5 comments about The Software Project Manager's Bridge to Agility (Agile Software Development Series).

1. This excellent book is targeted directly at Project Management Professionals (PMPs) but will be extremely beneficial to any project manager who is interested in agile development.
   
   After three short chapters that introduce the general principles and activities of an agile software development project, the authors attack the meat of their subject. Each of the nine chapters of part two corresponds directly to one of the PMI's project management knowledge areas. Sliger and Broderick, each an experienced PMP, cover the changed responsibilities of the project manager transitioning to agile. A highlight of each chapter is the small table with columns for "I used to do this" and "Now I do this" that succinctly summarizes the often profound differences between traditional and agile project management.
   
   This book is necessary reading for any project manager making the change to agile as well as for any ScrumMaster or agile coach working on a large projects. The book takes a giant stride toward dispelling the myth that the only role for project managers is to buy pizza and soda and get out of the way.



2. 
   When I saw this book, I knew I had to read it, though I was very skeptical about it. Mapping the PMBOK practices to agile practices, is that the right thing to do? Why would you want to do that? What are the authors trying to prove?
   
   The first chapter already helped me forward and removed some of my skepticism. This book is really what is says it is. It's a bridge for the traditional PMI project manager to understand what the difference is between traditional projects and agile projects and it's written in the language of a traditional project manager, the language of PMBOK. From that perspective, I've come to see this as an smart and important book thatm hopefully, will help lots of trainer project managers to understand what agile development is trying to do and why.
   
   The book start with an introduction by Stacia, who describes her experience moving from a traditional environment to an agile environment and the difficulty she faced of changing the way of working she was used to. An excellent introduction that sets the tone of the rest of the book.
   
   The rest of the book consists of 3 parts (plus some appendixes). The first part is the "standard introduction" part in which Agile development gets introduced, in which the first mapping of Agile development to the PMBOK is made and ends with a chapter on a generic agile lifecycle model, which is a guideline for the rest of the book.
   
   The second part is the main part of the book and is structured around the different chapters of the PMBOK. This part actually maps to the PMBOK even on sub-chapter level, done quite well. Within each of the PMBOK chapters, the authors explain the problems the PMBOK tries to solve and how Agile practices solve the same problems, but in a different way. It summarizes this in every chapter with a comparison between traditional practices and Agile practices.
   
   All the chapters seem to cover all the major agile project management practices. It starts with integration management and discussing how all things integrate together and how changes are managed. From there it moves to scope control and explains the differences between traditional WBS task breakdowns and working in a more feature-based way. Time management is next, covering the different planning cycles in the generic agile lifecycle framework (they introduced in Chapter 3). Next is cost management, and quality management. Chapter 9 covers human resource management and was a really nice chapter in which the authors describe well the difference between traditional project resourcing and trying to work with fixed teams that can actually learn new skills when needed. By this time, I felt the major topics had been covered, but there still needed to be communications management and Risk Management to make the mapping of the PMBOK complete. Here I felt the authors started repeating things that were covered earlier, but thats the risk when copying a fixed structure. The last chapter in the PMBOK mapping is procurement management and this chapter was a disappointment to me. The authors are of opinion that there is not much difference in this area, while personally I would not agree with that. Anyways.
   
   The third part covers "the rest" with the main chapter probably be 13 which discusses about the changes in responsibilities between a traditional project manager and an "agile project manager". It describes in fairly much detail the changes in behavior and even tries to cover how to get past this difficult change and why people would want to go through the change (whats in it for them). Also chapter 15 answers one important question: What to do with the PMO. The authors suggest transforming it into an agile supporting organization which they still call "Agile PMO".
   
   Chapter 16 (Selling benefits of Agile) and Chapter 17 (Common Mistakes) are useful chapters for people who are driving the change. It helps them answer some of the common questions and deal with some of the resistance. These chapters conclude the book.
   
   In many areas, I'm still skeptical and do not always agree with the authors. I don't know if it's a good idea to change peoples and organizations role and still keep the old name, like "agile project manager" and "agile PMO". Scrum has solved this by simply calling it different: when the behavior is different then also call it different. Hence the ScrumMaster. Also, the authors strongly stick to the "project thinking" and seem at assume that thats a good way of a managing work. Same with contracts, the authors don't seem to think there will be much change in that area. The book has not convinced me the PMBOK is a good idea either, instead just confirmed my earlier criticism.
   
