Software Books

I've managed to get about halfway through this book so far. It's NOT an easy read. Coverage and detail are excellent, however, and if you're interested in plumbing the depths of how MySql works, I would recommend this book as a solid reference for improving your overall knowledge.

No, I am not associated with the authors in any way. I was looking for a book for MySQL that was beyond "this is a database, here is how you select".

I wanted something more challenging that covered topics like clustering, backups, etc.

This book dives deep into MySQL database use and design, including detailed information on indexes, optimizations, etc.

Very good read. I totally recommend this book.

cbmeeks

This book is a great expert overview of all that is current in MySQL 5. This covers both the SQL interaction with the database and the management. There are aspects that users often don't use in any SQL platform, and it is a shame. The effort expended to learn stored procedures and custom functions is greatly rewarded in code creation and support. This is another book I rate as ROI super positive.

Highly indicated reading for any database designer involved in developing a major application or in optimizing database operations using MySQL, this intermediate/advanced level book assumes the reader has a general knowledge of database operations and some familiarity with MySQL database system. However, should such awareness be lacking, the book is sprinkled generously with additional source of information to remedy the deficiency. From conceptualizing and elaborating a database to fit business needs to implementing it in an efficient manner, the author takes the reader deep into the inner workings of MySQL in order to optimize database operations. Tools for benchmarking and profiling, which are essentials to indicate where coding performance could be improved, are explored in an insightful manner.
As much as it is possible to make a book on data processing, much less database innards interesting and captivating reading, the author has done an excellent job in this regard.
Overall, a must reading for any MySQL developer looking into enhancing his/her skills.

For people like me who have a good understanding of MYSQL, the next logical step would be this book. I already know about stored procedures, transactions and the basics of triggers, but I want to learn more about these topics in more "real-world" scenarios in how to develop larger, enterprise-wide applications. Also I want to know more about other advanced topics that I may not even know to think about. If this sounds like you as well, then read on...

The author starts in with reviewing how business requirements and the software development cycle can be part of database development. This a great chapter for people like me who would like to learn how different approaches are taken from different IT perspectives in a team environment (business analysts, application developers, and project managers) This chapter gives you a good understanding of how the other side thinks.

The next chapter focuses on the importance of proper indexing and strategies as pertaining to data storage. Because once your databases reach to the multiple gigabits of storage space, you need to very focused on how long each request takes. A few seconds here and there begin to add up and can cause serious issues if not taken into consideration early in your database design. Like me who only deals with small to an occasional medium-size database I never really had to think about this before.

The next chapter focuses on transaction processing in MYSQL which is one of the more difficult concepts for many and I am in the process now of reading it. I really like the author's explanations and examples. Each point is explained thoroughly and in an easy to read manner.

The rest of the book goes into more advanced topics (system architecture, benchmarking and profiling, security, replication and clustering) as well as giving more detail and explanation to topics that may only be briefly covered in other MYSQL books (stored procedures, functions, and views).

If you already know the basics of MYSQL and want to really advance your knowledge with "real-world" scenarios, this is the book for you.

Judging by the number of reviews, MacDonald's fan base is similar to that of Alison Balter-Mastering Access 97 Development (one of SAMS best). The learning and example experience is fairly similar. I got Pro WPF before the VB version came out. Migrating from VB to WPF is difficult enough without dealing with C#. The downloaded code of the VB version is only for examples but they are generally relevant to me. I still break out Visual Basic 2005 (.NET or Bust) for a succinct reorientation.

This review is a comparison between
Windows Presentation Foundation Unleashed (WPF) (Unleashed) by Adam Nathan

and

Pro WPF: Windows Presentation Foundation in .NET 3.0 by Matthew MacDonald

I have been using both of these books for learning WPF. What I like about "WPF Unleashed" is the quality of the pages with the color printing. I believe this higher quality is a great step in the right direction and I know a lot of developers appreciate good quality printing such as this. But as good as the printing is I still find myself spending more time in the "Pro WPF" book.

