5 comments about Ruby Pocket Reference (Pocket Reference (O'Reilly)).

1. This book is a handy reference and guide to the Ruby programming language. Small and lightweight, it would be at home in a laptop bag.
   
   I program in several languages (lately: Ruby, Java, XHTML, CSS, JavaScript). A quick reference book like this is helpful when switching contexts, reminding me of the syntax or method call that has slipped my mind.
   
   The explanations and examples concisely illustrate the language concepts. Tables list (often all of) things like pre-defined variables, global constants, etc.
   
   An experienced programmer could learn the important basics of Ruby in a quick scan of the first 60 pages. However, I would still recommend reading one of the thorough tutorial books to get an in-depth understanding of some of the more unique Ruby techniques.
   
   In addition to the items covered in the product description, the book includes:
   
   * The most commonly used areas of the File and IO classes.
   
   * A glossary of Ruby specific terms.
   
   * RDoc, the utility for extracting documentation embedded in comments in Ruby source, and the basics of formatting your comments for RDoc.
   
   * A thorough 20 page index including all of the special characters (punctuation) in use in Ruby. Very handy when trying to read someone else's code.
   
   * Many links to Ruby resources on the web.
   
   Note that the Amazon book description should read "sprintf and time formatting *directives*". That is, the special character combination for formatting strings and the output of time.



2. You probably could learn Ruby from this handy little pocket guide, but I wouldn't advise trying it. The examples are much too short and sweet to really do a good job of it. For the experienced Ruby programmer, though, it is a great reference on all aspects of the language. It even has introductory material on how to get started running Ruby, plus some bonus material at the end on RubyGems, Rake, and a listing of additional Ruby resources - some online and some that are books. RubyGems is a package utility for Ruby that installs Ruby software packages and keeps them up to date. It is even easier to use than tools like the Unix/Linux tar utility or Java's jar utility. Rake is a build tool that helps you build, compile, or otherwise process files, sometimes large numbers of them. Rake is similar to "make" and Apache ant, but is written in Ruby. Rails operations use Rake frequently.
   
   The only negative thing I can say is that it seems like the book was hastily edited. I haven't seen any errors in the technical directions yet, but I have caught more than a few grammar errors and odd repetitions in the regular text that might have you scratching your head and wondering what the author meant. The following is the table of contents:
   
   Chapter 1. Ruby Pocket Reference
   Section 1.1. Conventions Used in This Book
   Section 1.2. Comments and Questions
   Section 1.3. Acknowledgments
   Section 1.4. Running Ruby
   Section 1.5. Reserved Words
   Section 1.6. Operators
   Section 1.7. Comments
   Section 1.8. Numbers
   Section 1.9. Variables
   Section 1.10. Symbols
   Section 1.11. Predefined Variables
   Section 1.12. Pseudovariables
   Section 1.13. Global Constants
   Section 1.14. Ranges
   Section 1.15. Methods
   Section 1.16. Conditional Statements
   Section 1.17. Classes
   Section 1.18. Files
   Section 1.19. The IO Class
   Section 1.20. Exception Handling
   Section 1.21. Object Class
   Section 1.22. Kernel Module
   Section 1.23. String Class
   Section 1.24. Array Class
   Section 1.25. Hash Class
   Section 1.26. Time Formatting Directives
   Section 1.27. Interactive Ruby (irb)
   Section 1.28. Ruby Debugger
   Section 1.29. Ruby Documentation
   Section 1.30. RDoc Options
   Section 1.31. RubyGems
   Section 1.32. Rake
   Section 1.33. Ruby Resources
   Section 1.34. Glossary



3. Michael Fitzgerald's RUBY provides an excellent quick programmer's reference to Ruby which is organized for speedy consultation. From lists of methods to predefined variables, RUBY POCKET REFERENCE is not only a top pick for libraries, but for working Ruby programmers who want a pocket at-a-glance guide.



4. I'm always tempted by pocket references, and nearly always disappointed. The Ruby Pocket Reference is no exception.
   
   It is not clear who the target audience is. Beginning ruby programmers would not find enough tutorial information here to get started. Experienced ruby programmers will not find anything here that isn't more easily (and more accurately) found in ri or rdoc documentation.
   
