Computer Science Books

Excellent introduction to numerical methods in physics. As an undergraduate with little prior programming experience, I had no real trouble with this book. But it isn't exactly a walk in the park, either. Genuinely challenging and interesting problems, many of them theoretical in nature (try the problem on Numerov's method!). Extensive references. ...

This book is an outstanding introduction to practical numerical methods for (budding) physicists who have no experience with these vital tools. The author states the book is aimed at undergraduate seniors or first-year graduates. This seems pessimistic to me: I think any competent undergraduate who has taken a course in ordinary differential equations could hack it.

The book ignores the usual approach taken by numerical analysis texts, which is to build up from the fundamental ideas (e.g., finite precision arithmetic, error propagation, fixed point iteration, finite difference approximation to the derivative), instead jumping almost immediately into a projectile motion ODE problem. This allows the author to move on quickly to adaptive Runge-Kutta in Chapter 3, Fast Fourier Transforms in Chapter 5, PDEs in Chapter 6 and finish with a discussion of Monte Carlo methods; whereas more traditional books will only begin to cover PDEs near the end and usually do not discuss FFTs or Monte Carlo.

Of course, this comes at a price. I took a senior level course taught in the traditional manner described above, and happened to pick up a copy of this book in the middle of the semester. This book has far more physical insight than my assigned text, and leaves the student able to appoach a far greater set of practical problems, but I think those who are serious about computational work should cover the basics more thoroughly. One outstanding feature of the book is the end of chapter projects that unify and apply what has been learned, and offer a chance for better students to stretch their muscles.

On the other side, what the author says in the preface bears repeating here: the methods in described in this book are (almost all) foundational, and nowhere near the state of the art. This is particularly true of the relaxational methods for PDEs described in Chapter 8. Nor do I think this would make a very useful reference book: anyone experienced enough to be able to read and understand (say) Numerical Recipes will not learn much from this book. Also, for a modestly-sized paperback with only black-and-white printing, it is amazingly expensive.

I got this book because I wanted a more modern reading on numerical techniques. This book delivers this and more. Not only does it include psuedo code, but it also includes actual USEFUL code in matlab and in C++. The examples are all useful for doing either problems for the workplace, or as a textbook/supplement for a course on numerical analysis. The book also gives good physical and 'numerical' insight to the code and technique involved.

If I had one numerical book to take with me, this would be it. I'm sure I would develop other techniques based on what I learned from this book.

I have attended Professor Garcia's first year grad class in computational physics and it was very good. Professor Garcia is a very clear lecturer and I think this comes through in his book. The book breaks down the problem of numerical methods to very simple bite size chunks and provides a very interesting way to learn numerical methods by immediately applying it to interesting real world problems. this book allows you to feel like you are learning and applying numerical methods almost

immediately. There are entire programs listed in the book and in an accompanying disk which can be used in the solution of the problems. One simply edits and adds to these programs to solve most of the problems. Afterwards you have a good collection of generic code which can be put together to solve other problems. The book includes the code in C++ and Matlab. (older edition had fortran and matlab) Professor Garcia is a person who works in the area of computational fluid dynamics and statistical mechanics, both very computational areas, hence he is well qualified to write this text. There are a good number of problems and answers to a number of these, so the book is also useful for self study. Try it you'll like it.

It's a great resource for numerical methods. It has a wide varity of sample code and discusses most of the standard problems in numerical physics. If you are just learning computational physics then this book is a must! If you are an old hack it is still great as a reference.

I have reviewed a lot of books dealing with numerical and computational physics and this book is by far my favorite.

I absolutely recommend this book to anyone who has the patience and endurance to get through it. It is definately NOT easy reading. The material is extremely condensed with little or no redundancy, but it is the most complete and acurate technical book I have ever read. The excercises are great as well; not dumbed down unrealistically easy or multiple choice questions that give you the false impression that you've mastered the subject like many books contain, but very difficult and realistic problems. The authors obviously took their' time writing in.

This book really enables to seamlessly synthesize 2 approaches - relational and object oriented while building systems with complex data structures and persistence requirements.

