Practitioners Books

I've read many books on Java, and they're all the same cr*p. For a small work, this book certainly packs some punch. It touches upon many interesting topics, such as MVC frameworks, Java for networking, and even Java3D! It is worded in a way which enables the reader to easily map what they read into a conceptual thought.

I found this book to be worlds better than most of the books I have looked at purporting to be about "Advanced Java". There is a lot of well-written and thought out information in this book. I find the emphasis on design issues very good, but ultimately, it reads like a collection of repurposed articles.

This is one of the very, very few Java books on the market that will give you any new insight into using the language. In a very small space, it provides an amazing amount of detail - at both the low implementation level and the high architectural level. The chapters on memory and speed optimization alone make it worth the price. This book manages to say a lot with very few words. It runs completely against the grain of all the wordy, useless, and incorrect Java books out there, and every serious Java programmer should own it.

I picked this book up as an impulse buy the last time I went book browsing in the physical world. It was one of the better purchases I made that day; I've been so impressed that I came here to search for more books by the same author.

The content level of Key Java is head and shoulders above most java books. Those few books with comparable content usually fail in some other dimension (clarity, accessibility, brevity, completeness, non-trivial examples). The writing style is a bit dry and academic, but the author is obviously no stranger to serious programming.

Many java books are filled with either relentlessly detailed - but not informative - examination of the topic, or with smoothly written but empty prose. Key Java's chapters are excellently written for "I need it NOW" reading, and each one clearly explains the topic, both in concept and in practice. I won't say you'll be able to read through a chapter and become a master of the topic; some of these topics are seriously complex and take some measure of mulling over and contemplation. But invariably, in the past, when I've tackled a new concept in Java, I've had to read the same topic in five or more different books to get the complete picture. This is not the case with _Key Java_.

This book easily makes it into my top five favorite java books, and is contending with a few others (Bruce Eckel's _Thinking In Java_, etc) for the #1 position. However, Key Java's approach and nuts 'n bolts discussions of advanced-but-not-theoretical java topics make it much more of a complementary book than a competitor, a fine addition to any java bookshelf.

One thing I'm particularly happy about is the form factor of the book - too many java books are tomes that risk breaking your wrist (or your foot if you drop it). There's a prevailing mindset in technical book publishing that the thicker the book, the better (the thicker the spine, the more bookstore shelf real estate you get for your book to advertise itself). Key Java is concise and focused, and the form factor reflects that; I carried it around in my large coat pocket to read as the mood struck me for a couple of weeks.

This is a good introductory text in the mathematical backgound of AI. It covers the problems of searches, logic programming, different types of reasoning, neural networks as well as a little bit of probabilities.

Its great merit consists in the fact that it is not disconnected from the realities of the world. The chapters in Prolog, for instance, are well developed and the mathematical foundation of this programming language is quite thoroughly explained. This is rare to find in Prolog or logic books; most of them are either too pragmatic or too theoretical. This book makes a nice balance between the two.

The book has some drawbacks, though. First and foremost, it is geared a little bit to much on logic at the expense of other intelligent forms of computing (pattern recognition - be it vision, speech or handwriting, planning, constraints processing, theorem proving, case-based reasoning, to name just a few).

For example, the section dedicated to stochastic processing is ridiculously small.

However, as a good introduction into the math of AI, this book lives well up to expectations.

Most topics are interesting and contribute to an understanding of AI. Only point of confusion is some sections seem more like authors personal issue rather than a connected discussion of AI. Expected more because of the many recommendations for the authors work.

Most AI books do not emphasize the mathematical issues. Consequently, the readers face difficulty to read journals. This is a highly recommended book for those research oriented readers. It requires no formal background of mathematics beyond high school level. I read the book several times. It helped me a lot to understand many difficult papers. Among the chapters the most useful are chapter 6 on nonmonotonic reasoning and chapter 8 on Bayesian networks. The beginners will find chapter 3 and 4 on predicate logic and the theory of resolution highly useful. I strongly feel that the book should be read by all people working in the domain of AI.

