Reviews (17)

Excellent all around
This is the first Mac programming book that has been released since OS X's debut that is actually worth buying. It is such an amazingly detailed tour of everything that makes the OS tick that I am honestly amazed by the thought of one person writing the entire thing. It's not going to put on a stupid looking cowboy hat and teach you Objective-C or hold your hand through building your first Cocoa project, but it will show you how to actually do something interesting once you progress beyond re-inventing the text editor and to-do list.

An awesome comprehensive programmer's pal
This is a great book.It covers device access, iokit, debuggers, compile flags, processor info, efi/bootx and nvram settings, universal/fat binaries, heritage of Darwin and the mach role, memory management and threading, and more.It's thicker then the bible, but none of it is fluff.Well written easy to follow, and has tons of good examples.

A remarkable achievement
Amit Singh's Mac OS X Internals book is, for all intents and purposes, a flawless treatment of the subject matter. The breadth of coverage crosses all major kernel subsystems(processes/threads, virtual memory, etc), extentions, a history of Mac OS X, programming/developement environments, hardware architecture (including PPC details) and system firmware. I can't think of anything that Mr. Singh did not cover.
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Subjects:  1. Apple And Macintosh Programming    2. Computer - Apple/Macintosh    3. Computer Books: Operating Systems    4. Computers    5. Macintosh (Computer)    6. Operating Systems - Macintosh    7. Operating systems (Computers)    8. Programming    9. Computers / Operating Systems / Macintosh    10. Macintosh OS   

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Reviews (79)

Out of date now
Python has come a long way. This book does not instruct you on any of the newest features or capabilities.
Great
I am new to Python and really, really like this book. I have read it cover to cover twice. It is obviously biased in favour of Python, but goes out of its way to explain the "gotchas" and things that are not intuitive. All in all, a WAY above average computer book!

Definitely not a reference book
This book isn't horrible, but it meanders all over the place. It often confuses the issue by using several concepts in one example. There are too many instances where a technique is shown but then explained several chapters later. Sometimes this is necessary in language books, but this book abuses the idea.
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Subjects:  1. Computer Books: Internet General    2. Computers    3. Computers - Languages / Programming    4. Programming Languages - General    5. Programming Languages - Python    6. Python (Computer language)    7. Python (Computer program langu    8. Python (Computer program language)    9. Computers / Languages / Programming    10. Computers / Programming Languages / CGI, JavaScript, Perl, VBScript    11. Computers / Programming Languages / Python    12. Internet languages    13. Python, scripting language, object-oriented programming, Mac OS X Panther, Unix, Linux, Windows NT, OS/2, classes, functions, modules, operators   

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Reviews (8)

1 of 2 essential Ruby books
The other essential being Programming Ruby, which I have gone through cover to cover.That gave me a great grasp of the language, but did not give me the tools to create excellent Ruby programs.I read most of the sections of this book- I am not doing Rails and Web development, so I skipped or skimmed those topics.I implemented some ideas from the recipes and just learned from example on others.I now write much better code, and have a new air of confidence when solving problems with ruby.If you plan on programming more than a few scripts with Ruby, buy this book!
This Book is a Gem!
Sometimes, the difference between getting a project off the ground and watching it linger on the launchpad is finding an example of how to do something in code.
A definite keeper
Some O'Reilly books are horrible, and some are great--this happens to be one of the better ones. It's full of concise examples of how to use Ruby's standard libraries and most popular extensions that more than make up for their frequently terrible and always unnavigable RubyDoc generated documentation. An excellent next step for those who've read through "Programming Ruby" and are wondering how to put the language's better features to good use without becoming completely dependent on any of the currently popular application frameworks I'd guess about 90% of people are learning Ruby for. It even covers RubyCocoa basics. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Computer Books: Languages    2. Computers    3. Computers - Languages / Programming    4. Object-oriented programming (Computer science)    5. Programming Languages - CGI, Javascript, Perl, VBScript    6. Programming Languages - General    7. Programming Languages - Java    8. Ruby (Computer program language)    9. Computers / Languages / Programming    10. Computers / Programming Languages / CGI, JavaScript, Perl, VBScript    11. Computers / Programming Languages / General    12. Object-oriented programming (Computer science    13. Programming languages    14. ruby, rails, web development, database, programming, xml, dynamic languages   

