Reviews (16)

Learning the basics...
Programming in the key of C# aims to introduce the programming language, C#, at a basic level. It covers fundamentals of modern objective programming features such as namespaces, classes and instances. It also reassures readers of what basic data types are supported in C# which follows the footsteps of .NET Framework.
Perfect starting place for VB'ers
Charles Petzold, a veteran of technical book writing, proves himself in this book (again) to be a brilliant teacher. At around 420 pages it's slim in comparison to other Microsoft text books. Part of the reason is that, concentrating solely on the C# language, no screen shots take up space that is more effectively used to explain key concepts of this language & how it fits into OOP. If you're a VB programmer, (as I was) looking to get into C#, this is a great starting point. It does begin at the beginning, (Variable types etc) but don't let this discourage you as there are some subtle differences that you need to learn about which could save confusion in the future, for example, that there is much less in the way of implicit conversion of certain types & this must be taken care of in code. However, this section is a brisk read, & Petzold's clear explanations are enlightening. He really makes it easy to understand how to use this language with some good examples throughout the book. There is nothing about the IDE or controls & just enough on the Framework, but what he does introduce, he explains in depth. This approach keeps his focus on the language which is what this book, after all, is all about.
A fantastic introduction to C#
This is a great book for a beginning programmer trying to learn the fundamentals of C#. Every chapter is devoted to a key feature of the language (as opposed to discussing all data types in one chapter, for example) and Mr. Petzold's teaching style is wonderfully accessable without at all being too simple.
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Subjects:  1. C# (Computer program language)    2. Computer Books: Languages    3. Computers    4. Computers - Languages / Programming    5. Programming Languages - C#    6. C & Visual C    7. Computers / General   

Editorial Review

Rarely does one see a book written with authority and clarity the way this one is. Author Mark Minasi takes information from his experiences as a computer technician (among other things) and explains problems you may encounter. This book is full of sentences that begin, "I once saw ..." or "This happened to me ..." Rather than explain the differences among different kinds of screwdrivers in the beginning of the book, the author gets right to the point by showing how to disassemble a machine and see what's inside. Then, there's a sort of "hall of horrors" for PC components--a section that details how different parts can fail. Quickly, the book moves into explanations of general troubleshooting and problem-solving techniques. The bulk of this book is a series of chapters explaining how to install and fix various components, such as RAM, hard disks, modems, video-capture cards, and audio peripherals. There aren't a lot of illustrations, but most of the ones here are useful.Read more

Reviews (19)

Getting Started with ease, Without Intimidation!
I have so far bought two editions of this book, the 7th and the 2003 edition. Both books were and are very helpful in the areas that I need them for. A beginner can't ask for a better book to learn about computers, than this line of books. I have no complaints about Marks books, because a person who isn't a computer technician or an IT professional wouldn't want anything that's extremely complicated to start learning about their computer.
A fine piece of work
Minasi has done it again. This was a treat to read and as in previous editions skillfully walks the reader through the minefield of modern technology. Mark makes it seem easy and reading his work it is. The index is also very thorough which is essential when your on a new project and trying to piece together where you are., For us non techie types its easy to get lost in the middle of a problem. The index helps you find your way back. A great piece of work overall. F.C. Wendell

Minasi or Mueller?
I have both Mueller's 14th edition and Minasi's 3rd edition and consider them to be superb. If you are going for an engineering degree in computers and like thick technical explanations interspersed with great useable information get Mueller. But, with Mueller don't expect an enjoyable, easy read. But, if you want an enjoyable easy read with great information, get Minasi.Read more

Subjects:  1. Computer Architecture - Repair & Maintenance    2. Computer Books: General    3. Computer Engineering    4. Computers    5. Computers - General Information    6. Hardware - Personal Computers - General    7. Maintenance and repair    8. Microcomputer Maintenance And Repair (General)    9. Microcomputers    10. Upgrading    11. General Theory of Computing    12. PCs (IBM-compatible personal computers)   

