1 comments about VBA and Macros for Microsoft Office Excel 2007 (Business Solutions).

1. This book was very helpful for some projects that I needed to accomplish with Excel & VBA. Some of the chapters were extremely enlightening in seeing the big picture of using VBA with Excel and other MS Office applications. Other chapters are excellent resources that I will refer to many times in the future. I would recommend this book for both the beginner (in using VBA) as well as the experienced VBA user.

4 comments about HTML, XHTML, and CSS: Your visual blueprint for designing effective Web pages (Visual Blueprint).

1. What I like about this book is the building approach used. I teach html and web design. Rob's layout allows me to quickly find information needed for classroom work and show the students how and why it works. I will have this book with me in the classroom from now on as an easy to use reference, not only for me but students to.
   Mel Rose



2. This is a really great book for learning XHTML, CSS, and related web technologies. I like how comprehensive it is, covering topics that are mostly ignored by other HTML books like search engines, CSS hacks, and common pitfalls. Jam packed with very useful, well presented, and up to date information, you will get your moneys worth on this one.



3. The great thing about this book is that all the tasks are broken down into (mostly) two-page sections and the organization lends itself to being a great reference book.
   
   PLUS - the information is current and easy to follow.
   
   highly recommended for any web developer.



4. What a great pickup this book has been! As someone who has worked with html at the code level for many years, I picked this up with the intention of honing my CSS skills. After reviewing the topics I already felt comfortable with so as to make sure I was doing things correctly, I was able to quickly get up to speed on the topics that most interested me.
   
   Arranged so that skills build progressively through the book coupled with clear, bold page headers it is simple to flip through and easily find any section you are looking for. I especially like the way the author broke down large topics into smaller, scalable sub-topics that are clearly explained on two pages, eliminating the back and forth page flipping that some authors make necessary.
   
   In addition to covering the most basic of html and CSS, the author doesn't shy away from introducing more advanced uses such as alternate-use style sheets and even the creation and implementation of RSS feeds.
   
   This isn't a `dummies' book that tries too hard to be clever and jokey, it is a serious resource that quickly and clearly gets to the point while avoiding the dryness that some books fall prey to. I've never picked up a Wiley Press book before but will definitely consider them in the future.

5 comments about Moodle Teaching Techniques.

1. Rice is his previous book, Moodle E-Learning Course Development, also by PACKT, covered all the how-tos of the online software. In this book, he demonstrates how to take advantage of this powerful medium.
   
   After reading about the philosophy behind Moodle in the first chapter, I looked with anticipation to the techniques. I didn't have to wait long. The first technique shows how to set up a one-on one forum with a student to provide a channel for communication that is private, while keeping the thread of the discussion for future reference. I was hooked.
   
   In the rest of the book you'll find plenty more useful suggestions to making the most of Moodle.
   
   Highly recommended!



2. William Rice, in Moodle Teaching Techniques, has created a resource that goes beyond the basic "keystroke and click directions" provided by many introductory manuals. Rice provides a variety of practical suggestions for teachers and trainers and avoids the discussion of technical issues which are often irrelevant to Moodle course creators.
   
   The book begins by introducing the instructional principles he uses as the basis for the ideas and activities shared throughout the book. Those without formal educational training will find these few pages informative and helpful, while those with an instructional design or educational background benefit from a reinforcement of those principles we learned, but sometimes forget when the development begins. For example, Rice discusses the value of forums and collaboration among course participants, an important element in good course design, but one which is lacking in many Moodle courses. I was pleased to see this principle reinforced and think it is helpful for readers to be reminded.
   
