No comments about CMMI and Six Sigma: Partners in Process Improvement (SEI Series in Software Engineering).

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

1. Great little reference book. It is not intended to be a learning tool. If you want that, try the Head First book on HTML/XHTML/CSS that O'Reilly also publishes.
   
   It's a super little time-saver, and also makes for a quick read when designing a new page or project, to see if something you haven't used previously could benefit your work.



2. Large books, by their very nature, can have good points and bad points. After all, if you have a couple or several hundred pages worth of material, you are bound to get some things right and some things wrong.
   But these pocket reference books from O'Reilly are great. They aren't for learning, rather they are what they say they are: a pocket reference. (Nice to see some truth in advertising for a change.)
   If you buy this book you will use it. A lot. Period.



3. I used this book as a reference to take a certification exam without ever touching CSS and scored in the 96th percentile... enough said.



4. I'm doing a lot of CSS work these days and figured this guide would be a good book to have on hand to quickly pull out when I can't remember a selector or how to write a certain pseudo-class, etc. And it *is* a decent little guide for the most part. It gives a short description of each element and what browsers support it (although no version information included) and even has a basic CSS tutorial included. Certainly not substitute for the full length book, but okay to quickly refer to.
   
   The thing I didn't like about the book is that it just often seems to take a little time for me to find things in it. There are just so many different ways a "pocket guide" could be done that would make it a matter of seconds to find the element you need information on...with this one I'm often resorting to using the index to find what page it is on. Since the entire book is black-and-white and there's no page separation of element from element, it all just kinds of blends together and just visually is not very pleasing to use. If you are familiar with Visibone web developer cards/sheets I find those much more useful as a quick-reference due to how well the information is presented. While the material is not as comprehensive as what this book includes, I find myself pulling it out more often than this book simply because I can literally get the information I need in a second versus spending time just trying to locate it in this book.
   
   So final score...it's a decent book and worth considering. If you've used other O-Reilly pocket books and like them, you'll probably like this as well. But I personally think there are easier "pocket guides" available.



5. Small, Informative, and easy to use. It does everything it needs to do.
   
   I would very quickly buy this book again.

5 comments about Web Standards Creativity: Innovations in Web Design with XHTML, CSS, and DOM Scripting.

1. This book arrived the day after I returned home to NJ after the "An Event Apart" conference in Boston.
   Compared to the large volume of texts that have come out before it, this was a little bit of a disappointment.
   If you're new to using CSS, then maybe it will be more helpful to you, but if you already own/read CSS Mastery: Advanced Web Standards Solutions, Bulletproof Web Design: Improving flexibility and protecting against worst-case scenarios with XHTML and CSS, DOM Scripting: Web Design with JavaScript and the Document Object Model, and the like... I wouldn't bother with this one.



2. Let's start with a warning - this is not a book for beginners. To appreciate it (apart from the "coffee table" usage someone else mentioned), you have to know a lot about CSS, HTML and have decent knowledge of JavaScript and DOM. But once you're there and have a few web design projects behind you, you'll really appreciate all the nuggets in this book. The ideas presented in it, as well as the explanations (in a juicy voice that was obviously not bowdlerized by editorial policies that so many other publishers have) are simply priceless. I also highly appreciated the approach of not going into meaningless details; the text is full of URLs containing background information, additional articles, design guidelines, CSS tricks etc.
   
   To all the authors & the publisher: Congratulations !!! This is one of the Web design books I've seen ... why can't I give you 6 start?



3. Out of three CSS/XHTML books that I bought, this one was the most disappointing of all. Disappointing because it's designed not so much for practical use, it's really for placing on the coffee table to show off your web guru status.
   
   I simply wasn't inspired by the ad hoc generic ideas, presented as edgy "grunge" a la mode. If you're a web designer needing creativity ideas of this type (page 30 is a kicker), you really need to hit art school again. What's explained, you'll pick up in high school Drawing 101; hanging out at coding forums; or just googling for help.
   