   All tht said. Realistically, I understand that much of these aspect will not change or not quickly. So, this book introduces new concepts in a familiar language. I do think this will be needed and the authors done a great (perhaps the best possible) job in explaining agile concepts in traditional terms without losing it's meaning. This was the purpose of the book and it certainly succeeded in that.
   
   For project managers looking at agile development, this book is an absolute must.
   For agilists, the book is still a good and useful read! (also to understand traditional thinking)
   
   Great work!



3. Finally a book in the agile series that acknowledges agile and PMI are compatible. As a PMP and CSM, one of my long time frustrations has been too many agile authors create a stereotype of an overly bureaucrat waterfall process being managed by a dictator project manager. That may be a great way to sell their books, but their rejection of sound project management principles has been a disservice to the industry--the classic mistake of throwing out the baby with the bathwater.
   
   As the title states, Sliger and Broderick sets out to bridge this divide and does a super job showing how agile management practices fit into the project management body of knowledge (PMBOK). They reinforce this message with extensive quotes from the PMBOK that explicitly address incremental and iterative development. I especially like their chapter summaries which compare and contrast project manager approaches to specific practices under a plan-driven and an agile project. One of their key messages is that project managers should allow the team to focus on the current iteration, allowing the project managers to focus on removing impediments to future work. This is sound advice no matter what development framework you are using.
   
   Sliger and Broderick discussion on how agile is being extended to product and release planning and how it's adapting to interfacing with PMOs and non-agile teams is also very relevant. While agile purest reject such notions, these are issues that my clients are facing today. Sliger and Broderick succinctly summarize the current thinking on agile product and release planning and provide sound advice on adapting agile to meet these real-world needs.
   
   One shortcoming in the book is that the authors imply that agile is the silver-bullet that should always be used. I wished they would have acknowledge that while agile methods are appropriate in many situations; plan-driven methods are the appropriate choice for other situations. (See Balancing Agility and Discipline: A Guide for the Perplexed by Barry Boehm and Richard Turner)
   
   I highly recommend this book and will be adding to our seminars reference lists. It is especially useful to experienced project managers. As the product description (see above) states they often struggle while transitioning to agile. However, I don't think they are doubtful about the approach, but instead are confused by the hype they encounter. It will also be useful to agilest who starting to see through the hype in other books. Sliger and Broderick have cut through the hype and reinforce the point that effective project management principles still apply.



4. This excellent book is targeted directly at Project Management Professionals (PMPs) but will be extremely beneficial to any project manager who is interested in agile development. After three short chapters that introduce the general principles and activities of an agile software development project, the authors attack the meat of their subject. Each of the nine chapters of part two corresponds directly to one of the PMI's project management knowledge areas.
   
   Sliger and Broderick, each an experienced PMP, cover the changed responsibilities of the project manager transitioning to agile. A highlight of each chapter is the small table with columns for 'I used to do this' and 'Now I do this' that succinctly summarizes the often profound differences between traditional and agile project management.
   
   This book is necessary reading for any project manager making the change to agile as well as for any ScrumMaster or agile coach working on a large projects. The book takes a giant stride toward dispelling the myth that the only role for project managers is to buy pizza and soda and get out of the way.



5. When software development moves to embrace agility, project managers can struggle over the new approach and their roles. That's where The Software Project Manager's Bridge to Agility comes in, making it a top recommended pick for business and IT technology collections alike. It covers techniques, transition points, learning to trust teams and use agile techniques to reduce risk, and more. Even more essential are chapters on avoiding common mistakes, and coordinating efforts with project management and non-agile teams.

5 comments about New Perspectives on HTML and XHTML, Comprehensive.

1. This was a required textbook for a XHTML class I am taking at a local community college. I have been very impressed with this book in teaching the elementary art of correct coding. Also helpful are the appendices at the end outlining colors, elements, etc. I have learned a lot from it.



