Programming Books

Even if I'm not working in vfx, so I haven't a great experience, I think this book should be in every comps shelf: very simple, well written, it deals with the math under every (even the simplest) operation you can do in your compositing package (it's quite software-indipendent). It explains several wonderful tricks too.
Globally, very useful in my opinion.

Ron goes over the very concepts of compositing that are essential to know in the computer graphics feild. I have bought several copies of this book as the disappear from my desk (no longer kept in public view)

This book is exceptional and a must for anyone pursuing this area of interest. The only disappointment I had in purchasing this item is that it is supposed to come with a CD, and the CD was never shipped to me. What's up, Amazon?

That can I say about Mr Brinkman. Well he's one of the God's of compositing and VFX. Mad about the math behind Node based compositing software, which incidentally is a good thing. This is not meant to be a 'Shake' bible as it is supposed to be non software specific. However it uses 'Shake' language and node naming. This is not a criticism as 'Shake' is the meccano kit of compositing. Understand the mode and the math behind it and you can do anything. I would also assume that this will still be relevant when shake is 'reborn'.

This is also essential for other composing software where the math is hidden. If you've ever considered what happens inside that 'magic button' after you've clicked.

I also think that Steve Wright's 'Digital Compositing for Film and Video, Second Edition' is a must too. Another great book from a great man of VFX.

Having not been personally taught by Mr. Brinkman and Mr Wright these books prove to be the next best thing.

This book is a in depth study of the techniques and technologies involved in the art of compositing. Not sooo technical that no one will understand it, but technical enough that it even explains in detail the algorithms and math used for antialiasing, blurs, the transfer operators like multiply, screen overlay., etc... I am a professional cg artist and highly recommend this book.

I actually met Joe in a Books-A-Million in Montgomery, Alabama... He is a very nice guy too! The book is chock full of code, it is concise and it is worth every penny and then some. If you want to learn about how to use LINQ effectively, congratulations, you just found your book.

Once I had heard of LINQ I had spent a lot of time reading through the MSDN docs, but I wanted more information about it. Pro LINQ was the answer. It gave a very thorough run-down of each of the various technologies involved with LINQ as well as a breadth of useful examples to illustrate the points that were made. In addition I thought that the book had a nice progression of topics that left you wanting to continue on to the next chapter. LINQ is an awesome technology, and I feel that this book is a great tool to add to your arsenal to help better utilize it to its fullest capabilities. This book was definitely written from a developer's standpoint, but I didn't feel that it threw too much at you. I would highly recommend this book.

This book is incredible at explaining the new LinQ functionality and since many of the enhancements made to C# were made to accomadate LinQ, it also does an excellent job at explaining the new language enhancements in a concise fashion. Highly recommend this book.

Reading this book you can get the illusion that LINQ is just about XML. There is so much more - pretend that LINQ has noting to do with XML and see how it can change your project delivery!

LINQ in Action This is the book that really shows what LINQ can do. It is VERY easy to read and get upto speed using this book - its a must have. Once you have mastered this book then look at others.

It's very rare to find a book on any programming topic that works as both an introduction to the subject as well as a reference for seasoned users. Joseph Rattz's book should be the first stop for anyone hoping to learn about LINQ. The examples given make what could have been a potentially massive learning curve even for experienced ADO.Net users a lot smoother.

I have been learning ColdFusion for about 5 months now and have 4 books on it. So far I have this one and 3 others. And out of all the books I have on ColdFusion, I use this one and one other one the most. Even though it is written in ColdFusion MX, it still has a lot of good ColdFusion examples and descriptions on how to make some of the most popular applications. Great book if your looking for a book that is a little cheaper and still has a lot of great info. If your looking for the new breakthrough features of CF8, than mabye you should try somewhere else. But overall, a great book for the price!!

This book is the best Cold Fusion book to date. I use this book daily. The book contains clear examples without a lot of fluff. Can't wait until the next release.

Everithing you need to good programming in ColdFusion. Not to useful if you're interested in Server Configuration.

The only quibble I have with this book is that it is not long enough! Some parts just paraphrase ColdFusion documentation, which is not bad in itself but left me wanting to know more from the author about how he applied the feature to a project.

It would be phenomenal if the author could expand this book or, better yet, put together a new book of more extended examples called "ColdFusion Examples in a Nutshell," similar to "Java Examples in a Nutshell" by David Flanagan.

