Computers and Internet Books

I am only about half way through this book and already have learned numerous things about the design of Java as a language and about proper usage of said language. This book is going to be a staple in my programming library and a book recommended to anyone I know working with Java. I am also looking forward to the second edition which is slated to be released in May sometime.

An indispensable, insightful, and well written Java book to add to your reference library. The second addition is due out May 25, 2008.

I ask all of the developers I manage to read this book, after having been introduced to it by a coworker. Great tips, and helpful in clarifying some of those "gut feel" things that come up during pair-programming.

It is incredible to read Joshua's insights. Forget about being a Java Guru or something like that. This book is pure joy to read if you are detail oriented, perfectionist or a student of art of programming in general.

I have started this effort of creating a distilled version of this book coupled with my own reflections at: [...]. To any curious reader though, any such effort is not a replacement for the book itself. It is a masterpiece.

- Kedar Mhaswade

I've been using Java since 1995 and have owned this book since 2001 and it's the only Java text I still turn to. I recommend every Java developer, no matter what level you're at, read this book and read it again every year for the remainder of your career. I doesn't matter who you are or how experienced you think you are -- you will learn from this book. I give "Effective Java" my highest recommendation. I cannot wait for the Second Edition.

This is my fifth photo shop elements user guide.
I wish I bought the Scott Kelby book first- it is by far the best and the only one I use.

Thank you to Scott Kelby for making this book. Even an "adult" could use it. If you are tired of kids being able to use a computer better than you, you will want this book for Photoshop!

MR. KELBY DID AN EXCELLENT LOB WITH THIS BOOK, I HAVE BEEN USING IT FOR ABOUT A MONTH. I HAVE LEARNED A LOT. VERY EASY TO FOLLOW.

HOWEVER THE QUALITY OF THE BINDING ON THE BOOK IS THE WORSE I HAVE FOUND. I OWN ABOUT 12 BOOKS ON ELEMENTS. THIS BOOK IS FALLING APART AFTER 1 MONTH. I AM NOT HARD ON BOOKS. I AM GOING TO HAVE TO TAKE THE BOOK APART AND PUT IN A LOOSE LEAF BINDER. I ALMOST THREW IT AWAY. I WILL THINK TWICE BEFORE I BUY ANOTHER ONE FROM THIS COMPANY.

In the short time I have had this book I have found it not only to answer my questions but give me clear and concise information.

I had Photoshop Elements for about a year - until this book I was unable to use it effectively. Scott Kelby does a great job walking through the myriad features and functionality! Instructions are clear and easy to follow. Would definitely buy again!

Animation is now done in 3-D this book is dated.
The book I have on by Don Bluth were much more elaborate on the animnation process then this book. The drawings are primative and don't offer much of the way of substance you can take them at face value.
If you like stick figures you might like this book.

This a must-purchase for the starting animator. I read The Illusion of Life first, which was a lot of words and theory but fewer walk-throughs (though you should buy that, too!). Get it, you won't be disappointed.

this was the textbook for my principles of animation I class, and it was an immense help. if I was ever confused about how to liven up an animation, or make a movement more believable, I could look in the book for an explanation of a walk, run, jump, or any of a number of movements and get an example of the keyframes at the very least.
while it doesn't sit down and explain the 12 principles of animation in a section, it does end up covering the essentials in an easy to understand way.

my instructor put it this way "The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation is the old testament of animation, and this book, is the new testament."

This is an easy to understand book that i am sure will give me an edge starting my animation history classes. It lays everything out in an understandable format. great book

a much needed item for an inspiring animator or anyone interested in the entertainment field

Very complete, super helpful. If you are scared of C++ STL and you think it is an endless sea, this book will help you put things in an order. Very practical and it goes deeply inside the fundamentals. A must have for the non-hacker. This book is for the academic type scientist who wants to learn programming in an orthodox science like way. So if you are a mathematician a physicist or in general a scientist who want to get into C++ and program use this book. Also try other books from this author like C++ Templates: The Complete Guide. He is a very talented technical writer and scientist too.

The author has wrote a book that presents C++ standard library to the average programmer with plenty of samples that show how to implement each concept step by step.

