Programming Books

I used to have the Bible book for Microsoft Project as my reference for making the most out of this software for managing projects, until The Missing Manual came out. This title in now-popular Missing Manual series takes you through the basics and not-so-basics for Project Standard and Project Professional, allowing you to understand the when and the why behind its features and helping you better build and refine your project plans, track progress of your projects and succeed as a project manager.

Any who own Microsoft's Project 2007 needs Bonnie Bafore's MICROSOFT OFFICE PROJECT 2007: THE MISSING MANUAL guide, which should really be in the box alongside the program. It offers easy step-by-step instructions that cover both Project Standard and Project Professional, explaining how and why to use some features - an approach which goes far beyond the usual `how to' guide. From using Project in a variety of business applications and incorporating other programs such as Word and Outlook to practically guaranteeing project success, MICROSOFT PROJECT 2007: THE MISSING MANUAL should be on the shelves not only of any serious computer reference library, but any business library and any individual who owns Project 2007 and wants to get the most out of it.

Microsoft Project is an unmatched tool for managing all aspects of a project, and the power of its integration with other MS tools is awesome. But its potential is very complex and not for the faint of heart. Before you start blithely loading your milestones and allocating your resources, you really need to understand the concepts of defining your project and conceptualizing the plan. The software won't teach you that and it's the easiest thing in the world to wind up with a Gantt chart that looks like the head of Medusa in no time flat.

That's where this manual makes its mark. Yes, it's a good primer on the software; yes, it's a good reference manual as long as you can guess the term for what you want to do. "Unhide columns," for example: that's what I wanted to do this week, and two minutes with the index and a page reference got the job done for me. (Hint: it doesn't behave exactly like Excel.)

Since I tend to shun manuals, I had not picked up this book until now. I took a moment to flip, and was impressed, and wound up starting at the beginning and going all the way through, reading here and there, checking the book's organization and the points it made about project management. What a great resource! It's an introductory project management course that will get the user started on the right foot.

Despite its name, Microsoft Project 2007: The Missing Manual is much more than a manual. I recommend it for anyone who wants to brush up on the key points of project management, and especially for anyone using the software for the first time (or the first time in a while, which is my situation). It can't guarantee that your project will be a success, but it will greatly increase your understanding of what's going right and wrong. This book is going to make you look good!

Linda Bulger, 2008

I've always hated "How to" manuals written by people who know the application, but not the work. This book shows how to use MS Project from the perspective of a Project Manager.

It's alway been ironic when I've used other resources that the person who wrote the book explains all the buttons, but not when/why they are really used. "The Missing Manual" is the perfect marriage of function and purpose.

This manual is extremely helpful for both the novice and the veteran user. The introductory section on project management is one of the best I have seen, and worth the price of the book by itself. Entertaining yet concise style. Book is well organized and information is easily found.
Highly recommended.

COM is built on top of RPC. This book is a bit dated, but still a good guide for learning the technology that COM is based on. COM will make much more sense if you take a little time to learn RPC first.

using a microsoft rpc interfac

using a microsoft rpoc interfac

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The authors take the reader from the very first steps to rather complex applications of Remote Procedure Calls. Along the way, they explain how RPC works, and why it is one of the better tools for implementing true client/server systems.

Despite a very few factual errors (the page on memory allocation using RpcSs contains one) and despite a too-short description of when to use which memory allocator, I rate this book at nine out of ten. For a perfect ten, the authors will have to include material on secure, authenticated, RPC, too.

If you do serious DCE or MS RPC programming, or if you are trying to learn the ropes: Try to find a copy. And no, mine is not for sale. ;-)

Its a must have book

This book builds on a basic understanding of SQL Server, showing real-world scenarios and advice on what to look for to make database application perform optimally.

I've read at least a half dozen books on MSC Sql/Server at this point, and this was by far the most useful. It's both a good guide to general DB development practices and a tutorial on SQL/Server. This book and the MSC manuals is enough to get someone started on SQL/Server. I took the time to write this review in the hopes of saving someone else all the effort I expended buying and reading the useless books.

This is, by far, on of the most usefull books on Microsoft SQL Server I have seen. It covers important information about optimizing queries, indexes and the database itself. A must read for SQL developers and administrators.

Really covers SQL tunning well. Gets a little too much into general DBA stuff in the end. I would recommend the Ken England book over this one, simply because it is more concise.

This book is a compilation of various functions and commands available to the VisualBasic 5 environment. It provides examples and supplimental information to help users with different levels of expertise.

Recommended if you want to really program in VB 5.0.