   To make matters worse, I found a number of errors. For instance, in sec. 1.16.1.1 the examples given of the 'not' operator (!) are incorrect - the examples repeatedly are of the form !x == y where what was intended was !(x == y). Sec. 1.16.5 claims that the ruby case statement uses the semantics of == to evaluate the 'when' expressions, then goes on to show examples that illustrate that it is actually the === operator that is used.
   
   Other parts of the book are simply not helpful. For example, sec. 1.16.6 talks about the "for var in container" construct, but the examples only show this being applied to Ranges, and the text never mentions that the construct will work on any implementer of Enumerable.
   
   In all, I cannot recommend this book to anyone. If you need a portable ruby reference, then get the PDF of the Pickaxe book and carry it on your stick. If you need a good beginner's tutorial, there are plenty of them online (check out Why the Lucky Stiff, for example).



5. 150 pages, really fits in a pocket. Well written, great reference, could serve as a tutorial in a pinch.

5 comments about The AWK Programming Language.

1. In Unix today, several scripting languages exist: awk, perl, tcl and python. Awk is a small, easy-to-learn, yet powerful programming language, and is language of choice for quick, think- and analyze-on-the-fly tasks. This book is written by the inventors of this wonderful language. It provides an excellent introduction to the language, with many practical examples for day-to-day use. Over many years, it has also served as a good reference to the language. In addition, this book gives concise introduction to numerous fundamental algorithms in computer science (interpreter, calculator, parser, sorting, graph algorithms, ..), which I consult for complex tasks even today.
   
   Always a joy to read! Highly recommended.



2. I've become a big fan of Awk. Some people may tell you that Awk is outdated and no longer useful; not with other languages such as Perl and Ruby available. Well, Awk does one thing and does it well. It does it "fast enough" most of the time, and does it with a very small language.
   
   Perl and Ruby are fine, but if you lean towards "small is beautiful", you must learn Awk. For times when you need it, it's a Godsend. I've used it recently to automatically generate SQL insert statements from some flat files and to do automatic code generation for larger languages.
   
   Some of the best tools have survived the test of time.
   
   In this book, I feel like I learned all the things I need to know about Awk - all the way from beginner to advanced. It's a classic. Not a lot of books get five stars for me. This book fulfills it's goals perfectly, so deserves a perfect rating.



3. This is my choice for the answer to the question "If you were stranded on a deserted island and you could have only one programming book which book would you choose?". Over the years I have periodically returned to this book to read or work through for fun. "The AWK Programming Language" may be from 1988 but it is still outstanding! It has an incredible amount of depth for a book of only 200 or so pages. Well-written, concise, with great examples. Truly an enjoyable book to work through.



4. I am torn about this book. My primary complaint is that this book costs so much. Its only a 200 page paper back book. I'm a sucker for classic books though. This text appears to be the original 1988 version by the authors. The actual text of the book is very good and being written by the authors of AWK, provides a certain view on the language and their intent that was well received. I do carry this book with me as a reference which I have found invaluable in my shell scripting endeavors. This book will give you a solid overview of the language. Be prepared for example references to the world of 1988 such as the USSR. Despite my complaints about the price, I have to admit that I enjoy owning this bit of Unix history and having the authors own words about AWK. From a practical standpoint however, I think that you can learn every bit as much about AWK by learning from freely available internet content on GNU/Linux versions of AWK (gawk). Since I have worked with Unix since about 1984, I have to concede being blinded by a bit of nostalgia. However, AWK is still a vital tool for anyone's shell scripting bag of tricks and this book will help you further develop your skills with AWK if you have only used it lightly in the past.



5. This is a wonderful book -- but the price is ridiculous. I purchased a paperback copy of "The Awk Programming Language" about 15 years ago, and its price was in the $20 range. Times change, and prices go up, but $73 for a 200-page book, even if it is a hardcover, verges on outright theft.
   
   Which is a shame, because this is a great book, written by the men who developed the language. In addition to a lengthy tutorial, it contains many examples of sophisticated programs that can be constructed from the simple tools provided by Awk. Anyone who supports computers for a living, whether in the Unix or Windows environment, can find valuable ideas here.
   