Great combination of hands-on and conceptual understanding of object oriented software development and database design/programming. If you are new to the object-oriented world and have experience with procedural programming and database applications, this is the book to get. It will take you directly to the object-oriented view and how to use OMT/UML to use a sound and pragmatic process to achieve those goals. It might actually be the only book you need !!

The book is composed of four parts: modeling concepts, analysis/design, implementation and large system issues.

The first part describes the main concepts on object oriented modeling. The topics on object relationships (association, aggregation, generalization) are excellent.

The second part, I consider that contains the best chapters. There are a lot of advices on how to develop database applications following object orientation and on how to choose a data management approach.

The third part, about implemmentation, has good and bad chapters. I don't like the chapters on relational databases. They include valuable information on how to map classes to relational databases but some space is wasted with basic concepts on relational databases and the main example is developed using Microsoft Access.

The last part is the smallest one and contains introductory topics on distributed databases, integration of applications and reverse engineering.

The class diagrams are in OMT notation.

I have read this book cover to cover. Think about that. When was the last time you (or anyone you know) read a technical book cover to cover? It is that good. It *does* get a bit deep and theoretical in many places, but it covers the subject matter with more depth and more meaningful examples than any other book I have ever seen. A MUST READ, if you want to design serious object databases!!

Despite the widespread controversy surrounding the outsourcing of information security, organizations must understand and consider what costs and benefits are incurred and gained, respectively. Author C. Warren Axelrod has done an outstanding job of presenting the controversy surrounding the intersection of the two most dynamic, difficult, and controversial areas of information technology today, namely, outsourcing and security.

Axelrod begins this book by defining the scope of the treatment of the joint topics of outsourcing and security. Next, the author lays out the range of information security risk that are confronted daily, whether an activity is outsourced or not. Then, he looks at the risk of outsourcing. In addition, the author describes in detail the categories of costs and benefits. He also describes how the outsourcing costs and benefits relate to the Request for Information (RFI) and Request for Proposal (RFP) processes. Then, he looks at the outsourcing evaluation process that takes place once the information has been collected and sorted. The author then delves into the specific security considerations that affect the outsourcing decision and how they should be handled. Finally, he summarizes the full flow of the outsourcing evaluation and decision processes.

With the preceding in mind, the author has done an excellent job of presenting how outsourcing opportunities have become a continuous process as new services become available, new services of those services appear, and business takes on more of a global aspect. At the end of the day, it behooves a nimble organization in a competitive market to keep its outsourcing options open and its ability to evaluate choices finely tuned..

There are a bunch of reasons to outsource information security. You can get specialists who have a broader range of experience than your own company. You can get an outside view of everything from how to read the various logs your system puts out to what anti-virus program to install. There may be a cost savings to have someone else be monitoring your systems along with several other companies at the same time.

There are a bunch of reasons that you don't want to outsource information security. When it hits the fan, you are still the one responsible (especially so now with Sarbanes-Oxley in force, the real rules of which we still do not understand and won't until it's been to court a few times). You have more control over your own people, and you can much more carefully monitor them. This is especially true if the outside company has reduced its cost by establishing the monitoring center in some place like India. You can much more easily check to see if your new employee has just come from a few years vacation in Marion, Illinois.

It would be interesting to see how outsourcing information security would be treated by upper management. It's a cinch that they wouldn't understand enough to make a valid decision. You have to make the decision yourself, and unfortunately then you have to live with it.

This book is just about the only one on this subject. The author reports on some good situations, and some that didn't turn out so well. If this is a decision you have to make, here's at least a good start.

This book provides a great overview of the issues surrounding the decision to outsource information security and also gets into specific issues and recommendations chapter by chapter. Outsourcing Information Security is written clearly and concisely; making it easy to read given the depth and sophistication of the subject matter covered.

The author is truly an expert and shares important anecdotes from his own experiences that all can learn from. This is not a sugar-coated diatribe about the bliss of outsourcing, nor is it a condemnation of companies that use these strategies. This work gets to the heart of the matter from a balanced and measured point of view; leaving the reader to decide for him or herself, if they should consider outsourcing information security.

