Software Books

Unlike many other microprocessor books which mainly focus on programming, this book provides practical and detail knowledge on hardware interfacing. These including design of address decoder and mechanical characteristic of microprocessor buses.

For student or fresh engineer who want to get the real thing works, this is the book.

This is especially handy as the 3rd edition has a cd-rom with a cross-compiler!

This book is suitable for a semester course in microprocessor systems. It has good coverage of hardware and software topics. I use it in a senior/master's course which studies the 68000 and SPARC as comparative CISC/RISC architectures. The book comes with a CDROM including a PC-based 68000 simulator for readers who do not have access to real 68000 hardware.

This book makes all things clear about designing systems controlled by microprocessors and uses the Motorola 68000 family of microprocessors as an example. It is full of clear examples and many exercises for the student, and shows details of both the hardware and programming aspects of microprocessor system design, making it ideal for engineers who are interested in the subject. The book starts with an overview of the microcomputer in general, and shows how the microprocessor and its accessories control the larger microcomputing device. Next, the author introduces the reader specifically to the Motorola 68000 family of microprocessors and their respective architectures and features.

Next the author tackles an art that is usually passed down by word of mouth from master to apprentice - how to program a microprocessor and its peripheral devices using the C programming language as well as assembly language. This is followed by chapters on memories, exception handling versus interrupts, and coprocessors and caches.

The next few chapters are on the external devices that are usually a necessity for a microprocessor controlled system - parallel and serial ports, external timer devices, special devices to control IEEE-488 buses, and special buses such as the VMEbus and Nubus. Actual existing peripheral devices are used in the examples. There are plenty of circuit diagrams and code snippets in both assembly language and C to show how the various pieces of a microcomputer are assembled to make a working system.

Although today RISC designs based on "microprocessor cores" power the vast majority of mass-produced computing devices, the approach to creating the components of these core-based microcomputers is basically the same as it was in the days when we used to wire-wrap a 10MHz 68000 system together. Thus, learning the art of microprocessor system design is something any engineer interested in digital design should know. This book is an excellent source for learning that art. The following is the table of contents:

1. THE MICROCOMPUTER
Microprocessor Systems
Examples of Microprocessor Systems

2. PROGRAMMING THE 68000 FAMILY
Assembly Language Programming and the 68000
Programmer''s Model of the 68000
Addressing Modes of the 68000
An Introduction to the 68000 Family Instruction Set
Program Control and the 68000
Miscellaneous Instructions
Subroutines and the 68000
Introduction to the 68020's Architecture
Speed and Performance of Microprocessors
Structured Programming and Pseudocode (PDL)

3. ASSEMBLY LANGUAGE AND C
Parameter Passing
The Stack and Local Variables
C and the 68000
Summary of C''s Syntax

4. THE 68000 CPU HARDWARE MODEL
68000 Interface
Timing Diagram
Dealing with Timing Problems
Minimal Configuration Using the 68000
The 68020 & 68030 Memory Interface
Worked Examples

5. MEMORIES IN MICROCOMPUTER SYSTEMS
Address Decoding Strategies
Designing Address Decoders
Designing Static Memory Systems
Designing Dynamic Memory Systems
Worked Examples

6. EXCEPTION HANDLING AND THE 68000
Interrupts
Privileged States and the 68000
Exception Processing
Exceptions Implemented by the 68000
Interrupts and Real-Time Processing
The Reset and the Bus Error
Exception Processing and the 68010 and 68020

7. THE 68000 FAMILY IN LARGER SYSTEMS
Error Detection and Correction in Memories
Memory Management and Microprocessors
Cache Memories
Coprocessor
Introduction to the 68040 Microprocessor
The 68060

8. THE MICROPROCESSOR INTERFACE
Introduction to Microprocessor Interfaces
Direct Memory Access
The 68230 Parallel Interface/Timer
The IEEE 488 Bus

9. THE SERIAL INPUT/OUTPUT INTERFACE
Asynchronous Serial Data Transmission
Asynchronous Communications Interface Adapter (ACIA)
The 68681 DUART
Synchronous Serial Data Transmission
Serial Interface Standards

10. MICROCOMPUTER BUSES
Mechanical Layer
Electrical Characteristics of Buses
VMEbus
NuBus

11. DESIGNING A MICROCOMPUTER SYSTEM
Designing for Reliability and Testability
Design Examples Using the 68000
Design Example Using the 68030 Monitors
APPENDIX
SUMMARY OF THE 68000 INSTRUCTOR SET
ABOUT THE CD-ROM

This book presents an excellent intro to the design of microprocessor systems using the very powerful and easy-to-learn Motorola 68000 family. It concentrates on hardware design/interfacing, programming,timing issues, memory mapping and address decoding, serial I/O and peripherals. Covers all the important issues. The information is of high quality and very well written. The reader should have a knowledge of binary/hex number systems and basic digital design as prerequisites. Comes with cd-rom containing software tools. I recommend this book highly.