Reviews (6)

Practical Advice for Converting to IP Telephony
Switching to IP Telephony is one of those decisions that the CEO finds easy to make.Costs decline quite a lot and quality of performance is promised to be acceptable.
This will separate the successful from the failures!
Many of us have decided to put away our legacy PBX systems and install a VoIP based communication platform, and with all of the benefits clearly visible, we often jump into action without fully realizing the scope of what we are about to undertake.In a VoIP deployment, so many factors must be considered in the design, that often things are left out.In the deployments where QoS, switching infrastructure, and overall network design are ignored, you see problems with reliability and an overall bad taste left in the mouth of the end user.With proper planning, the problems experienced by these design flaws (or often lack of design) can be overcome, and the true glory of the VoIP system will be seen. Cisco has designed an awesome assortment of VoIP enabling technologies, that when used together can, and will, change the way we do business for the better, but only if you have a solid foundation of planning.
A very good book for design engineers.
If you design networks or just want to get a better understanding of Cisco IP Telephony technology pick up this book. Its a great reference and a daily problem solver for your job. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Computer Bks - Communications / Networking    2. Computer Books: General    3. Computers    4. Computers - Communications / Networking    5. Networking - General    6. Networking - Network Protocols    7. Telephone Engineering    8. Computer Communications & Networking    9. Computers / Networking / General   

Reviews (12)

E-Business Demystified
Every chapter is very informative and applicable. It's packed full ofuseable information about how to enter into the new world of internet commerce.
Step-by-step process for developing your own Internet site!

Better than you'd think from the title!Really!
Give this one a chance in spite of the title.It really does break down the different types of web sites (and hybrid-types) that make money.And after such "what do I do on the net?" fundamentals, it does add simple, inexpensive nuts and bolts to get ideas up to speed almost immediately.Examples throughout, as well as specific resource recommendations.Good for confidence, as it reveals that internet money-making is neither rocket science nor spam hype. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. E-Commerce - General    5. E-Commerce - Internet Marketing    6. Electronic Commerce    7. Entrepreneurship    8. Internet    9. Internet - General    10. New business enterprises    11. Information technology industries   

Reviews (16)

scissors and paste
The author has done a good job of scouring the antenna literature and summarizing all of the equations in one place.The problem is the lack of any discussion about what the equations mean.I am reminded of the definition of a college education given by Prof. McWhorter of Stanford, "the process of the professors notes becoming the student's notes without having passed through the mind of either."
A delightful read
This is quite possibly one of the biggest books on antennas ever written.The information is presented in a clear and concise manner, and you can easily find what you need.There is all sorts of information on new antennas and the derivations for many equations are presented clearly.There is enough material to give all other books page envy, and therefore, it earns a rating of 5 stars.

Excellent
I have two standard textbooks on antennas, namely, Antenna Theory by Balanis and Antennas by Kraus (both third edition). Both are good books. But if I could keep only one book, I would definitely choose Balanis because, in my non-expert opinion, it is more coherent, more systematic, and has a stronger emphasis on principles. Balanis also comes with a helpful CD containing Powerpoint slides (tons of them), Matlab files, and a few other items. The paper quality is superb but the paper thickness makes for a tome that feels like a heavy college dictionary. The mathematics is not as scary as I originally thought, and should be okay for final year EE undergraduates. I recommend this book highly and unreservedly. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Antenna Theory    2. Antennas (Electronics)    3. Electronics - General    4. Interactive & Multimedia    5. Microwaves    6. Science/Mathematics    7. Technology    8. Technology & Industrial Arts    9. Telecommunications    10. Radio technology    11. Technology / Electronics / General   

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Reviews (35)

great reference book
This is the definitive OpenGL guide and reference book.It is hands-down the best reference book covering all basic OpenGL operations.I'm very satisfied with my purchase, and I use it every day.