I think it has to do with the flow of the book and how the information is presented to the reader. I'll do my best to explain my experience. In the "Unleashed" book I found myself reading a bit of knowledge, looking at the example, try to work with it in Visual Studio and struggling. Then going back over the knowledge, going to the internet, find out some more, work with it in Visual Studio, back to the book and in some cases giving up because I couldn't achieve some result.

In the "Pro WPF" book though I didn't have this happen nearly as much. In the Pro book it had a really nice flow to it where he would present some basic information, give and example, present some information, give an example. So here I found myself reading some knowledge, do it in Visual Studio like his example, read some knowledge, do it in Visual Studio. I didn't have to reread nearly as much and the knowledge seemed to build upon itself nicely; taking you from simple to more complex. He was really good at NOT introducing newer topics (WPF class/methods) that he hadn't already covered.

The books work well together though and that's how I used them. I use the "Pro WPF" as my main and the "Unleashed" book for more examples.

The "Pro WPF" book has also been updated since publishing and split into two books for C# and VB.NET in .NET 3.5:
Pro WPF in C# 2008: Windows Presentation Foundation with .NET 3.5, Second Edition (Books for Professionals by Professionals)
Pro WPF with VB 2008: Windows Presentation Foundation with .NET 3.5 (Pro)
I haven't read these books yet so I cannot comment on them. I just wanted to include them as a note to the reader.

I really didn't need another book on WPF, at least that is what my girlfriend would say. I already own "Applications = Code + Markup" by Charles Petzold, "Essential Windows Presentation Foundation" by Chris Anderson, "Foundations of WPF: An Introduction to Windows Presentation Foundation" by Laurence Moroney, "Windows Presentation Foundation Unleashed" by Adam Nathan, and "Professional WPF Programming: .NET Development with the Windows Presentation Foundation" by an assortment of Wrox authors.

But I saw Pro WPF: Windows Presentation Foundation in .NET 3.0 on Amazon and decided to investigate the possibility that I need to have it. After reviewing the TOC I still wasn't sure. But after downloading the code from Apress I was sold. I have been a fan of Matthew MacDonald for some time. He has definitely worked his magic on this title.

Some of the highlights I like:
His in-depth coverage of printing.
His Custom Elements chapter.
His approach with 3-D drawings makes extensive use of the 3DTools from CodePlex.
The chapter on using ClickOnce with WPF.
Everything is gone into in depth. This is not a brush over the topic book.
The usability of the code makes the book all that much more valuable.

He also has a great site named ProseTech that has a companion site for the book. It contains all the links found in the book

For extreme coverage of Expression Blend you will have to by a book specifically on Blend. Too bad no good ones exist yet. One I have seen that is out has bad reviews. None of the books I have listed above cover Blend in-depth at all. The Wrox book has 2 high level chapters on it, but I have been playing with Blend 2 a lot and find myself in the XAML most of the time because I don't know how to get to what I want to do in Blend. On that note, this book is excellent for showing you how to work XAML to the maximum.

This book also does not cover Silverlight. It is a book about Windows Applications, not Browser Applications.

I highly recommend this book as addition to any developer's or designer's (those who need to know XAML) library. It was definitely worth buying.

Books stated purpose: This book is an in-depth exploration of WPF for professional developers who know the .NET platform, the C# language, and the Visual Studio development environment.

This book introduces the developer to the WPF (Windows Presentation Foundation), which is a new graphical display system for Windows. This book is well written from beginning to end, and takes the developer through the process of learning how to utilize the capabilities of WPF. The author provides references to outside sources throughout the book. These either provide a more in depth look at the current topic, or point to a tool that would be useful. The author introduces WPF in a manner that lets developers of any level understand what WPF is and the benefits of using WPF. Then chapter by chapter he provides instructions and examples that take the developer through the learning process about WPF.

System Requirements;
* To run WPF applications, you must be running Windows Vista or Windows XP with Service Pack 2.
* To create WPF application, you must have either Visual Studio 2005 with .NET 3.0 and the WPF extension, or Visual Studio 2008.