   But the price: c'mon guys, you've got to be kidding. This book has been in print for 20 years now. You've long since made back the initial costs of publishing it. The authors are famous in computer science circles, and have written many other books. I'm sure they don't need the money. So I have to conclude that this is just a cash cow for the publishers.
   
   If you're looking to learn about Awk, and you're on a budget, I would suggest "Effective Awk Programming" by Arnold Robbins. It's available in PDF form as a free download. If you'd like to support the author, buy a printed copy of the book, as I did. Published by O'Reilly, it's available in paperback at Amazon for about $26.
   
   And if you can find a reasonably-priced copy of "The Awk Programming Language", by all means, grab it. It's a classic. Thanks to the publishers, however, it's a classic that's out of most people's reach.

No comments about Team Foundation Server 2008 in Action.

4 comments about XML and FrameMaker.

1. This is a great introductory crossover text for both xml programmers and FrameMaker users who want a cram course in structured layout. The first third of the book is devoted to FrameMaker for the XML expert-how to set up a document and master pages, create and use style sheets, and manage templates. The rest of the book explains, in clear and concise prose, how to get started with FrameMaker's approach to XML.
   Because I am an expert Frame user, I immediately zoomed to the XML stuff, and found it a grand introduction to a complex subject. Before I found this book, I had read the entire 600+-page manual that Adobe supplies with Frame, but didn't feel like I had a solid, fundamental understanding what was going on. After reading this book and working through the tutorials, the information in the user manual suddenly made perfect sense.
   This book won't make you an expert in structured FrameMaker-it's a Byzantine subject, complicated by Frame's own quirky implementation (read bugs), plus a startling lack of Frame-specific intro material on the Internet. What it will do, though, is give beginners a good foundation in both Frame and XML. Highly recommended.



2. Recently I had to use FrameMaker as authoring tool for DoocBook, it was quite a challenging task because it required learning a lot of new stuff. FrameMaker is a powerful and sophisticated tool, with XML capabilities that were build on top of its SGML legacy, so it's a pretty complex beast to learn. This book was just right on the spot; it allowed me to save an outrageous amount of time and frustration. I don't know if it can be valuable for seasoned FrameMaker users, but I am sure it's a great investment if you have to deal with FrameMaker and XML starting from scratch



3. No doubt about it, this is a very good book for learning about FrameMaker's interaction with XML. I agree with the other reviewers: this is way better than the info supplied by Adobe in both the FM manual and in the supplementary PDF's that come with FrameMaker. One caveat: the example files available for download from Apress's Web site (the publisher) don't match the narrative in the book. This may be a great disappointment to you as it was to me. Reading along and looking at the pictures in the book was not the same as exploring live examples -- and possibly using them as the basis for my own XML. Still, there were illustrations provided in the book, and with some imagination, there was information to be gained.



4. I had been trying to get my hands around Structured FrameMaker for quite some time when I purchased this manual. I am about two-thirds finished with it and I am now successfully creating XML files from FrameMaker.
   
   This manual fills in many holes that I couldn't figure out from the Adobe supplied resources. This manual also has a great tutorial for creating templates that many people may find useful if they are new to template building.

No comments about MySQL Clustering.

5 comments about Java 1.5 Tiger: A Developer's Notebook (Java 5,Version 1.5).

1. This book delivers on what it promises - quick and dirty introductions to the new features of Tiger. It does a great job of getting one familiar with all of the new features, though, as noted by other reviewers, it is not intended to be an in depth reference. The chapters on generics and concurrency could certainly be deeper, but the book provides a good grounding in the basics, opens the door to more complete study, and provides enough sample code to get one writing code.



2. First off, i sincerely appreciate O'Reilly on their innovative idea of a notebook series. This series is targetted towards busy developers who dont find the time to crunch through big fat books and learn about every grain of sand; rather they would spend less time and learn what is absolutely required. This is certainly a welcome concept.
   