2. Do your students a favor and skip this book which is too long, too wordy, and has case studies that the students would be hard-pressed to recreate on their own.



3. This book is awesome if you want to learn HTML. It is explicit and easy to understand and walks you through step by step. Even a novice with no HTML experience can easily understand. I would highly recommend this book.



4. I purchased this book for an HTML class I am currently enrolled in. This book has been so helpful in helping understand the HTML code behind web pages. The book was also cheaper through Amazon than the book store (I always look at Amazon price first. In most cases Amazon was cheaper). This is good for the intermediate HTML class as well. The tutorials are very descriptive and explained thoroughly. Very easy book to follow for trouble shooting issues as well. I would highly recommend it for all people who are new to HTML code as well as seasoned HTML users as a great reference manual.



5. I cannot recommend this book. The chapters pace the information too fast. The tutorials are easy to follow, but do a poor job of explaining what is going on.
   
   If you already know html, this book will be okay. If you don't know html, find another book.

5 comments about The Little Schemer - 4th Edition.

1. This book is excellent for explaining concepts of Scheme and Lisp. I highly recommend it for people that like logic puzzles and who are trying to uncover the Zen-like nature of programming in Scheme. This book emphasizes functional style by showing how many situations recursion applies to, and how you can use it to achieve various programming techniques (for example continuation-passing style).
   
   Although this book is not a technical introduction to Scheme or Lisp, it does get very technical. The last few chapters introduce continuation-passing style, the Y operator, and building an interpreter. Earlier chapters focus on list processing and uncovering some basic computer science techniques (e.g. that fact that numbers in a machine are representations of the concepts we have for numbers).
   
   This is a great book to read or skim any time, read with pencil and paper, or to actually code the examples. I've read it in various ways three times.



2. Anybody who tells you this is a good way to learn Scheme (or recursion) wants to cause you pain. Don't believe their lies!
   
   Go learn the language (or how to use recursive techniques) somewhere else and come back to this once you have the basics if you want to get some practice thinking in the Scheme mindset.
   
   In my opinion, a better way to practice would be to simply write some tools in Scheme than to waste your time banging your head against the wall trying to divine what this waste of paper is trying to teach you.



3. Don't buy this book on recommendations. Thumb through it first. It's just a series of Q & A that beat you over the head with examples of recursion. If you already "get" recursion, it'll drive you insane after a chapter or two. Why this came so highly recommended, I'll never know.



4. This poor exposé contains highly cryptic text from the outset. It makes the assumption that everyone understands the words used to program in Scheme.
   
   The author appears not to give thought to the probability that each student has different levels or aspects of understanding, and forgets that nobody knows everything about any one thing. "Lambda", "cons", "car" and "cdr" are some of the many words that he uses and assumes everyone should understand
   
   I highly recommend the book Programming & Meta-programming in Scheme to help explain the mathematics and vocabulary used in the Scheme language. I recommend this book especially to those that are perplexed by the text in The Little Schemer.



5. This book teaches in a Socratic method of asking questions and providing answers. It is very engaging and interesting way to learn. For me, it works -- this book has truly helped me learn recursion.
   
   This book is pretty enjoyable to work your way through. Highly recommended.

5 comments about Puzzles for Programmers and Pros.

1. The book contains a set of really good puzzles. Solving the puzzles will keep you entertained for days. However, the descriptions of many puzzles are too long. I am not sure if you would encouter most of the puzzles described in this book in job interviews. However the content and the complexity of the puzzles are definitely of high quality.



2. The book presents a number of puzzles, of different difficult level, with proposed solutions. In general, the puzzles are not very hard to solve if you follow the hint/guide by the author, and can be done in reasonable time. It is a good practice if you are going through a number of interviews for technical positions. It can also serve as a spare time reading for those doing research in algorithm engineering.
   
   The language of the book is a bit descriptive, not as formal and precise as I expected. This is a personal preference and I know some folks love this type of language. Given the price and content, I would give it 4 stars.