The early part of the book is about the basics in and about WPF. The author gives basic, but understandable examples that lead the developer in a growing understanding of WPF. Once the developer has the basics of WPF down, the author begins to build on this base.

One of the basics covered is the creation of the Application object. This is the foundation for all the code throughout the book. Another basic operation covered is the layout of the forms. WPF provides the ability for Windows forms to dynamically grow and resize based on data and language, similar to Web Forms. It takes more work to set up a form, but it will give the user a much better experience in using it.

Now that the developer has the basics, the author moves along the path for using them. The developer is introduced to the WPF controls and how to develop with them. There are a number of features added to familiar controls. Some examples include: Tooltips can now contain both images and text. Multi-line text boxes can grow dynamically and text does not have to always break where it fits the textbox edge. You can add a dynamic spell check to textboxes.

There is a chapter on building control templates or modifying existing controls. This feature appears to be more powerful, and quicker than the old method of building a new specialized control from scratch.

The following topics are part of what is covered as the book continues. Data Binding to a database, Printing, Animation, Sound and Video and 3-D drawing.

The author wraps the book up with a short tutorial on using the ClickOnce Deployment. If the developer has already learned to use the ClickOnce Deployment, this chapter can be skipped. However, it is a useful conclusion to the book if the developer has not yet used the ClickOnce Deployement.

The book is pretty detailed. This review only touches on a few of the highlights from the book that specifically caught the reviewer's eye. It is worth adding to any developers library if they are looking to do new development for Windows Vista or Windows XP SP2.

I already have several WPF books now, each of them has something to offer and it's a rare day when you can find all the information you need on a complex, wide ranging topic like WPF in one book.

Without detracting from the other books that I admire, I think if one book does come closest to being a one-stop source then possibly it is this one. Coverage of topics is comprehensive, detailed and accurate. At just under 1000 pages it's definitely a heavyweight, although you're unlikely to want to be parted from it long enough to use it as a doorstop.

The author's writing style is clear and friendly without being patronising. If I have a gripe about the book, it's the same complaint I've been making since the middle of 2007 - this is yet another WPF book that only has code behind samples in C#. However I understand that there will be a VB2008 version out early in 2008.

Of the books I have on WPF, I turn to this one early in most researches. I consider this book to be a good investment. I have several of Matthew MacDonald's earlier books, which I have always found relevant, well-written and useful; this book is in the same mould.

Mr. Bassiri definitely has an excellent grasp of the Netscape Server architecture. After reading this book, I have gained a better understanding of the Netscape server inner workings. I found the chapters on WAI very helpful! I would definitely recommend this to anyone developing applications for the Netscape platform.

My only complaint is that some of the sections are too wordy and redundant.

I thought I knew a lot before I read this book. I was just fooling my self..... Must own book if you work with NES.

Just got my copy of this book and it is great. Wish Netscape provided such accurate and detailed information in their books. Mr. Bassiri seems to know what he is writing about. He seems to write from experience instead of reading Netscape manuals and rehashing the old story. Appendix A and B are really helpful. They included a complete list of server configuration settings. The NSAPI tutorial is the best around and the WAI section provides a true programmer's review of this API. This book is packed full of information. If you want to know how the Netscape server works and program applications for it, you should definitely buy this book.

If you administer or develop for Netscape servers, you will benefit from this book. Administrators: the knowledge you gain from this book will allow you to modify the config files to do correctly what the Server Manager sometimes doesn't do properly, and configure features that simply cannot be administered from the Server Manager. Developers and Architects: Having read this book, you will know what options you have, and be more easily able to decide which architecture is best for your application -- and you'll be able to code it. In addition, your understanding of the key concepts will allow you to grasp quickly how external but related technologies (like Forte's Web Enterprise) work. Well-written, detailed and comprehensive; highly recommended.