   That said, this book is about the new additions that sun incroporated into java 5 (Tiger). Yes, there are so many additions that it requires a book in itself. The author covers all the significant additions like Generics, Enums, Autoboxing, Varargs, Annotations, Enhanced For-Loop, Static Imports, printf and Threading. Isnt that a mouthful? Yet, he covers them in under 200 pages. That in itself is an achievement. Also, the conversational tone and the humour with which the author writes makes the text very interesting.
   
   Now, for the bad news. This book is edited pretty poorly. There are a lot of typos both in the text and code. I understand that, this book is conceptualized saying that it is a scribbling of an alpha geek who takes down notes as he researches new technologies. But, that doesnt mean that we get to read the same scribbling without even getting edited, though we pay for it.
   
   More than the typos, the author establishes certain technical claims, which are both wrong and misleadging. For example, the author claims that it is IMPOSSIBLE to use the enhanced-for-loop for generating a comma-seperated string from a list of strings, where the resulting comma-seperated string doesnt end with a comma, so as to display formateed output. The author justifies this by saying that a developer doesnt have access to the counter variable in the enhanced-for-loop. Though i agree that we dont have access to the count variable, the use-case is ofcourse possible. This piece of code can be used to achieve what the author claims IMPOSSIBLE.
   
   import java.util.List;
   import java.util.ArrayList;
   
   public class CommaString {
   public static void main(String[] args) {
   List numList = new ArrayList();
   numList.add("1"); numList.add("2"); numList.add("3");
   
   String numStr="";
   for(String num: numList)
   numStr = numStr.equals("") ? (numStr+num) : (numStr+", "+ num);
   
   System.out.println(numStr);
   }
   }
   
   This may not be the most efficient implementation, but, it atleast proves that what author claims as impossible is rather possible. There were some statements like this in the threading chapter as well, where the author compares synchronized keyword and lock. So, beware not to always go with author's opinions, but ofcourse, the technical content can be trusted.
   
   In the end, i would say that this book achieved its goal by neatly summarizing all the significant improvements/additions in tiger and we sure can learn every feature from this book. There are some issues, but it will not affect the overall value of the book as long as you dont overlook them.



3. This is a great book. If you know Java 4 and you want to upgrade your knowledge, this book is short-and-sweet -- only 170 pages. It tells you quickly what is new in Java 5 so that you can make the transition from Java 4 prograamming to Java 5 programming.



4. There's nothing in this book that you couldn't find on Sun's website, but it's a good quick reference book.



5. This book delivers most of what it promises to, which is a good introduction to the latest and greatest features of Java 1.5 Tiger. Considering the extent of changes Sun introduced in the new version, I think the authors did a decent job explaining them. If you are new to 1.5 version though, you would probably need to read another book that explains the concepts in greater detail.
   
   My only complaint is with the "Threading" chapter which was full of of API methods instead of letting the users know the concepts behind the changes. Looked like the authors were in a hurry to get the book finished and the "Threading" chapter got affected.
   
   Overall, it is a good read.

1 comments about C and UNIX: Tools for Software Design.

1. I just completed a college course titled "Introduction to the C language and Unix". Our instructor used this book, and I found that, as a beginner, I had a very hard time following the concepts. I constantly had to turn to "The Waite Group's - C Primer Plus" for detailed explanations. And it only provides just a short sampling of the Unix environment. If you have used the C language and Unix, and are somewhat comfortable with it, this book will probably serve you well. If you have never used C or Unix, look elsewhere!

1 comments about Microsoft SharePoint: Building Office 2007 Solutions in VB 2005 (Expert's Voice in Sharepoint).

1. This is as close to being a PERFECT computer book as I have ever read. I'm a SharePoint architect/developer with 30+ years of IT experience, and I own every SharePoint title that has been published since SharePoint started shipping 8 years ago. This book is the best. It throughly covers almost every aspect of SharePoint 2007 in layman's (and technical) terms with solid, complete, well-thought examples of every aspect of SharePoint implementation. There is simply page after page where you pause and think "Wow! That's interesting!"
   If you only plan to buy one SharePoint 2007 book make sure its this one.

No comments about A Guide To Programming in Java: Java 2 Platform Standard Edition 5.

5 comments about Developing Application Frameworks in .NET.