Having said that, I can now state that this book is a shining example of what a programming book is supposed to be:
(1) Well-Organized. Chapters are grouped logically.
(2) Well-Documented. Almost every topic has at least one example; a few have a complete set of templates to guide the beginning CF (ColdFusion) programmer.
(3) Well-Balanced. In addition to instructive code, the author also provides many in-depth explanations of ColdFusion and database principles.

About six months ago the company I work for recently moved to Coldfusion 5 server (holding off on CFMX until all the bugs are worked out) and since that time, application programming duties have been dumped on me. As a web designer and not a programmer, this was a more than a little worrisome. After trying to wade through Forta's Construction Kit, Hewitt's Core Coldfusion 5, as well as "Mastering Coldfusion 5" it was as if the light was turned on by Rob Brooks-Bilson's Programming Coldfusion.

By the by, those books mentioned are all great books. I own all of them. But when it came down to what I really needed to know and understand Bilson came through like no other. Great job Rob! Keep up the good work.

Usually, when I read a book on a programming technology, I expect to see some source code somewhere. This book is surprising in that regard because it only contains plain english from the first page to the last. There was a hint on the cover page by indicating that managers are included in the targeted audience. This feature has some merits but is also a pain at some other places.

When presenting software to programmers, the most straight to the point way to present the material, it is with source code and I feel that at some occasions, a function definition would have replaced pages of explanations. On the other hand, it is easy to get lost in pages of source code filled with error condition handling code where a simple paragraph of plain english would have been enough to communicate the general idea behind a software module.

With these remarks in mind, this is why, as a programmer, I did not like the first few chapters describing COM basics and really appreciated the last chapters covering OLE compound documents, ActiveX and the usage of COM by MS Internet Explorer.

If you are interested in COM this is a must read. Clear, easy to follow, accurate explanation of the concepts. If you are interested in code look at Don Box "Essential COM" book, but read this one first.

This book is a deep survey of COM within 300 clearly written pages, and many many pictures and schemes. If you are looking for code examples etc. it is NOT FOR YOU. But if you want to understand what is COM, what are COM related technologies; if you are looking for best introduction, it has no rival.

This is an all around good book. However you will not be able to produce any code after reading it. It will give you an introduction to COM, OLE, and ActiveX technologies. You will especially not be able to use the OLE interfaces after reading this book, you will just have an idea of what they are. Buy it, I recommend it, just know what you will gain from it.

This is one of my favorite books. This book gave me an excellent understanding of COM architecture. It's concise and has just the right amount of info. If you are looking for a ready made set of code sample to cut & paste in your project or if you are more interested about 'how' than 'why' of COM then this book is not for you. I have recommended this book and also lent my copy to many. I couldn't keep the book down. An excellent read. David Chappell has done a great job!

Sure the program comes with a PDF manual but having a printed reference can make learning so much easier. This is not a book on technique, it's a book on features, functionality and workflow. I primarily use Final Cut Express, thankfully most of the tutorials contained in the book are applicable. There's nothing terribly exciting about the book itself, the information is presented in a no-nonsense fashion. If your looking for anecdotal storytelling, humor and opinion you'd do well to consider another title. I keep it handy at all times, it's saved me a lot of time and frustration...well worth the money.

I like Lynda's personal publications best but anything bearing her title "H.O.T." is worth having. Very practical and useful. Norman Borge

When looking for a book on FCP, I just read the various reviews. Even though some others looked quite interesting, I chose this one and am glad I did. I wanted a specific type of instruction because I have some expert-level chops and ignorance at the same time. I'm new to video but am a professional recording engineer by trade. I'm fully conversant on the Mac and non-linear audio programs so I needed a book that got both completely simple (for video concepts new to me) and also provided some depth at the same time.

The type of instruction in this book is having the user execute step-by-step, starting at the most basic level but progressing into more complex stuff fairly quick.

I forget the wording but there's some Chinese proverb........something like
You tell me, I hear
You show me, I see
I do, I learn

That's me and this book suits my learning style nicely. I'm sure there are other books as good but I doubt that any are better, hard to see how you could go wrong with this one.

I consider myself to be a "seasoned user" of Final Cut Pro. I have been editing with FCP since the original release of version 1.0 and have worked on numerous documentaries, features, commercials and episodic television.