   The core of the book consists of chapters dedicated to various Moodle tools and specific applications; all presented with the expectation that the reader is familiar with Moodle basics. As I started reading, I was skeptical that Rice was going to present any unique ideas that I had not seen or thought of before--I've been using Moodle for over four years and have worked with hundreds of schools, companies, and organizations through which I've heard many interesting and unusual ideas for the implementation of Moodle activities. As I read, however, I found some ideas that really made me think again about how I had been doing things. In some cases, there was new information that I didn't realize was useful until after the fact. For instance, there are several pages dedicated to network or IP addresses as they relate to proctoring quizzes. As I read the information, I thought initially that too much space was dedicated to the concept; thinking that most readers would contact their network director or that they would know the information themselves. A few days later though, as I was conducting a training and discussing IP addresses, I realized that the information I picked up made me aware of some nuances surrounding proctored quizzes and activity tracking that I had not considered before.
   
   In addition to the ideas Rice presents for the application of the various modules, one of the biggest strengths of the book is that he includes instructions for "real" teacher tasks. Readers will find one section of the book dedicated to tracking participant activity, which is a skill that many teachers and trainers will utilize. Rice mentions using everything from the activity logs to course reports to see what learners are doing. The book also addresses more obscure, under-used features such as splitting forums, using groups and custom scales. Rice hit the mark here in identifying these more advanced topics as being especially valuable.
   
   The other feature that will benefit readers is that Rice presents the "why" behind his choices. For example, he explains his selection of a forum over a wiki for one activity. In another section, he explains why he would use a wiki instead of an assignment, blog, forum, or journal. In my experience, course creators do not struggle as much with which button to click, but rather more in deciding which tool is best for a specific learning activity. Rice's explanations provide the reader insight to help guide them through those decision-making processes.
   
   While Moodle Teaching Techniques is a valuable resource for Moodle users, there are some caveats that should be mentioned. First, as Moodle 1.9 is released later this month, I recognize that many readers will be looking for information to help them make the transition. Though this book makes mention of being based on 1.9, it is really based on 1.8 functionality. For most of the content, the version is not significant as the information is true for both 1.8 and 1.9 and the book is more about big ideas than buttons. However, there are a few pages that mention groups and the gradebook, both of which have seen large changes in 1.9. The good news is that the suggestions still apply and the functionality exists in both 1.8 and 1.9, but the steps will be a bit different. In the case of the gradebook example, the reader will likely have to spend some time finding their own solution to the suggested implementation.
   
   Aside from the version difference, my only other complaint is that while Rice professed that this book was not going to go step-by-step and was going to make some assumptions about prior knowledge, it seemed a bit inconsistent. In many places the instructions were detailed and very clear; I had no doubts that even a fairly novice Moodle user would be able to follow along. In other places though, I found myself wanting more information. For example, the lesson and the workshop are pretty complex tools and while the information presented was helpful, it could have been more so. While Rice generally follows his premise throughout the book, the lesson and workshop are tools that many people struggle with and readers may have benefited from a bit more detail about them.
   
   Despite these minor complaints, I recommend this book without reservation. Moodle Teaching Techniques is a great companion resource to other more basic Moodle texts and manuals and provides many ideas to help teachers and trainers take their Moodle courses to the next level.



3. If you are already comfortable with general online development techniques, this book will help you bump your course development up a notch. Rice introduces practical tools that any online developer needs to at least be aware of even if they don't use Moodle. It is more of an educational methods book as a technical "how to" book.



4. As I am developing a few courses for e-learning I order this book to understand moodle LMS.
   
   I was surprised with the overall view and the very usefull tips and structure.
   
   If you are plannig to use moodle to create e-learning courses and training, it is a good start.



5. Moodle Teaching Techniques
   
   Good, clear screen captures, logically sequenced and fairly clear instructional text.
   
   However, not all that much different from the original, Moodle classic book by Jason Cole.
   Using Moodle: Teaching with the Popular Open Source Course Management System (Using)
   
   In my opinion, not worth purchasing/owning both!

5 comments about Sams Teach Yourself C++ in 21 Days (5th Edition) (Sams Teach Yourself).