3. Before reading this book, I actually did not know how to use the dynamic programming algorithm in practice. This books taught me in one page from "Sweet Packs" puzzle. The solution is so simple and elegance that I can still remember it almost a year later. I was surprised to see how an ordinary problem can be solved with an old algorithm from a different perspective.
   This book is unique. Unlike other puzzle book, it's dedicated for programmers. And I think doing puzzle from time to time may help improve brain function. Some of the problems can be hard. If you want some simple puzzles for interview, you may also try this book "How would you move mount Fuji? - Microsoft's cult of puzzle".



4. The puzzle descriptions lack clarity of definitions. In many cases I spent more time trying to understand the description of the problem, then finding the solution. Provided solutions also lack mathematical precision. If I could, I would return this book.



5. Terrific set of puzzles for IT. We use them as weekly contests, and most have just the right balance between "can't figure out in your head" and "impossible and massively time consuming" for an office environment. Highly recommended!

5 comments about Intermediate Perl.

1. I didn't like the storyline, but I did learn how to handle anonymous arrays better.



2. I picked up this book for a class that I was teaching at my office. The goal of the class was to train HTML/CSS/JavaScript and/or Java programmers to code in Perl since a large portion of our code base is written in Perl. Overall, I think that the book was a good choice for the class for a number of reasons.
   
   First of all, the book is already written with a classroom setting in mind. The authors have used previous versions of the book, titled "Learning Perl Objects, References and Modules", for their own courses. This updated version benefits from all of the hours of empirical testing that it has received in the classroom. There are many thoughtful additions like having all of the chapters close to the same size. This allowed for me to assign a single chapter per session and know that I could comfortably fit the lecture and discussion of the chapter into a two-hour session. There are also exercises at the end of each chapter and answers for those exercises (with discussion) in an appendix.
   
   This book is good for getting people just learning the language ready for the TMTOWTDI/TIMTOWTDI aspect of Perl. Take something simple like opening files... there are at least four 'standard' ways to do it. The book prepares you for all of the different versions of annoyances/features like this that show up in Perl code by walking through the evolution of the feature.
   
   Another reason that I like this selection of book is that data files and code examples are actually available for download. I've been shocked that some of the programming books that I've gotten lately actually don't have this addition.
   
   Finally, the course that I'm teaching is for people who probably already know how to program, at least a little, but they don't know Perl. I didn't want to drag them through all of the picky details of the language by starting with "Learning Perl" or something equivalent. This book has been a good choice for introducing programmers to Perl. I do have to stop occasionally and explain some fundamentals of the language, but not too often... maybe I just work with smart (or shy) people :)
   
   Of course, the book isn't perfect. As odd as it seems, one of the biggest complaints that I get is over the Gilligan references that are used in all of the examples in the book. There is also some coverage of packaging modules for CPAN. This is useful, just not for the particular class that I'm teaching, so we skipped that chapter. Of course, both of these complaints are pretty weak.
   
   In short, this is a good book, especially if you are doing a training session about Perl.



3. If you've mastered The Llama, make haste to read this one. Even if you only want to do scripting with Perl, you'll eventually find you need data structures slightly more complicated than just flat arrays and hashes, and you need to know about references for that. While The Camel does contain a fair chunk of material on just this subject, it was a bit too much for me to digest after The Llama. If Intermediate Perl (aka The Alpaca) had been around for me to read, I would have had a much easier time.
   
   Written in the same style as The Llama, this breeze through most of the rest of Perl, in particular: references, objects, packages and modules. These are the bits that you need to use Perl as a general purpose programming language, not just for scripting. In a similar pragmatic vein, it also covers how to use tools to build your own packages in the CPAN style, and there's a good chunk of material on using Test::More for unit tests. Probably the only thing missing is material on type globs and symbol tables, although hopefully, brian d foy's forthcoming Mastering Perl will fill in these gaps.
   
   The bottom line is this is Llama part 2, and you need to read it if you want to have any hope of understanding anyone else's Perl. But I can't give it five stars. The major problem is that the material is not very well organised. At the chapter level, objects are sandwiched between modules and packages. It would have been far preferable to keep the module and package information together. As a result, the distinction between modules and packages is rather muddied, and the introduction of objects in the middle just makes things worse. Overall, I found the explanations to lack the clarity of the Llama.
   