Easy to read, I delved in and finished it in 2 workdays without falling asleep. The info is clear and the examples great. Two suggestions: more examples, and greater focus on what the non-threadsafe functions are. He lists NSAPI funcs and says to use 'em (util_sprintf() for instance) but doesn't mention if strlen or other functions are threadsafe. Also, the time function - I can't get a compile using time funcs that don't have a local time_t or timeb structure (instead of pointers to system structures). That should be noted. Otherwise, totally required book and excellent for beginners to get into it.

This book is very good for all types of projects. It covers setting up a project, organizing the work, managing a project, handling several projects at once, dealing with project issues and crises, using modern technology such as groupware and the Internet. The approach of establishing an issues data base and relating issues to specific tasks in a project is unique. It is very useful.

This is one of the best project management books for introducing employees to modern project management in an interesting way. Most project management books are ver dry and lack realistic examples. Thus, it is difficult to motivate people to read and use such materials. This is a very practical, down to earth book that has many guidelines that you can use immediately as you read the book. Some of the strengths of the book are: 1) best description of matrix management; 2) use of collaborative tools in managing projects; 3) how to deal with multiple projects; 4) how to share resources across several projects; 5) how to deal with risk in projects. The authors have developed a very creative and useful approach in dealing with project risk that associates project risk with unresolved issues. I highly recommend this book.

Project management for the 21st century is one of the most usable, easy to read, and complete project management books. There are good examples. Techniques are modern--better than that available in other books. This books stresses working together, sharing information, and dealing with resources that are spread among various projects. Very good reference.

This book provides the basics of project management in an easy to use casual style. It proceeds step by step through building a plan and then managing a project. The chapter on project costing is good, but could use some more detail. The modern and historical examples are usefully examined. These could be expanded more later.

This book not only gives you all of the basics, but also highlights how to use the Internet for project management. Very useful material.

The QuiickBooks 2008 Solution Guide is a very helpful resource. It saves time by having solutions to many common problems users encounter in QuickBooks. The book is very well organized and extremely useful in the practical world of small business accounting.

Laura's done a great job of not only explaining the how of QuickBooks but the why. As a QuickBooks consultant this book is a must for all of my staff and will be a strong recommendation for my clients.

Jeanne Tarazevits, CPA, CITP Tara Consulting Orange Co. CA

I found this book extremely helpful and most importantly easy to read and understand. I would recommend it for anyone who uses QuickBooks on daily bases or is just an occasional user. The book does a great job at describing common scenarios or problems that one may encounter along with clear solutions and suggestions for corrections.

We use the 2008 QuickBooks Solutions Guide in our software consulting practice. Our firm, Core Performance Consulting, is an Intuit Solution Provider based in Orange County, CA. Since it is such a comprehensive resource on all things related to QuickBooks, we are giving away copies to our Customers as a promotional activity. Thanks Laura for writing such an excellent book !

Peter Cullen

This book is a great book to keep handy. I supply it with many of my QuickBook classes as a resource for the students. It's easy to follow for the new user but also in depth where it needs to be for the experienced user. The table of contents and index allow you to find what you need quickly whenever you need it.

Sarah Keiser
www.successif.biz

I have all RenderMan books on the market.
This one is impressed me!
The authors explain step by step and that make readers understand RenderMan more.

Same as other reviews, lacking of CD is the shame.
However, overall still be very good to me.
And if you consider the price is very worth for money.
That's why I think this book should be given 5 stars.
Hopefully, There will be more good RenderMan books available soon.

Tee

The RenderMan Shading Language Guide is an excellent resource. It contains numerous examples of shader code, to help get you started with writing your own shaders. I was happy to see the robust section on illumination models, with some sl code provided for most of them. I found the section that had common functions (like gamma() and remap()) very helpful, and appreciated the disscussion on more sophisticated components of the shading language (like subsurface scattering and global illumination). In addition, for the user who is new to the process of writing and compiling shaders, a number of pages are devoted to explaining how to achieve these goals. All in all, I would highly recommend this book to any user who wants to learn how to write his/her own RenderMan shaders.