I got this book originally back in 2001, and I still use it almost every day as the first stop for any STL issue I have. It's also what I give new employees who need to get up to speed on the STL. IMHO there's no better place to start if you want to learn to use the STL.

Still the best book on the STL. Buy this and Josuttis' templates book and you'll be set to learn the intricacies of C++ programming. There are very few genuinely useful C++ books; Josuttis' books are certainly among them... to the point where I almost never bother consulting any others. If I can't understand it from reading Josuttis, I delve into the header files themselves.

This book was delivered to me before time and also paid a decent price for it.

It is a very good book for understanding TCP/IP protocol suite. It has lots of tools explained in detail to explore the different protocols on unix/linux based systems. Most of the protocols are presented well. It is a must have book for learning networking concepts. I highly recommend this book.

Either if you're a pro or a student, this book is a MUST-HAVE. "Buy it NOW, don't waste more time" is the best advice I could give to you.

This is a good book that covers all the fundamentals of TCP/IP networking. Good illustrations. Seperate chapters for each common application protocols.

This is THE BIBLE. This is the gold standard for the exposition of the TCP/IP protocol stack. Every other TCP/IP protocol book must be measured by the yardstick of this book. This is simply the most comprehensive book ever written on the TCP/IP protocol stack. It's crystal clear and utterly lucid. Stevens tome leads the reader logically, methodically and effortlessly through all of the layers of the TCP/IP protocol stack: the Link Layer (ethernet frames), IP layer, Transport Layer etc. All nuances of TCP/IP are discussed: Address Resolution Protocol (ARP), RARP, ICMP, IGMP, User Datagram Protocol, Transmission Control Protocol etc. In particular, the 135 page exposition of the transmission control protocol is a masterstroke. Application level protocols such as DNS, NFS, FTP, SMTP are discussed at length. TCP/IP Illustrated is Unix-centric. Given that the roots of TCP/IP are in Unix, every serious appreciation of the protocol requires at least a basic understanding of Unix philosophy. This book is a masterpiece of technical writing in Computer Science. Do not be mislead by the one negative review of this book on the spurious grounds that it is outdated. The TCP/IP protocol has not changed since the publication of this book in 1994. I have two copies of this book and will probably buy a third copy. I very, very highly recommend TCP/IP Illustrated Volume I.

This book has very well detailed TCP/IP information, unfortunately some of the information is outdated. The book is easy to follow, and would make an even better learning tool if updated. I bought the book since it was required reading for a class, but I would opt out for a younger publishing on this topic if I had a choice.

The Definitive Guide to Actionscript by Colin Moock is a must have for anyone serious about Actionscript. Moock explains object oriented programming with ease. There are many samples and examples making this book easily accessible to a wide range of programmatic abilities. This book is a great learning resource and also serves as a reference for developers.

i dont need to say more, I even pre orderd the second edition allready

It's all good... lot's of info, examples, details, etc etc...
I do have to comment though that everything you find in this book is EASILY found and sometimes in a way more deep and detailed manner in the Macromedia Flash Help section and in www.macromedia.com Flash support section... I would not consider this an essential book even though one feels secure to have it close...

Nice book, found it pretty pleasant at first, but it was too easy to digest (six, seven hours and you can toss it over your shoulder). The real answers I need (mostly dealing with movie clip behaviours) are only vaguely explained or absent and I found the book more of a frustration than otherwise from about 1 week onwards.

Having said this, there doesn't appear to be any other title for Flash that caters to those whose programming knowledge exceeds their experience as a graphical design user.

Finally, an actionscript guide that is superb in its production! My hat is off to Colin and Gary for this detail-oriented volume that has cleared the smoke out of my head and has made a programmer out of an artist.

Bravo!!!

This book is a must have, I have recommended to all my friends and family. Kudos to the Author for publishing such a wonderful book.

I have read may books on WFP and this is the one I go to when I need to figure out how to do something. Mine is full of tape flags, post-it notes and dog-eared pages because it gets used all the time. Another book, Essential Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) (Microsoft .NET Development Series) is also very good, but it isn't a refrence book like this one. If you want to program in WPF you need Windows Presentation Foundation Unleashed bu Adam Nathan!