   A more minor complaint is that, while there are mercifully fewer annoying footnotes, the Gilligan's Island theme (if, like me, you had no exposure to this growing up, you might want to read the Wikipedia article first!) grates far sooner than the Flintstones flavour of the Llama.
   
   That said, make this your second book on Perl. Then, _still_ don't read The Camel yet. Avail yourself of Perl Best Practices first.



4. Successors are not always as expected. In this case you do get from this trio of authors, who are classics in their own right, just what you expect. In my own case, I needed to get good at OO Perl and fast. In three days, I covered the major chapters thoroughly, went off to my interview and in the end was told, "hey, you really know your stuff". This book intends and does indeed follow well the Learning Perl classic. If you finished the meat of the classic, this is the dessert. You'll recognize the writing style and flavour. There are no surprises. In my opinion, another classic.



5. This book has good perl examples and good perl code. It is a good choice if you have an intermediate understanding of the perl language.

5 comments about Microsoft Visual Basic 2005 Step by Step (Step By Step (Microsoft)).

1. I've been plowing my way through this text and have found it very helpful and great at explaining the concept of VB.Net 2005. I'm a beginner in Visual Basic, and I am using this as a supplement to my Visual Basic.Net textbook "Programming in Visual Basic.Net" by Julia CAse Bradley and Anita C. Millspaugh. I find that it is great for a beginner like myself, as it is extremeley detailed and shows you every step, though as you progress it expects you to understand more, and isn't as redundant. The author is a Professor, so has a natural teaching ability that shines through, and you alway sget the sense he is right there with you working on it. I would recommend it to anyone who is a VB.Net beginner as a supplement to their text, or just using it by yourself. It also comes with all the files you will need to complete all the excercises on the book included in the CD-ROM. A great purchase!



2. Highly recommended for anyone starting with Visual Basic or programming in general. I bought this book to have a better understanding of how Visual Basic differed from other programming languages I have had experience with before (Java and Python) and I learned a whole lot. The step by step tutorials were great in showing me how to perform basic tasks using the language. I actually have read through this book twice now because 1) it is such an easy read, and 2)it always helps to refresh some of the concepts (especially for me since I can be quite forgetful).



3. Another worthless book from Microsoft Press. Microsoft must pay its writers by the word. This book could be boiled down to 25 pages.



4. I got this book because I had just accepted my first professional programing job and was feeling extremely anxious. Although I have a Master's Degree in IT and a strong background in programming, I have been teaching Special Education for the last five years. I needed something that would knock the dust off of my programming skills allowing me to refresh my basic knowledge of VB semantics. I read this book in a week, working the exercises, and am now feeling like a capable programmer again. I can honestly say that I have nothing but high praise for this book.
   It takes the user from the very basics of declaring variables to simple
   ADO, ASP, and XML structures. An excellent book for learning the basics.



5. A first-rate, terrific job of guiding readers trough the basic features of VB .NET 2005, just like it publicizes. Every single chapter, and every section, includes examples that you can either build on yourself or study from the accompanying CD.
   
   If you're either a totally new programmer or slightly experienced newbie to VB programming, this is the book for you. (Experienced programmers should ensure they read the intro/scope material, as this book is NOT for them.) I breezed through this book, and did all of the examples, in about 20 hours. I should rate this book 5-stars, but I give it only 4-stars, because it would have been nice to also include an additional CD of MS SQL 2005 Server Express and expand a bit more on the chapters associated with databases and dataset manipulation that cover real-life work-related scenarios. Readers like choices so including the option to use MS Access or SQL Server database examples, and adding Access/Sql examples in the book, would have been the ultimate for a beginning programmer's book. Let's face it: One of the greatest strengths of the VB IDE is to rapidly create apps that can consume and manipulate data.

5 comments about Oracle Database 10g PL/SQL Programming.

1. This is book did help me learn PL/SQL; however, it did it in a very painful manner. The book could have easily been condensed to half the size and still convey the same information, only clearly and to the point. Many of the chapters have long coding examples that are followed by a line-by-obvious-line description about what is going on. It's tempting to skip the code explanations; however, there is the occasional hidden piece of useful information in them that forces you to sift through the junk. To make matters worse, much of the code is needlessly commented. You know what type of comments I'm talking about; there will be a comment that reads '-- declare a variable of type varchar' and then a declaration immediately afterward. Wow, thanks for doubling the code size and killing some more trees. Topping that off, in some of the examples, the comments don't actually match what the code is doing. Grrr.
   