Although using only elementary mathematics, and not at all addressing new areas of artificial intelligence, such as inductive logic programming, this book gives an excellent overview of how mathematics is used in artificial intelligence. Mathematics at all levels is used in this field, both in the algorithms and in discussing its foundations, and this book serves as a good introduction to its application in A.I. Only elementary algebra and calculus are used in the book, making it very accessible to the beginning student in computer science. Readers with more sophisticated background in mathematics can then extend the results in the book to more advanced mathematical contexts. The author's writing style is very informal, and in many places in the book he encourages the reader to "stop and think" before continuing in the reading. Exercises, some simple and some very challenging, are found at the end of most chapter sections.

The author gives a brief overview of the history of A.I. in chapter one, including a discussion of the issues of computational complexity in A.I. algorithms, a discussion of expert systems (with examples), and a few biographical sketches.

Chapter 2 is a fairly detailed overview of search algorithms, and the author introduces some notions from the mathematical field of combinatorics, namely directed graphs and ordered trees. Induction and recursion are then reviewed as tools for search algorithms. The recursive formulation of algorithms in A.I. is of course very powerful, and one that students need to master early on. Fields such as bioinformatics and data mining are becoming increasingly dependent on search algorithms from A.I., and the author reviews these in detail, including 'simple' search methods such as breadth-first, depth-first, and iterative-deepening, along with 'heuristic' methods.

The reader gets introduced to first-order predicate calculus in chapter 3. This topic could be said to be one of the most important ones in A.I., and it is discussed in this chapter using the (declarative) programming language Prolog. One could easily use the language Lisp, but Prolog makes more apparent the head/body clause structure of predicate logic. In addition, if a reader wants to move on to more modern developments in A.I., such as inductive logic programming, which can be viewed essentially as predicate logic but with inductive reasoning, a mastery of the content of this chapter is essential.

Chapter 4 introduces the reader to the proof theory, namely the technique of resolution, which is discussed for propositional calculus, where it is very simple, and for predicate logic, in the latter wherein some specialized techniques must be brought in, such as Skolemization. The author also discussed proof in the context of Prolog, and introduces the cut operator, which inhibits Prolog from fully implementing resolution. He also gives an interesting discussion on the problem of negation in Prolog and the closed-world assumption.

The author has been careful to not write a purely theoretical book in computer science, and evidence of this is given in chapter 5, which discusses how to implement first-order logic (FOL) into real-world applications. It is one thing to discuss the properties of logic, quite another to actually use it productively to solve problems of interest. The author discusses the limitations of FOL in these applications, and how they can be resolved through alternative reasoning tools, such as nonmonotonic logics, Bayesian networks, and fuzzy sets.

One of these alternatives, nonmonotonic reasoning, is discussed in the next chapter, wherein the author gives a fairly detailed overview of default reasoning and how it is implemented in Prolog. Rule sets and semantic nets are also discussed, along with defeasible reasoning. Applications of these techniques are stymied by their computational complexity, and the author gives references for discussions of this.

After a review of probability theory in chapter 7, the author discusses Bayesian networks in chapter 8. These have been extremely important in recent applications of A.I., and the author gives a fine review of their properties, especially their ability to incorporate causality by imposing a directed graph structure on the event space. The author gives a few examples of Bayesian networks, including a medical diagnosis, wherein he introduces a very important concept in A.I., namely that of abductive inference. Detailed discussion (with proofs) is given for the Kim-Pearl algorithm for singly connected networks.

Chapter 9 is an introduction to fuzzy logic and belief theory. The author motivates nicely the reasons for considering fuzzy reasoning instead of probabilistic methods. The Dempster-Shafer belief theory, which has become popular in recent years, is also discussed in some detail.

So as to motivate the discussion of neural networks, the next chapter overviews automatic pattern classification. Contrasting between supervised and unsupervised learning of patterns, the author then outlines the types of automatic classifiers, such as decision trees and neural networks. The chapter on neural networks is a good introduction considering the vastness of the subject. Indeed, an enormous amount of research has been done on neural networks, and their use in applications of A.I. has finally been achieving success in recent years.

Concepts from information theory are of course very important in A.I. and these are discussed in chapter 12, along with more advanced topics in probability and statistics that were not treated earlier in the book. These ideas are used in the next chapter wherein neural networks and decisions trees are discussed in more detail. The most interesting part of this discussion is the idea that noise can improve the generalization capabilities of neural networks. This strategy will be obvious to the physicist reader who has studied the effects of noise on dynamical systems governed by potentials with local minima.