I had a lot of fun with this book, and it provided me with a fantastic foundation of knowledge for implementing WPF technology in my applications.

It's organized well, in that important tips are easy to find (no digging through paragraphs to find answers to common problems), and conversely thorough in detail; when more information is required. So it is quite versitile, whatever your reading mood. Whether it's casually flipping through, or digging deeper in to advanced topics.

The book's written very well, and most notably with a passion. The writer explains concepts clearly to the reader, and I'd highly recommended it to anyone interested in learning about this technology.

WPF is a remarkably inconsistent tool including contradictory settings, rules that only work some of the time, confusing shortcuts, and other inconsistencies. This book covers so much detail, that the many quirks of WPF sometimes get in the way. It might have been better if the book ignored some of the more arcane details. At times it gives so much information that things are more confusing than necessary.

Still, the book does cover a vast amount of information. If you just want an introduction to WPF, it may be a lot more than you're looking for, but if you want to know all about the weird details, this book includes a lot.

I ordered this book and Pro WPF in C# 2008 (Mathew MacDonald) at the same time. I read WPF Unleashed first because I saw the reviews on Amazon.com. I thought, wow, great book. Then I read Pro WPF in C# 2008.

I found Pro WPF in C# 2008 to be a much better book than WPF Unleashed. It's thicker, has more content, and dives much deeper. It also covers .Net 3.5 because it's newer.

Don't get me wrong, they are both excellent books and I recommend them both. But if you really want to understand core WPF concepts, Pro WPF in C# 2008 is the better choice.

My only issue is that the book doesn't address how to use google analytics more. He gives a lot of suggestions, but there isn't enough guidance in actually how to use GA to pull the data he recommends.

This book is fantastic. Not only does it cover everything, but it does it in a simple way, an hour a day!

I reckon once you have finished this book you will be a head of the majority.

Must get for analytics.

This book is amazing. If you think you knew everything or are in an analysis slump, just flip through this book and you'll find something new to analyze.

I have used Web Side Story...moved to Omniture....also work with Google Analytics.....This book does a good job of getting away from the mountains of data, to provide a clear cut "THINK ABOUT WHAT THE ANALYTICS MEAN" on a business basis- definitely worth the time investment.

Technologies evolve, but the PROCESS by which we should collect and analyze online data in order to gain solid, actionable insights will remain constant for the foreseeable future.

I have been fortunate enough to work with some of the smartest online marketers in the business, and, to say the very least, most of these people -- especially those in the analytics community -- seem content to share their expertise in the most confusing and theoretical manner possible. But not Avinash Kaushik. And in "An Hour a Day," Avinash proves why he is the world's most trusted name in analytics: he brings us up to his level without unnecessary jargon, so we can actually understand how to do this stuff!

Without question, this book is required reading for ANY online marketer, business owner, or anyone currently outsourcing their web analytics. (Warning: You may become better at this than the people you're paying to do it for you!)

Have a website you're not properly tracking? You're not alone! Less than a third of e-commerce and B2B sites have sufficient web analytics tracking -- let alone a process by which to glean insight from it -- and it's not the technology's fault. The problem is that most people don't understand the VALUE and NECESSITY of web analytics. They don't realize it's the difference between sink or swim. For most organizations, web analytics is an afterthought; something pawned off to those with technical knowledge when it should really be understood by those who need to use this data to make serious business decisions. Well, folks, those days are over. If all you know about your site is how many page views, uniques, or (*yikes*) "hits" it's getting, you're in much worse shape than you currently realize, simply because you have no idea how much money and attention you're missing out on if you have no clear goals in mind or a system by which to quantify it.

If you're not measuring it properly, how can you ever claim to have an online strategy that's working? How else will you know how successful your campaign is? How else will you know which elements to test and optimize?

Whether you're a beginner or you know just enough about web analytics to be dangerous, you should absolutely buy this book today. The book pays for itself a hundred fold in the very first hour of the very first day.