   I invested a lot of time in reading this book and after it was all said and done my feeling on it was, meh, I guess I learned something. The book is pretty good, it's just needlessly big, too big and time consuming for the value that it brings to your skill set.



2. This is the best pl/sql book ever!! It's a complete reference for PL/SQL programation lenguaje, that covers from the basics topics like data types to advanced fueatures like inter-session comunication. Its includes hundreds of examples, online code and a complete reference for Oracle 10g packages and utilitys. This is the ultimate PL/SQL book.



3. When I started studing PL/SQL...
   I got recommanded this book.
   Now I satisfied my choice because of contents of this book.
   I recommand this book.



4. Let me start by stating that I agree with Frank N. Loreti's review of this book, and one part in particular: this book was not written by educators. And I would like to add that they don't seem to be terribly good writers, either.
   
   Some examples from the first three chapters (plus one page of chapter 4) to illustrate my point:
   
   On page 72, it reads: "Boolean variables, when combined with an IF-THEN block, do not need to be provided with a comparison value if only comparing to TRUE." First, Boolean variables aren't "combined" with an IF-THEN, they are *used* as part of the [Boolean] condition of the IF-THEN. And second, writing that they don't need to be provided is, educationally speaking, not very wise; it suggests that it's a specific feature of the language, a short cut if you will, when in fact it's a mere consequence of how the evaluation of Boolean expressions work.
   
   On pages 108 and 109, I think it's a glaring omission that the writers don't mention whether the PL/SQL CASE statement uses 'fall-thru' or not. For several reasons, I don't expect this to be the case, but if it's not used, how is the 'CASE with different variables' treated? In other words, in the example at the bottom of page 109, is only Steve printed, or all names? Come to think of it: in the example before it, what happens if the conditions in the CASE overlap? (E.g., change the second WHEN-condition to
   v_price BETWEEN 30 AND 50
   What happens then if v_price equals 35? Will only the first WHEN-statement block be executed? Will both be executed? Will an exception be thrown? Less likely, but not impossible: maybe a compile-time error is given?) It's hard for me to understand how any decent programmer can overlook the fact that these 'details' need to be discussed.
   
   On page 110, loops are discussed: "We cover three different types here: Simple loops. The most basic kind of loop, they include LOOP, END LOOP, and some method of EXIT." Since 'different types' of loops are discussed, the plurality in 'Simple loops' suggests that there are several types of simple loops --and it seems they are called the 'LOOP', and 'END LOOP'... or something. Of course, this is not the case: there's only one type of simple loop. It starts with the keyword LOOP which is followed by a statement block that may/should contain an EXIT statement, and it ends with the keywords END LOOP.
   
   You don't have to be a professional writer to sense that you can't end a section with a couple of bullet points (just like, apparently and unfortunately, you can't end a chapter without a useless summary) so you'll need at least an extra line of text, but unfortunately the writers of this book don't have the finesse to cross that bridge unnoticed. For example, at the beginning of chapter 4 a list of topics for that chapter is given in bullet points, followed by the following recommendation:
   
   "As these features are demonstrated, think about how they can be used to improve the functionality, performance and design of your applications."
   
   It's suggestions like these that simply make my toes curl.
   
   Add to all this the absence of a decent structure (the books keeps jumping from simple features to advanced features and back, fragmenting the explanation of both), and the authors should consider themselves lucky I'm still giving this book 3 stars...



5. I "subscribe" to this author and publisher for texts on this topic. I like the writing style and layout of the book. There enough explanation to be thorough, and enough practical examples to be useful outside of pure theoretical discussion. Plus, there are plenty of references in the appendix, so those pages are essentially a "Nutshell."
   
   However, I think I prefer the layout of the 9i edition. The flow was nicer: a structured outline, then some examples. In the 10g edition, the flow seems to have changed: a briefer description in paragraph form, then a lot more examples.