   Worse upon worse, reading the book will give you a headache. I simply couldn't read it through without vertigo. The book design staff believed in high contrast color schemes, that if you're color blind, you wouldn't have to worry about reading code, you simply won't see it (or wished to ban Opt-Art)! Lime green backgrounds with pale orange type (pages 71 and 75, for example), just doesn't cut it.
   
   If you need a CSS/XHTML coffee table book, this will suffice. But if you need real inspiration and design ideas, save your money and eyesight, and find some other book (or search online for examples -- heck, the snippet code isn't much more than what's in the book, even).
   
   What a waste of money.



4. Although there are some interesting ideas in this book you should be warned about the very, very, very poor printing quality. After reading through the first 40 pages the book began to fall apart. The pages started to fly out one by one like a hair from your head when starting to develop boldness. After 50 pages it was just a pile of junk so I couldn't finish it.



5. This book is well written, easy to read, and does a great job of walking you through their case studies.

4 comments about Scripting Recipes for Second Life.

1. This book provides a very basic introduction to LSL scripting. Everyone of the scripts in the book can be obtained as freebies within SL and much more can be learned about LSL in the SL Wiki and various other online tutorials and references. Speaking of references, this book had none. One of the few reasons I keep programming books around is that its nice to be able to flip open a book and get a quick answer to a programming question. Well, forget it. This book has no reference section and a marginally useful index.



2. I liked this book a lot. This book is useful for both a beginner who wants to get started in the basics of LSL and also very handy for someone with scripting experience who wants a nice inventory of ready to use scripts that can be easily dropped onto an object.
   For the beginner, the book starts out with an overview of the Linden Scripting Language (LSL) and descriptions of the most commonly used functions in LSL. The explanations are clear and contain examples for each newly presented concept.
   The real value of this book though is in the wide array of useful scripts provided. When I started in SL, I bought various in world items which did things using scripts. I realize now that if I had had this book then, I could have made these objects myself, which at least for me is more fun than just spending Linden dollars for someone else's not modifiable way of doing something.
   
   Here is a list of some of the scripts included in this book.
   Buildings: Splashing water, Open door, Owner locked door, Mult-User lockable door, Teleport pad, Elevator
   Particle Effects: Basic particle emitter, Chimney, Leaf generator, Jewelry, Explosion
   Vehicles: Car, Boat, Helicopter, Super car
   Scanners: Avatar radar, Notecard giver, Automatic door, Traffic scanner
   Miscellaneous recipes: Avatar cannon, Analog clock, Weather station, Slide show, Notecard controller slide show, Announcer script, Online indicator
   Commerce: Camping pad, Simple tip jar, Club tip jar, Vendor script
   Rental Property: Rental script
   Weapons: Basic gun, Multi-bullet gun, Bullets for the guns
   Wearable Objects: Parachute, HUD parachute, Jet pack, Anti push bracelet
   
   The cool thing I found from the book is that all of the example scripts have been implemented on objects and are freely available for copy/modify at the authors island in SL.
   
   I would highly recommend this book for anyone interested in writing scripts in SL (except perhaps a seasoned scripter who might find this book a little too intermediate).



3. When I first got this book, I was frustrated with it because it jumps deep into LSL and makes an assumption that you have a basic understanding -- it is not an introductory book. And to be fair to the book, it doesn't hold itself out to be an introductory book. If you are looking for a beginner book in LSL, get something else!
   
   BUT, after I spent some time learning LSL through other sources (online Wiki!) I found that the book actually has become really useful to me as a way to understand LSL. In other words, don't make this your first book on LSL, but maybe make it your second.



4. Exactly what I looked for. Simple examples that allow me to quickly get what I want and learn the language.

5 comments about PgMP: Program Management Professional Exam Study Guide.