I recently purchased this book based on the rave reviews even with an updated second edition off the press. I can honestly say that this book is Awesome in detail and explanation and is still extremely relevant to understanding the how too's and processes involved in routing tcp/ip. The most amazing feature about this book is how well explained and the book makes topics that would normally seem dificult or confusing easily understood, in other words grandma could learn how routing tcp/ip works from reading this book!

Brandon, Rome, GA

If any book was ever considered as the MUST HAVE BIBLE for Interior Routing Protocols - then Jeff Doyle's first effort on IGPs is THE book (how many cliché's do you want in one sentence)!! The book goes through at a very even pace - dissecting and describing the majority of both open-standard IGPs (OSPF, RIP and a little on ISIS) and Cisco-proprietary IGPs (IGRP and it's beefier brother - EIGRP). The book also includes some invaluable appendixes - including tutorials on working with Binary and hex.

But let's focus on the book's main reason for being - explaining IGPs. Take for instance OSPF - one of the most popular and widely implemented routing protocols in use today. On page 416-417, the book correctly discusses virtual links as a type of network type. The OSPF chapter typically employs 5-8 routers (and shows the required configs). Such a daunting exercise may at first seem like overkill, but Doyle is able to show how (and why) the all these router configs are necessary (to show, for instance, how they interact with or whether a DR or BDR). The book does have it's typos though, as the table on page 484 incorrectly documents stub networks as allowing type 5 and 7 LSAs (not so - thus a stub!)

I cannot imagine there are many CCIEs out there that do not have this book on their bookshelf.

I give this book 5 pings out of 5:
!!!!!

Great book for understanding IGP in details.

I am reviewing Routing TCP/IP Volume 1 (ISBN 1578700418), part of the CCIE Professional Development Series from Cisco Press. This book is widely regarded as part of the "Holy Trinity" of CCIE preparatory books. In addition to CCIE prep, it is also highly valued as an essential desk reference for anyone pursuing a career as a senior-level routing engineer. The author, Jeff Doyle, having written the two most recognized tomes on IP Routing, is a respected authority on the topic. His writing style is very clear and not at all difficult to read, which sets him apart from a lot of the authors in the "high-end routing book" category.

The book is part of a set of two books. TCP/IP Volume 1 contains coverage of the major interior routing protocols (RIP, IGRP, EIGRP, OSPF & ISIS) and follows it with coverage of route redistribution, filtering and mapping. TCP/IP Volume 2 covers the BGP exterior gateway protocol and follows it with coverage of advanced IP routing issues. As someone who's come up through the CCNA-to-CCNP-to-CCIE-candidate path, I recognized all of the topics from the BSCI curriculum. All this book really does is takes them to another level of depth. I highly recommend this path of coming at the CCIE, because unless you've done it all and seen it all, there's way too much information to take in during a single reading. Reading the BSCI book first gets you familiar with all of the topics, so that you're not overwhelmed when reading the Doyle books.

While many pan this book as being outdated since it was written in 1998, my contention is that all of the covered topics are still fair game for the CCIE qualifying written exam and the book still retains all of its original value. There are a lot of topics which are on the test which are not in Doyle's books, but if you look at the CCIE blueprint, the topics covered in the books map exactly to the topics in the IP Routing & IP Multicast sections of the blueprint. You can't treat any book as being a one stop shop for CCIE preparation. That's impossible. The book would be the size of my desk. I would actually contend that, on the next rewrite, they should break the 2 volume set into 3 volumes, one for the interior protocols, one for BGP by itself, and one for all of the advanced routing issues and multicast. This would make the volumes a bit less daunting and also somewhat easier to carry.

But, carry-ability issues aside, this is a very good book. It takes all of the topics to the degree of depth which you would expect for a CCIE-level book and explains things in a way that doesn't lose the reader. I had to work to keep the examples straight in my head, but no one said becoming a CCIE was easy. On the downside, the book contains no disc. This is unfortunate, because I always like to have the book on PDF. Also, it would be nice to have the review questions and answers put into a question bank. The book is also missing the "Do I Know This Already" section for each chapter, which is present in all of Cisco Press' certification guides. I realize that this is probably due to the fact that this is more of a desk reference / learning book than an official certification guide. However, as someone who's studying for an exam, I always like as many free practice questions as I can get.

