5 comments about Carbon Programming.

1. The simple title "Carbon Programming", is a hint to the straight forward, no-nonsense style of this book.

   This is THE book on Carbon Programming. I wish it came in hard cover, because it will see a lot of use on my workspace.

   At over 1500 pages, after you've digested all the info contained therein, you can use it to bludgeon the next person who offers you a copy of "Window XPee".

   Buy this book. Write the code.




2. I bought this book a while ago when I started programming for the Macintosh. I was looking for a good Carbon book but this book was not what I had hoped for.
   The problem with the book is that it explains a lot about how to program on Mac OS 8/9.x (which still works in Carbon) but not really how to start with a real Carbon program. Most of the examples use the old event handler but not the new recommended Carbon event handler.
   It also uses the old style *.rsrc resources and not the new much simpler nib-file approch to resources.
   Now that I'm porting my Mac OS X program to Mac OS 9 I find it actually very helpful because it covers a lot of Mac OS 9 stuff.

   Over all I would say if you want to write pure Carbon programs for Mac OS X buy another book. If you also want to learn how to program on Mac OS 9 then it is a good choice. It has example code to every chapter which is very helpful.




3. Ok, that's a lie. Many things have changed since OS 9. But they all build upon what's in OS 9. To do carbon, you need to know how OS 9's apis are structured. Most of the changes in Carbon are behind the scenes on OS 9's existing APIs (for example, HIView, etc). Besides, the important changes in Carbon are listed (namely, Carbon Events). The text focuses on being able to run on both OS X and OS 9. If you don't care, you'd probably want to use NIBs with Interface Builder instead of clunky, overpriced Resorcerer.

   I wish there was a chapter on NIBs. That'd be nice. But you can piece together what's necessary from examples & documentation once you've read the book.

   Simply put, there is no better book on the topic, and this one, while not perfect, is very good. Well written, easy to follow. Just the right number of details, good examples with great explaination.




4. I have this book and it's not worthy, well, maybe to have a hard copy of the API with some good comments, because that's what it is... maybe the code examples will help you some times, but I expected a lot more of a book about Carbon...



5. I got this book to learn Mac OS X programming and was very disappointed. There's way too much info on Mac OS 8 and 9, which is great for people who are migrating old applications; but if you're writing new applications like I am, it just gets in the way. Many screenshots are old and do not look like OS X windows. It talks about CDEF resources, which do not work in OS X; it does not talk about the updated way custom controls are done. Code samples use WaitNextEvent(), which is deprecated. There's nothing on quartz, but lots of info on quickdraw, which is deprecated. Nothing on HIView, OpenGL, etc. It appears that this was a great book in its day, but now, it'll probably just confuse you.

No comments about C/C++ Reference Card.

5 comments about A Simplified Approach to Image Processing: Classical and Modern Techniques in C (HP Professional Series).

1. A well done tutorial on how to approach complex image processing problems with ease. The book comes with useful documentation and example code that brings difficult theories within reach of amateur programmers or the curious.Rounds out any programming library



2. A great book for intro to image processing. Example codes are very well written, with an emphasis on clarity (as opposed to using compact C operators which make it difficult for others to understand).

   A great job overall. I recommend it highly.




3. Overall the author explains image processing concepts well. I have owned the book for several years and now have a need for it. It is very helpful in determining which components of an image processing suite are needed for an application. The C code appears to be well written. Unfortunately, there are errors in the text and the author's email address does not work as of 7/26/00.



4. The title of this book is more self-effacing than it needs to be. This is quite a good book on basic image processing programming. The most attractive feature of its code is that the author has created C functions that do not require an elaborate and idiosyncratic interface to use (unlike, say, _Computer Vision and Image Processing: a practical approach using CVIPtools_ by Scott Umbaugh). This code can be easily included in your already-existing IP library code.

   The choice of topics is mostly middle-of-the-road. It covers the various point processes (arithmetic, bitwise logical operations, histogram-based transforms, etc), areal operations (convolution kernels and selection kernels), image resizing, 2-image operations, and compression (this last the weakest of the coverage, but still quite acceptable for a general book) in a very clear and competent manner. In this regard, the best surprise is no surprise.

   But even in these plain-vanilla topics, Mr. Crane manages to provide some nice touches. For example, his is the only book of its sort that I know of to provide the formulas for generating Gaussian and Laplacian of Gaussian convolution kernels of arbitrary size and roll-offs.