The last chapter of the book discusses some additional topics that should be included in a study of A.I., such as genetic algorithms and more discussion of optimization, such as simulated annealing. Hidden Markov models are also briefly discussed, and this is somewhat disappointing given their importance in current applications. The reader is also introduced to robotics, certainly the most exciting of all topics in 21st century A.I.

The book was in excellent condition and arrived in a timely manner.

My copy is used constantly for review. I update in margins since this is a 1997 copy and some changes in management have occurred. It is still a good reference Bible that I use daily.

The strength of this book is in its simplicity and that it provides a good review for anatomy / physiology. I used it to review for the FNP exam and found it to be a keeper on my shelf, next to other primary care across the lifespan books.

HEENT, in particular, leaves something to be desired. Not as straight foward as similar publications. Not comprehensive enough. Pricey.

This book is directed at educators who have already researched the benefits of smaller learning communities within large high schools and are looking for a sustainable process for real change. The nine phases of transformation that the authors detail challenges teachers and administrators to look at the culture that exists within their individual schools and to make hard individualized choices. If you are looking for an easy way out of the change process, this book isn't for you. The authors state up front that stakeholders must take full responsibility for doing the hard work and that they alone (not some generic 'how to' book) will determine the strengths or weaknesses that arise from their efforts. The bottom line within these pages is that there is a rough pathway that can be followed, but only so far. Educators can't continue to blame others when reform efforts are half-heartly implemented or lack a strong committment by those individuals such changes affect. Practice what you preach. Take responsibility for your actions and the rewards will great. Blame others for your failures and you will just continue to get more of the same...a continuous cycle of going after the money and not believing in what you are doing.

Blanchard and Harms have good intentions here. They are trying to put together a guide on how to institute small learning communities (SLCs) in a high school setting. It is fairly well-researched and does offer a handful of good suggestions on how to proceed. Unfortunately, this book's many weaknesses get in the way of a good message.

In the big picture, despite its research, the book is rather soft and vague. Most of their best suggestions--I, for example, love the piece on the levels of student responsibility and participation in high schools--come from other writers. But, most importantly, it would be impossible to start SLC's in a school using only this book for guidance. Other resources would be needed to get down to the nuts and bolts.

Pickier, perhaps, but no less important, is the fact that my edition of the book was riddled with errors and misspellings. Additionally, the graphics were poorly produced and unhelpful in illuminating the text. Not the fault of the authors, but not something to inspire confidence in their abilities either.

This book would be useful as inspiration and cheerleading as part of the SLC process but it is not the manual it purports to be.

I found this book to be an informative and eye-opening tool. Clearly our school systems need to change the way they approach teaching our teenagers, and this text sets the guidelines for making that change happen.

Drs. Blanchard and Harms hit the nail on the head when it comes to implementing change in large high schools. What's embarrassing is that there are administrators and teachers in our schools who either don't notice what is needed or don't seem to be committed enough to affect change.

This book is must have reference manual for C++ serius professionals. It covers all details about C++ , lot of details about C++. It doesn't cover as much VC++ 6(and MFC as well) as I would expect but is great on C++ part. I recommend this only if you already knows C/C++.

The only problem I found with this book is that it goes through what it talks about very quickly and it assumes you're just going to understand. Not many examples and it talks about some things that it might as well leave out because it doesn't provide any useful information on it. It can be a handy reference from time to time, but it's not the greatest.

If you works with C++ this book is a must have. It will not teach you C++, it assumes that you already have some knowlegde in C++. Chapters are short and with very good tips about functions and C++ concepts. I would expect find more detailed informations about Visual C++ but I get much more happy about C++ part.

I do recommed this book for you, if, and only if, you already have a knowlegde in C++.

So many Visual C++/MFC books for consumption and with all the competition, this pocket book that can fit in the second compartment of your back pack and is a perfect complement to the Programming Visual C++ book by Kruglinski. Wingo, and Shepard. This book is slightly bigger than a pocket book, but it is crafty with all kinds of practical information regarding the the IDE Tools of Microsoft Visual C++ 6, it combs over the data structures that MFC uses to create various window styles, explained Win32 data structures that most MFC/Visual C++ books fail to explain, expecially if you are coming from the UNIX environment and have coded in C++ for some years, but need a from the ground up of what data types are referenced as in the Win32 world are and detailed information on project settings within the IDE and how to use every feature within the compiler to its fullest potential.