I give Routing TCP/IP Volume 1 a 5 on my 5 ping rating scale and look forward to reading Volume 2.
!!!!!

Routing TCP/IP Volume 1 by Jeff Doyle (ISBN 1578700418) is an advanced level book on the theory and practice of routing and its implementation in Cisco routers. The 1026-page book (with a 50+ page index - always an important part of any technical book) is packed with useful information, example network architectures, and sample commands and their corresponding outputs to help the reader get a thorough grasp of real-life application of the theory.

The book is meant for working professionals in the network and routing field. Part I presents some basic routing theory along with the routing types - static and dynamic. This section, as in other books, is meant as a review for those seasoned engineers who have been working in the field for some time. It also helps to bring up to speed the other readers who may lack the necessary background. Part II contains the real substance of the book. It covers the interior routing protocols in detail including RIP 1 & 2, IGRP, EIGRP, OSPF, and IS-IS. The material presented in these chapters is definitely solid enough to give a detailed understanding of the subject matter and provide the necessary knowledge to allow one to troubleshoot the problems that creep up in maintaining networks running these routing protocols. Part III presents the issue relating to the optimization of networks running these routing protocols such as filtering and redistribution. Part IV consists of the appendices.

The most useful part of the book in my opinion is the examples and sample outputs. These really help the reader to understand the details on implementing the concepts presented in the book. Jeff presents a sample network architecture and uses that architecture to explain various aspects of the topic being discussed. For example, to illustrate various aspects of EIGRP routing and load balancing, a 5-router mesh architecture is presented followed by a detailed discussion of concepts such as succession, load sharing, route transitions and updates, etc. This approach really helps in understanding all aspects of a particular topic with concrete examples to relate to.

I took hold of this book not to help in preparing for the CCIE but to assist in the understanding of routing protocols that I use in my work life. As such, I can not comment on the applicability of this book to preparing for the CCIE exam but as for its application to real world scenarios, this book far exceeds any other on the topic of routing in the Cisco environment.

I am really impressed with the material presented in this book. The book is thorough and detailed in its coverage of interior routing protocols. Jeff Doyle is an expert in his field and this book proves it. On a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest, I give an enthusiastic 5 to Routing TCP/IP Volume 1 by Jeff Doyle. I can't wait to get my hands on Volume II.

The book is well organized and very easy to read. It captures both the novice as well as those who have been working in WPF since beta (or is that CTP). The only complaints I have for the book are really just complaints on WPF in general. A lot of the material in the book (as well as WPF in general) focuses on making fairly outlandish applications (getting all the wizz bang features and animations). What I find lacking are items like validation, threading (when having a long background task), and items more akin to Windows Forms development. This book was an invaluable tool while I put together my first WPF application.

A quick background of my skills prior to reading the book so you know where I'm coming from:
- Strong: C++, Win32, 2D UI
- Learning: C#, .NET, WPF, XAML, XML

Being extremely anxious to dig in to WPF, I was seeking a book that would hold my hand through the process but by the end, leave no stones unturned. This book comes close.

My first attempt at learning was "Windows Presentation Foundation Unleashed" by Adam Nathan. I quickly became frustrated with the book because I was regularly feeling lost. You know, like when you are conversing with a really intelligent person who has a hard time helping you connect the dots. I do recommend Adam's book as a supplement as it's got good material and is in full color. After reading the reviews for "Programming WPF" by Sells & Griffiths I took the leap.

I read the book cover to cover minus 3 chapters: 3D, Interoperability and Async/Multithreaded -- about 700 of 800 pages. Usually books this fat have lots of useless pages. Not this book, no sir, which just goes to show how much there is to learn about WPF and XAML. In a word, the book is brilliant, written for experienced programmers who want to learn WPF and XAML.

It has the same feel as Petzold's Win 3.x books, i.e. Light-hearted, start easy and built to a powerful crescendo as the chapters progress. The latter chapters are no more difficult to digest than the previous chapters, but do build upon previous chapters. That said, I was extremely grateful that the book didn't have a grand project that was slowly built upon chapter by chapter; code examples mostly stood on their own and were plentiful (and they worked as printed!)