I learned about this book from the Apple website. This is the official textbook used for Apple Pro Certification (FCP Level One). So I decided that I would "forget" everything I already knew and begin with Lesson 1. I'm very happy I adopted that attitude because there are so many neat little tips that I picked up in the first few lessons. Now I wonder how I ever survived without them. Those tips have already saved me a lot of time. I have only completed one-third of the lessons thus far and I can already see an improvement in my productivity.

Every chapter of the book is a "hands-on" lesson. The files and media for each lesson are provided on a DVD-ROM (included). You will first copy those files to your hard drive and then open each lesson file and then follow the step-by-step instructions in the book.

I'm looking forward to getting my Level One certification with the help of this book, and I can't wait to continue onto the Advanced Level certification with the second book.

Please note this is essentially the same book as the the "Final Cut Pro HD" book. The DVD is the same and so are the exercises. I had a chance to compare both and noticed only only one minor detailed (a detail is now circled on a screen shot) and, of course, there could be some that I missed. Even so, the back cover of the HD book acknowledges...

"This book was previously published under the title "Apple Pro Training Series: Final Cut Pro 4. If you previously purchased this book, there is no need to purchase this revision: All the project files and exercises in the previous edition can be used with Final Cut Pro HD."

Bottom-Line: Newbie or Pro? It doesn't matter! This is a GREAT book to own if you use FCP.

Until I purchased this book, I had owned FCP4 for six months. I had learned my way around the software well enough. I felt comfortable, but not necessarily proficient. In order to improve my editing time, I went ahead and ordered this book, also with the intent of getting my Apple certification, as this is the same text used in their classes. Normally, I am the type that I will skip sections that discuss things that I'm certain I know, but I went ahead and followed every step in the book.
What a difference! Each chapter takes approximately 30-45 minutes to complete, using video clips on the included DVD. After 3 days and 10 chapters, I was hardling touching my trackball. Not only had I learned quite a few shortcuts, but the book helped me understand the editing process itself a little better. I feel that this text is very well laid out, easy to understand, and can be done relatively quickly with a sharp learning curve. I highly recommend this to anyone new to Final Cut Pro. With a little time and effort, you'll be flying around the video editing, the soundtrack design and the Live Type titling package. And, after you have completed this book, go ahead and buy Apple Pro Training Series: Advanced Editing and Finishing Techniques in Final Cut Pro 4, you will not be disappointed.

This is best book on C++ templates. C++ programmers who wants to learn modern template programming should start reading this book first, no more no less.

Nicolai Josuttis has written by far the best book on C++ templates. His is literally the only work out there that makes any sense of the utter mess that is C++ template programming. Absolutely essential for anyone using the STL or (especially) Boost libraries.

I like all those description and examples: the topic may be complex, but really an interesting thing when enjoying it slowly.

I used the book when I was working on templates. Book is very clear and concise with proper layout of chapters. I was able to read relevant sections and get clear understanding. It is possible to get all information by reading C++ specs and other sources, but having this one book is a real time saver.

If you work on templates and have some doubts ever then have this book next to you.

The title says it all :)

To keep it really short and sweet, learning about C++ templates is really painful till this book came along :)

It's my opinion that advanced C++ developers use this book to guide them in understanding and navigating the world of C++ templates. It's simply easy to read and it has amazing clear presentations

This is the best C++ book i've ever read (and i've read many good authors). It explains the concepts in depth with plenty of sample-code and drawings. The author seems to be aware which concepts could be misunderstood and repeatedly clarifies them in his examples.You cannot become a serious C++ programmer, if you don't understand these concepts correctly. Most of the object-oriented concepts are illustrated with real-world examples, so u learn how the language can be applied practically. I wish i'd gotten this book during my school days.

This text is definitely classroom quality, covering almost all aspects of the language, both theoretically and practically, and the books size reflects this. It doesn't cover the STL at all, but to do so would have made the text too large. The best thing I liked about the book is that it discusses object oriented design concepts (as pertaining to C++) very well.