1. With over 10 years experience in C++, I found this book to be an excellent review of the core language. I used the book to help my 15 year old get a solid start in C++ and in just over a month she is very comfortable with the language.



2. I have programmed for years but never in a modern object-oriented language and I wish to maintain a C++ project. So I purchased this book. I also searched online for "C++ tutorials". In general, I think this book is OK.
   
   Compared to online resources, this book provides a fuller and often deeper explanation of the basics of C++. Sometimes it was too much depth (e.g., showing a picture of a fence to explain the fence-post error was not particularly needed), but you can always skip the rest of the page. I think I gained a better understanding of the use inheritance, virtual methods, and polymorphism through Liberty's examples.
   
   I can definitively deny other reviews of this book that suggest that Liberty uses older POD arrays of pchar/char... he uses strings except late in the course where he shows an implementation of a string class. One of the things I learned from the additional material in Liberty's book is why this is controversial and why "#include " and "#include " are different. (Liberty's is a modern, "#include " book.)
   
   The book is also full of code examples which are explained concisely (which is nice, after the first introduction of "#include " you don't need the author to explain it each time). There is a degree of review and each chapter ends with "Q&A" (kind of a short FAQ for that chapter), a quiz and some exercises. The exercises are generally split between "do this" and "debug this" items. There are answers at the back of the book.
   
   Finally, I think OOP requires new analysis and object design skills and on-line tutorials are mostly silent about this critical issue. Liberty provides one full chapter that is quite good at providing an overview (IMHO).
   
   My main criticism is a matter of expectations; this book teaches you A LITTLE C++. The back of the book says "you'll have all the skills you need to BEGIN programming C++" (my emphasis). You still have a considerable learning curve as you master even intermediate aspects. A good example is implementing "one class per file". In passing on day 6 Liberty explains that he is NOT showing you the way professional C++ programmers write code and he provides a single and very incomplete example of splitting your work into multiple files. Working from this, I find that I do not understand namespaces well enough from the discussion on day 18 to work with multiple files.
   
   Also, I noticed a few errors in the book. Unless I very misunderstand, inline class methods were mislabeled in Day 6 and the default value example was so unrealistic as to denigrate the topic (although Liberty nicely covers the debate over whether to use default values or simply overload a method/function).
   
   And finally, I thought that almost no instruction on the toolsets (compiler, make, etc.) was limiting. Ultimately, this omission shows you how basic this book is but given the fundamental nature and the intended audience, I think it's really a glaring omission. That said, the bit of advice he does give is confined to Microsoft's Visual product which was completely unhelpful to me using g++.
   
   So, I can recommend the book with these caveats. This book would be a great way to prepare for additional training or to equip you to ask slightly less ignorant questions in online forums.



3. This is yet another fine book that I've added to my collection. I use it mainly as a reference but it is certainly an excellent teaching guide as well. This book is replete with informative lessons and practice exercises with answers for those who are new to the C ++ programming language. I would also highly recommend it for the intermediate level individuals who wish to augment their C++ programming skills. A thorough explanation precedes each exercise so the ease of learning progressively in as little time possible is greatly enhanced. The practice exercises are very helpful and practical. Expect to take more than 21 days to become proficient if you are just starting out in C++. Well done Jesse Liberty, Bradley Jones and everyone else involved in producing this book containing over 900 pages of excellent C++ training material!



4. A friendly easy to read book that makes the intimidating task of learning how to program a lot less daunting.



5. This book has been very helpful to me. It has clear explanations, well thought out examples and the occasional bit of comic relief. I'd recommend this to anybody who's interesting in learning C++.

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 C++ in a Nutshell.

1. I found this book is excellent. It concisely covers many finer
   points of c++ language, which are not fully explained
   in many other similar books. Of course, your understanding of
   this book will be greater if you have already studied c++ for
   a while.