I found this book to be helpful with my everyday programming. This book contains example code for every command in it. This bok also gives you the correct arguments for each command. I find this book to be one of my best developement tools in my arsenal. I recommend this book strongly to anyone looking to do serious VB programming.

This reference book is a mirror image of the online help, but a lot more convenient. It contains pretty much all you need to know...and unlike the majority of tutorial books out there, the example code actually works.

How can you not love the VB5 Language Reference.

I teach VB for a living, and I tell my students to re-read this Reference guide every 3 months---there's always something new that you'll see in it.

Others will tell you that this information is provided with Books Online (and it is), but I prefer the printed version.

Though you can get the exact same information online, I find that sometimes it's just better to have the hard copy in front of me. The book does a good job of not only showing the syntax, but what arguments to use and situations where the item applies. It's proven to be very, very useful and people would do well to pick this up if they prefer to use hard copy as I do.

Derivatives are not simple things. It almost seems that complexity was a design goal when they were being set up. In order to determine their real value either today or in the future you almost have to model them on a computer.

This book covers dozens of different types of derivatives, including the common ones and some of the new even more esoteric ones. It talks about the structure of the derivative, and then presents models of them. The models are presented in the most common modelling 'languages' in use today. There is a lot of code involved, but there is not a CD included with the book. Instead, an access code providing a one time download for the code. Note, a one time download. Be sure and save the code quickly and on several media. This procedure allows the models to be updated as needed without regard to the time it takes for the book to move from being written to being published, but if you have a disk crash....

The biggest things this book provides are: first, you get to see what an expert in the field has done, and second, you get the code to run his models on your system, and of course you can modify them if you find some other aspect suits your needs better.

This is a new book, first printed in December 2006, so it is current with the derivatives being marketing at that time.

I highlight two points:

1. The inclusion of Matlab and Excel code in almost all topics of the book.
2. All the content is new and more advanced, there is no recovered topics of his previous book.

Great book. But the code downloading process is a bit weird. Don't know why they just attach a CD.

This book offers prebuilt, modifiable code that you can use for energy, power, weather and many other derivatives applications. The download process is fast and easy. For those who use Matlab, C++, or Excel, there is no competition. A great book with unique content and code.

This book was my ultimate go-to resource on several financial engineering projects (on the buy side). It covers many different derivatives and provides example MatLab and C++ code that is easy to modify and extend.

The instructions for setup and downloading the code could be more clear, perhaps on a CD.

The book 'more math into Latex' is a good tool which helps somebody without experience in Latex to start using it as soon as possible and reach an adequate level for simple enough articles very fast. I would not be able to judge this book for difficult Latex applications.

The book is very helpful for graduate students who are first learning LaTeX for publishing their dissertations or for submitting articles for publication. It is especially helpful for users of LaTeX that are using pre-made style guides. This book is not for the advanced LaTeX user who is trying to create their own style guides or document class files, all though the book does have a little on the topic. The book also includes a chapter on using LaTeX for making power-point type presentations, which is helpful in math and statistics where presentations have to include equations. Power-point does not handle equations well. The statistics department at my university recommends the book to all our graduate students for writing their dissertation. I have also contacted the author of the book for additional assistance and found him to be very willing to help with LaTeX problems outside the realm of the book. He helped our department create a document class file for publishing dissertations, a more complicated procedure in LaTeX than the typical LaTeX user will have to encounter. This book is a good introduction into the world of LaTeX.

What new can I write about a book that is in its fourth edition, and has served the LaTeX community for almost two decades?

There is a new chapter on presentations and an appendix on installing LaTeX on a PC and on a Mac, so you get help from the get go. Also, for the first time, this book merges TeX, LaTeX, and the AMS packages into one, smoothing the learning curve for beginner and advanced user alike.

If you are new to this book, I should start by pointing out that you get two for the price of one. A sixty page Short Course gets you ready to type your first article in an afternoon or two. The plentiful sample files help you get started fast.

The rest of the book presents a detailed survey of LaTeX: how to type text and math, document structure, presentations, customization, and long documents.

Gratzer teaches by example: each new concept is introduced with examples and sample documents, so you learn by doing.

Multiline math formulas is the most difficult topic of LaTeX. This is the only LaTeX book that dedicates 40 pages to this topic, trying to make it accessible with a Visual Guide and a verbal guide of how these multiline structures can be classified and understood.

Gratzer teaches by distilling the most important information you need. For instance, Beamer, the presentation class he presents, has hundreds of commands and its documentation runs to hundreds of pages. The Beamer chapter selects twenty commands, so you should be on your way writing your first presentation in hours not weeks.

