Software Books

Hey I am team leader who is into a RE-ENGG project from IDMS TO web technologies.Can somebody tell me how good this book suits my requirement.
Thanks in advance.

This is the most comprehensive COBOL reference that I have seen in my 20 years in the business. I bought it specifically for the IDMS chapter, but it also covers other database types. It is well organized and gets right to the point with code examples and diagrams. If I were to have only one COBOL reference this would be it.

The book really helped me in clearing up areas that my advanced COBOL teacher was not very clear in.

I think it will be a good reference book for the future.

This is one of the few books that contains anything about IDMS. All other IDMS books are out of print and hard to find. I authored Chapter 23 - The IDMS Chapter.

Pay attention to where this books says it does not teach programming.

_ALL_ code examples assume familiarity with COBOL and familiarity with programming. Most are simply free-form code examples designed to inform, not actual programs.

As for a reference, if this book missed it, I didn't notice. It's already helped me on a number of issues, including covering why SECTIONs exist (something not even my compiler vendor manuals tackle, and I've certainly never seen anywhere else).

I've seen a few typos, but they were obvious (again, you need to be a programmer already to spot this stuff).

The CD-ROM has several demo compilers and the code examples from the book. I haven't used any of them, but have read about others liking them.

Overall, a good book and a great buy.

Well, you know it's a winner b/c it's in Addison Wesley's Microsoft .Net Development series. Like their Hejlsberg title, this is pure reference. However, there's a lot to it (almost 900 pages in total) and EVERYTHING in the CLS is covered here. It's very technical, and definitely not a cover to cover read, but there are many good examples and if you need a quick reference for any topic in the Framework, this book is a must have.

.NET, unlike Java, is an implementation of an ECMA and a ISO standard.
This book, from the Microsoft employees that created .NET and with input from members of the standards bodies, annotates the standard with comments that provide insights into the reasoning behind the standard. If you are in one of these categories, you should seriously consider buying this book:
1. advanced .NET developers
2. language designers
3. tool designers
4. those interested in understanding virtual machines
5. developers of libraries
6. Java developer (wondering what a standard looks like, just kidding. As an intermediate-advanced Java developer, the book is very interesting though.)
7. developer who wants insight into current software architecture
Otherwise, the book is still a useful guide to help you grow as a developer if you even browse it sporadically, and unlike many programming books, it will not be obsolete in a year.

When Microsoft released its .NET platform, it attempted, and is attempting, something quite audacious. It is putting forth a programming environment whereby you could combine modules written in different languages, without recompiling, let alone rewriting.

Arguably, Microsoft set itself a harder task than did Sun with java. Along this road, as the book describes, a standard arose - the Common Language Infrastructure. It describes a Virtual Execution System and what type of executable code can use it. So a version of Pascal, say, that wanted to run on a VES would need to pass the compilation rules of a Pascal compiler that adhered to CLI.

An analogy might help. In some rough way, you might consider CLI + VES to be like a java virtual machine, and the choice of a language to use atop CLI to be like running java under its jvm. Granted, this is crude, but many readers are probably unfamiliar with CLI, whilst having more acquaintance with java.

Warning. The book may be heavy sledding for most. The main audience is compiler writers and language developers. Daresay that even experienced developers may not usually deal with a language at this level.

A slight irony is that CLI is meant to decouple programmers from any specific platform, which is why Microsoft pushed it over to a standards body. But the most developed instantiation currently appears to be .NET, which is inextricably interwoved with Microsoft's operating systems.

Excerpt from C# Online.NET Review (wiki.CSharp-Online.NET):
"...this book goes beyond the online documentation to clarify and amplify the original standard and describe its implementation.... the single source programmers, language and tool designers, and library and VES developers need to render the CLI and the CLR fully comprehensible."