   Most satisfyingly, this book includes coverage of some topics that are truly useful but typically not covered in basic IP programming texts. These include various approaches to digital half-toning and some wonderful explorations of image warping and morphing.

   All in all, this book is a small treasure. If you program for a living and image processing is part of your domain, the book is well worth having on your shelf. If you program for a hobby and are interested in learning how to work with digital images, this may end up being the only such book you feel the need to buy.




5. The book is quite simple but that's what makes it understandable, it was quite helpful to me. Unfortunately the source code could not be read completely from the floppy and the authors email is not valid (I would appreciate some help with that).

No comments about 100 Multiple-Choice Questions in C++.

5 comments about Jamsa's C/C++ Programmer's Bible.

1. As a Computer Science major, I found this book to be quite useful as a reference tool. If you are a beginner with C++, I recommend purchasing Gary J. Bronson's "A First Book of C++: From Here to There" as it is very easy to follow and excellent for learning. It is not a bad idea to have the "Programmer's Bible" as a back-up tool. This book has definitely come in very handy on those late nights with programming assignments!



2. The book is huge -- 1500 tips. If I study three a day -- it will take me a year --

   THe book comes with a compiler and complete source code for every program.

   This is the best programming book I have bought in years.




3. The book promises to the be a programmer's bible -- I found the book true to its name. Covers all aspects of C and C++. Presents hundreds of tips on Windows programming as well. The C and C++ programs are platform independent. Good stuff.



4. I am a seasoned developer in both the Linux/UNIX and Win32 environments. I own just about all advanced C/C++ books and remember picking this up when I was still "wet behind the ears". Let's get to the review:

   This book is organized into tips(think of headers to sections being numbered), rather than pages. This may seem ackward at first, but it becomes irrelevant as you begin reading it.

   This book is a bit outdated, I don't remember whether or not it complies with the C99 or ANSI C++98 Standard. This book is based mostly on Win32 programming(both shell[dos] and graphical).

   This book covers EVERYTHING. There are some things in this book that you will NOT find in any other C/C++ book. It pretty much shows you every system call/function in standard C/C++ and Win32. It even covers using the ANSI driver(which can also be used in Linux) to create colored text within a prompt[I know, big deal, but find another book that covers that minute detail].

   Overall, I believe this book is worth 5 stars. This book is expensive, and from what I know it is not offered many places except online(amazon). Bookstores no longer carry it as customers seem scared and apalled by the girth of this mofo. Excellent book!




5. If you know some language, but C or C++ is foreign to you, use this book and BORLAND's free C++ complier. It is the best method to learn C/C++ I am aware of (even better than my college class in C++)

5 comments about Black Art of 3D Game Programming: Writing Your Own High-Speed 3D Polygon Video Games in C.

1. The first half of the book is simply great. With the help of
   this book , I 've written a complete VGA library in assembly.

   The quality of the illustrations on 3D concepts like cross products , however , is too low and doesn't help to understand the material.

   But the rest is truly amazing (André even covers the Pentium's FPU processor).




2. This book is a very good intro for 2D and 3D programming. The source code is simple and easy to understand. It lacks some things, like bitmap rotation, but no book is complete. The code can be compiled with the Watcon 11.0 compiler or Open Watcon compiler with some minor changes.



3. I owned this book for a while but I didn't actually pick it up and start reading it until a few weeks ago... people will complain that this book is outdated and blah blah... well those people are people who want to be spoon fed everything and have no creativity... if you have any kind of brain, this book is an awesome intro to 3d graphics... just check out my site http://members.rogers.com/vetro

   I started coding a 3d graphics engine... I had to improvise, but the techniques are all based on the last half of this book

   V




4. 
   After I have bought this book for 10 years, I am still refers to it occasionally for implementing certain graphics features in my software applications such as charting.
   
   This book provides real programming in 2D and 3D the classics way using nothing more but merely math algorithm. Although this book is destinated for MS-DOS environment, no DirectX tutorial within, with knowledge of classics 2D and 3D descriptions from this book, you can be sure of, porting to any new environment is not a problem...because you owns the root.
   
   Moreover, in today's gaming industry or enterprise, in order to push to limits, it has to be a self-written 3D engine for sure.
   
   This is a golden book, grab a copy while still available, is surely worthy.
   
   Sincerely,
   Ricky Gai.
   
   Review updated: 13/04/2006.