This book has served me well when I started, and it is my constant companion, placed next to my computer when I type LaTeX.

I am a LaTeX programmer and instructor. This weekend, I finally had time to read Part I of this book, Short Course, and paged through the other parts.

What a pleasure! Grätzer has an amazing talent to say exactly what is important, without putting in extras that will distract a reader.

You'd think that by this time I'd know enough LaTeX to, at least, get through the Short Course without learning anything new; but instead I ran into trick after trick that I didn't know. I use Beamer but I didn't know FoilTeX, the presentation package used in the Short Course. It's a great idea to let tell users very early on how to make a presentation from their papers, and then leave Beamer for full treatment later.

I very much like Appendix A, holding the reader's hand as LaTeX is installed. Then the three "productivity tools" are introduced, explaining how to use these tools on both platforms, and leaving the rest of the user interface for later, leisurely exploration, making it really quick for users to start using LaTeX.

Very early in the introduction, Grätzer talks about "the three layers" (TeX, LaTeX, and the AMS packages) and, from the beginning, use all three seamlessly. This is a radical new idea. It will substantially reduce the learning curve -- my students will appreciate it. The wonderful foreword by Rainer Schöpf (one of the two lead programmers of AMS-LaTeX) makes the role of the AMS packages clear in the historical development of modern LaTeX.

I really like the way you got to "Lines too wide" so early in the Short Course, explaining to the user the cause of the problem and solutions. Why do most books postpone this?

I better not go on and on. Just wanted to write these few lines about my enjoyment as I read this wonderful material.

I was a graduate student in math and faced the daunting task of typing my thesis. It was bad enough that I was inexperienced in writing math, but I was also a novice in LaTeX.

I tried two well-known books. In one, there is a Part I, Basics. This is for me, I thought. Unfortunately, it is 200 pages long and does not cover such elementary topics as the "cases" structure. For that, I had to go to page 288. The other book had "cases" hidden on page 238, under the title "Matrix like environments". Not very helpful.

What a relief it was when I came across this book. It helped me set up LaTeX on my Dell notebook (why do other books assume that you already have a LaTeX installation?). Then I downloaded the sample files as instructed and read the really easy 60 page Part I (Short Course). I worked through the text and examples in less than a day. Then I started writing my thesis.

In my spare time, I gave the rest of the book a cursory reading. Occasionally, I need to go beyond what is covered in the Short Course. For instance, as an analyst, I need complicated integrals not covered in Part I. (They are easy to find: in Part II, in the chapter on typing math.) And when the time came to give a presentation on my thesis, I went beyond the Short Course's section on presentations to Chapter 14, and I used Beamer!

Everybody was impressed.

Now I am Jim Whitby Ph.D. Thank you George for the help.

If you are a beginner, this is the your book.

Not a beginner's book: The technologies presented are relevant to (gasp) some real life problems. The treatment of Distributed Constraint Satisfaction problems was well written and usable. The initial treatment of all subjects was broad, delving into details after laying a sound foundation. Assumes a bit of mathematical sophistication on the part of the reader, but on the whole, well written, well organized and well worth it.

I have been using this book probably for an year now, and this has become indispensable to my work. The collection of authors in this book reads as an 'who's who' in multiagent systems and distributed AI research. Although, its' difficult to maintain continuity in edited books, the editor has done an commendable job. The authors provide a readable introduction to their area of expertise, and supplement them with an excellent bibliography...enough to get u started fast.

Thogh edited the book looks like a single authored text. The definitions are clearly presented with illustrations. The presentation is highly comprehensive. The book is thus highly readable with minimum effort. I liked the chapters on distributed problem solving and planning (Chapter 3),Learning in multiagent systems (chapter 6), Formal methods in DAI: Logic based representation and reasoning (chapter 8)and Groupware and computer supported cooperative work (chapter 10) very much.Readers of diverse interest in distributed artificial intelligence will find the other chapters equally interesting and useful.The book should be on the desk of anyone interested to learn the concepts of multiagent systems and technology.

While perhaps this should not be your first book in AI, it should definitely be your first book on agents. It took me years to accumulate the knowledge present in this book, and it's a great survey of the field for the beginning investigator. However, while this is a great way to get started in agents, understand how agents can be used in intelligent applications (from distributed AI type problem solving, to resource optimization problems), and "get the agent paradigm," coverage of agent software engineering techniques is light. This is not a fault of this book - you will simply need other resources to understand the difficulties and current research in engineering multi agent systems (or indeed any concurrent distributed system). So if you are trying to figure out what to do with agents, or how agent systems work, this is the book for you. If you already know that and want help with formal specification of an agent, verifying your agents meet the specifications, etc. this is not the book for you. Understand that to build systems you will need both!