Reviews (17)

Good, Not Great
Most people reviewing this book either love it or hate it. I won't go to quite that extreme, but I do have to say that the book missed the mark in a number of areas. Best of Class!
This books is different than anything else on the shelf. Skip first three or four chapters
Skip the first three chapters, 37 pages, you'll miss nothing except some bad info about Windows 2000. If you can use Partition Magic to prepare your disk for installation and the nic was identified during setup, skip Chapter 4 and start at page 101.If you can make up your own mind on where to use Linux or NT (the author didn't understand 2000 Dir. Svcs. yet so he only compared Linux to NT), skip Chapter 10 and stop at page 471. That leaves 370 pages of Linux info. provided by the co-authors.Browsing through these chapters, X seems to be an important feature. That matches with my limited understanding.Lots of important topics are mentioned but none covered very deeply. The comparisons with Windows technology weren't that important or were just uninformed (DNS comparisons ignored services) and most features, RPM for instance, don't benefit from a Windows perspective. Too bad they wasted 200 pages on fluff. That's why it gets a three.Don't pay retail for this book, it is already dated material and should be heavily discounted.As an MCSE Network Admin on NT & 2000, I saw 2000 and Server 2003 leave NT in the dust along with Linux. Directory Services and group policies are vital to distribution and central management. Linux has only SNMP so far. Soon Linux will be ready for [self-installing on] client desktops which may be it's future.Directory-based services and integrated business software (Exchange, CRM) will run on proprietary server OS's from IBM, Windows, and maybe Oracle OS in the future. Clients will stream XML of secure managed code from these servers and back via open protocols. JIT compilers and local code libraries will assemble client executables that use remote web services and data. Admins: read about web services and Mono on Linux. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Computer Books: General    2. Computer operating systems    3. Computers    4. Computers - Operating Systems    5. Linux    6. Microcomputer Operating Environments    7. Microsoft Windows (Computer fi    8. Microsoft Windows (Computer file)    9. Operating Systems - Linux    10. Operating Systems - UNIX    11. Operating Systems - Windows    12. Operating systems (Computers)    13. Unix (Operating System)    14. Computers / Operating Systems / UNIX    15. Microsoft Windows    16. Unix, Unix Linux & Unix TCL/TK   

Editorial Review

*Hmmmmm*Read more

Reviews (18)

very basic
This book is for the most novice brand new user of OS X.4.If you've ever used a Mac, even OS9, don't bother with this book, its too basic.

The Little Mac Book, Tiger Edition
This book helped me get updated to the Tiger Operating System.
Robin Williams' Books Always the Best
No one writes better "How To Use It" books than Robin Williams, and this book is no exception.
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Subjects:  1. Apple And Macintosh Programming    2. Computer - Apple/Macintosh    3. Computer Books: Operating Systems    4. Computers    5. Hardware - Personal Computers - PCs    6. Macintosh (Computer)    7. Operating Systems - Macintosh    8. Operating sytems (Computers)    9. Computers / Operating Systems / Macintosh    10. Macintosh OS   

Editorial Review

Of the preparation guides available for the Cisco Certified Design Associate exam (640-441), Read more

Reviews (87)

DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK
Todd should be ashamed of himself.I've used his material for my CCNA and it was fantastic.
Good overview, missing in some spots
This book does a noble job of trying to deliver the goods. Each chapter begins with a short list of the exam objectives covered - the same objectives that come directly from Cisco's site.
How to Pass CCDA
Unfortunately, this book is a miss. It missed out on too many objectives. Lammle does a great job with CCNA, and he's aterrific writer, but this book came out with too little research and too little attention to current objectives. Plus, there's a lot of obsolete material in this book.
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Subjects:  1. Certification    2. Certification Guides - Cisco    3. Certification Guides - General    4. Computer Books: General    5. Computers    6. Computers - Certification    7. Data Transmission Standards And Protocols    8. Electronic data processing per    9. Electronic data processing personnel    10. Examinations    11. Internetworking (Telecommunica    12. Internetworking (Telecommunication)    13. Networking - General    14. Networking - Network Protocols    15. Study guides    16. Computer Communications & Networking    17. Computers / Technical Skills   