Still the definitive guide to OpenGL
For those graphic programmers who think that Java3D requires that you program at too high a level and want more elementary control over their graphics operations, OpenGL is probably a good choice for a graphics programming API. So, assuming you already have a good grasp of computer graphics programming concepts and can already program in the C language, this guide is probably your best bet. If you don't already know these things, you will be completely lost trying to read this book. The book starts out in chapter one showing the reader exactly what OpenGL can and cannot do. Supporting code and instructive figures are supplied. The next few chapters deal with performing basic graphics tasks by using the OpenGL API. Topics included are viewing, display lists, color, lighting, blending, antialiasing, and fog. Again, if you are not already familiar with how to write pseudocode for these type of graphics tasks, you need to find a good basic computer graphics text and learn the techniques first. The next part of the book moves on to slightly more advanced topics such as texture mapping, tessellators, quadrics, and NURBs all from the standpoint of "How do I do this in OpenGL?". The chapter entitled "Now That You Know" is especially valuable to the experienced graphics programmer. Unlike previous chapters, this chapter presents a collection of examples of higher-level graphics capabilities and some incomplete OpenGL code for those examples. The reader is expected to flesh out the code to get a running graphics program, and the book does point this fact out. Chapter 15, "OpenGL 20 and the OpenGL Shading Language", is the only truly new material in this 5th edition of the OpenGL programming guide. Thus, if you are not interested in using the OpenGL shader, you can probably forge ahead with the 4th edition of the guide if you already have a copy.
An OpenGL Companion
The fourth edition of "OpenGL Reference Manual" edited by Dave Shreiner provides an official command reference for the OpenGL graphics library version 1.4.Published by Addison Wesley (ISBN 0-321-17383-X) the text is approximately 760 pages and has a suggested retail price of $59.99.Read more

Subjects:  1. Computer Architecture    2. Computer Architecture - General    3. Computer Books: General    4. Computer Graphics    5. Computer Graphics - General    6. Computers    7. Computers - Other Applications    8. OpenGL    9. Computers / Computer Animation    10. Image processing    11. Programming languages   

Reviews (13)

This Dummies is a mess!
Dummies books have been a staple of my computing/software resource library for a long time.This book was very disappointing.If you're looking for an organized presentation of the functions and capabilities of Adobe 7, leave this on the shelf.There are few visual examples in the book and very few tutorials that lead you through a topic in any organized way at all.To get something out of this book, I found myself jumping all over the place, following topic and function chapter references tossed in all too frequently, sifting through meaningless and annoying chatty writing, trying to piece together a tool's functionality on my own.And did I mention the writing style?Distracting, distracting, distracting.I felt like I was sitting in a computer class for octogenarians with ADD. Get to the point!!Leave it on the shelf.

Works Great
This book is easy to use and understand. I was comfortable using the program in a week.

Photoshop 7 for Dummies
Reads like stereo instructions. Too many technical graphics terms for a novice photo editor. I usually like the "for dummies" books but this one falls way short of the mark. I would recomend this book only to a seasoned graphic artist that was already familiar with the terminology. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Adobe Photoshop    2. Computer Graphics - General    3. Computer Graphics - Photoshop    4. Computer graphics    5. Computers - Desktop Publishing    6. Desktop Publishing - General    7. Microcomputer Graphics    8. Photo Techniques    9. Photographic Techniques Using Specific Equipment    10. Photography    11. Techniques - Equipment    12. Computers / Computer Graphics / Design    13. Photoshop   

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Reviews (22)

Definitive resource for web masters who consider themselves professionals
Each time I sit down to redevelop a website I revist this book.It can really help you understand the shortcomings of a site's present information architecture and explain those shortcomings to non-techy clients.