I would highly recommend this book for anyone who is interested in this subject and is responsible for making key technology decisions on behalf of their organizations.

When it comes to the outsourcing of information security functions specifically, the situation is even worse. Far too few organizations know the inherent risks involved with outsourcing security, and don't properly investigate what they are getting into. The same company that makes it nearly impossible for an employee to enter the office supply closet to get much needed toner cartridge will outsource their intrusion detection, email and firewall systems without a blink.

One of the many reasons companies turn to security outsourcing and managed security services providers (MSSP) is to use their limited internal security staff for more interesting areas such as web development, VPN and e-commerce applications. They will then outsource the boring activities such as firewall and IDS monitoring and maintenance to a MSSP.

Given that activities such as firewall monitoring and administering an IDS in large enterprise requires 24/7 support, it is not unusual for a company to want to outsource such activities; monitoring and administering are not core functions of most organizations.

The trouble comes from the lack of due care often given to choosing a MSSP. With that, Outsourcing Information Security is a long-overdue book that asks the questions that are necessary before an organization decides to outsource any information security function.

The author's general tone is against the outsourcing of information security; but provides readers with the various benefits and risks involved in outsourcing security, and let's them ultimate decide if outsourcing security is right for their organization. It is the reader who must define, evaluate and manage those risks and determine if outsourcing is a viable solution. These include technology, business and legal risks.

The book comprises nine chapters and three appendices totaling a bit under 250 pages. The first two chapters provide a good introduction to and overview of outsourcing and information security, and the associated security risks.

Chapter 3 details various reasons why outsourcing information security makes sense. The chapter includes various tables and references to the many reasons why a company would want to outsource security.

Chapter 4 takes the other side and analyzes the risks of outsourcing. The chapter details the traditional risks, in addition to other factors such as hidden costs, broken promises, phantom benefits and more. The book shows that while many organizations hand over information security responsibility to their MSSP, when things go wrong, they can't effectively blame the MSSP. When things go wrong -- and they will -- all of the fingers in the world can be pointed at the MSSP, but the ultimate responsibility falls on the organization itself. With outsourced security, if something goes wrong, those fingers will point back to the company's security manager, not the incompetent firewall administrator in Bangalore.

The chapter provides a balanced look at the risk of outsourcing, and while calm in its overall approach, the chapter should at least make the person considering outsourcing information security think twice. In fact, the author concludes the chapter by stating "when all of the risks of outsourcing are considered, one wonders how anyone ever makes the decision to use a third party." Nonetheless, there is plenty of evidence that many security activities are indeed outsourced to MSSP, and are often satisfactory from both the buyer's and seller's perspective.

Chapters 5 and 6 provide a thorough summary of the costs and benefits of outsourcing, and provides a method with which to categorize them. The chapter is well suited for a CFO with its discussion of direct vs. indirect costs, controllable vs. non-controllable costs, and much more. These two chapters show that creating meaningful financial numbers to see if outsourcing makes financial sense is not such an easy task. It is important to understand that outsourcing sometimes makes financial sense, but certainly not all the time. For those organizations that don't crunch the numbers seriously at the beginning, these costs can later come back to haunt them in a big way.

Chapters 7 and 8 detail the processes involved in commencing an outsourcing project, from requirements gathering to placing policy against the outsourced company. A mistake many organizations make is failure to ensure that the MSSP is abiding by the client's information security policies, rather than their own.

Similarly, one of the most overlooked areas of outsourcing information security functionality is regulation. A U.S. company may be under numerous regulations, from HIPAA to Sarbanes-Oxley, GLBA, SEC and more; when they outsource their security functionality, the remote technician may not be under the jurisdiction of the SEC; but the corporate data still must be protected according to those regulations.

The main part of the book concludes with chapter 9, which provides a 20-step process to determine if an outsourced security solution is appropriate. In seven pages, the author specifies the various events, tasks and steps that make up the typical outsourcing project.

Appendix A provides a breakdown of the various services that can be outsourced, with Appendices B & C providing brief histories of IT Outsourcing and Information Security.