This is one out of very few books that exist on multiagent systems and distributed artificial intelligence which won't take for granted the reader. It has really taken me from elementary concepts up to industrial applications, passing over the actual "nitty gritty" of programming an agent. Many papers on artificial intelligence are just too mathematical for many readers, and those which have any application would describe what the program does, but only sometimes you get into knowing *how* the program does the trick. I personally would say the book is a "must-have-it", not only for those seeking to understand in concrete distributed artificial intelligence or multiagent systems, but also for any mathematician, physicists, computer scientists and engineer whose background touches somehow the concepts of artificial intelligence as a whole. Come to think of it, even any cunning philosopher of science could take real advantage of this book. Now then, concerning those industries which would like to have this book on their shelves, they would have to take in mind that this book is a departure point. A good one, but nevertheless only the start for deepening towards a concrete application the industry would have in mind.

"My Hero" is an insightful, satisfying book - a pager-turner of thought and reflection. I had my favorite stories and I'd say there is something here for everyone. They run the gamut of human experience and are held together by the weaving of inspiration, deep wisdom and hope. We are an intelligent species. We do our greatest work when passionately creating and laboring over what we love best. But what makes us truly remarkable (and this is what "My Hero" reminds us over and over again) is when we never lose sight of those other human beings among us who are in need, and we do that angelic thing we do by acting on it.

Also available in an MP3 format (1400151988, $19.99), My Hero is an unabridged audiobook compilation of essays by genuine American heroes co-read by veteran narrators Alan Sklar and Ellen Archer. Sponsored by the nonprofit My Hero Project, whose mission is to inspire the hero in us all, My Hero includes the writings of celebrities, athletes, and public figures such as Michael J. Fox, Dana Reeve, Senator John McCain, Mayor Rudy Giuliani, astronaut John Glen, baseball great Yogi Berra, and many more. A singularly inspirational and motivational testimony to human greatness. 5 CDs, running time 5 1/2 hours.

This book is wonderful because it gives you courage. It speaks of Heros, and defines Heroic Acts. All of the People in this book have been committed to producing great services for people. MY favorites were Colonel Jack Jacobs,Senator John Glenn, Sue Bird,and Dr. Bernard Lown. Each talked about their successes and their disappointments. This book speaks from the heart. It promotes living a quality life full of meaning and discipline. All of the people in the book were extremely disciplined. It was the reason they were able to accomplish so much. I think this is a book that the whole family can enjoy. I could imagine a family sitting down to read this book together.
It simply inspires and shows how dreams do come true. I highly recommend this book.

The My Hero book is a spirit lifter that highlights the importance of
recognizing and commemorating those people who inspire us and who add
fuel to our creativity so that we may achieve great things. The intro by Karen Pritzker and forward by Magic Johnson provide a great back drop to this
collection of hero stories. I really enjoyed reading the essays written by Muhammad Ali,Frank O. Gehry , Rob Warden, Kathy Eldon,Erin Gruwell, Senator John Glenn, Senator John McCain and Elie Wiesel. We all learn from example, and people who accomplish amazing feats all have heroes or inspiring individuals whose ideas or actions made those accomplishments possible. This book enticed me to identify my heroes and as a result I came a way with a positively warm feeling of
thankfulness.

I highly recommend this book for a holiday gift to those you admire
and as a gift to some of the people you know that might be searching for
some inspiration of their own.

I have two books to recommend to readers if they are looking for books that focus on finding Inspiration. One is Michele Geraldi's Calling in the Night, and the other is Karen Pritzker's My Hero. These books show the importance of finding inspiration and applying it to your everyday life. My Hero is a vast collection of inspirational stories, written by some of the most influential people in the world, during some of the most controversial and trying times the world has ever seen. It does not try to be inspiring, so much as it focuses on the importance of a person finding something in his/her life to be inspired by. There is a big difference there. I found the stories uplifting, and I came from the book knowing that My Hero is a good read and a good tool that teaches a person to always keep his/her eyes open for the one little thing that might move the spirit to become better, and then hopefully, eventually move the spirit's of other people as well.

If you are looking for good introduction.
This book is your best choice.
Very consistent, without any "poetry" (like in last Richter's book).
Mr.Tapadiya's two book about COM+ and .NET must have any Windows developer.