Interesting, but a bit on the fluffy side
I'm the kind of reader that enjoys straight to the point books. As interesting as this book was, I found it rambled and went too deep into how to sell IA to administration, or learn about IA in schools, or what steps should one take to become an information architect, etc. I found it presented ideas, often left the reader at the end of each section with "it depends" or "you'll see what works best for you". Which is fine, but isn't really helpful.
A Great Resource
This book is a great resource for IA. Struggling with what type of navigation to use and why? This book is an easy read that helps you get good IA done. It also explains the in's and out's of IA. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Architecture    2. Computer - Internet    3. Computer Books: Internet General    4. Computers    5. Data Processing - General    6. Design    7. Information storage and retrie    8. Information storage and retrieval systems    9. Information systems    10. Internet - Web Site Design    11. Programming - General    12. Web sites    13. Computer / Internet    14. Computer architecture & logic design    15. Computers / Internet / Web Site Design    16. Computers/Data Processing - General    17. Computers/Programming - General    18. World Wide Web (WWW)   

Reviews (6)

This should have been the manual
This is certainly as dry as a computer manual, so Microsoft could have included this as at least a PDF with PowerPoint. So did not do that and now they want you to buy this separately. That itself is reason to not buy this book and look at other alternatives.
Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003 Step by Step
Very easy to follow and teach from.It's also very easy for those that I'm training to follow from as well.
Office PP 2003
This Powerpoint book was very well written.The information was precise and easy to follow.I recommend it to anyone planning to get Microsoft certification. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business Software - Powerpoint    2. Business presentations    3. Computer Books: General    4. Computer Graphics - General    5. Computer graphics    6. Computer programs    7. Computers    8. Computers - Integrated Software    9. Graphic methods    10. Microcomputer Graphics    11. Microcomputer Integrated Application Software    12. Microsoft PowerPoint (Computer    13. Microsoft PowerPoint (Computer file)    14. Presentation graphics software    15. Programming - Software Development    16. Computers / General    17. Home Computing   

Reviews (23)

Great Book
It's a great book, easy to understand, a lot of examples, could be used by people initiating on JSF, or like a reference book. It is not necessary any knowledge of servlets or JSP. Just install tomcat, jsdk a jsf lib and start to write yours first webapp!!

Excellent thick book on web application development with JSF
Reading the Amazon reviews I suspected this to be a good book.But how excellent it actually was, caught me by surprise.
It's OK, but there are better books on JSF available
Despite the fact that I really like David Geary's other books, I was pretty disappointed with this one.
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Subjects:  1. Computer Books: General    2. Computers    3. Computers - Languages / Programming    4. Design    5. Internet - Web Site Design    6. JavaServer pages    7. Programming - General    8. Programming Languages - Java    9. Web site development    10. Web sites    11. Computers / Programming Languages / Java    12. Java & variants   

Reviews (26)

Well organised and sensible level of detail.
I was new to Spring when I got this book, but it bootstrapped me into the basics very quickly - I found its explanations provided insight above and beyond the material available in the online documentation (important to know because that's already pretty good).
Good for all Spring topics except for Spring MVC
Pro Spring is, for the most part, an easy book to absorb.I picked it up with only a middling understanding of Spring, and I feel comfortable with almost all of the topics.However, since my background in servlets and jsp is also quite shallow, I found the chapter on Spring MVC to be the exception.The material here was incomplete, as if the authors had not actually written their own Spring-based webapps.I've been forced to supplement it with web documentation and forum posts (a poor substitute).
This is not for Spring beginners
This book is not for programmer who needs more exlanation
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Subjects:  1. Computer Books: Languages    2. Computers    3. Computers - Languages / Programming    4. Java (Computer language)    5. Java (Computer program language)    6. Programming - General    7. Programming Languages - Java    8. Web site development    9. Computers / Programming / Software Development   

Reviews (26)

Not for Beginners
The book dives straight into the code and technicals and doesn't give enough context behind what is going on. I gave it up after first 2 chapters.