The only downside to the book is its $85.00 price, which is at the high-end for technology and business books. While the price is high, the book is a huge value for anyone considering outsourcing security. The book asks the questions that are often never asked, and details how the outsourcing of information security is not the slam-dunk that the MSSPs often portray it to be.

For those who know what their security issues are and look to outsource their security functionality to a trusted MSSP, Outsourcing Information Security shows how it can be done. On the other side, for those who are drunk with the panacea that outsourcing security is supposed to provide, Outsourcing Information Security will be a sobering wake-up call.

There are a bunch of reasons to outsource information security. You can get specialists who have a broader range of experience than your own company. You can get an outside view of everything from how to read the various logs your system puts out to what anti-virus program to install. There may be a cost savings to have someone else be monitoring your systems along with several other companies at the same time.

There are a bunch of reasons that you don't want to outsource information security. When it hits the fan, you are still the one responsible (especially so now with Sarbanes-Oxley in force, the real rules of which we still do not understand and won't until it's been to court a few times). You have more control over your own people, and you can much more carefully monitor them. This is especially true if the outside company has reduced its cost by establishing the monitoring center in some place like India. You can much more easily check to see if your new employee has just come from a few years vacation in Marion, Illinois.

It would be interesting to see how outsourcing information security would be treated by upper management. It's a cinch that they wouldn't understand enough to make a valid decision. You have to make the decision yourself, and unfortunately then you have to live with it.

This book is just about the only one on this subject. The author reports on some good situations, and some that didn't turn out so well. If this is a decision you have to make, here's at least a good start.

I read this books in all most 4 nites, and found it excellent to clear many dark concepts of quantum physics. I hardly recommended it to friends all over the world.

You could use this book as a first if you have a general idea
of basic concepts in quantum theory. It is a collection of
very nicely written tutorials. They are done by authorities in the field, and cover the main trends. I especially liked Jozsa's
chapter on quantum algorithms. By now there are also good textbooks that can get you started from scratch, such as Hirvensalo, or Nielsen-Chuang. If you have trouble getting hold the original journal articles, World Scientific just came out with a collection of major papers on quantum computation and quantum information, isbn 9810241178. It includes the full text [reprinted] of some of the papers which are cited in the present book; quite a few by the very same authors. That is a big help, as the papers in the subject are scattered and spread out over many different journals, and it might be hard to know where to start when
logging into the arXiv.

I have heard about this book when I was attending a series of lectures in Cambridge related to this topic, and one of the speakers was D. Bouwmeester. A. Eckert and A. Zeilinger are quite well known names in quantum physics, and this is assures for the high quality of the book. The book is clear in form and complete in its contents and reflects the professionality of the people involved in this research topic. It starts from the basic concepts, and gives the reader a complete perspective on Quantum Cryptography and entanglement, then is discussed teleportation, computation, including a step towards the experimental set up. Environmental decoherence, purification of entanglement and quantum error correction are discussed in the last chapters.

Definitely one of the best books on PHYSICS of quantum information and this subject. If you are in the field of Quantum Information and Computing you probably know that it lies on intersection of Physics (Quantum Mechanics), Computer Science (Complexity and Algorithms, Cryptography) and Mathematics (Vector spaces, Linear Algebra, Number Theory...) This one is exceptional for physics of quantum information and also for describing all important ideas behind 'strange things' that exist in quantum mechanics. Authors have properly described all experiments and ideas on quantum information, quantum cryptography and teleportation. This book assumes that you have some knowledge on quantum mechanics or basic concepts about this subject. If you have mathematical background and you want to know how those thing are made physically, you will not regret for buying this book!

What an awesome theory. Really makes you think about how the world actually works. Definite buy.

In the wonderful book, "Think and Grow Rich," by Napoleon Hill, he advises readers to think of role models who at night, just before going to sleep, you imagine are in a meeting with. During this imaginary meeting you are asking them to teach you what you most admire in them.

And he calls these people his invisible counselors.

Aliza, in essense, is doing this, through "PowerTools For Women in Business," by telling the story of 10 women who continue to convert their most adverse life experiences into propelling causes, work and prospererty.