2. I always like O'Reilly books and are usually what I purchase. The "In A Nutshell" may be misleading to some. Just think of it as "C++ A Language & Library Reference." If you are a beginner looking for a how to, this isn't the one for you. "Thinking in C++" by Bruce Eckel (great book), or "Practical C++ Programming" would be the one a beginner would want. However, when you are ready to explore the inter-details about what C++ classes provides, this would be a good one to add to your collection. The first half describes C++ in general, while the last half details the language reference. I like how the reference is structured, grouped by the easy to find header declaration at the bottom of the page. Quickly finding what you need is a great feature here. You can only do so much "std::cout << "hi" << std::endl; without a reference and this one covers the missing details. Not for beginners, but an excellent reference.



3. This is a great reference book. You definitely need to know something about c++ to get the full benefit of it. I would recommend it.



4. Many implementations of C++ extend the language and standard library. Except for brief mentions of language and library extensions in the appendixes, this book covers only the standard. The standard library is large, but it omits much that is common in computing today such as concurrency, network protocols, database access, graphics, and windowing. However, Appendix B contains some information about nonstandard libraries that provide additional functionality.
   
   This book is a reference, not a tutorial, thus those unfamiliar with C++ might find portions of this book difficult to understand. Although each portion of the book contains some advice on idioms and the proper use of certain language constructs, the main focus is on the reference material. This book is divided into two interleaved sections that cover the language and the library, and a couple of appendixes. Roughly speaking, the language is the part of C++ that does not require any additional #include headers or files. The library is the part of C++ that is declared in the standard headers.
   
   Chapter 1 through Chapter 7, Chapter 11, and Chapter 12 cover the language itself. The first seven chapters form the main language reference, organized by topic. It is customary for a programming reference to contain a formal grammar, and this book does so in Chapter 12, which is organized alphabetically by keyword with some additional entries for major syntactic categories, such as expressions. Chapter 11 is a reference for the preprocessor. Chapter 13 is the library reference, organized alphabetically by header. Chapters 8 through 10 present an overview of the library and introduce the topics that span individual headers. A detailed accounting of each chapter follows:
   
   Chapter 1. Language Basics - describes the basic rules for the C++ language.
   1.1. Compilation Steps
   1.2. Tokens
   1.3. Comments
   1.4. Character Sets
   1.5. Alternative Tokens
   1.6. Trigraphs
   
   Chapter 2. Declarations - describes how objects, types, and namespaces are declared and how names are looked up.
   2.1. Declarations and Definitions
   2.2. Scope
   2.3. Name Lookup
   2.4. Linkage
   2.5. Type Declarations
   2.6. Object Declarations
   2.7. Namespaces
   
   Chapter 3. Expressions - describes operators, precedence, and type casts.
   3.1. Lvalues and Rvalues
   3.2. Type Conversions
   3.3. Constant Expressions
   3.4. Expression Evaluation
   3.5. Expression Rules
   
   Chapter 4. Statements - describes all the C++ statements.
   4.1. Expression Statements
   4.2. Declarations
   4.3. Compound Statements
   4.4. Selections
   4.5. Loops
   4.6. Control Statements
   4.7. Handling Exceptions
   
   Chapter 5. Functions - describes function declarations and definitions, overload resolution, argument passing, and related topics.
   5.1. Function Declarations
   5.2. Function Definitions
   5.3. Function Overloading
   5.4. Operator Overloading
   5.5. The main Function
   
   Chapter 6. Classes - describes classes, unions, structures, members, virtual functions, inheritance, accessibility, and multiple inheritance.
   6.1. Class Definitions
   6.2. Data Members
   6.3. Member Functions
   6.4. Inheritance
   6.5. Access Specifiers
   6.6. Friends
   6.7. Nested Types
   
   Chapter 7. Templates - describes class and function template declarations, definitions, instantiations, specializations, and how templates are used.
   7.1. Overview of Templates
   7.2. Template Declarations
   7.3. Function Templates
   7.4. Class Templates
   7.5. Specialization
   7.6. Partial Specialization
   7.7. Instantiation
   7.8. Name Lookup
   7.9. Tricks with Templates
   7.10. Compiling Templates
   