1. Developing Application Frameworks in .NET is a valuable resource for mid to senior level developers or architects. It presents fundamental concepts when designing and building frameworks for the middle tier for an IT based enterprise solution. Not only does it solidify the reader with strong concepts, it also introduces and explains fundamental Microsoft C#.NET technologies needed for implementation.



2. As one would say that mere coders think in terms of ad-hoc one time solutions while developers and software engineers think how to incorporate these best practices in the form of an application framework. Xin Chen has done a good job explaining big picture thinking i.e. how a set of libraries or classes that are used to implement the standard structure of an application are made to collaborate in the form of a reusable framework.
   
   I'm personally a big fan of application frameworks which provide extensibility along with good foundation support for example Rocky Lhotka's CSLA (Component-based Scalable Logical Architecture). Xin Chen does the similar job building one chapter at a time. He is walking the reader through step by step building of the framework and keeping the big picture in sight. The book is divided into 15 chapters in which Xin elaborates on application frameworks, dissect them, discusses class factories, caching, configuration, windows services, message queuing, authorization, authentication, cryptography, transaction, document layer and work flow services. The author has high degree of familiarity with GOF design patterns so reader will see the degree of reusability and patterns & practices in action. Application event logging and exception handling is an inherent part of any application framework however I was disappointed to see not much discussion about it in the book. Also, during the discussion of real world business problems, author did not discuss rules engines or provide guidance about integrating dynamic logic into your framework which I strongly feel should be an integral part of an enterprise level architecture. The current business models as we know them thrive on change and we cannot isolate development designs from user's needs.
   
   Having said that, if you are looking to build a large amount of reusable code into a framework to save development time for yourself and fellow colleagues / developers, this book will provide you enough good pointers for this purpose. Author recognizes that the frameworks cannot be built in the air and hence provided us with concrete examples. I'll also recommend reading "GOF Design Patterns", Rocky Lhotka's "CSLA.NET 2.0 (Expert C# Business Objects)" and "Framework Design Guidelines: Conventions, Idioms, and Patterns for Reusable .NET Libraries" along with this if you are serious about developing application frameworks for your enterprise.



3. I have been developing application frameworks for several years. This book is a good read about them. It covers many of the issues related to application frameworks including class factories, configuration and security. Each chapter contains information about the 'theory' related to these topics and information about the .Net implementation. I learned about .Net classes I was not aware of.
   Although I recommend reading the book, I want to warn potential readers about two issues:
   - The book ignores some aspects of application frameworks. Missing for example is logging, which is very important in practice. Users of your framework will want to monitor it and logging will be an issue you have to deal with.
   - Sometimes the author is more concerned with showing a clever implementation than a practical one. I find the hierarchical cache interesting but in practice there are bigger issues: how efficient is the cache (creating the xml document seems a performance killer), how are cached elements evicted (this brings issues about timing and locking that are ignored in the book), etc. Similarly, I have rarely seen the need for all the configuration-based customization that the author shows. I would have appreciated if each chapter discussed the goals of the implementation (e.g., performance vs. ease of use) and its trade-offs.
   I recommend the book but think twice about your goals before copying the implementation.



4. The problem with this book is that SAF, the sample framework, is a toy just for demonstration purpose. The book gives insight on why and how to construct a framework, very good in this aspect, but it doesn't give you a real framework you can adapt or use.
   What's is the point of writing your own framework from the base, if frameworks are supposed to be so generic that can be used in disparate applications, a framework written by a real expert would be good for you too, or at least an excellent starting point.
   I think a really useful thing would be a open source project, community supporting and a book.
   Lhotka does something like that, but his framework is focused in implement a configurable dataset, very good, but frameworks have lots more aspects.
   This book teach the basic well, .net technologies, gof patterns with examples. A must read for beginners, not very useful for more advanced people.



5. This is not only helpfull for architects, but for programmers responsible for planning and scoping projects in general. The writing is to the point, and provides very solid foundations for writing high level framework strategies. The only thing lacking would be that I think it is geared toward 1.1 framework, would be great to see how 2.0 could enhance this. The frameworks in the book are great starting points which can be enhanced based on your own business requirements.