Because, as Mary-Scott Welch, "Networking", said, "It helps a lot to get other women's ideas about your problems, not in the abstract but in the very specific terms of a real-life situation," a book like "PowerTools is a great beginning for women to walk through the examples of other women, to bring out the best in who we are.

As a journalist, I have the opportunity to meet many authors, and I must say that some of them do not live the messages that they promotee in their books - but Aliza certainly does.

This book contains easy to follow, real life stories of women maximizing their strengths, while never forgeting to be women.

Thank you, Aliza for living your mission.

Aliza Sherman writes a powerful guide filled with tips and tools that inspire, challenge and help you grow professionally and personally.

Aliza Sherman's PowerTools For Women In Business is an enthusiastic, can-do optimistic guide that teaches women how to best take advantage of their own strengths and personalities to succeed in the business world. PowerTools For Women In Business is about keeping professional and personal lives in harmonious balance, never sacrificing one at the expense of another, when for women especially they tend to become all too intertwined. Personally imposed barriers to success, and emotional obstacles such as guilt or unease wielding power can be confronted and conquered. Very highly recommended reading for any female executive, especially one who is relatively new to the cutthroat, male-dominated, complex and demanding world of business!

If you're in a need of some inspiration, read this book. PowerTools will get you energized to turn your dreams into a reality. Reading all the touching and motivating anecdotes from other women will empower you to take action to achieve what's most important to you.

I loved this book! Aliza has a wonderful way of drawing compelling stories out of high-powered women and creating "rules" for success based on how these big girls have done it. As a matter of fact, Rule #1 is "Share Your Stories -- Teach, Inspire, Motivate, and Learn by Telling and Listening." A critical lesson, that by overcoming our fear of asking for help and appearing needy, we can actually get farther faster by talking about the areas of business we are stuck in and learning from the advice of others. Powertools was a fun and informative read.

Arsenovski has done a great job with this book. It is clearly written, easy to follow and very practical. A great one to keep on the shelf and reference as needed. The free tools that he covers in the book are a bonus! They really help to get you applying what you've learned quickly.

I highly recommend this book for any .NET developer, not just those who use Visual Basic.

Not a typical Wrox title, generally these tend deal with specific technology in "no-nonsense" fashion. This book has more theory in it and is not technology specific, you will find it valuable if you program in just any version of Visual Basic .Net and any type of application. Not likely to become obsolete very soon, since basic premises of refactoring will continue to be relevant even in upcoming versions of VB.

I am working with group of developers that came to VB .Net from VB6. Currently we are in process in improving the way things operate using some agile stuff. The overall disposition is pretty good, team has already been formed and things like daily stand-ups, client involvement or short iterations are generally welcomed by all. However, when more technical, code level stuff is discussed, there is more discussion (if not opposition). These folks pack years of experience and will not accept that you can teach them their job just like that. There is no way you can force things like unit testing or refactoring. You have to be able to hold your ground and answer all the questions with some good arguments.
This book gives you in-dept view of refactoring with a lot of practical, code examples. This means that you are well prepared to answer any uncomfortable question. It builds up gradually, so it is easy to follow.
Almost every chapter ends up applying the stuff that was just exposed on a sample application with a lot of code. Surely author spent a decent time on this title. You can download the code and see it progress from chapter to chapter. This gives a great insight since you can read and debug the code at the same time and not just some toy or isolated example.
Here is chapter to chapter break-down of the book.

Chapter 1
Intro chapter, defines refactorings end code smells and explains the kind of baggage VB carries because of its origins. Cool section on misinterpretations, this will prepare you for some tough questions that might come from uninitiated developers or managers.
Explains the importance of writing simple, comprehensible code. For example:
Dim oXMLDom as New DOMDocumet() vs Dim portfolio as new DOMDOcument.
The first statement gives you no idea of what first DOMDocument represents, in second it's the portfolio, and if you know the application context you will know what to expect.

Chapter 2
Teaser chapter but also good single-chapter sample of some typical refactoring work. Captures well typical process of development of VB applications. Starts out with few event-handling methods, ends up with number of domain classes and some inheritance thrown in.