   Chapter 8. Standard Library - introduces the standard library and discusses some overarching topics, such as traits and allocators.
   8.1. Overview of the Standard Library
   8.2. C Library Wrappers
   8.3. Wide and Multibyte Characters
   8.4. Traits and Policies
   8.5. Allocators
   8.6. Numerics
   
   Chapter 9. Input and Output - introduces the I/O portion of the standard library. Topics include formatted and unformatted I/O, stream buffers, and manipulators.
   9.1. Introduction to I/O Streams
   9.2. Text I/O
   9.3. Binary I/O
   9.4. Stream Buffers
   9.5. Manipulators
   9.6. Errors and Exceptions
   
   Chapter 10. Containers, Iterators, and Algorithms - introduces the suite of container class templates, their iterators, and generic algorithms. This is the portion of the library that has traditionally been called the Standard Template Library (STL).
   10.1. Containers
   10.2. Iterators
   10.3. Algorithms
   
   Chapter 11. Preprocessor Reference - an alphabetical reference for the preprocessor, which is part of the language, but with a distinct set of syntactic and semantic rules.
   
   Chapter 12. Language Reference - an alphabetical reference for the language and grammar. Backus-Naur Form (BNF) syntax descriptions are given for each keyword and other language elements, with pointers to the first seven chapters for the main reference material.
   
   Chapter 13. Library Reference - a reference for the entire standard library, organized alphabetically by header, and alphabetically by name within each header section.
   
   Appendix A. Compiler Extension - describes ways that some compilers extend the language: to satisfy customer need, to meet platform-specific requirements, and so on.
   
   Appendix B. Projects - describes a few interesting, open source C++ projects. You can find information about additional projects on the book's web site.
   
   The book illustrates the descriptions and definitions it covers with plenty of examples - some quite short, and then some longer ones as you get further into the book. If you need a good desk reference on C++, this is definitely the one to buy and keep by your side.



5. Hi,
   I'm a recent graduate B.Sc CS and used this book extensively for a month+ as to prepare for a c++ job interviews.
   
   Unfortunately I can't say I loved this book. I found the examples to be overcomplicated by irrelevant information and language to be ambiguous at the times.
   
   As an example, from page 160 (classes/ covariant return types):
   "In a derived class, a covariant return type is a pointer or reference to a class type that derives from the return type used in the base class" ?!
   
   Code examples are contaminated by the irrelevant programming techniques and irrelevant code. Page 158, "declaring and using virtual functions", the code example extends over two pages. In it, author uses concepts of templates, complicated operators overloading, constructor and destructor, pure virtual functions (its different topic in the book, much later) as well as a very complicated programming code. And all of this extra information used to explain a rather simple virtual functions.
   
   If the reader is not very familiar with some concepts of programming language, reader might face a difficulty to understand the topic illustrated, as it would be polluted with much unrelated code technique.
   
   I wouldn't recommend this book for the beginners, and would proceed with caution if you are an intermediate programmer. This is a great start but author need to maintain focus on the particular topic and not to make it more complicated then it's already is. After all it's a reference book and not the collection of the brain teasers.

5 comments about Bulletproof Ajax.

1. I bought the book to get a better understanding of the back-end basics of Ajax-piggybacked websites. We hear plenty about the compilation of technologies (asynchronous server requests, JavaScript, the DOM, etc.), but until this point I hadn't come across a book that was enticing enough in terms of its credibility now and down the road.
   