It is easy to read, clear explanation, and gave me the examples in the real situations. So, it is more beneficial.

The text is easy to read and the chapters seem short as you read them. I like the bulleted sections and the key words. I am more inclined to read further than I have to with what I am assigned.

This book, being used for my health ed methods class is a wonderful resource. It is easy to read, and the vignettes really bring a sense of how to apply the theory.

Jody Ruth Steinhardt, MPH, CHES

The Drug Information Handbook for Advanced Practice Nurses is the Nurse Practitioners premiere drug reference. Drugs are arranged alphabetically by both generic and brand name. Each drug is discussed at it's generic listing. Brand names give the generic name and page number allowing quick reference. The content is very encompassing with nearly all new and old drugs referenced. The usual categories of drug name, therapeutic category, use, etc are included. I find the section on patient information and instruction most helpful in discussing agents with patients.

Indices include controlled substance (helpful in states where APN's cannot prescribe controlled substances) and pharmacologic category.

There are over 200 pages of appendices including guidelines and comparative lists and charts.

The size of the book makes it easy to carrry.

This is my third yearly purchase of the The Drug Information Handbook and second year for Advanced Practice Nurses version. Our service bought 12 copies.

G Sinks, RN, MSN, CS, FNP

This book is an excellent resource for the APN or APN student. The information presented is easily understood and formatted in a logical manner. The drugs are organized alphabetically according to generic name and the compact size makes it easily portable. This book has become an excellent tool in my work. The only recommendation I have is that the book should be spiral bound for easier page turning.

This book is complete with forms drug is available in, dosages available, side effects, patient teaching, warnings, lab issues, physical assessment, dietary, geriatric & pregnancy issues. A very good reference for any medical professional to have though designed for advanced practice nurses.

This is a well organized, clearly written text that takes the reader step by step through the DSM-IV process. It presents a strong rationale for the use of the DSM-IV in schools and points to the importance of developing a clinical perspective within the field of school psychology. This is a wonderful text. It should be required for all school psychology students.

This is a excellent resource for the special education teacher. The information given in this book helps decipher many terms used in psychiatric evaluation of students with special needs. This is definitely a valuable tool for anyone working in Special Education.

Alvin House incorporates some true wisdom into this reference. Indeed they are in my opinion bits of details that are either not taught in grad schools or not emphasized in training people to work with school populations. As opposed to adults, he points up, children's diagnoses are fluid and evolving- there are, if we are effectively treating the conditions, more opportunities to bypass chronicity and co-morbid patterns. Less matching symptom to condition to diagnosis. (Another reason, for the No Child Left Behind Folks- to re-evaluate frequently- not, as they would have, to eliminate the need for the 3 year requirement.) Furthermore, he warns of a real personal irritant, and that is NOT TO TAKE KIDS AT THEIR WORD, when discussing their emotions and their reactions to their world. He puts it better than anyone I've ever heard when he says that when you're ruling out mental illness, depression, anxiety, etc. remember, "Kids walk the walk, they don't talk the talk!." You need to use collateral information, observation, medical reports, etc. Some other gems-Always be careful with a personality diagnosis and never diagnose when the youngster is in the throes of an acute mood disorder, depressive reaction, adjustment,etc.
The integration of the revised manual with the latest IDEA interpretations is the best that I have found. Read the complicated but controversial 'label' and 'classification' debacle for Social Maladjustment and/ or Disruptive Behaviors. The former does not qualify for an IEP but the latter as a condition of ADD and many others- does. Look out as well for the changes relative to those and the politicized furor over discipline in special education. If an eligible child misbehaves as a result of his disability- technically, that child should not be excluded or otherwise consequenced. They are moving to amend that- truth be told, nobody upholds it anyway- but it can always lead to litigation. I encourage people to remain abreast of those IDEA revisions as well as the ramifications of erring on the diagnosis- high stakes- for the child, and for you.
Other updates are more about spectrum disorders, clustering of symptoms and, the diagnosis of conduct disorder- which I understood was no longer to be given to anyone under 18. Any of the disruptive, (externalizing) behaviors - You get my drift- dx's- should be evaluated as to if they are a result of environmental malignancy, (Like that?) or the neuropsychiatric composition of the child. Nature vs. Nurture.
The weakness in this and every resource I have checked is in the Learning Disorders. I cannot tell you how many people are wandering around shaking their head over the Disorder of Written Expression DX. Kids who write get it. Kids who comprehend get it. Kids who can write lousy but can write get it- then those kids get accused of laziness and as one mom put it, "Is my son using his IEP as a crutch?" He covers the changes in PDD, Tics as they are either involuntary muscular movements or if they fall within the category of inappropriate and malignant movements of autism. Difference? The latter are used pathologically to interfere with healthy coping adjustment. (Why ya gotta stay current!)