Chapter 3
Chapter on refactoring tools, also gives you some insight of how different tools like refactoring add-ins and unit testing framework fit the big picture of agile development process.

Chapter 4
Intro chapter on application that is used to illustrate refactorings throughout the book. Explains the business case, requirements, lists some use cases. It is important to understand the context of the application to be able to follow-up on refactorings. Also some funny stuff here, like freshman developer that takes pride in copy-paste development.

Chapter 5
In-dept discussion on Static vs. Dynamic and Strong vs. Weak Typing that is rarely dealt with in such depth. This is basically controlled with Option Strict and Option Explicit options. If you program in VB, you must be aware how these work out.

Chapter 6
Chapter on error handling, especially legacy vs. structured error handling. Again, something everyone should know, but rarely explained in such depth. Cool stuff is step by step recipe for converting legacy to structured.

Chapter 7
Deals with some core refactorings like Dead Code Elimination, Scope Reduction etc. It's like cleaning up your code for some serious refactoring stuff.

Chapter 8
First step in structuring your code is getting serious about the problem (or business) domain. Also explains Rename and Safe Rename refactoring, talks about Interface vs. Abstract class, Open-Closed principle etc. some serious OO stuff.

Chapter 9
Some core refactoring stuff. Teaches you how to eliminate duplicated code and why it is the worst thing it can happen to your code. Explains Extract Method and Replace Magic Literal with Symbolic Constant variable. Nice and simple example based on circle geometric shape on how procedural design is transformed to Object Oriented design (Module and Shared method rings a bell?)

Chapter 10
If only method extraction would be as simple in real life... This chapter goes further with method extraction and deals with some common problems like temps.

Chapter 11
Where do objects come from? How you design classes? Some core OO stuff in this chapter, including Extract Class, Move Member (Method or Field) refactorings, smells like Database Driven Design or Data Class, Large Class, OO principles like Single Reasonability Principle etc. Lot of stuff and handful of pages in this chapter.

Chapter 12
Build upon previous chapter. Deals with inheritance, polymorphism, genericity. Explains the difference between class and interface (or implementation vs. interface inheritance), difference between delegation and inheritance and criteria to chose one or another, list some common misuses of inheritance etc. Again, a number of refactorings like Replace Inheritance With Delegation or Extract Interface, Extract Super etc. Some heavyweight OO concepts in this chapter, takes a time to digest.

Chapter 13
Explains what is important when taking a birds-view of software. This chapter is especially important for software architects. Talks a lot about dependencies in software and why you should minimize dependencies in your code.

Chapter 14
Single chapter for huge subject, still a lot of material covered. Design patterns are the most advanced subject in OO, so refactoring your code in order to make use of patterns is in no way child's play. Mostly deals with creational patterns. First mention of Dependency Injection in some VB book I come across. Now taking into account that Unity application block [...] has been released in April, this is really cutting edge stuff!

Chapter 15
Talks about latest VB improvements that come with VB 2008. Starts with XML enhancements like XML literals and then the rest is about LINQ. Explains a LINQ implementation called LINQ-to-SQL. This is first Microsoft Object-Relational Mapper (ORM). Again, cutting edge.

Chapter 16
If you still deal with VB6 code, than you know that migrating to .Net is no easy ride. This chapter explains some techniques that will help you migrate your code and make it .Net in sprit, not leaving it crippled by simple migration that will only make it execute in .Net. VB6 lacks inheritance, generics etc, so you need refactorings to make it VB .Net.

This book has no real competition as far as I know, no book on refactoring or agile for VB .Net developers. The one that come close is Agile Principles, Patterns, and Practices in C# (Robert C. Martin Series) but it is for C# developers and requires a lot higher starting point.
When other books come up, I am sure Professional Refactoring in VB will continue to hold its ground. Highly recommended!

Really great book on refactoring. Although it is based on Visual Basic examples, same advices can be applied to C#, Java or any other OO language.
Martin Fowler finally has a fair partner on my shelf ;).