This book isn't as code oriented as Ferguson or Troelsen's text on c#, but seems to deal more with concepts and common trouble points with the language and environment. Much like Tapadiya's last book, it is well thought out and demonstrates a good insight in the subject matter. A good read.

This book is a treasure trove of .Net information. It is underrated and not seen often in bookstores. This book complements Richter's book on .Net Framework programming and is a boon for any C#/.NETer.

A concise, no-nonsense book. All topics are cut to the chase. This book is for C++ and Java pros who want to master C# in the shortest time possible. I also have 3 other C# books. Only this one calms me down and gives me the joy of reading while learning. However, for people who is new to programming, I recommend "Learn to Program with C#" by John Smiley. My 3rd book, "C# in a Nutshell" is a good choice for reference. My 4th one, "Introduction to C# Using .Net" is good too, but the topics covered are not as broad as this one.

For donwloading this book's sample code, it points to www.phptr.com/tapadiya/dotnet/, which no longer works. Instead, go http://www.tapadiya.net/pradeep/ComPlusBook.htm#CodeSamples, a link I finally found after 10 minutes of Google search.

I liked this book. It starts with very basic things about .NET (what .NET is and what it's for, tools, basics of C#, etc.) and takes you to advanced topics. My employer wanted to move our development to .NET platform, and with this book alone, I was able to master .NET enough to get to a pretty advanced level quite fast.

When a new topic is covered, the author provides an introduction to the problem. It often helps to get the right perspective on what you study. It's very far from being a dry reference book. I found it to be written in an easy to understand the language, detailed enough and not too wordy, and to explain things in a practical way. I like Tapadiya's style, in general. I liked his other book (about COM programming) too. I enjoyed reading it.

The book is not for those who are looking for a general programming tutorial. I think it requires some experience in software creation, although maybe not a whole lot.

This book is a must read for anyone involved in the ever-changing world of technology. Reading this book provided an amazing plain-english understanding of all issues surrounding network security especially as they relate to my businesses and my clients. As an attorney, this book gave me the ability to understand the language my clients speak and to relate to the specific needs of their different businesses - especially in light of today's regulatory environment (i.e. Health care, Securities, etc). It has also proven to be an essential tool for my own IT department regarding our own issues when dealing with sensitive and confidential client information.

This book is a must read for a business owner or IT Director. The authors do a wonderful job of breaking down security issues in such a way that an executive can understand the dangers that exist, and IT staff can recognize and diagnose exposure within their own networks. They bring many issues to light that may otherwise be overlooked, and are able to break down a complex and cumbersome topic so that it can be understood and applied to an individual company. The reader learns how to asses his or her company's risks and what to do to mitigate the damage. An essential tool for any manager. Beautifully organized and illustrated, it allows the business person to understand the technological issues while bringing the business concerns associated with network management to the IT department.
Have at least one copy of this book on your company's shelves.

I'm not a computer wiz, far from it actually. I consider it a successful trip to the internet when my computer doesn't freeze up or start spouting error messages at me. Never in a million years would I think that this book would interest me. Boy, was I wrong! A friend of mine (computer geek) had this book sitting on his coffee table last weekend and I picked it up to see what was what with something I know nothing about. I was expecting the usual technical manual, a Saltine, dry, uninteresting, tasteless. What I found was a witty, colorful, and interesting tome on network security. The guys who wrote this book obviously know what they are talking about and they make it easy for a layman like me to understand a field of knowledge I thought I'd never be frolicking through.

When I bought the book, I didn't know what to expect but am now very happy I made the purchase. It clearly and concisely informs, pointing out the holes that may exist and providing the tools and know-how for business-driven solutions. Now I have a whole lot more confidence in my ability to address security concerns and articulate our capacity to investors, helping to reassure them that we are vigilant in practice.

The map is indispensable, perfect for rendering network issues in comprehensible terms. When network security questions arise, it'll be nice to have the map handy to help illustrate explanations, which, the book demonstrates, need not be unwieldy.

Both tech guys and execs should read the book. It provides a common language with which to talk about network security, facilitating communication on the most serious of organizational priorities.

With intelligence and wit this book tackles an issue that keeps business and IT executives up at night. For an intelligent business person, the book strikes the perfect balance between readability and technical content. It fills the wide gap on the shelf between the dumbed down primers and the textbooks for doctoral candidates. The graphic interpretations (that Edward Tufte would appreciate) perfectly complement the text.

You'll find the book indispensable if you are a non-technical executive who needs to understand network security or if you are an IT professional who needs to explain it in business terms.