5. Welcome to 1995.
   
   This book weighs in at around 1.5 kilos and probably half of it could be culled from the book today. A lot of the material focuses on specifics for DOS (Windows 95 inclusive) programming, which is all unnecessary today under modern operating systems, if supported at all.
   
   
   This book is worth reading if you're interested in a history lesson, it shows how much work was required to get small things done and the amount of knowledge required.
   
   These days, thanks to reusable software in the forms of libraries programmers can focus on higher level aspects and worry less about reinventing the low level functions.
   
   Personally I flipped through the book up to Chapter 10, 3D Fundamentals (having already coded a tetris game in C, with sound effects and music, prior to opening this book). This part has some good introductory theory including vector math, matrices, fixed point math and background informatioj required to implement 3D graphics without something like OpenGL.
   
   The rest of the book, more 3D engine impementation, BSP and then Voxels and raycasting is most excellent and I would definitely recommend it on this basis, this information can most definitely be applied to writing programs with software rendering in modern languages and programming environments.
   
   Thank you Andre Lamothe!

5 comments about C# COM+ Programming (With CD-ROM).

1. Excellent book for a person that needs to understand how C# and COM+ work together. Well written.



2. COM+ is equivalent with Java's EJB. I was utterly disappointed to find the book littered with misspellings. There is no depth to its topic coverage. The book's table of contents is misleading. Save your heard earned money and wait for something near the quality displayed by Oreilly's Enterprise JavaBeans.



3. This book is poorly organized and lacks focus. The topics' coverage is shallow. Even with the lightweight content, it should be titled or described as "How to Transition COM+ programming with VB to C#".



4. I honestly don't like writing bad reviews but I feel compelled to save people money when I can. Unless you are looking for a manager's overview of COM+ programming don't buy this book. Coverage of COM+ itself is very light. The author appears to assume that the reader has picked that up someplace else... probably by writing COM+ components in VB 6. There are no in-depth discussions of the technology or even best practices. The jist of this book is that now you use attributes to COM+ enable your code written in C#. The coverage of what attributes are available to you and within those attributes what options are supported and what they mean is likewise incomplete and lacking in depth. However, where I really lost respect for this book was when I looked in the registry to see what was going on from a COM perspective for the classes that I had built based on the code fragments in the text. What a mess. Stale registry entries for previous builds of my components were everywhere. It took me an hour to get the mess cleaned up and several more to piece together what was going on and realize that there are a lot of COM specific attributes never mentioned in this book that you need to known about in order to build a COM+ component _correctly_ using C#. And as I have discovered that is the crux of the situation. To do COM+ using C# you need to be _very_ familiar with COM-CLR interop. Basically you need _much_ more information than this book provides.

   In summary I believe that reading this book will serve only to make one `dangerous' not proficient in COM+ development using C#.




5. If you're looking to get a solid background and understanding on the subject matter, this book does a very good job of covering the bases (not just the basics). What's better is that it comes in a size (# of pages) that one can actually hope to digest. Well done.

No comments about Introduction to Engineering Programming: Solving Problems with Algorithms.

No comments about World Wide Web Programming: Visualage for C++ and Smalltalk (Visualage Series).

1 comments about Information and Randomness: An Algorithmic Perspective (E a T C S Monographs on Theoretical Computer Science).

1. I stumbled over this (lovely) book a little by accident. As I kept reading, my enthusiasm for the book gradually increased. While the book is addressed perhaps more to students in computation and in CS, it is very attractive also as a text to be used in mainstream mathematics, and in probability theory.
   
   It begins with a new look at the classical Kolmogorov construction of measures on infinite product spaces, and asks for explicit ways of labeling them with a class of certain concrete numerical functions. Then it moves onto noiseless coding theory (from communications science), but it stays rooted firmly in classical ideas from Shannon-Kolmogorov communication and information theory.
   
   It is indeed pleasing to see that God still plays dice, not only in quantum theory, but also in such classical areas of math as in number theory.
   From the foreword: "...putting Shannon's information theory and Turing's computability theory into a cocktail shaker, and shaking vigorously..."
   
   The book is a second edition 2002, with a number of attractive additions to the first edition from 1994. It will likely work equally well in a course, as for self-study.
   The main portion in the book focuses on classical and modern topics in computability, and its connections to randomness; covering concrete halting problems, chaos, cellular automata, algorithms, and their complexity.
   Palle Jorgensen, October 2004.