   Bulletproof Ajax fills this void - Jeremy Keith adeptly walks through the technology and its components by defining Ajax and its appropriate objectives for a Web that is accessibility-conscious; gives an overview of JavaScript and the DOM; gets to the heart of Ajax by picking apart the XMLHttpRequest; discusses data formats for using Ajax on your site; goes over progressive enhancement (aka Hijax) for creating a site that is entirely usable for someone without JavaScript but that is enhanced for people who do have JavaScript; brings to attention the challenges and difficulties with Ajax; devotes a chapter to Ajax and accessibility; runs through the creation of an entire site (viewable at http://bulletproofajax.com/shop/ ) in PHP (though it's unnecessary to know the language) that utilizes Ajax gracefully using object-oriented programming; and finally discusses Ajax toolkits and frameworks.
   
   Throughout the book, Jeremy uses good coding examples, and works through the idea of progressive enhancement in a way that anticipates the reader's questions of optimal programming practices with Ajax. The book prepares the reader for designing sites in a very reliable, professional, accessible way. And while the book is filled with functional coding samples of the various topics (which are then all pulled together in their completion at the end of the book), this book does *not* try to be the Bible of Ajax to go to for any obscure programming solution that a web programmer might imagine. It presents a methodology and gives the reader the tools for producing that solution on their own - to me, that is one of the great successes of the book.



2. I bought this book in order to get an easy and speedy up-to-date with the AJAX buzzword. This book does the job.
   
   It is a short book (less than 200 pages). The writing style is very inviting and easy to read. I actually read it cover to cover easily in a very short time period.
   
   The examples that walk you through are easy to understand and give the feel for the material.
   
   Terms are very well explained. Jargon is explained too, which helps positioning yourself within the hype buzzword soup you read on the web.
   
   The book explains nicely what AJAX is and what it isn't. It explores a few different ways of doing the same thing. It touches the important topics, giving a feel to them and understanding of "their trick". This is just enough to understand the material.
   
   After reading the book I feed confident to be able to do ahead with my work: I have the basic understanding and the terminology so whenever I need something, I know if it is available, or even relevant or not and then can use an on-line resource or a reference book and complement the necessary knowledge to do the task.
   
   I liked the fact that the author doesn't take for granted a specific browser. He explains how to do things in a way that will be compliant with all browsers. I liked the fact that the author promotes fallbacks, that is, alternative things to happen in case JacaScript is not supported, or that a certain operation is not supported. I liked that the examples and explanations are "backward compatibility motivated".
   
   It is clear that the author is not possessed by the technology itself but thinks primarily about the user and the user experience, thus, compliance and backward compatibility are considered, but also feedback on progress and on changes made to the page and other accessibility issues.
   
   
   I recommend the book as an introduction to the topic.



3. This was very interesting. I don't know if its completely bulletproof, but it IS about as bullet resistant as you can make it. He definitely makes good points in every chapter about building and designing your ajax application.
   I recommend you read this book when you are learning ajax. For the advanced developer, I would hope you are using these techniques. You should at least read this to make sure you are using similar techniques.
   For the self-taught, I would say to definitely read this book. You'll make it through it in a few days of on and off reading. It took me a week of reading on the train (25 minutes each way, so about 5 hours). I'm still thinking about what he said and analyzing it. This tells me he had some excellent ideas.
   A recommended Ajax programming book. Don't let page counts fool you. I have some "Bible" books that are awful, BUT they're 1000 pages.
   -T-



4. The book is very good will learn you all you need to know to be ajaxian , beginning with Javascript , DOM and Ajax fundamentals for creating bulletproof XHR object , then how to use it with various data ( XML , JSON , HTML ) types and each advantage and disadvantage , then dive into Hijax techniques for accessibility and progressive enhancements and the challenges that will face you during ajax applications developement and how to solve it , and end up with the future of ajax chapter that tell you why and how to choose the right ajax framework for your apps .



5. Normally i don't return books because it's too much trouble for $20 or so. I had to return this one because i could picture the people behind it laughing at me for buying it.
   
   The publisher of this book needs to recall it and take it off the shelf if they want to retain a slim hope of credibility.
   