5 comments about MCTS Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-526): Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 Windows-Based Client Development.

1. The purpose of the book is to prepare you for the certification exam. For me it didn't meet that requirement.
   
   The book does have a section for each of the objectives Microsoft has defined for the exam. But is FULL of errors (typos and concepts too!!), lacking good examples, concepts are defined vaguely and there is A LOT left out.
   
   I took the exam and passed but I don't feel it was because of the book. I had to do additional research on each topic because the book wasn't enough. And in the exam there is definitely much more than the book covers.
   
   The 2 stars are because:
   
   1. The CD that comes with the book. The practice tests are very helpful to prepare for the exam, not only because they are exam-like questions but because you see some topics that weren't even mentioned on the book.
   2. Considering is the only preparation guide for this exam, it at least guides you very briefly on the topics of the exam.



2. After reading this book and passing 70-526 exam, I found the book has 3 problems at least.
   
   1. The book might cover all topics against the exam but doesn't include all necessary information for you to pass it. For example, a question in my real exam asked a question about Thread Monitor. However, the book doesn't mention anything about Monitor.
   2. The book has at least 2 different writing styles.
   3. The book can't include enough pictures to illustrate what controls it is talking about, how controls are related to one another or how they interact. This leads that sometimes I lost what the book tried to tell me.
   
   It is impossible for you to pass the exam with a high score only by this book.
   You might pass the exam with fears by the book.



3. This book at the core is filled with good information. However it is filled with a rather ridiculous amount of typos and minor errors.



4. I always use the MS Self-Paced kits for my certification exams. So far I have passed the exams. This particular book was annoying in that there were quite a few editing mistakes and the errata website only had information for the first half of the book. As usual, the index and glossary were useless for me in most cases. Nevertheless, the mixture of facts with practical exercises made it possible to absorb the material with a minimum of pain.



5. This time only short review. All has already been written. The book is suitable not only for exam but also for beginners. It is thoroughful guide how to develop windows based applications. As usually working examples on concluded CD makes this book two times valuable. After reading and playing with samples you will certainly know all the important aspects of development.

5 comments about Getting Started with MATLAB 7: A Quick Introduction for Scientists and Engineers (The Oxford Series in Electrical and Computer Engineering).

1. This book is extremely helpful for novice MATLAB users who need to generate results quickly. It is concise and easy to navigate.



2. This book is a true joy to read. It is well-organized, well-written, and provides the most clearly illustrated (through examples and figures) introduction to MATLAB I have found. More importantly, it is specifically geared to scientists and engineers e.g. those seeking to exploit MATLAB's numerical methods capabilities either for teaching, learning, or researching. Each chapter contains relevant and useful exercises from the material and provides complete answers for you to check your work right away. The sections on graphics and publishing are very nice and demonstrate how MATLAB is a full-service software tool. The second half of the book provides an excellent overview of "Applications" - basically, numerical methods using MATLAB. The book focuses on the built-in functions for root finding, quadrature, ODEs, etc. but not the details of the algorithms themselves (here it refers you to a numerical methods textbook). This should be the first book any scientist or engineers buys when starting to learn MATLAB. The MATLAB Guide by Higham and Higham (2nd Edition, SIAM) should be next . . . Enjoy!



3. I found this to be a well written, easy to comprehend introduction to MatLab programming. I had programs written and running within the first two hours of reading it. Makes a great quick reference as well.



4. On top of all the positive comments here, I enjoyed the author's occasional jokes. They gave me a relief :)



5. This is an introductory book to MATLAB. It covers the basics including programming. It also has a chapter on numerical methods. Both two-dimensioanl graphs and three dimensional graphs are also discussed. At the end of the book, the author provides a brief introduction to the Symbolic Math Toolbox. If you are just beginning to learn MATLAB, you may also want to check the book "MATLAB for Beginners: A Gentle Approach".

5 comments about GWT in Practice.

1. My first thought upon reading the first few chapeters of this book was "Where was this thing when I started to use GWT a few months ago?" The authors have done an excellent job really showing how to use the Google Web Toolkit. My eternal fear when I read these books is that there won't be any content outside of what the product already ships with. Not so in this case at all.
   