This is am amazing book that very clearly explains the 'how' and 'why' of each feature in Object Oriented Design.My design skills certainly got a lot better with this book.I loved the chapter on Inheritance.Inheritance is one of the most powerful features of any object oriented language and the most effective form of code reuse.This book does a very good job at giving the reader a good idea of how to exploit this feature effectively.

this is *the* C++ book that got me thru my programming assignments. from concepts to code, from design to implementation, the author detailed everything very clearly and thoroughly, excellent job! this book is evenly-paced and highly readable with golden nuggets everywhere. before getting this book, i used to be lost in lectures and assignments, confused about concepts of pointers etc, but after carefully studying this gem, i could truly understand the essence of C++ and write solid, high quality code. to sum it up, i have three words for you: GO BUY IT!!

I read most of the 1st edition.
A very insightful look into C++ programming with
detailed but simple examples to explain the fundamental
and yet powerful concepts and intricacies with the language!

Great clear and practical advice for the aspiring or even the professional java programmer.

I have already owned this book for more than four years and could not be happier with it. I have used it extensively mainly as a reference for the uncovered/undocumented topics in Swing, Concurrency and JDBC programming; and I must say it has always surprised me by providing sound information to complex concepts covered only in a very shallow way by other Java books. I keep up to date by buying the latest books in Java JSE and J2EE programming but still, it is only with Brett's book that I end up finding the best answers. It is very compelling its excellent coverage of good OO design in Java and programming style guidelines.

Please do not fool yourself as I almost did when I was quickly browsing through its pages before deciding to buy. My first impression was that this book wasn't going to be very deep, while covering so many different topics e.g. Java Architecture, Swing, Javadoc, JDBC, Remote, Concurrency, etc. but Brett's nail hitting approach is to leave out the trivialities and get to the core complex issues that make all the difference developing real-life complex Java applications.

e.g. today sunday 29.10.2006 I just could not take anymore not fully understanding how GridBagLayout works. I needed the added flexibility over the other simpler but very limited Layout managers. After my frustrated attempt of reviewing other three Java Swing-only up-to-date books, voila! there was Brett's in my bookshelf as always waiting to provide me with the best explanation and examples.

I very much look forward his updated new edition of this excellent almost never outdated resource.

The title of the book is very well honoured. It is IMHO a must have for any serious professional Java developer.

I've had this book since it was first printed, and I find myself coming back to it time and again. I've gotten great value from the printing, drag and drop, internationalization....you get the idea. There is a lot of info here that you just don't find in most Java books (and I've read quite a few).

Highly recomended.

As an intermediate-level Java programmer, this book has helped me tremendously. Reading it from front to back like a novel, I was able to immediately apply almost every lesson learned. Brett Spell has a wonderfully readable writing style and does a fantastic job of explaining a wide array of sticky topics that apply to almost every Java programmer. The book's diagrams and example code are also excellent. I highly recommend this book.

This book certainly covers many important topics in a clear and well written manner. You will find excellent and very clear advice to follow. My only gripe with this book is its rather lengthy treatment of Swing. Swing is covered in enough detail to give you a flavor, but that's all. In total the coverage of swing takes up a lot of pages, and makes the book a bit too thick to read comfortably in bed. Without the Swing part I think it would have been possible to have this book as a bedside companion.

This book provides meticulous details about QA for integrated software and component-based software .This particular book teaches how to approach testing and QA in a systematic manner .The book gives an organized and detailed description for the Software Quality assurance for the software components. It teaches all the way from very basic step. Beginning with Black Box testing and following White box, Regression testing, Performance, System level testing .The approach includes various different validation methods that needs to be rigorously applied and a detailed QA approach which teaches all the possible Test Cases. Overall this book provides a complete teaching of the Component Based Software. Being Professor Jerry Gao's student, have completed software quality and testing courses under him. This book has increased my knowledge for component-based software testing as it describes different testing methods, phases, issues, challenges etc. I highly recommend this book for college graduates and professionals who want to brighten their career in QA and testing areas.

This is a very unique book on QA and software testing topics because it discusses some of the testing techniques & concepts extended from research world and also covers the modern software component concepts and the applicability of these techniques on them. The book is divided into IV parts. The first part introduces the reader with software components and it's testability. The model based solution to some of the issues and challanges can be applicable to the SOA based softwares as well.
Part II of the book discusses the fundamental black box and white box techniques. A section is devoted on white box techniques for object oriented testing.
Part III of the book focuses on most important challanges of todays software. The UML based approcah to software integration testing discussed in this book uses an unique approach of content and context based relationship of objects. Regression testing for maintaining software is discussed in detail.
Part IV is entirely devoted to QA topics. They fully cover QA measuremnet and validation topics, standards and certification.
This is a must have book for software developer, Test engineer and QA professionals. The references at the end of each chapter reminds you to go deeper and dig into IEEE and ACM papers on the subject. I have already recommended this book to my fellow software developers and managers.