First of its kind for VB.Net developers. While it does not contain a complete catalogue of all known refactorings, you get a thorough study case used throughout the book, tooling, how to use refactoring for upgrade of legacy VB6 code, a chapter on VB 2008, some important object oriented principles and even short intro on refactoring to patterns.
This book is deep and takes a while to digest. However, it's not about showing off some irrelevant academic knowledge. Author is not afraid to mention "Dependency Injection" or "Single Responsibility Principle" but all of these are demonstrated to be relevant and get illustrated through very practical and real-life examples.

I would def. buy something from this seller again. He was wonderful and fast. He saved me from failing my class.

A good book. Topics are all well explained and good programming examples are provided. The target audience is more for people with little or no programming experience. But, experienced software developers can gain some insights, too. Overall, I highly recommend if you are looking for a book on this subject which doesn't contain in-depth technical details.

I bought this book for a class that I took at UC Berkeley and it's a great book because it teaches the reader xhtml and java in a simple way. I was amazed as to how easy it was understand all the terminology in the book. Usually I sell off my books at the end of the semester but this one was a keeper.

I got this book for a class, taught by Lagerstrom, and loved it. It does a great job explaining XHTML and JavaScript. I had never been exposed to any type of programming, but this book made it simple. When I originally bought the book, I was sharing it with two other people. However, we all found it so helpful that we had to each buy our own to keep it on the shelf.

Wow. Very few programming books I've read do much for me. Most of them are of no more use than a reference manual. But this book....this book is different. After just an hour of reading, I now understand the basics of JavaScript. The book does a great job explaining it. The other topic this book covers is XHTML, the successor to HTML. I admire the author's constant reminders to remain standards-complient in XHTML. Good job.

I got this book for a class, but I'll be keeping it forever. Scary, eh?

The best I've seen in the practical application of multi-threading technology on the UNIX platform. In fact, I managed to implement this technology into the construction of a communication server quickly and succesfully after reading this book. Well worth the money

Must have book that anybody interested in threading should have. Certainly not for beginner. Explains the basic constructs of threading and then takes specific instances where threading can be applied.

The Book assume the reader has background in threading and OS internal related concepts (althouth pthread is for applications, it has strong similiarity with OS design issue). It gives a concise introduction to the pthread interface and semantics, then quickly (yeah, I like such way) go into application and related issue discussions. I find such way is very intuitive and meet my taste.

There are two drawbacks from general point of view, one is the book is not appopriate for Unix beginner. The other one is the examples are taken from handy code, not well trimmed to only pinpoint the topics, but it make me feel more natural and practical.

Wholeheartedly agree with the others. This is an excellent treatment of threading with a wealth of examples. I especially like the Advanced Topics where they address cases and situations that seem very common in practice yet are not documented elsewhere.

This book should have been called "Introduction to Posix threads in Solaris and multithreading issues".

Pros:

- covers Posix threads, including more complex aspects, which are "usually neglected by ... implementors" to quote the authors. Includes threads cancellation and fork behaviour.

- a set of ideas, problems and methods that you may encounter while developing multithreaded software. Most of them are on the simpler side though.

- compact, highly informative chapters (average to 20 pages each).

Cons:

- No word on differences between Unix flavours. Basically it's all refers to Solaris, which I can understand, since Mr. Kleiman is the head of Sun Solaris threading dept (also Posix threads committee member).

- C API only, no existing C++ implementations behaviour or really anything C++ related.

- Mostly recommendations. Nothing on the _existing_ practices, libs or whatever. One or two of the existing bigger pieces of software could have been surgically dissembled to show how it's done. Some math analysis is shown, but it ends with yet another recommendation.

- The methods and problems covered could be more deep, otherwise it's sort of an introduction.

- Some of the samples are too big.

Overall:

- Gives you an impression that the authors are very knowledgeable (yeah, right, see note on who one of the authors is), and capable of explaining complex things with simple words, but a little bit ignorant in that they consider the reader not worth sharing more knowledge with.

- Certain chapters must be stripped out, and more pure theoretical info added.

- A recommended book all in all.

P.S. A stylish cover.