All in all, I'm pleased that this is available for school personnel. The previous reviewer mentioned special education teachers should read it. Here Here! And their supervisors. This is a sensitive and thorough volume. It is refreshing for its insights about the need for certain approaches, to kids, and moreover- to kids in school. He advocates a differential diagnosis and checklists and other interviews. It is a great thing to own and a great thing to have in the sites.

This is the second book I have read by Ms. Czegel (the first was Running an Effective Help Desk). Where the first book leads you through the help desk planning, implementation and operations process, this one focuses on the people issues. My experience has shown that the best help desk technologies you can buy, and problem management processes you can develop and implement are worthless if you don't take care of the people part of the equation.

Ms. Czegel jumps right in with roles. She systematically goes through the various roles a help desk analyst must assume. The ability to switch from one character or personality type to another that is the hallmark of a truly great analyst gives you some keen insights into why there is an epidemic of burnout and high turnover among support professionals. Aside from this insight, it also shows you what to look for in candidates and gives you a good foundation for coaching and training. It also gives you some ammunition for getting their pay and bonus structure aligned to the high stress the job casues.

As in her other book Ms. Czegel never loses sight of the business side and part two of this book gives an intelligent description of help desk stakeholders and their unique needs based on their level in the organization and how their functions intersect with the help desk mission and objectives. The next two sections cover issue management processes and procedures and help desk technology. Some of the material is close to what is in her other book, but is not identical.

The remainder of the book duplicates a lot of the material in Running an Effective Help Desk, but is excellent if you only buy one of Ms. Czegel's books. A reason to buy both, however, is the different focus of each and some expansion of topics in each book.

Overall, I like this book a lot and gained much from it. I came away with an appreciation for and empathy with those thick-skinned folks who staff help desks. I also came away with some good ideas about how to motivate and train help desk analysts and design processes that make their life easier. I highly recommend this book and give it 5 stars.

I found this to be a concise reference manual that will benefit any Help Desk Analyst.

It provides information on Help Desk operation aimed specifically at the analysts who staff your Help Desk.

Its full of tips, examples, and case studies, while teaching skills in effective listening and problem solving that every analysts needs.

I have made this mandatory reading for my Help Desk staff.

This book is packed with useful information that will make you a more well-rounded support person. Help desk and technical support in general is so much more than just technical know-how. The non-technical aspects are just as important and this book will help you in those areas. Has information on standard methodologies of technical support, full of tips. Has gotten me higher job ratings and a nice raise in the past year. You need this to compete in today's tough job environment. I think this should be required reading by all help desk/technical support staff. Great book.

The book is straight forward and useful. However, I would like to see more examples using MATLAB.

Much of the book might already be familiar to a reader involved with neural networks. The authors give a recap of decades of progress into using multilayer networks in a feedback mode. Key sections of the text discuss the weighting of the nodes and how you can realistically compute these weights.

But the emphasis differs from most existing texts on neural networks. Here, the authors explain how you might control a dynamical system that could exhibit pronounced nonlinearities. The book is pitched towards someone from control systems theory. The latter has been highly developed, to handle both linear and nonlinear systems. However, if you consult standard texts on control systems, neural networks rarely (if ever) garner a mention. This book tries to correct that deficiency.

This is an excellent book. It contains theory and essential exaples for system identification and control based on ANN approach. The authors have also a WEB site where additional information and the toolboxes (MATLAB format) can be found.
The programs work an they are easy to understand and run.
I first tried the toolboxes (the user manuals are included with the toolboxes) and then ordered the book. It is worth having both. I highly recommend it, specially if you are a newbie in ANN but need a fast start.

Cheers!