This is not just a reference guide (although it is a very good one). It is also (due to the annotations, often funny) that give you insight into the 'why' behind thing like naming, design decisions, things that were internally debated that we would not normally know about, and in general you come away feeling like you were there creating .NET. I find it required reading and often use it as a reference. 5 stars. An amazing read.

Kind Regards,
Damon Carr
(...)

I brought this book to school to and my teacher loved it! This book was full of tips and ideas to use the computer for my homework.

This little gem is filled with no-nonsense advice. For example, I've run and updated my MSCONFIG and saved memory by not loading programs I never use. But what makes it really special is the nurturing tone for all this technical help. It's the kind of book that starts the section on how to deal with tech support by telling readers never to call them an empty stomach. So, have a cup of tea while you read it, but be sure to have a pen handy to jot down the changes you'll want to be making. Or better yet, sit near your computer, so you can try out the tips as you read.

I'm thrilled that Helen Gallagher is finally sharing her comfort/expertise model of working with computer users in her new book. This book is especially helpful for those who may be intimidated by fast-talking techies who don't understand how "non-techies" think. I especially like the way the author raised the awareness of adapting computer use to accommodate learning, vision, and other disabilities for greater independence. Not only has the author packed this book with practical, easy-to-follow solutions for almost every computer problem, but she also leaves readers with confidence to tackle new computer problems they may encounter.

This is a terrific addition to my tech-library. In fact I may just recycle the rest of the how-to books. This text put me completely at ease and is not filled with tech-talk. It's easy to understand and you almost feel like the author is sitting beside you on the sofa gently telling you just what you need to know.

Hearing so much about spyware in the news, I was concerned about the security of my computer. So I first went to the section in Computer Ease about that issue, and was surprise to learn there was a simple way to find out if I had spyware... In less than a minute I was able to check this. This book is a delight to use - it is easy to understand and tells me clearly what I need to know without confusing techno terms...

This book was written before virus prevention was fashionable, yet everything in the book regarding delivery systems, methods and policies are still 100% true. I recently re-read it and find that by taking some simple precautions, your risk is minimized. (Note: This reviewer was a contributor to the book)

I've read a lot of books on the subject of computer viruses, but this one is simply the best. It's easy to read, understandable, and teaches you how to protect yourself from viruses without using expensive software.

I've read a lot of books on the subject of computer viruses, but this one is simply the best. It's easy to read, understandable, and teaches you how to protect yourself from viruses without using expensive software.

Although I am no longer in the computer biz, this handbook was easy to read and insightful. This is suggested reading for those discovering the wonderful world of viruses. Check it out.

oh, Dear. virus is just jocking

The book came amazingly fast and was in great condition!

Thanks!

It's a great book. The authors explain step by step from tutorials to simulations.

This book should be on the shelf of very instructional designer and course developer responsible for creating computer-based training or web-based training. The book stands out for three important reasons: (1) if offers concrete directions regarding how to develop instruction at the lesson level; (2) the recommendations are based on research findings and when research findings are contradictory the authors acknowledge the divergence; and (3) the book is well written, it is accessible to the average reader. The first chapter **alone** makes the book worth the price - it will help you answer the question "What is the difference between information and instruction?"

Seen from the point fo view of a non-expert readers, and comparing with <10 other books on similar subjects, the book looks quite good. It covers most of the basic types of learning activities (tutorials, drills, simulations, educational games and tests), plus a detailled overview on more organisational issues (analysis, design, ...), some chapters on technology for implementation of CBI as well as more advanced topics as instructional modelling, computer managed instruction and AI-techniques. Good reading, no hyper-specialised vocabulary. Happy that my holiday in canada brought me back this good reading to Flanders (Belgiium/Europe). Coming from an IT background (engineering & computing), it gives some goods clues on project management for development of CBI products. Les solid on educational/didactic theories.

Hesitating between 3 and 4 stars (don't feedl myself sufficiently qualified to give higher scores).