Reviews (58)

Outstanding
So many .NET books are a rehash of the documentation, or say the same things as a million other books, at best in a slightly different way. This one isn't like that at all. It's full of real-world practical perspective and reality checks such as (to paraphrase) "it will be years before .NET is really being used in production", and "dont use inheritance or threading unless you really know what you're doing". Besides that, its outstandingly well written and oozes attention to detail on every page.One criticism I might level is that its really not all that VB specific - a chunk in the middle is, but much of it applies equally to the other .NET languages.Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I am honestly baffled that so many folks gave this book a negative review. Dan, please keep it up!

Nothing Special
Appleman's Developing ActiveX Components with Visual Basic 5.0 was so good that I bought Developing COM/ActiveX Components with Visual Basic 6.0 when it came out. Both of these were among the very best VB books of all time. Unfortunately, Moving to VB.NET is not in the same camp. The book tries to introduce VB6ers into VB.NET, but does a very bad job of getting from A to B. Most developers can understand most of .NET after discovering that it's 80% Java with keywords changed. Instead of starting with this foundation, the book wastes a lot of space explaining prinicples that are new to only the most hardcore Microsoft zealots. In Appleman's defense, this book was first published when .NET was still in beta and was likely rushed to press. Don't get me wrong, there is some great technical content here as Appleman is still a great technician and good at explaining the "internals" of things. The COM Interop and Accessing the Win32 API chapter is particularly good and helped me get through a VB6/VB.NET integration project. If you're totally new to VB.NET and find this book on sale, buy it; otherwise, don't bother.

Dan Appleman has done it again
As I have come to expect from any text by Dan Appleman, Moving to VB .NET gives a thorough discussion of the topic, including tips for evaluating how/when/whether to deploy .NET for your organization based on your particular business needs.Mr. Appleman combines impressive technical knowledge with a sharp sense of humor to make this book as readable as it is informative.I recommend it to any experienced VB programmer looking to make the transition to .NET. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. BASIC (Computer program language)    2. Basic (Programming Language)    3. Computer Books: Languages    4. Computers    5. Computers - Languages / Programming    6. Microsoft .NET    7. Programming Languages - CGI, Javascript, Perl, VBScript    8. Programming Languages - Visual BASIC   

Reviews (41)

4th edition doesn't cut it
I ordered the 4th edition, because it was cheaper.I've never seen the 5th edition though.In the 4th edition, they spend too much time talking about 1900 series routers, Pre IOS Version 12 and Pre Y2K stuff.When I studied for the CCNA exam, this book was only 10% useful.It's an OK reference book if you don't have anything else though.

Great Book
This is the 1 and only source I used to study for the exam and I passed it on my first attempt scoring just over 900. I found nothing in the book that ran counter to my experience and found it to be thorough and detailed. I did however have 2 years of working with Cisco Routers/Switches behind me before I began studying, so my learning curve was nowhere near that of someone trying to get a "Book Cert" with no hands on experience.

Get the "5th" Edition, not the "4th" edition...
I just was looking through the books and noticed that this it the 4th edition. The 5th edition has the latest info, and Sybex finally has updates on the web site. Great concept for continually changing tests.... ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Certification    2. Certification Guides - Cisco    3. Certification Guides - General    4. Computer Books And Software    5. Computer networks    6. Computers    7. Computers - Certification    8. Data Transmission Standards And Protocols    9. Electronic data processing per    10. Electronic data processing personnel    11. Examinations    12. Networking - Network Protocols    13. Study Guides    14. Computer Communications & Networking    15. Computers / Technical Skills   

Editorial Review

While there are plenty of books on software-engineering case studies, most are big on theory and short on real-world detail. Despite its vague title, Jesse Liberty's Read more