This book is certainly useful for any students attempting a project on ASP.NET coz it provides many examples. It's very handy when I used it for my teaching too.

I'm experienced in HTML, SQL, VBScript, VBA, etc. but I've never really had to create something with a 'real' user interface. I've done lots of quick and dirty data fixes when something bad would happen with payroll or billing or whatever. I put up a personal webpage with pics of my friends and family, yada, yada, yada.... Anyways this book helped me take all that disparate knowledge and apply it to a real user interface. The book has lots of examples and Web Matrix is a good place for a beginner to start, Visual Studio is overwhelming.

The hardest part of all is deploying your website. The author explains how to host your own website which I was not even going to try to attempt but it is helpful to understand the process. He gives a brief overview of deploying to a remote server which is all anyone could ever do, each hosting service is different. Choose your service carefully, ask friends, co-workers, people who have already done it. Not all hosting services are equal. Turns out the service I was using that claimed to support asp.net only sort of did. Lot's of sweat and tears to finally get them to tell me that. Soooo get this book, do the examples and then for practice use aspSpider.net to deploy your site. It's free for people like me who just need the practice. They have a forum that was very helpful to me.

I rarely give reviews to books (much less five-star reviews), namely because I am not easily impressed. THIS book is one of those rare gems - especially in the computer industry - that appears to have been well-written and proof-read.

I have actually walked through this book, followed the instructions, and produced the desired result. I have learned a great deal in doing so, and I don't feel like the author assumed too little (or too much) was in my noggin to start with.

I also found the book to be quite informative during periods when I was without-computer (such as train commutes or potty breaks).

THUNDEROUS APPLAUSE for Mike Pope. May his tribe (and future book projects) increase!

I just have this book for 4 days ago and now I already completed the first 4 chapters. The books is well written and easy to be understand with a good example. The person who plan to read this book shoud have some knowledge relate to HTML and Visual basic (6.0 or .Net is preffered). All of the sample project and example in this books is prepare in VB.NET. If you are working with C#.Net and plan to build a dynamic website, don't buy this book. Finally, I recommend this book who plan to build a dynamic website from the first step.

A must have for everybody starting to learn how to build dynamic web pages. Well written chapters with easy to follow step by step instructions create a great book!
If you have no experience in building web pages this is the place you should start.

In my opinion 3d Movie Maker is possibly the best thing to come out of Microsoft since Windows 98. This game is alot of fun to play with, its also super easy to use. Orginally, this program, was designed for children...But if you google search "3dmm" many things will come up...Including films, props, actors, and other expansions...ALL downloadable for FREE!

This game could keep anyone entertained for hours. And if I where you I'd grab a copy quick, the game is getting harder to find even across the internet.

Have fun filming!

This is a very addicting way to make movies. It's limited, but if they ever come out with a second version, it will be probably no better or worse than this. Making movies has never been so easy, or inexpensive!

YOU WILL STAY ON THE COMPUTER FOR HOURS! IT'S FUN AND ENTERTAINING. THE ONLY COMPLAINT I HAVE IS THAT... J/K I HAVE NO COMPLAINTS. YOU CAN TURN REAL LIFE EXPERIENCES INTO MOVIES. EVEN RECORD YOUR OWN VOICE. MAKE THEM DANCE, YELL, RUN, AND SO MUCH MORE. YOU HAVE TO LOVE THIS GAME!!!!! 3DMM ROCKS!!!!!

I know many people that have purchased this game, with only one complaint: Too hard. It's not too hard if you spend a little time figuring things out, and it is much more fun than the vast majority of games out there. It is also a very popular game online; you can find over 1,000 sites dedicated to 3DMM. Rumors of a second version are quickly spreading... I CANT WAIT!!! I wouldn't recommend this game for anyone under the age of 13 however.

This is a cool game. Making movies is thrilling! You can make short films or long action-packed movies! The actors are funny, and you can use props to make almost anything. But be sure to find the pages for the talent book! 3-D Movie Maker=Fun!

The built-in vfp report writer, is with no question a powerful tool, but when it comes to end-user report customization, MS Excel is still the report writing tool of choice. This is a great book for those starting to get acquainted with office automation specially for those who wanted to make use MS Excel as the report writer via VFP. The accompanying ebook makes it a lot better...