This book is excellent. There are many sections, in fact, which I will refer back to later as job aids. This book reinforces and elaborates on many concepts and methods that I, as an instructional designer, have been using intuitively when developing courses. It provides a structure to the process of organizing content and developing computer-based training. The only drawback to this book is that it is slightly out of date from a technology standpoint. However, it is so strong in every other area, including instructional design, interface design, interactivity design, and project management, that its strengths far outweigh its weaknesses. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who designs or develops CBT and WBT, I think it will prove to be a valuable resource.

Obviously specifically for Ada but a good resource for any programmer interested in the general concept of concurrent programming. The organization of the chapters and the introduction to concurrency are alone worth the price.

By far the best on the subject. Offers complete coverage of any aspect of concurrency with Ada, including real-time and distributed programming issues. Burns and Wellings are the acknowledged experts on this topic.

The best aspect of the book is the analysis of features and their interactions, providing a depth not available in other texts covering the entire language.

Assumes you know some Ada, but includes an introduction to the sequential part of the language.

I own quite a few books on Ada; this is the one to get if you want the details of Ada concurrency.

Ada has been one of few languages which provides facilities for concurrent programming, but readings for the feature had been limited. This book is not only the first but also an excellent guide to the capability of the new Ada standard.

It covers,

1.@The Ada Language

2. The Nature and Uses of Concurrent Programming

3. Inter-Process Communication

4. Ada Task Types and Objects

5. The Rendezvous

6. The Select Statement and the Rendezvous

7. Protected Objects and Data-Oriented Communication

8. Avoidance Synchronisation and the Requeue Facility

9. Using Protected Objects as Building Blocks

10. Exceptions, Abort and Asyncronous Transfer of Control

11. Tasking and System Programming

12. Real-Time Programming

13. Object-Oriented Programming and Tasking

14. Distributed Systems

15. Conclusion

Not only Ada programmers, but also all professonal software engineers who design real-time, embedded systems, advanced students of computer science, and even beginners should find it quite useful.

I've read the original print published in 1995, which has been out-of-print.

I am so happy to know it is now to be RE-PRINTed, and every programmers would be.

Fully harnessing multi-core processors requires concurrent programming, yet most mainstream languages have little support or do so with poor portability. Well-written concurrent Ada programs can be extremely portable and support multi-core and multiple processors automatically. This book explores, in-depth, the concurrent programming ("tasking") part of the Ada language. The authors then show how the concurrent programming facilities of Ada are augmented by the language to support real-time programming. These standard real-time facilities are state-of-the-art, extending, for example, beyond the POSIX real-time facilities in their expressive power.

The book first establishes the necessary foundation for understanding concurrent programming by explaining the possible problems (e.g., deadlocks and race conditions) and highlighting some of the mechanisms traditionally used in concurrent programming, such as semaphores and message-passing.

The tasking part of Ada is then covered in full detail, necessarily including interactions with some other parts of the language, such as exceptions, but also including interactions with the Ada object-oriented language facilities. The implementations of a number of reusable concurrency abstractions serve to illustrate the use of the tasking features.

The authors next lay another foundation, this time for scheduling in real-time systems, and show how Ada directly supports the common approaches. Both fixed-priority and dynamic-priority dispatching are supported by Ada and these are covered in detail. Ada 2005 also defines a number of time-related abstractions, such as a monotonic clock and timing events, and these are also covered completely. As in the concurrent programming part of the book, a number of reusable abstractions are implemented; in this section they illustrate the real-time language facilities. A discussion of the popular Ravenscar Profile, adopted by some other languages, is included.

No language is perfect and Ada is no exception. The tasking part of Ada 83 was particularly controversial in the domain of real-time systems. Ada 95 addressed many of these issues and added some new ones. Ada 2005 does the same. These issues are not ignored in the book.