As noted above, I know very little about WinForms, and WPF is the obvious successor. Though parallels were duly noted, I was thrilled that there were not constant sidebars saying "Hey Mr. WinForms! Everything's OK! This is just new stuff and you can handle it. Rah! Rah! Rah!" As the authors make abundantly clear from page 1, WPF is light years ahead of WinForms.

As noted above, WPF and XAML are big topics so be prepared to get up and stretch your legs a lot, hold you head frequently and doubt the wisdom of learning new things.

On the down side, the book is weighted a bit too heavily towards XAML for my tastes. Since C# can do absolutely everything (and more) that XAML can do, I wish there were more dual examples that show how XAML does it and then how C# does it. There are examples like this but not enough. This would satisfy the curiousity of developers who wonder about how XAML "magically" achieves things.

Another gripe, now that I am attempting to apply what I have learned: I am frequently having to turn to a Google search to find details not present in the book. For example, the section about event bubbling covers good ground but I immediately had a problem when trying to use bubbling: I was attempting to use it with sibling elements and that does not work but (as far as I can tell) this was not noted in the book. It feels as though the book was not field tested.

And a final gripe: The index is sparse. I am regularly having to pencil in items.

Some brief notes:
- I really hope this book evolves along with WPF's evolution
- The material seemed fresh (as of Oct 2008) except the Silverlight appendix which has aged since Silverlight 2.0 has been released
- The corresponding errata website does not seem to be updated regularly (though I didn't encounter many editing problems)
- Even though the book only has a dozen pages of color plates, you won't feel deprived as the examples will light up your display in all sorts of fun ways.

I have both WPF books by Chris Anderson and Adam Nathan. I read initial chapters of both of them but never got so excited to continue reading and got astray into LINQ and other stuff. Then I bought this one from Chris Sells and all I can say is it is much better than both Anderson and Adam book and the book keeps you engaged making you eager to find out what next in very simple terms and wonderful example. I loved the way the data binding chapter was explained and am hoping to finish this soon.

Great Job Sells and Ian.

I'm almost ashamed to admit that after diving into WPF back when it was known as "Avalon", I haven't even touched WPF since. So I finally needed to suck it up, get started, and learn WPF.

As somebody new to WPF, I just have to give a huge "Thank You" to both Chris and Ian. This book is very entertaining and the quality of the writing between both Chris and Ian is just tremendous. The pace of the book is perfect and the teaching style is one that any developer can relate to.

As a Technical Evangelist working for Microsoft, I think that every "Evangelist" in the tech industry can learn from Chris and Ian on how to tell a compelling story that developers can relate to and "grok". We evangelists are all-too-willing to simply explain the technical details of an API while completely forgetting to answer the "why" (let alone telling a compelling story to suck people in). This is yet another area that this book excels at.

I can say with full confidence that this book is the first book I recommend to anybody wanting to dive into WPF. Enjoy!

Jason Olson, Technical Evangelist, Visual Studio & the .NET Framework
[...]

Writing a programming book is not an easy thing to do -- I know, because I've done it myself. And I have to say that I'm really impressed with the job that Chris Sells and Ian Griffiths have done with "Programming WPF". This is one of the best programming books I've ever read (and I've read a lot of them).

For a programming book to be good, it's not enough for it to simply contain all of the information that you need to know. If that information doesn't stick to your brain, then the book hasn't done it's job. If you want the information to stick, then the book has to be interesting to read. It has to have a lot of clear examples that show you real-world applications without extraneous fluff. And to be really effective, all of that should be done with a little bit of style and wit.

And I'm really pleased to say that "Programming WPF" does all of those things. I recently needed a refresher on WPF, so I just spent a lot of time over the last few weeks going through the book very carefully. And I have to say that I'm really impressed. It's engaging, interesting and they chose really good examples. And it's witty! (You'd be amazed at how the occasional chuckle keeps a reader from getting that "eyes glazed over" feeling that far too many books induce.)

I know from experience -- believe me, I know! -- just how hard it is to pull that off. And they did it with style. So first of all, congratulations to Chris and Ian for doing a great job. And second, if you're a C# developer looking for a good, hands-on way to learn WPF, I highly recommend "Programming WPF".