Reviews (22)

Chapter 1 is reason enough to buy the book
Chapter One: The business of software Clouds 9...up to Code
I bought this book a few years ago and finally started to dig in the other day.Crikey!This stuff is awesome!I have a bad habit of not underlining stuff in otherwise great books.But the first chapter is turnin' yella.So many gold nuggets in this thing.Pg. 25 "Don't Build It, Buy It", referring to programmers' natural inclination to mine/extract/mill the natural resources to make the wheels they often reinvent. Small but valuable case study
A real life case study of a real project. What is interesting about this book is that all aspects from requirement assessment up till deployment of one specific project are bundled in one book.Read more

Subjects:  1. C (Programming Language)    2. C++ (Computer program language)    3. Case studies    4. Computer Bks - Languages / Programming    5. Computer Books: Languages    6. Computer software    7. Computers    8. Computers - Languages / Programming    9. Development    10. Object-oriented methods (Computer science)    11. Programming - General    12. Programming - Object Oriented Programming    13. Programming Languages - General    14. Programming Languages - Visual C++    15. Software Development    16. Computer Programming   

Reviews (3)

Good Book
I am happy with the reasponse from Amazon. I had no problems with the book or the service.

Great intro to Visual Basic.NET
A great place for anyone to start with programming. If you're already a seasoned programmer you might get bored quickly, but if you're learning VB.NET from the ground up, this book is perfect. A good book for begineer
I love this book very much. Colorful, user-friendly and simple to read. If you are the begineer of VB, I recommend this book. You do not need to spend a lot of time to study those thick and professional level in this moment. Get the concept, do more exercises and then you will become an experienced programmer. After that, start to read the professional and thick one. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. BASIC (Computer program langua    2. BASIC (Computer program language)    3. Basic (Programming Language)    4. Computer Books: General    5. Computers    6. Computers - Languages / Programming    7. Microcomputer Application Software    8. Microsoft .NET    9. Microsoft Visual BASIC    10. Programming - General    11. Programming Languages - Visual BASIC    12. Basic, Visual Basic & QBasic    13. Computers / Programming Languages / Visual BASIC   

Reviews (20)

mohan
hi this is mohan mahat .i want to read the book ok photoshop 6.0.so sent me a book on the following address: Thick but not useful!
I don't know why this book has a 4-5 starts rating. It's thick and big and seems has more than enough info to learn for photoshop. But I really have no interest to read this and i even can't learn anything from this book. It's hard to follow and the paragraphs are long but not useful. For beginners, i really won't recommend this book. I'd rather pick a quickstart guide instead.But when you go for the advance level and want to learn more details, it might be a good reference book.

Uninsightful
Tends to reproduce the users manual.Better resources are available for free on line and IN COLOR.Not recommended. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Adobe Photoshop    2. Computer Graphics - Design    3. Computer Graphics - General    4. Computer Graphics - Photoshop    5. Computer graphics    6. Computers - Desktop Publishing    7. Microcomputer Operating Environments    8. Photo Techniques    9. Photographic Techniques Using Specific Equipment    10. Photography    11. Techniques - Equipment    12. Photoshop   

Reviews (23)

6 devices total?
A Router Simulator needs to have more than 6 devices if you want to really practice anything. This is a good basic simulator for the INTRO material but does not do much of anything to prepare you for the ICND or CCNP material.