Not For Professionals
This book only mostly explains basic functionality like how to drag and drop controls, etc. When I purchased this book, I expected to find out how to go beyond this basic functionality like customizing controls, using templates and thorough explanation about them.
ASP.Net newbies need to stay away from this book
Don't say I did not warn you, this book is not for ASP.NET newbies. I'm fairly good with VB.NET and yet I simply can't use this book to learn ASP.Net. You will not even get past the first few pages.
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Subjects:  1. Computer - Internet    2. Computer Books: Web Programming    3. Computers    4. Design    5. Internet - Web Site Design    6. Microsoft .NET    7. Web servers    8. Web sites    9. Computer Programming    10. Computers / Internet / Web Site Design    11. Internet   

Reviews (13)

Exploring After Effects techniques
The Adobe After Effects Studio techniques book takes you in a tour to explore what is inside this magnificent program and how to use its capabilities in creating video effects.
Exploring After Effects techniques
The Adobe After Effects Studio techniques book takes you in a tour to explore what is inside this magnificent program and how to use its capabilities in creating video effects.
great way to learn compositing in general
This book is a great intoduction into the field of Digital Compositing in general. If you already know the basics of After Effects and want to learn how to see and handle live-action footage for visual effects, this is your ultimate guide. Mark Christiansen talks, of course, a lot about the After Effects application (e.g. how to optimize the interface and your personal workflow). But there are also chapters that cover more general topics like how to match a virtual 3D camera to a real film camera, the differences between lens blur and computer generated blur, how to see and recreate light and color situations in a shot, Greenscreen Keying, Rotoscoping, specifics about working with high dynamic range images like scanned film footage and so on. I've also read parts of the famous book "The Art and Science of Digital Compositing" by Ron Brinkman, which covers a lot of simmilar issues. While Brinkman goes into a lot more theoretical details but doesn't cover specific software solutions, Christiansen matches a perfect combination between general theorie and practical application. You learn how to see images - but also how to directly manipulate them in After Effects. But a lot of the knowledge that is shown in this book, could also be used when working with other compositing systems - so it's really worth reading if you already work with After Effects, even if you want to migrate to a different software one day. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Adobe After Effects    2. Adobe After Effects (Computer software)    3. Cinematography    4. Computer Animation    5. Computer Books: General    6. Computer Graphics - General    7. Computers    8. Computers - Other Applications    9. Data processing    10. Desktop Publishing    11. Desktop Publishing - General    12. Special effects    13. Computer graphics software    14. Computers / Interactive Media   

Reviews (4)

a must-have reference for modeling and animation in 3DS Max7
Have you ever thought in creating 3D character? If so, then you must asked yourself the following questions:
You want basic you'll get basic.
This is a great book and it's really basic. I got most of the concepts of rigging and modeling from here. Then once you get the hang off it you can start on a more elaborate character.

Super Book for new Character Animators
This is a great book for people that are new to character modeling and rigging. There is 80 pages on building a rig step by step. The rig is fully equipped with toe rolls, finger curls, and custom attributes. I highly recommend it. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Computer Animation    2. Computer Bks - Other Applications    3. Computer Books: General    4. Computer Graphics - General    5. Computer graphics    6. Computers    7. Computers - Other Applications    8. Interactive & Multimedia    9. Computer graphics software    10. Computers / Computer Animation   

Reviews (11)