I just picked up a copy of this new book. The author did a nice job of pulling together a book useful for experienced programmers and for beginners. This book is very readable and does a great job with bringing you up to speed on the essentials needed for getting a grip on the new language and sets you up nicely for .net. Highly recommended!

I have been programming in C++. This book was a great way to move to C#. The lessons are concise and easy to follow. Each take 10 to 15 minutes. Great investment of time.

I had never used C# or the visual studio before. This book got me up and running with both. I know some C, no C++, so there was a lot to learn. Examples made it easy. Everythign compiled and ran. Took me just over a weekend to get through the book's lessons.

I'm a VB programmer who has not used C or C++. Wright makes it very easy to get up and running with C#. He doesn't assume you understand the ins and outs of C -- which was key for me!

I have been programming in VB and VBA for the last 5 years. Before that, it was C and C++. This book is all about the language of C#. It doesn't cover XML, Web Services, or anything to do with the internet. What it does do, is give you an excellent background on the language and syntax of C#. I now fully understand the differences between C++, C#, and even VB. I highly recomend this book to anyone who has C++ background. If you have a pure VB background it might take a while to get used to the looping and decision making syntax as isn't covered until later in the book, but it is still useable.

Video games can prove powerful tools for learning and social change: that's the eye-opening revelation in RESET: CHANGING THE WAY WE LOOK AT VIDEO GAMES, which comes from a gaming journalist and concerned parent who examines the myths and stereotypes revolving around video games. From an analysis of the business forces behind these games' development to the unique qualities which distinguish video games from other media and the latest learning research on play and learning connections, chapters extol the possibilities of video games as powerful tools for education and inspiration - if presented properly. A fine choice for education and social issues libraries alike, this will reach college-level audiences.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

The book is a spirited attempt to defend the concept of computer gaming. It attempts to draw out and articulate the components of games which offer the potential to revolutionise the learning experience. The primary one being the involvement and identification of game play which `motivates' the user to learn complex subjects without the traditional experience of learning as a difficult and unappealing task.

The strongest elements of the book lie mostly in the author's attempt to `unpack' game-play and relate the different components back to (mostly psychological) research into learning and motivation. His central thesis is that if learning is unstructured and `fun', is it far more productive. Games focus on positive user experiences, and learning becomes almost a by-product of the on-going attempt to repeat the `buzz' of achieving desired tasks. Partly this is because learning is provided within more exciting and interesting contexts, and partly because the user doesn't perceive tasks as `compulsory', but is allowed to learn at their own pace and in their own way.

Whilst this idea is not new:

"Generally speaking, a child's education must be based on the principle that everything must come from his own will. Nothing should be given in a ready made form. One can only give the idea, one can only guide or even teach indirectly, starting from afar and leading him to the point from something else." (Gurdjieff 1928 - Views from the Real World.)

... it has (up till now) never meaningfully challenged the idea that learning (almost by definition) should be boring, hard and laborious.

In my opinion the author does an excellent job of reviewing the important elements of game-play and in showing how much this medium has to offer. He comes close to establishing `computer games' as a potential paradigm shift in the structure of education.

I think this is a book the critics should read!

I'm an avid gamer and I bought this book for my mother because I thought it presented games in a new light. Instead of portraying them as evil, time wasting, and corruptive, it points out ways games can be used in a useful and constructive fashion.

Highly recommended.

Rusel DeMaria is a veteran in the video games business. He's a very connected individual and has had a prolific career writing in-depth strategy guides for key games, and also regarding the history of the business.

His new book "RESET" has changed the way I think about games and their social impact. It's an important read for parents and those that wish to understand the gaming industry from someone who's able to really take a close and very revealing look.

As the parent of a long time gamer, I think this is a terrific book that would be of much value to a wide variety of people; parents, educators, psychologists, gaming journalists, and children's recreational supervisors. It would also be of value to anyone who works in the game industry or wants to work in the game industry, particularly in the business, community relations, executive, legal, or general design areas. Although it's certainly not aimed at gamers, I would say that gamers who have a serious interest in the broader aspects of the field should give it a read. It offers a lot of insights into video gaming, as well as offering up a good many ways that video games can add value and dimension to our personal, educational, and professional lives.