I own 46 books on Ada (not counting older editions of some of them), gathered over 27 years of applying the language. Some are excellent and some not, but this one is highly prized. I highly recommend it to professionals and students alike.

the authors of this book is famous. and the contents of the book do not disappoint me.

i have several references about ada. of course, some of the references are written by the author of this book. But, regard to the acting mechanism of ada task, this book is awesome.

but, if you are the beginner of real-time & embedded system, you should have another reference(s) to fully understand the meaning of the every article of this book.

This is an excellent business math book. It's easy to work with and has lots of examples for practicing. It breaks the subject matter down in a manner where it's easy to understand. Chapters 10 through 14 are really great for individuals to learn about their finances. Chapters 15 through 17 are excellent for businesses. There are other chapters that are really great in establishing the basic foundation in business math. Overall this is an excellent book to use for brushing up on math or just learning about business math for business or individual use. Another excellent book to read is "Trilogy Moments for the Mind, Body and Soul."

Im a college student and when I first started using this book I said to myself this is like H.S math. Little did I know it does get more complicated but its on a college level as you go on. It takes you back to the basic mathematics and then to a college level mathematics. I liked the book very much so. There is also a answer key in the book (but only for the the odd #'s)which is very useful as well.

I think this book is great, becareful not to get the instructors edition, I got that edition by mistake then ordered a student editon used, it did not come with the cd like it said it would.

This book was incredibly helpful for a college class in Business Math. Many of the adults in my class had not studied any sort of math in years. This book made the subject easy with great examples succinct and thorough summaries. Recommend it for other teachers in the same area.

There are several typos in this book, but don't let that get you down. This is an excellant review of business math. It begins with the basics of operations, and then progresses to more complex formulas. It will help everyone from business majors to consumers to better manage their money.

This book was in NEW condition. I cannot believe that I got it at such a great price. Good work Opusbooks!!

I couldn't help the religious reference since this book has quickly become my new Bible. I have been a loyal follower of "The Official Guides" and "CorelDRAW 11" has lived up to my expectations, if not exceeded them in many respects.

This book was a pleasant surprise, despite being a totally comprehensive resource tool, close to 800 pages, it's written in a no nonsense, straight to the point style. How rare is that these days ? I found it concise, well written, with great illustrations and literally hundreds of useful tips and workarounds. It's also got plenty of "how-tos", and covers every aspect of the program in detail (including VBA scripts) in very easy-to-grasp terms. Also included are a complete shortcuts guide, downloadable web resource files, and invaluable hidden program functionality.

A huge bonus for me was that it covers both the Mac & PC releases - yeah ! I also found the sections on Text, 3D, and Animations particularly helpful.

Coreldraw is a great program and this is a great book - total quality from start to finish !

This book is an excellent manual for understanding the logistical operations of CorelDraw 11. It is written with a tone geared towards one who has never used this program before yet does not lack in expanded intricacies of operations.

An experienced user can flip through the section needed to learn shortcuts and streamline processes, while the novice can start from page 1 and treat it as a tutorial.

This book makes a great addition to the library of anyone who uses CorelDraw 11.

If you are a new or old user of Corel Draw, and you have just up-graded to Corel Draw 11, this is the book to learn from. With it's 800 pages to go through you will find every thing you need to know to get you up and designing in no time. Steve Bain has done a great job of writing this book, so even the new user can under stand how the tools work and what there for. It is a little pricey, but it is worth every cent. If your going to learn this programe, I would recomand this book to be the first one you get and it may be the last one you need to teach you about Corel Draw 11. I have not needed any other book but this one to learn the programe. I keep it by my computer and use it almost every time I'm using Corel Draw 11.

After upgrading from an earlier version of CorelDRAW, I needed to get up to speed quickly. This book is an excellent way to learn and excel at using version 11. The step sequences expose you to beginner and advanced level drawing, the tutorials are easy-to-follow, and there's an abundance of helpful and useful tips. Even if you're an experienced illustrator, you'll find great techniques in this book. Trust me you won't regret the purchase.