   The book is devoid of anything useful that you can't find on the wikipedia page on Ajax. When it finally strays from the extremely basic stuff, it fall on its buttocks with all sorts of mistakes.
   There are even mistakes that contradict the other mistakes!
   
   Stay far away from this book. it's called "bulletproof" because it's a blackhole of nothingness.

5 comments about Starting Out with Java: From Control Structures through Objects (3rd Edition).

1. THIS BOOK IS NOT AVAILABLE AS DESCRIBED. The description clearly states the book is a hard cover but no hard cover is available. I tried resolving the issue with Amazon, but all they did was send ANOTHER soft cover.
   
   For $100 you should get what you were told you were going to get. Other then being VERY VERY VERY disapointed with my Amazon experience, the book reads well and is ok for the very beginner.
   
   Over all I was not impressed by the book, or by Amazon's attempt to resolve my problem.



2. This is an excellent text for students to learn Java, and Object-oriented programming. The introduction of control structures first allows the beginning programmer to master the ideas of loops / selection, before tackling the more abstract concept of objects, and classes. The examples and explanations are very gentle on the reader. The frustration level for beginners is quite low. I have taught Java programming for almost 10 years, and have used many different texts - this one works for students who have little (or no) programming experience.
   Colin Archibald, PhD



3. If you read the reviews of this text and its earlier editions, you'll see that it's nearly always praised by intro CS profs and students alike. Only this 3rd edition has gotten a real 'ding' by a reviewer, and that came more from that one individual's problem with Amazon than any real fault found in Gaddis' text itself. The guy's anger is understandable, though, as the price of this thick *paperback* book is simply absurd - as is the case with so many college textbooks these days... especially those in subject areas considered the gateway to lucrative careers. How can the publishers possibly justify their pricing? They can't... it's mostly greed. They figure CS students will just borrow a ton of money for their education and then pay off their inflated loans with their huge salaries, later!
   
   Anyway, end of rant. What I would suggest, though, is to consider using an earlier edition of Gaddis' text - used - if ninety plus bucks is too much for you. For the purpose of introductory programming in Java, very little is lost in using the first edition, "Starting Out with Java 5". As I write this in 2008, Java is 13 years old and has become a mature language; very few basic features or keywords are deprecated anymore, and all of the latest and greatest extensions are mostly beyond the introductory level of this textbook. What the first edition did well - build a firm foundation for understanding programming structures and object oriented features in basic Java - all editions still do extremely well. The second edition, and the third, however, are incremental improvements... not essential to getting one's students off on the right foot.



4. This book has pleased me a lot.I have 2 other books for Java which are waste and I never open then from the day I started reading this book.Tony Gaddis has explained every concept in detail.I am a beginner and this book is a very good choice for beginners.The examples in this book are explained so well with no errors which makes it even more good. I want to learn EJB also if his book is available.



5. i never received the book.... it is over a month ago now and i have no book and no refund.....chances are i will continue to use ebay for my textbooks, atleast they arrive on time

5 comments about C Programming: A Modern Approach, 2nd Edition.

1. in order to really understand what was going on you need to intently read every single word. There are no solutions for the excercises which i thought were too difficult, and many times the means to find the answer could not be found in the chapter.



2. This book was an excellent complement to the professor I had for basic C programming. I'd venture to say that even someone with little to no computer experience could learn from it. One really nice feature is the Q & A section where obvious questions about the material are asked and then answered by the author such as: "Why is the C language so terse?" There is not an excess of information, but it gives a great deal of examples and even source code so you can see how the system compiles it. If I were teaching myself the C language, this would probably be the first book I went to.



3. I ordered K.N. King's ``C Programming: A Modern Approach (Second Edition)'' from Amazon for my recent birthday. Having had more birthdays than I care to admit, this gift to myself is right up there with a Lionel train set I got for my eighth birthday (not from Amazon, of course -- it didn't exist that long ago but passengers trains sure did :)).
   