Nice, but I found online labs CHEAPER and BETTER.
No question, this lab sim is good and provides a nice topology to work with. The simulator pales in comparison to the Cisco Press one
I try to be open minded about products, but I think the only reason this product has been popular uis because there was no competition out there.Now that cisco press has released their new CCNA book with NetSim in it, I can't see any value to this far inferior product. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Certification Guides - Cisco    2. Computer Books: Operating Systems    3. Computers    4. Computers - Certification    5. Data Transmission Standards And Protocols    6. Networking - General    7. Networking - Network Protocols    8. Professional - General    9. Software - Study Guides - CDROM / Universal    10. Computer Communications & Networking    11. Computers / Technical Skills   

Features

• Illustrated

Reviews (8)

Great price/book/content
All around, yet another hit from the Missing Manual series!
THE LIFE OF ILIFE '05!!
Do you need to harness cutting-edge technology for your own creative expression and entertainment? If you do, you're in luck! Author David Pogue, has done an outstanding job of writing a book that doesn't require you to be a professional working for a media conglomerate to read it.
Can't miss with anything in this series...
iLife '05 is the fifth Missing Manual I've purchased. I find them helpful, informative, and fun to read. The chapter layout is logical and fluid, the index is thorough, and the entire manual is chock full of color (!) illustrations.
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Subjects:  1. Computer - Apple/Macintosh    2. Computer Books: General    3. Computers    4. Computers - General Information    5. Hardware - Personal Computers - Macintosh    6. Information Technology    7. Interactive & Multimedia    8. Computer / Apple/Macintosh    9. Computer graphics software    10. Computers / Interactive Media    11. Computers / Personal Computers & Microcomputers / Macintosh    12. Computers/Interactive & Multimedia    13. ITunes, itunes music store, iPod address book, iPod games, iSync, iPodding, iPod, Missing Manual, David Pogue, Macintosh, iLife, photos, digital cameras, image editing, iphoto, iphoto 5, Apple, digital photography, Video, audio, visual effects, iphoto, itunes, timeline, clips, themes, DVD map, looping, burning, HD, iLife, iLife '05, iMovie, iMovie HD, iDVD, iDVD 5, digital recording, samples, audio, sequencer, recorder, track, loops, prerecorded loops, sounds, MP3, musical, music     14. Multimedia    15. Multimedia systems   

Features

• Illustrated

Reviews (21)

Windows XP Home Edition : The Missing Manual (Missing Manual)
I found this book to be an excellent resource.It explains everything in simple, easy terms with plenty of illustrations.I found it to be a mostinvaluable resource that I refer to all the time.

Windows XP Home Edition: The Missing Manual
Provides guidance for novice and more advanced user of the operating system.Index mmakes it very easy to problem solve.Very satisfied with my purchase.

Looks like an excellent user manual.
Haven't had time to do much more than skim the topic listings, but it appears to be an excellent manual, which I will use as a reference, guide, and problem solver. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Apple And Macintosh Programming    2. Computer Books: Operating Systems    3. Computer operating systems    4. Computers    5. Computers - Operating Systems    6. Hardware - Personal Computers - Macintosh    7. Microcomputer Integrated Application Software    8. Microsoft Windows (Computer file)    9. Operating Systems - Macintosh    10. Operating Systems - Windows XP    11. Operating systems (Computers)    12. Computers / General    13. Computers / Operating Systems    14. Computers / Operating Systems / General    15. Microsoft Windows    16. Windows XP, Operating systems, Control Panel, Installing, maintenance, backup   

Subjects:  1. C (Programming Language)    2. Computer - Internet    3. Computer Books: General    4. Computers    5. Programming - General    6. Programming Languages - C++    7. C & Visual C    8. Computers / Programming Languages / C++   

Reviews (6)