I caught wind that this book was coming out well before it actually came out and could hardly contain my excitement. I had it ordered before it was even off the press.

Let's face it, trying to learn Renderman online is like trying to ride a bike with a flat tire. You can go, but not very fast or very far. I own several other renderman books but found them to be a bit out of date and lacking in areas. Since leaving school and entering into the industry I had actually been considering writing a Renderman book myself. I am glad to say that now I don't have to!

I have been enjoying my copy of the book since december of last year. I admit that I was thrown off by all the refrences to the accompanying cd, as well as a few typos throughout. I was overjoyed however to find the website today! This is the book that I have needed for a long time. It is well worth what you pay for it.

I have read many technical manuals relating to the 3D Animation and Visual Effects industries, and I can honestly say that this is easily one of the best available.

Given the limited library of Renderman books, I'd call this an absolute must have for any Lighting/Rendering/Shader TD, or any artist or technical director involved in the look development and shot finaling pipelines.

Even if you haven't yet worked within a Renderman pipeline, this is the perfect publication to introduce you to, and bring you up to speed in, the Renderman Shading Language (RSL).

I've found that the majority of technical manuals suffer from a number of common flaws:

1. The information is presented chaotically, and with minimal use of examples or descriptions, resulting in a publication that would readable only by those that already know everything it has to teach.

2. The information is presented so laboriously that what should take a paragraph instead takes up three chapters.

The Renderman Shading Language Guide is perfectly paced for beginners and intermediate users alike, and indeed when I showed the book to a couple of highly experienced Renderman TDs, they were surprised by the sheer volume of information and ordered copies for themselves.

Everything is presented in short blocks with an easily readable description, examples, shortcuts and conclusions. There is no unecessarily complicated geek speek, and neither is the reader treated like a 4 year old.

Even though I barely remember my high school math, and in the most flattering estimation I'd be considered a competent beginner when it comes to the math involved in RSL, I found the examples relatively easy to follow for the most part. And in those parts where the math went well over my head, I found the simple descriptions and concise, well explained instructions to be all I needed to quickly understand the topic.

From cover to cover this book is crammed full of useful information. There is no wastage of space in these pages. It seems that every conceivable question is answered - every possible topic covered from introduction to an advanced level of understanding and a practical and immmediately useful conclusion.

And at the price? This book is a steal.

One very minor complaint I would make is in regards to the occasional typographical error. An equation or two is printed with "?" in place of "*" or another symbol, and there are a few spelling and grammatical errors. But as I said, it is a minor complaint.

Also, I would have liked to have seen more complete shader examples demonstrated in a step-by-step process, as while this book is overflowing with informative mini-tutorials, it all seems a little incongruous. It would have been good to see a few more examples where the information was brought together in real-world ways to create some amazing completed shaders. Perhaps in a sequel? ;)

All in all, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED, from an industry Lead Lighting TD.

9.5/10

I'm quite pleased with the depth of this book. So many of the CGI titles I've bought that claim to be intermediate or advanced aren't. While the RenderMan Shading Language Guide assumes that you have no starting knowledge of RSL, it immediately dives into technical details without overwhelming the novice. For someone wishing to learn RSL (or even just shader theory), this book is wonderfully paced, containing a great depth of information, very well explained.

At the same time, this isn't a book for dabblers. To get much out of the RenderMan Shading Language Guide, you need to be willing to put some effort and practice into it. This is a textbook and needs to be treated as a subject of study, rather than a casual enhancement for playing with CGI. If RenderMan intrigues you, but you don't want to get too deep into the technical (and programing/scripting) aspects, you'd be better off getting Pixar's RenderMan for Maya and a Digital Tutors or similar training DVD. You'll learn more of the simple, day-to-day things and get started making renderings faster.

As another poster mentioned, the text mentions an included disk which isn't. The website doesn't have downloads either. That omission would knock the book down to 4.5 stars, but since I can't rate with half-stars, 5 stars more accurately reflects the value of the book than 4.