   In this second edition, I think that KNK is now the logical heir to K&R. That's not meant as blasphemy -- Kernighan and Ritchie's still great volume is around 20 years of age and it's unlikely they'll be getting together for K&R3. The C language has undergone enough changes (with the amendment of 1994) and C99, that a ``Modern Approach'' really is needed.
   
   There's another author familiar to readers of the comp.lang.c newsgroup for his approachable, engaging writing style. That author is a wonderful writer but doesn't let the truth get in the way of good narrative. King, though, is an equally engaging writer but is obviously passionate about correctness and adhering to the C standard. He's also meticulous about portability so that the examples are written in pure C and not some platform-specific variant.
   
   I've the entire book and can find hardly anything even nitpick. Aside from a minor style difference about using parentheses with the ``sizeof'' operator, which King explains his rationale for doing so, that's about it.
   
   His explanation of C99 (and the differences from C90 are clearly indicated) made me aware of some really nice features of the current standard for the language (and makes me wonder why one very notable compiler implementer hasn't yet supported C99).
   
   In short, get this book. The Q&A sections at the end of each chapter are very well done. The exercises and programming projects help to amplify the material presented. And King's examples will teach you more about barcodes and ISBN numbers than you ever thought possible.
   
   If you can appreciate the work of a fine craftsman in film such as Martin Scorsese, you'll find that King is of that caliber in the realm of lucidly dealing with this technical subject.



4. I am backtracking a bit by taking C Programming. I already know C++ and C#, but C Programming is required for my major. This book is easy to understand, or maybe it is for me with my previous experience. However, it seems that the non-programmers in my class are grasping the concepts using this book. The only down side is that the book has errors that were not caught in the editing process prior to publication. However, the author maintains a website that identifies the post publishing errors and also contains solutions to select problems from the book. I like this book. It is concise and light, so it does not weigh down my backpack.



5. I received my book in pristine condition and the seller had very fast and courteous service. I would definitely consider purchasing from this seller again! :)

5 comments about Java For Dummies (Java for Dummies).

1. What can i say, if you ever want to learn JAVA then this is your book. For some time i have found it hard to understand the basics in java, most of the books i have read gave me headaches they are just to complex but this book by Proff Barry Baud is an absolute knockout. The intresting thing about the book is the manner in which he wrote the book its very easy to undestand complex topics are broken down into bits and pecies that you can undestand.



2. I am a mature University student studying Web Development and Programming.I needed a gentle introduction to Java, and this book has provided just that.It takes the reader by the hand and introduces all of the basic concepts in an informative and uncomplicated manner (not an easy task).
   The author is also very accesible.I had a problem with some code and he responded to my email within hours.(He pointed me to a posting on his Weblog which did just the trick).
   I approached Java with some trepidation but thanks to Mr Burd I am now feeling very confident about tackling the more complicated issues.
   I am also more than holding my own at University.I can`t thank the author enough.
   An introduction to Java that I would highly recommend to anyone.



3. This was a gift for a friend. She really finds it a good resource



4. I needed a book that would explain the important concepts of java, but also introduce them to me from scratch. This book did exactly that. The writing is great, and easily understood, even if java itself seems to give me headaches! There are examples of pretty much everything that is explained, and whenever I had a moment where I looked at a code and said "what is that?" it would be explained a few pages later. All around good book.
   
   The only reason I don't give it five stars is because there were no exercises for the beginner. This is a major oversight since reading about something and understanding it is so different from actually doing it. I had to go to another book for exercises and found they didn't always line up with what I was learning. The explanations themselves, however, were great.



5. I recommend Barry Burd's book. It is a good starting book with humor and illustrations. The material is clearly explained and not overwhelming. Perhaps more important is the author himself who will answer email questions. The programs can be typed into notebook and compiled and run using the Windows run feature or with an IDE provided on download. Ralph Fullwood