After 28+ years in this business I have finally stumbled upon an author who knows how to write technical books. This one should be a "how to write" example for other alleged authors.

The book, is clear, concise, and well designed. No assumptions are made; yet it is structured in a manner that one can easily skip over items of familiarity. It is an ideal book in that it spans the needs of users at all levels of expertise and is loaded with real "meat and potatoes" practicality and minimal blue sky theory. No matter what your level of expertise (or the lack of it), you can be creating quality applications within the first hour!

My hat is off to these writers and editors!

This may be one of the best 'how-to' development books on the planet.

Generating complex Office output from any development language (be it VFP, VB, etc.) can be a daunting task. The first time you try it on your own, invariably you hit a wall and think to yourself, 'how do I do this, how do I get around that, etc.'

Tamar and Della do an incredible job of covering the details. I recently finished a project where I had to generate some of the most complicated formats in MS Word that I've ever seen. (Anyone who is 'new' to Fox should also check out Tamar's "Hacker's Guide to VFP", another strong title).

99% of the time, if I did a search through the PDF version of the book, I came across a meaningful code sample that helped me out...or at least pointed me in the right direction. This book could have sold for three times the price and I'd still feel the same way about it.

Even 5 stars doesn't do this book the proper justice. It has an almost endless supply of tips and techniques. The examples cover so much of Office Automation that the book is a 'de facto' reference manual as well. I've been in the business since 1988, and average about 8-10 book purchases a year. Along with Allen Holub's compiler books and Ken Henderson's 'Guru Guide to SQL Server', I'd rate this as one of the best technical 'how-to' books I've ever seen.

I wish someone would write a good .NET applications book along the lines of this book. The difference between a valuable reference book like this one, and a good % of the junk that's been published on .NET, can only be measured in conceptual light years.

Prior to this book, I had been dreading my foray into automation. Literally, within minutes of opening the book, I was automating Excel. And within a couple of hours, I had already built my first automation component for an application. These guys make it so easy!

Every book and article I have ever read by Granor and Martin has been superb, and this book is no exception.

A good book for combine two powerfuls application like vfp and office

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.

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.

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

There are many good reasons to want to enhance your skill in using Microsoft Excel. One might be for getting certified my Microsoft as an expert in Excel in order to enhance your employment opportunities. Another might be for a person who hasn't used Excel to learn about the package from the ground up. Yet another might want to add some specific topics such as pivot tables or to begin learning about the statistics features in Excel. For any of these reason (and others0, this is a great book to get well grounded in Microsoft Excel 2000.

This book is organized by "projects". Each project covers a broader collection of specific skills such as modifying a worksheet, improving the appearance of a worksheet, working with functions, creating pivot tables and pivot table reports, and many more. There are 18 of these projects and each has eight lessons. Each lesson is short and focused to one task. For example, in the Working with Functions project, the eight lessons are: Analyzing Data with AVERAGE, MAX and MIN, Calculating a Loan Payment with PMT, Creating a Loan Payment Table, Evaluating Investment Plans with the FV Function, Using IF to Display Messages, Using IF to Calculate, Using MOW to Display the Current Date, and Using VLOOKUP to Convert Data.

Although this is a book, it is very visually based and uses images of the screens discussed in each lesson with many labels pointing to the specific portion of the screen it identifies. Each project begins with a short introductory statement under the heading "Why Would I Do This?" and ends with a brief summary. Each project also has a few true or false questions and some multiple choice questions to help the reader check their understanding of concepts and terms. If you are unclear about the correct answer, a reference to the appropriate lesson in the project is provided so you can go look it up.

Each project also has a Skill Drill a Challenge, and a Discovery Zone. Some of these use files that are on the accompanying CD. Since this book is also focused on helping its readers prepare for certification testing, the CD also contains PinPoint Assessments that help the reader understand where he or she stands in mastering the skills necessary for successfully passing the certification exam.

The introduction to the book provides good orienting material including a chart of which projects and lessons focus on specific skills. The end of the book also has information on how to use the PinPoint software, how to register for certification testing, a glossary, and an index.

This is a very helpful book.

Excel 2000 was my last exam on my way to master certification. Before I purchased this book I was very lacking in my excel knowledge. This book helped me gain a better understanding of excel functions. I passed my excel 200 exam and missed perfect by only 40 points.

If you want to know the essentials of Excel, not just to pass the MOUS Exam, but also for your daily use, this book should be on your library. The clear illustrations help you to quickly navigate through the lessons. Furthermore, CD-ROM is especially useful if you want to take the Exam.