   The authors cover the GWT basics, to be sure, but more importantly, they demonstrate a way to really use GWT. They hit upon one of my thoughts when first trying to get my head around GWT: GWT is not a framework; it is a platform at best. They recognize this and help you work with the power and around the limitations of GWT.
   The authors demonstrate common patterns and practices in the "language" of GWT. It was extremely satisfying to finally, with the help of this book, be able to articulate and execute all the patterns that I've been using in other systems, (e.g. MVC, PropertyListeners, etc.)
   
   The authors also demonstrate how to use GWT in a variety of environments and build system. These concepts were useful, but I found myself skimming over pages at a time to get back to the "good stuff." (This was my primary knock in not giving it five stars.)
   
   All in all, I highly recommend and I'll be ensuring that my team each learn the concepts presented.



2. I have only read the first two chapters of this book thus far (I will update this review when I have finished the book), but based upon what I have read this is an excellent book. I have been playing with GWT for a couple of weeks and, as another reviewer has stated, I wish that I had read this book earlier. I have one other GWT book that I purchased on Amazon, and it was very disappointing.
   
   The authors of GWT In Practice are clearly seasoned Java programmers, and even in the second chapter they have introduced patterns that are appropriate for GWT solutions. They explain how GWT meshes with the MVC pattern, as well as other relevant patterns. Also, even in the first example, they introduce user-defined classes that extend widgets ... a very promising example of their direction through the rest of the book.
   
   One caveat: I am not certain that this book would be easy to comprehend for someone who is a beginner. But I think this is generally true for GWT itself, and that anyone who wants to use GWT should have some training in Java.
   
   One gripe: This is an unfair gripe, because there is no way that the authors could have achieved what I would have liked to see, specifically, a book based upon the 1.5 version of GWT (the book is based upon the 1.4 version). I haven't used GWT 1.4, but I get the impression that there are enough changes in 1.5 to make the information significant. But I'll get over it, if the book is as good as the first two chapters promise!
   
   I don't often say this as fervently, but here's my recommendation: buy this book if you are learning GWT (and probably even if you already know GWT)! :)



3. For starters: I am one of the pilot developers in my company (a large Fortune 100 Financial Institution) doing GWT development. We are about to release our first product to the business. So I've spent the last 18 months or so learning and beating my way through GWT. In the process, I've bought all the GWT books that are out there. Straight to the point: this is the best one out there. Period. Cooper & Collins have produced an excellent book on User Interface development for the next generation....and you get an outstanding understanding of basic and advanced principles in GWT. Plenty of good stuff for the beginner as well as someone who claims to be fairly advanced. GWT in Action by Rob Hanson used to be my favorite...it still has a soft spot for being the first real GWT book, and a great reference book. Collins & Cooper have managed have the same energy that David Geary has in GWT Solutions (which is lofty praise if you've ever seen David speak about GWT!). I really like Dewsbury's GWT Applications, but GWT in Practice is actually better. There are 3 other GWT books (can't remember their names because they're at home), the 2 black and yellow ones and the flower book...I really like GWT in Action better. I've used gwittir, which is a binding framework from Cooper & Collins, so when I saw that they had written a book, I was psyched. In this day and age when book sales gotta be tough because of all the info on the internet, I was glad to see a book that I didn't think was just a rehashing of what's out there online. Good stuff guys...crank out a new version when GWT 1.5 is fully baked and I'll buy it!



4. As a beginner to GWT, I was interested in a book that provided examples and also explained components. This books does exactly both. The examples vary from very simple to complex. They really made it easy for me to understand how to actually us this in practice, no pun intended. I definitely agree with other reviewers that a background in Java will definitely be necessary to easily follow. Overall, this is one of the better technology books I have read.



5. GWT in practice covers the Google Web Toolkit at a level few books on this subject matter go into. The book is well written and also approachable for someone who is new to GWT. I particularly found useful the chapter on deployment which also covers deployment using Maven with the GWT-Maven plug-in, and the chapter on CI which covered Hudson. IMHO it is worth buying the book for these chapters alone as this information is hard to find anywhere else.