I've been waiting for more than 2 months to get this book. Finally I got it from amazon a few days after the book released.

I have 8 NXT book, nothing is as details as Daniele's Book. The best NXT book so far.

There are 6 robots describes in this book. From the concept and then step-by-step assembly it and even the guide line to program it. So you not only able to build the robot, but also teach you how it works.

The cream-of-the-soup of this book of course is the JohnNXT ...... About 1/3 of the book focus on this great Robot. If you plan to build JohnNXT, this is the only book you need.

I'm really impressed with Daniele, I cant wait to the next book "Lego Rubik Utopy (LRU)".

Hi,

One of the better books at this moment for the Lego Mindstorms NXT robotic set. This book is clearly written and despite the black and white images, the building instructions are also very clearly written.

This book is obviously written by people who know what they are doing and motivated to reach the highest standards.

After a short program in the Nxt-G programming language, they started to use the NXC programming language for the rest of the book. What makes this book so outstanding, everything is very well documented and everything is explained in great detail.

This is also an easy and pleasant to read book. And many times you find here what is missing in other books. For me, esspecially the introduction of NXC was very usefull. I wanted to use C for a long time, but I did not found the answers I was searching. This book takes its time to show you the mechanics behind th programming language. It teaches you clearly how to construct event tables and how you can visualise the design process, structuring your thaughts.

Also the walking models are very interesting. It gives you a clearly understanding about the problems of let a robot succesfully walk.

What I do missing is coverage of the acceleration, gyroscopic and compass sensors. It should be nice if those sensors also where covered in this book. But it is almost impossible to cover everything and an author has to draw a line.

The projects are well choosen and all very interesting. Personally Quasimodo I find the less interesting robot. While NXT AT-ST is in my opinion a very nice project to understand a walking robot. But I have to be honest, at this moment I am building the AT-ST robot. I did not have the time to build the other robots. Nevertheless, I took a quick look and i found the other projects also very impressive.

This book is a must have for every serious Lego Mindstorms NXT builder. You definatelly will refer back when building your own creations. I gave it five stars because it is well deserved.

Congratulations for the author and everybody worked behind the scenes of this book. A job very well done!

I wish you all very much reading and building pleasure. This book will surely touch your creativity and imagination.

Friendly greetings,

Bad_Wolf

I bought this book for my grandson's 11th birthday. He is thrilled with the book and is trying to learn the code. We thought the program for each robot was available to just download from the internet, but we couldn't find such an easy method. He will have to type in the code from the book himself which will help in the learning process. At this point in time, though, this programming may be a bit too complex for him.

I have been waiting for this book even before it was wrtitten because I have wanted to build JohnNXT5 ever since I saw it posted on the Internet. This book is probably the best book so far for the Mindstorms NXT robotic system. I have purchased most of the books available for the NXT. I like Jim Kelly's books too, but this one has moved from wheels to robots that use tracks to get around and walk. It is well written and well illustrated even though the building instructions aren't in color. The author has a sense of humor as well as being well versed in the NXT system. I like the fact that he continues to refine and redevelop his creations and try to make them the best they can be. I hope to see more books from him, especially one covering the Rubic Cube solver. I congratulate the author for a job well done and highly recommend the book to all robotic nthusiasts.

If you're searching for some exciting NXT projects and ideas--or would simply like to build JohnNXT, a replica of the famous Johnny 5 robot--you will enjoy Daniele Benedettelli's book Creating Cool MINDSTORMS NXT Robots. The book presents helpful ideas that you can use in your own inventions and carefully integrates them in a variety of robots with detailed building instructions. In fact, these very features are why I've given the book five stars: challenging robot projects, excellent discussions of useful concepts and ideas, and exceptional building instructions.