I am a computer instructor at a local college. This book is a wonderful book to prepare for the MOUS and the CD is a must also!!!

I highly recommend this as a study guide for the Expert Exam.

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.

Murach's C# 2008 is a good book on C#, but it is not great. Too many areas are either lightly covered or not covered at all. To be fair if he had included the coverage it would have been a much bigger book, but Dietel does it and I would expect Murach to have been more complete. For example, in many coverages of methods of objects avalable in the .Net Framework the coverage is incomplete. If your going to cover a subject, cover it completely, either in the book or via a reference to a web page. I think the solution when providing the type of coverage displayed in this book is to have a web site that completes the coverage on each subject. That way the book doesn't weigh thirty pounds and the customer gets the needed complete information on a subject.

Learning a new programming language can prove to be highly difficult for many people, and "Murach's C# 2008" is a complete and comprehensive guide to help readers learn everything they need to know to learn how to use it, and then learn to use it to the maximum of its abilities as if they were a college graduated professional who had worked with the program for years. Leaving nothing out, "Murach's C# 2008" is highly recommended to anyone with interest in the language and for community library computer collections.

If you are new to C# this is the book from which to learn C# 2008. It is written in a clear understandable manner and can be used with Visual C# 2008 Express Edition. The exercises used in tne book are a great help in the learning process.

"Murach's C# 2008" follows the Murach style where there are two books in one. The even numbered pages contain text. The odd numbered pages contain related diagrams, tables and bulleted lists.

The book targets beginners to experienced developers in Java/C++/VB/.NET along with being useful for training and reference. I'm a little skeptical when a book tries to be all things to all people, but the author does a great job with this. The "paired page" format really helps with this because you can read the most appropriate one (or both) for you at the time. I'm a Java developer. While I was able to skim some sections, I was never bored.

I particularly liked the focus on idioms and skills. There were a lot of "how to do ________" examples along with techniques such as refactoring. The end of chapter exercises were also great.

The book also walks you through features in Visual Studio 08. I like how the author highlights differences between the professional and express editions. The chapter on using the debugger was excellent.

There were only two minor things I didn't like. First, there was one significant difference from Java that was in the text section and I almost missed it skimming. The other was that sometimes the text would continue after turning the page which made it harder to follow the paired pages. I'm impressed that these are the worst things I can write. I recommend the format.

This book is an updated edition of Murach's C# 2005. Section 1 covers the basics of using the Visual Studio IDE and the .NET framework. Section 2 and 3 continue using the "paired pages" format: How-to on the left page and examples on the right. This style contributes to the effectivness of the learning process. The basic skills of learning LINQ which is a new feature of C# 2008 are presented.

This is a great book on C# for begineers through intermediate developers.
You will learn by reading this book.

serious system testing has never been part of the culture here. One day the manager decided that it would be a good thing if we did proper, coordinated, effective stress and load testing. I got stuck with coming up with strategy. I started reading this book expecting a how to guide. I expected to be spoon fed all the nittt gritty details on how to do it. This is not what I got.

This book points you in the right direction, show you the tools you could use, explains what you need to think about and the questions you need to ask. The how-to and the answers to the questions are more for you to figure out yourslef.

At the end of it you come away with a better understanding of what you need to do, why you need to do, high level how you are going to do it and the value you and your company are going to gain by doing all of this.

I would strongly recommend it to anyone having to get involved in system analysis and performance. It gives you a great broader picture of the whole issue. You think you know what you have got yourself involved in. this book shows you that you appreciate only the tip of the iceberg.

This is an excellent book which can be used for perfomance tuning and stress testing phase of big projects

Written by an authority on the subject. This book is a treasure trove of information that is detailed and essential for covering all aspects of a properly executed stress test. Written from experience, this book is a definite "MUST" read for anyone assigned the challenging task.

This book features good discussion on performance tuning the mySAP suite that no other books have so far. This is the perfect book for SAP Stress Test Project Managers, SAP Stress Test Project Teams, SAP Basis Administrators, Oracle DBAs, Unix Administrators managing SAP systems, and project implementation teams. Those who stress test their systems well with the help of this book will have significant returns.

The ultimate reference for performance testing (certainly testing, more so than actual tuning, though the latter is covered well in the last few chapters). The author's approach is complete in that it addresses how to test along with what, when, to what degree, and with what kind of staffing resources. I'm already thinking of ways we can improve our own change control processes, and based on tools and methods covered by the author I'm convinced I can do so cheaper and with less impact to my users than I previously thought possible. Case in point, look into the two chapters on tools for testing and monitoring: in this alone, the book will pay for itself in short order.