscript. The quality of scripts are better then the vbscript examples.

There are 14 chapters: How to use this book, Why scripting, Windows Scriptable Technologies, Enumerating and Dumping the Users, Groups, and Computers of Active Directory, Dumping a Domain User's Detail Account Information, Listing Soon-to-Expire Domain User Accounts, Move Away from Batch Files-A New Logon Script, Foundation: A Directory Computer-Dump Tool, Browser-Based Computer Information Diagnostics, Worm Vulnerability Detector, Remotely Enumerate Local Computer Accounts, Local Password Audit and Change Tool, E-mail Script Notification, Where to Go from Here.

As I mentioned this is not a book for people new to scripting. However, it is useful in that it will show the use of modules and it does go about explaining the code examples by the blocks and functions.

I found the descriptions of the modules useful even though I don't use JScript. Probably the most useful script was an HTA script for local diagnostics.

The CD has the scripts mentioned but you might want to go through the effort of typing and debugging the code. Especially, if you are new to windows scripting.

Overall, a good book to have for a reference on what it gives you. It expanded my knowledge.

No long-winded review here. This book is a great read for anyone with a small to medium sized IT organization. I bought a copy for each system admin in my group. Not many books pay for themselves in time savings with just one example as this book has done.

This book now sits on my desk instead of on the shelf full of other resources. The book comes with a CD to get you off and running and it steps through at a good pace for beginners like me. Being a Win2K SBS admin I don't have money for enterprise tools. I was eager to "empower" myself and this did the trick. I like the format because it's progression from introduction to scripting is thorough enough for me but not boring.

So what are the top 10 scripts? - Enumerating and Dumping the Users, Groups, and Computers of AD; Dumping a Domain User's Detailed Account Information; Listing Soon-to-Expire Domain User Accounts; Move Away from Batch Files- A New Login Script; Foundation: A Directory Computer- Dump Tool; Browser- based Computer Information Diagnostics; Worm Vulnerability Detector; Remotely Enumerate Local Computer Accounts; Local Password Audit and Change Tool; E-mail Script Notification. BUT WAIT- This doesn't tell the whole story- I especially liked the tie in with Excel for execution and output! Fellinge's book got me off the ground which is exactly what I needed.

Honestly, I really do not feel this book is ideal for the novice. Users should have some administration sensibility with Active Directory. Yet, what I do find profound, is that there are both (1) very practical applicable scripts and techniques, and (2) there are some truly amazing scripts.

I am at a loss of words for some inspirational things that I found that can give you the ability to generate spreadsheets reports on the fly and also have a live spreadsheet that can go out to the net and pull info. There is this fascinating example script that creates a web page wizard-like HTA application.

To some things up, this book is powerful. This adds a lot of good material one's admin collection. Using this book, you won't become just a scripter, but you'll be down right incredible, such that lightning will ignite from your fingertips (metaphorically speaking) as you create masterpiece killer scripts.

I am one of the Technical Writers who contributed to the Microsoft Windows Scripting Guide for Microsoft Press. Since working on that book, Mr. Fellinge's book is the first I've reviewed on scripting. The author does a great job of exploring some common scripting tasks and demonstrating how to solve them using JavaScript and VBScript. His understanding of both ADSI and WMI is impressive. These two technologies are at the core of automating Windows system administration. What makes this book especially interesting is the author's focus on real-world sysadmin tasks. He is clearly writing from experience.
I recommend this book for anyone with a basic understanding of scripting who is interested in really putting that knowledge to good use.

This book is a handy documentation for jDK 1.1, however, in current JDK 1.3, a lot of changes have taken place, making this book somewhat obsolete, unless you are programming applets, which are still using JDK 1.1, due to the browser wars. One of the good parts of this book is that it describes all the keywords, shows a ASCII table with Octal, Decimal, and Unicode numbers for each character, and covers all classes and their properties and methods in JDK 1.1

If you want to make Applets using the built in JVM of most browsers, this book is a good buy. However, it is possible now to make an Applet using the Java Plug-In, which uses JDK 1.3 or JDK 1.4. Also, Mac OS X now has the Java 2 JVM built into their operating system. But to make sure your applet runs on all browsers, using the deprecated methods, this book will be useful.

Essentially, apart from the Keywords listing, the ASCII table, and some extra comments and examples, this book is not much different than a Javadoc Documentation that you can view on the internet at Sun's site free, which shows all the classes, all the methods, all their parameters, with links to go from class to class documentation for any JDK version. Also, it is a very large book, making it unlikely a version 2 book, with twice as many classes and methods, will be published. So, this book may be viewed as a convenience when you don't have internet access.

From the day I first received this book it has proven a valuable resource. I was looking for something that I could use just as a language reference and this goes way beyond that. My only complaint is the hard cover, makes it a heavy book to lug around

My thanks to the author for an excellent reference . While it's not a tutorial, it still manages to give short but clear summaries on various aspects of the language. Nice examples too. Wouldn't want to be without it or the Core Java books by Horstmann & Cornell.

If you're looking for a book chock full of examples and code, this is the ONE. If you are looking for a tutorial, this isn't it. Highly, highly recommended ...

Great Book. If you look for a method, a class, a deprecation or for the Java-hierarchy, You will find it in this boook. Good explanation (short!) on the methods. Good examples. Shame there is not a book like this on the JDK 1.2 or the JFC.