Most of the robots seem intended for more advanced users looking for a challenge; in other words, these are generally more complex robots. For example, there are several walking robots--including three bipeds (two-legged robots), one of the most difficult types of robots to create. And with the exception of the massive, multi-NXT robot "JohnNXT" (chapter 8) and a remote control (chapter 9), you can build all the robots from the parts in a single retail LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT set. All the programming in the book is done in NXC (Not eXactly C), an unofficial text-based language with a C-like syntax.

Along the way you'll find in-depth explanations of robotics concepts and helpful descriptions of the robots. Besides an entire "theory chapter" on building biped robots (chapter 1) and another such chapter on finite state machines (chapter 3), the robot chapters themselves include explanations of concepts such as hysteresis, writing a multitask program, and quadruped (four-legged) walking as well as information on the robots' functionality and history. The author also does a good job of presenting and explaining the programming. Although prior NXC experience is helpful, such experience is not required.

The BIs (building instructions) are outstanding, which is important since they are a major part of the book. The author used advanced BI techniques, including complete electrical cables and callouts, and Ldglite to render the images, creating BIs that are remarkably "LEGO-like." I found that the BIs were generally very easy to follow even though many of the steps were complex. Such clarity is invaluable for a book that is filled with building instructions.

I admit that I didn't build the famed JohnNXT robot. Why? For starters, I don't have all the necessary pieces! All the same, I'm glad to see that the author included the robot because a number of readers will want tackle this enormous project.

In conclusion, this book is ideal for you if you're a more experienced NXT user looking to broaden your robotic horizons--while having lots of fun. Nevertheless, even if you're new to the NXT set, you would still enjoy the book. Either way, after working through the projects and grasping the concepts, you should be well-equipped to create your very own cool NXT robots.

Data quality assessment has become so much a part of many data quality programs that we assume that everyone knows how to do it well and efficiently. But this is not the case. Done well, assessment is technically difficult and demanding, often conducted under the press of time, short on budget, and long on conflicting management demands. Much can, and does, go wrong. So Arkady Maydanchik's volume is a welcome addition to the data quality literature. It describes the end-to-end assessment process and each step in a brisk, easy-to-read style.

I especially liked portions of Chapter 8. They lay out a process for actually creating business rules, another one of those nettlesome tasks that people underestimate.

This is the best book on the subject I have seen, and I read almost all of them!
Extremely well organized, taking the reader from the fundamentals through the process in an easy read. He has a way of presenting technical subject in such a way that anyone could understand them. All concepts are accompanied by examples taken from of every-day experience. All the examples are easily understood and well explained. After reading his explanation and examples of even the most complex and obscure data quality issues you are left with the felling of "Oh yea, I get it."

Book is well written, easy to read, great help for anyone who has to deal with data quality issues. It brings systematic approach to data quality testing.

My business, Northwest Database Services, has cleaned clients' data for over 20 years. In all that time I've only met two or three people who do this kind of work professionally on a regular basis. (Our conventions are small.)

With this in mind, it is easy to see why I was so pleased and surprised to find someone had written a book about the subject; especially as thoughtful and insightful a one as Quality Data Assessment.

Arkady Maydanchik brings years of experience and first-hand knowledge to the table, while organizing it into a logical, sequential and, most important, understandable manual. This book goes into the typical causes of data degradation as well as how to find it and begin the process of fixing it.

You can't even begin to fix your data until you have a clear picture of what's going on "in there", so data assessment is the first and maybe the most important step in achieving data consistency and reliability. If your work involves data assessment, migration creation or maintenance, you should have this book on your shelf. It's that simple.

But wait, there's more. This is just the first volume in a set of data assessment and cleaning processes, tips, tricks and tools books that will be forthcoming. I'm told that the second volume in this series will be published in October 2008. I know it sounds incredibly geeky, but I can hardly wait.

Data quality analysts and practioners needed this step by step guide to assess the quality of the data in their organization. The book is well organized, it's very practical and easy to understand. The examples are excellent and meaningful and the author has an interesting sense of humor.