The book has detailed coverage of all software testing terminologies and methodologies such as black-box, white-box, test automation, integration, and performance testing.Over all, this is a very good book for learning Testing techniques for component based software.This book is extremely well organized and should be useful for both novice and experienced software testers.

I learned many new concepts about Software Testing from this book. I learned how to do the manual testing, automation testing of the component software using this book. White Box Testing, which involves Control Flow Graph is documented well in this book anyone who wants to learn about the White Box Testing can easily learn through it. This book is very user friendly in terms of doing Software Manual Testing.
Automation Testing is described well too. I recommend anyone from Software Engineering planning to go into Software Testing should read this book atleast once.

This book helped me gain good knowledge about Software testing, its objectives and various approaches for real time experience. It helped me understand the basic concepts and fundamentals of Software component testability. Through this book, I got a basic idea about the rules and methodologies that are being implemented and followed in current software testing field, as per industry standards.

Black box and White box testing techniques and their relevant issues, challenges and solutions, the various test models, everything is explained very visibly. It serves as a good guide for the beginners as well as the Software professionals of all levels. Information on testing methods like Regression, Integration, Performance and System testing are detailed in a systematic manner.
The information in this text book, taught us to follow the best ways to achieve a well defined test coverage criteria by deriving a definite plan for the project- a plan for managing the schedules, designing and testing the software based components to meet the requirements in the project within a deadline. We, in a team, worked on a Simulated ATM machine, for a practical experience, and the book helped us as a good start. Each chapter has a good introductory part, which gives a clear synopsis about the complete chapter.
The book explains the role of different testing tools, designing and handling the test cases, how to perform component testing quickly and efficiently through automation testing, without manual involvement. Manual testing is time consuming and hence to solve this issue, Automation testing has been introduced lately and this information has been illustrated by the authors very clearly in the book, with suitable examples for the readers understanding.

I personally found this book very helpful and knowledgeable. A Software component's life cycle through the testing phase has been explained well, alongside giving us information about the methodologies to improve the quality of a product, and how to derive a test case to support the functionality; everything is mentioned in this book. My only suggestion is, this book is a complete pack of information on testing of a Software component and its Quality assurance, and hence, from college students to Software professionals, everybody has to experience this book, if they are seriously looking to pick up their career in Testing.

The Best series of books to learn Network programming from. The BEST in the world. Nothing comes close.

If you are reading this review you probably are looking for a comprehensive text on socket programming. Look no further. This is the One. You can stop reading reviews trying to find the perfect one and go hit the Add To Shopping Cart button with confidence. Detailed, comprehensive and clear. A favorite.

This book consists of "in the trenches" information Mr. Stevens learned over the years by reading source, testing thoroughly, documenting extensively, and assembling carefully all this data into one heck of a book on Unix programming. I feel certain in declaring that many who've developed code on Unix know instantly of Stevens' works. This update to his book appears just as thorough.

I do agree with a previous reviewer who was unhappy with the code samples' dependency on a header file in the back of the book. It's a clumsy technique, but it's difficult to imagine another way to accomplish the goals of including the header.

This book is excellent. I had previously bought "Advanced Programming in the UNIX Environment" by the same author and I loved it so now that I have to do network programming in Linux I got a copy of UNP. The book is well organized and has a lot more information than I expected (Raw sockets, Packet capture, IPv6 etc). Everything is explained clearly and with a lot of examples. It's a shame that the author passed away because I would buy any other book he wrote. Buy this book, it's expensive but It's so professional that is a "must have" for anyone that's going to be programming network applications in UNIX systems.

Thank you, Richard Stevens. Rest in Peace.

The book contains everything that I want to know about the Unix Sockets API. The book is well structured, and the explanations are generally good. I would give it 4½ stars if it was possible.

I do have a few minor gripes though. The text can be a bit dull compared to other books. I bought "Programming with POSIX(R) Threads" by David R. Butenhof at the same time, and this book is much more entertaining while still factual and correct.

I dislike that all the examples in the book uses a special header defined in the Appendix. That makes it impossible to use snippets of code from the examples to make your own applications.