Wow! What a great book. Make sure you get the workbooks. Without them, you will miss out on the power of this book. Our church had a premarrital class that my boyfriend and I attended where we read this book. We met in high school and reunited 20 years later (2 years ago). There were so many questions I needed to ask him, but couldn't find a way to bring them up in conversation. This book was a great spring board for those questions and more. We were able to get through the rough questions, the rough spots and learn we could trust each other talking about our past marriages, feeling about our kids, our doubts and our fears. I would recommend this book to anyone exploring the possibility of getting married. They have a CD that was great for the group instruction also.

I love this book because it is so helpful! It has given me peace during a time that brings up bad memories.

This is the best book out there for those wanting to learn from mistakes and do things differently next time! My fiance and I both agree we will keep it and remind ourselves of key points in the book. The experience of the authors comes through clearly and their advice is practical. We have already shared the book with family and friends. I wish someone had given me this book (or the one for first marriages) many years ago!

Several years after my divorce became final, I started dating a divorced guy. Long story short: we're remarried and blending a family.

This book is one of three or four books about remarriage that I read before actually agreeing to get married again. It is helpful and useful; I found myself skipping around within the sections and not reading every word.

I've since found another book by these authors with almost the same title. I actually like the other book better. The title is the same, without "Second" in the language. I think the other book "Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts" is actually stronger than this one.

Buy either one, with our without "Second" in the title. Both are helpful.

Lauren Hodge
Apple Valley, California

I also highly recommend this book:
Happily Remarried: Making Decisions Together * Blending Families Successfully * Building a Love That Will Last

As a pastor of over 25 years, I have used several books as part of a pre-marital counseling regiment. Drs. Les and Leslie Parrotts' books are the best, by far! Not only do the Man's and Woman's Workbooks (I suggest ordering them with the book) make premaritial counseling simpler, I have found that this book hits the nail on the head. Couples who went through the "Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts" material in preparation for marriage thanked me after they were married, and they shared how valuable this material was in the daily grind of life.

This volume adds additioanl material to address the compexities of a Blended Family. Although blended family issues cannot be dealt with thoroughly, the Parrotts share the most important considerations (and offer other resource suggestions on page 186, footnote 6).

I first heard the authors at a Moody Pastor's Conference in the late 1990's. It did not take me long to determine that I would check out their books. I have since concluded that Drs. Les and Leslie Parrott are exceptional in the realm of understanding human relationships.

Althogh the book is written by a godly Christian couple, this is more of a relational book than a spiritual one, so I would not consider it a complete pre-marital regiment, but a good anchor book. Couples already married (even for years) will find this material valuable as well (and will kick themselves for not having read it earlier).

Whether used in counseling or simply read by a couple in their own quest to prepare for marriage, this book is a gem. The Drs. Parrott seem to have a realistic (and well documented) grasp on the nature of marriage and the additional complexities of bringing children into a new blended family. This is practical, hands on material.

The book is arranged around 9 questions: Are you ready to get married again? Have you faced the myths of marriage with honesty? Can you identify your love style? Have you developed the habit of happiness? Can you say what you mean and understand what you hear? Have you bridged the gender gap? Do you know how to fight a good fight? Do you know how to blend a family? and Are you and your partner soul mates? This is basically the 7 questions from "Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts" with two additional questions added to tackle a blended family, thus, "Saving Your SECOND Marriage..."

Of course no couple entering marriage could honestly answer all those questions with a "yes." But the book provides a good start and helps couples begin to face reality and potential areas of growth.

If a couple follows the exercises by purchasing the workbooks, (like identifying some of your own personal "commandments"--rules you live by that you picked up who knows where and expect your spouse to know and agree with), it could preclude many potential tensions later.

To those of you considering a second marriage, go through this book together, and cosider at least some of the exercises in the workbooks. To pastors and Christian counselors, I urge you to read this volume and consider using it!