Errors and omissions
The discussion on how to use the new SqlCacheDependency class is wrong. The book claimed (in page 623) that "with SQL Server 2005 no setup work is needed and no external objects must be added to the Database.". In reality, you need to setup several permissions in the database side. In addition, you have to make sure that the compatibility level of your database is set to 90.
Does what it says on the cover
This book is an excellent introduction to the facilitites available in ASP.NET 2.0. It covers simple topics such as HTML controls, WebControls, page lifecycle etc, and also goes a little deeper to discuss details of providers, personalisation & master pages to name but a few. There are also several chapters devoted to displaying data using ADO.Net which are useful. There's also a good chapter on ASP.NET security. Most if not all of this information is available on the web, however having a single book that covers these topics is well worthwhile - it's a great book to have by your side when you are writing ASP.NET sites.

Broad and deep coverage
The two books of this series (Core Reference & Advanced Topics) offer broad and deep coverage of ASP.NET.
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Subjects:  1. Computer - Internet    2. Computer Books: Web Publishing    3. Computers    4. Internet - Web Site Design    5. Internet - World Wide Web    6. Microcomputer Application Software    7. Programming - General    8. Computers / General   

Reviews (32)

Best introductory book to GIS
I am taking a class on GIS applications in public health and this book has been extremely helpful. It is simple, easy to follow, and the step-by-step exercises are the best.

Very good book for begineers
I was starting with Arc products and this book was a very good start.

Excellent Resource and teaching manual
I purchased this book to be able to create my own maps for a client.I was familiar with ArcGIS Desktop 8.3, but had never really created any GIS data.Using this book, I was able to create custom shape files, MXDs and layer files that really impressed the client.The author assumes little or no previous knowledge of using the product and does an outstanding job putting the information in the simplest of terms.Unlike the books that come with the software, this one will actually have you creating GIS data in no time flat.Well worth the money. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. ArcGIS    2. ArcGIS (Computer software)    3. Computer Books: General    4. Computer Graphics    5. Computer Graphics - General    6. Computers    7. Computers - Other Applications    8. Data Modeling & Design    9. Earth Sciences - Geography    10. Geographic information systems    11. Geography    12. Graphical user interfaces (Com    13. Graphical user interfaces (Computer systems)    14. Information Systems (Geography)    15. Miscellaneous Software    16. Remote Sensing    17. Computer Software Packages    18. Computers / Data Modeling & Design    19. Geographical information systems (GIS)    20. Map making & projections   

Editorial Review

Anyone who has managed the process of developing or redesigninga Web site of significant size has likely learned the hard way thecomplexities, pitfalls, and cost risk of such an undertaking. Whilemany Web development firms have fantastic technical expertise, whatsets the topnotch organizations apart is the ability to accuratelymanage the planning and development process. Read more

Reviews (62)

Worth the buy.
I found it a very useful book, especially with all the downloadable forms. I felt it was a little light on user testing - but otherwise, very good. It felt a bit repetitive and that things were presented in an odd order sometimes, but it's still worth the buy.

Thinking about creating a website and want to do it right?
BUY THIS BOOK!I wish I had this book a few months ago.It could have spared me from many of the nightmares I had while developing a college website.It includes a link to the author's website where you can find lots of forms that ask the right questions so that you can create the right solution.

This book takes a SWAG at a process that could work for web redesign
I use this resource as the textbook for the "Web Site Design" course I teach at PSU.My favorite thing about this book is that it supports my course approach that "everyone has a site" and "when you get a job as a web site (designer, producer,developer)OR have the responsibility of having a site dumped in your lap.... you will not be building it from scratch."
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Subjects:  1. Business Enterprise    2. Computer - Internet    3. Computer Books: Web Programming    4. Computers    5. Internet - Web Site Design    6. New Business Enterprises    7. Computers / Internet / Web Site Design    8. World Wide Web (WWW)   

Editorial Review

Cryptographic techniques have applications far beyond the obvious uses of encoding and decoding information. For Internet developers who need to know about capabilities, such as digital signatures, that depend on cryptographic techniques, there's no better overview than