BAND ON THE RUN! BAND ON THE RUN!
Would you like to be able to create professional sounding musical recordings? If you would, you're in luck! Author David Pogue, has done an outstanding job of writing a book that will guide you through a long list of enhancements, large and small, that make GarageBand a better musical tool than ever before.
Great for anyone working with GarageBand
GarageBand is not aimed at professional musicians. Instead it is intended to help amateurs produce music easily. The application comes with 1,000 pre-recorded sampled loops, plus 50 sampled or synthesized instruments which can be played using a MIDI keyboard connected to the computer, or using an on-screen keyboard. This is a complex piece of software, thus enters David Pogue and his "Missing Manual" series to explain it all.
Much more than a Manual
David Pogue's, "GarageBand 2: The Missing Manual" is much more than a Manual for GarageBand 2. It is a treasure-trove of tips and tricks, a detailed-yet-comprehensible resource, and it is the best non-periodical Computer publication I have had the joy to read.
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Subjects:  1. Computer - Apple/Macintosh    2. Computer Books: General    3. Computers    4. Digital audio editors    5. GarageBand (Computer file)    6. Interactive & Multimedia    7. Musical Instruments - Keyboard    8. Operating Systems - Macintosh    9. Computer / Apple/Macintosh    10. Computers / Interactive Media    11. Computers / Operating Systems / Macintosh    12. Computers/Interactive & Multimedia    13. Multimedia    14. digital recording, samples, audio, sequencer, recorder, track, loops, prerecorded loops, sounds, MP3, musical, music   

Reviews (8)

The best reference for ASP.Net Beginners
Great combination and perfect fit of beginning book and tool: ASP.Net Web Matrix. Excellent examples and basic ASP.Net concepts explanation.

Not bad, good examples
This book is a not bad introduction to ASP.NET. The reason I purchased it is I really needed to master Web Matrix ASAP and Mr. Sussman's book was quite helpful in accomplishing that goal. Of course, it is better to begin with Visual Studio since Web Matrix is somewhat limited resemblance of Visual Studuo but Web Matrix has something nobody could resist - it is free. Not bad, good examples
This book is a not bad introduction to ASP.NET. The reason I purchased it is I really needed to master Web Matrix ASAP and Mr. Sussman's book was quite helpful in accomplishing that goal. Of course, it is better to begin with Visual Studio since Web Matrix is somewhat limited resemblance of Visual Studuo but Web Matrix has something nobody could resist - it is free. Read more

Subjects:  1. Active server pages    2. Computer Books: General    3. Computers    4. Computers - Languages / Programming    5. Design    6. Internet - Web Site Design    7. Internet - World Wide Web    8. Microcomputer Application Software    9. Microsoft .NET    10. Programming - General    11. Programming Languages - General    12. Web sites    13. Computer Programming    14. Computers / Internet / Web Site Design    15. Internet   

Editorial Review

David Pogue is the king of the Mac OS writers, and indeed one of the best authors of computer books around. For the latest edition of Read more

Reviews (36)

MacWorld MacSecrets 6th edition
The book is great as far as it goes. It has only general information on Mac OS X. The authors promise additional "unlimited edition" chapters; however, the website where these chapters are supposed to be available no longer exists. Hungry Minds publisher was bought by Wiley and Sons, but the website was not acquired by them.
The best in the Mac community, but outdated now.
This book, like almost everything else by the insanely great David Pogue, is an extremely handy Macintosh book. As someone who does some part-time Mac repair and support, it's handy to have on hand. Not only does it go over the important things you'll need to know, it's also chock full of easter eggs and other fun hints. I need basic info, not cute tricks
I attribute the wide acceptance of these Mac books to the fact that thoroughgoing software manuals are apparently not provided by manufacturers anymore.I bought the 5th edition of this series when I acquired an iBook a couple of years ago.I hoped to learn more about deploying the basic capabilities of my OS 9.1 software than the little help screens provide.In the two yearsI've had the book, I've found almost nothing I needed to know to solve a real problem.The book seems to try to deal with several versions of Mac software and is actually a grab bag of "look at this cute trick" features, which may not even be achievable by my particular version of the OS.It may be that I bought the wrong book, but it seemed the most likely one on the shelf.Read more

Subjects:  1. Apple And Macintosh Programming    2. Computer - Apple/Macintosh    3. Computer Books: General    4. Computers    5. Hardware - Personal Computers - Macintosh    6. Macintosh (Computer)    7. Operating Systems - General    8. Reference - General    9. Reference - Macintosh    10. Computers / Personal Computers & Microcomputers / Macintosh    11. Macintosh