There seem to be three categories of computer security books. The first category is books written for system administrators or computer owners, and explains how to protect the computers under their control. The second category is the "true crime" genre that recounts the exploits of black hat hackers or explains the hacker culture (sometimes as "how-to" books for non-programmers). The third, and rarest, category is books for professional programmers that explain the coding idioms that make programs more secure or more insecure.

This book is an excellent contribution to the third category. It explains how certain ways of programming in C and C++ make programs vulnerable to security attacks. There are many code examples throughout the book illustrating the issues.

Although everything is explained in great detail, the treatment is not superficial. (No background in computer security is required, but the reader should be at least a journeyman C or C++ programmer.) Some of the security holes will surprise readers familiar with the basics of computer security. My favorite example: Many programmers know that the gets() function once was involved with compromising 10% of the computers on the Internet in a single day, but did you know that printf can also be a security flaw in some cases? The statement:
printf(s);
can allow an attacker to run any code of his choosing if s is a string provided by the attacker. Even more surprising is the printf attack has been used successfully on popular programs.

This book should be read by any programmer who does I/O across a network, or who writes applications that provide a captive environment for their users (data entry stations, information kiosks), or who writes programs to manipulate sensitive data. Even programmers merely curious about security issues will find this book a readable treatment. I guess the Black Hats can read the book to get more ideas for future attacks.

I can personally vouch for Seacord's expertise. He is a security analyst as the Computer Emergency Response Team/Coordination Center, and I've worked with him on the ANSI/ISO C Programming Language Standards Committee. I've found his information on computer security both educational and valuable.
[...]

This is an important book for people that write computer programs and their managers.
It is also very well organized and well written. Seacord reveals how the bad guys take
advantage of bugs in programs to break into a system or damage it. It is the most
complete list of exploitable bug types that I am aware of.

Many examples are given, naming software that have been exploited by bad guys. Some
may protest that this provides the bad guys with a list of easy targets. All of the
vulnerable software has been updated to fix the bug, and the improved version has been
available for a long time.

Everyone that writes software intended to be used by someone else should read this book.
Every organization that writes software should have a copy.

Most of the security flaws are buffer overflows. Secord shows how, from the simple use of
gets() through mistakes triggered by subtle differences in the rules for signed and unsigned
integers of various sizes. There are other ways, and some are quite subtle, but still
preventable. The bad guys are not Jay Leno's "Dumb crooks."

The primary way to frustrate the bad guys is to not have any of the bugs they exploit.
Seacord admits zero bugs is an elusive goal and recommends defense in depth by the use of
various freeware or commercial packages intended to trap or prevent certain errors.
He lists and describes many, with their strengths and weaknesses.

Read this book and make your code better. Read it again, next year.

The following are my opinions, based on over 40 years writing software, but I doubt
Seacord would disagree. Every security bug is also a bug that can cause a crash or a
wrong output from a program. The major cause of fewer bugs is the attitude of the
programmer. Managers can affect the attitude of the programmers by their choice of
questions. Do not ask "Is it done yet?" Instead try approaches like: "Tell me about how
you validated the inputs and how you identified all the inputs." "Who reviewed your test
cases?" "How did you decide you had tested enough?" The fewer bugs of any kind in your
product, the less likely the bad guys are going to target it, other things being equal.

I had the honor of taking a short course at a software security summit from Robert Seacord. I would have to say it was one of the most informative security related courses that I have taken. This book encompasses the course that I took and does a great job of explaining what to watch out for when writing code.

I highly recommend this book for any serious developer.

This book slipped under my radar, but I recently picked it up and was quite impressed.

This book is fairly unique in that it is accessible and well-written, yet, at the same time, unabashedly technical. It's quite simply a very good book, and it should prove valuable to readers new to software security, as well as experienced security consultants and vulnerability researchers.

I know the problem domain intimately, and was quite impressed at the level of thoroughness and the technical depth of the coverage. This book isn't merely a well-written exploration of known insecure programming idioms and attack techniques; there's actually a considerable amount of original research and material that you won't find elsewhere. Specifically, the coverage of integer issues goes above and beyond what has been previously written, and it's incredibly topical given the current trends in vulnerability research. Seacord's mastery of the C language and his ability to distill the practical rules of thumb out of the somewhat fragmented C standards really results in an excellent resource.

Seacord gives an unsettling walkthrough of vulnerabilities present in much of C and C++ coding. Buffer overflows take up a significant portion of the discussion. Which leads into considering how these can be introduced into unwary code. Consider C. The common string functions of strcpy, strcat, gets, streadd() and others are shown to be very exposed to error or attack. C++ also has similar drawbacks.

The text explains that much of these trace back to some bad usages. Strings are defined to be null terminated. And bounds checking is often not done. While this is often true of code that the programmer writes, it is also true of various common C library functions, like those mentioned above. In fact, Seacord goes so far as to emphatically assert that gets() should never be used in your code. Instead, he suggests fgets() or gets_s().

Seacord also covers other topics, like dynamic memory management, which might have vulnerable heaps. Various 3rd party analysis tools are suggested, to find these errors.

Overall, the book can be quite disturbing, if you are maintaining a large body of C or C++ code. Might make you want to delve in and replace those gets(), at the very least.

While the text doesn't mention this, it turns out that recent languages like Java and C# have far more robust string handling abilities. They were written after the above flaws in C and C++ become apparent.

Have been using code from this book with great success, extending the functionality of SSJS objects (SuperFile, SuperMail)--until now (SuperClient). SuperClient can't seem to see the [client] object in an iPlanet WebServer 4.1 environment. So, digging around in vendor supplied documentation for that version, we find [customClient]. The description of this [customClient] object is very similar to [SuperClient]. Now, while merging the functionality of the two, the book continues to be a wonderful asset.

iPlanet Web Server, Enterprise Edition Server-Side JavaScript Guide (v4.1)* March 2000 (p140 ff) Creating a Custom [client] Object

EXTRACT: Properties of the predefined [client] object can have only string values. To extend the [client] object with a custom object include the following line at the beginning of pages that require it: [var customClient = getCustomClient();] If this is NOT the first page that requests the object you get an existing object, otherwise a new one is created.

I have been using and referring this book to development teams for the past year. An excellent tutorial and reference point for people exposing the power of Server-side JavaScript.

The book was very good with the best history of JavaScript (server and client-side) I have ever read. However, nobody in the professional world will start a project today in SSJS, the language is extinct. Only legacy web applications will be using this and there are so many better server-side languages available now.

I have scanned this book, and true to what the other reviewers have said, this book looks excellent. I like that SSJS seems to separate the business stuff from the presentation stuff (HTML) unlike ColdFusion and ASP's. How many people are using SSJS?

If any one wanted to learn good SSJS programming techniques, this is the best buy. Authors not only have real stuff but they explained in a much better way than anyother about SSJS concepts with wonderful, real life examples. Ofcourse, you shoud know about javascript fundamentals (core javascript) before you read this book and authors are very specific about the content of the book and their target is only for users of SSJS

Now I have not read the book all the way through. I only use it as a reference when I can't figure something out on my own.

It has had the answer every time I needed it, so I am very impressed so far. Also bought the book on the new version of Office by the same authors and have the same thing to say about it.

Good Stuff

This product was in excellant condition upon arrival and arrived before expected.
I have used Que Books by the same authors previously. I find these are excellent reference books.

Very detailed, as you would expect from a Que book, but quite well organized. Except for unique requirements, the book blurb is true - "the only book on Vista you will ever need".

I have read and put to work about half of this book and I'm impressed with its thorough coverage. However be aware that to fully benefit from this book you must have intermediate to advanced prior knowledge of the Windows OS. This new edition includes SP1, but I found several remnants of references to pre SP1 Vista features that were not corrected or edited. For example, the Search link was deleted from the Start Menu by SP1. Yet the book refers to this link as if it was still present. If these minor problems had been corrected I would have rated this book 5 stars.

A very comprehensive treatment which lives up to its title of the only vista book you need.A real bargain at the price.