1. I've read this book from cover to cover and the PgMP exam? Tough! Been there, done that. My recommendation: this book is a must to prepare for the exam just like the Program Management Standard is. I'm puzzled at a couple of harshly negative reviews about this book: useless, waste of time, dry? These words do not describe this book....I have read other books from Dr. Paul Sanghera as well, and I love his style that puts life into even dead boring topics and make them interesting. Same is true about this book. All concepts are explained well and woven together, and there is a perfect logical flow...it's almost like reading a story... If the inputs and outputs for a process are re-organized to help you make sense, and explained why they are there, I think it's a feature and not a problem...
   
   I do agree however that the questions in the exam are much more difficult than the one in the book, but the book presents the material that you must know before taking the exam...In the exam, of course, your experience will count..no book can substitute for that...This material can be obtained from different references, scattered around...but the book does an excellent job to put all the pieces together and integrate them seamlessly... The author should be congratulated for that...Another great PLUS of this book is that it"s organized along the official exam specifications.
   Actually I would recommend this book even if you are not planning to take the exam; it's a great program management book, too.. All program managers should have it on their desk. Program Management Standard will make much more sense after reading this book.



2. The content of the book are excellent and well elaborated, but unfortunatly I found after taking the real exam that the simulation test questions provided in the book has nothing to do with the real test questions which are based on real scenario questions rather than a straight forward input output questions.
   
   I suggest to all to buy other books in the market.
   
   Good luck.



3. I took (and passed) the PgMP exam just yesterday (8/26/08). The exam was absolutely NOTHING like this book. The materials covered in this book were weak at best. I took ESI International's online course, used their practice exams, used Aileen Ellis's online test questions and read through the PgMP Standard & Exam Spec. Each of these items were far more useful than this book. My copy has already been put in the garbage... That's where it belongs.



4. I have read this book from cover to cover and found it the best of all the available PgMP and Program Management books. All of us are entitled to our opinions, but I would take those reviews with a grain of salt that blast (trash) this book to advertise the competitor products. Here is my balanced view: you will do yourself a great service if you go through this book very carefully before taking the exam. Of course, you can use other resources and products as well. There are three things that this book does and no other book on this topic does: 1.) It integrates the otherwise scattered information within the scope of the PgMP exam into one place and makes sense of it all (as some other reviewers noticed); 2.) It is organized along the official exam objectives; 3.) The material is presented in such a logical way that while preparing for the exam, you also learn the basics of program management.
   That said, I agree with another reviewer that PgMP is a difficult exam. None of the resources is going to substitute for our experience.
   I highly recommend this book for the exam and also just for learning the basics of program management.



5. Being involved in one of the huge program of deploying an unified business model on a global scale, I was looking for a knowledge source to fit in and relate what we do in practice and what is generally accepted practice in the field. That is how I stumbled on this book (basically I decided to buy this after reading the reviews in Amazon). Since I have to agree with most of the reviews already put in there (especially those positive ones), I try to provide my views avoiding the ones already indicated by other reviewers.
   
   1. If you really need to venture into this book, one important aspect is to understand the concept of how it is structured. Probably the author would have treated, creation of this book itself as a program, one can immediately recognise the structured approach, depth of knowledge & experience of author on the subject matter (probably one of the reason why some times the topics appear to be repeated or too detailed), effort to make it easy to understand (repeated definitions instead of cross referencing - this could probably help from exam perspective, only if you understand the structure and not get confused by such repetitions)and so on. Without understanding the basic framework of the book structure, I struggled in the beginning which slowed down my reading pace. But once I discovered it (by plotting the key learnings on a mind map) that most of the repetitions are basically due to spliting each chapter contents into 2 broad (but related) categories namely - 1. Program Phases 2. Process groups with included processes & Knowledge areas supporting those process groups & Program stages, then I could see and link the repetitions easily and logically (and hence realised, many things are repeated since once they are explained under program phases and they are again covered under process / process groups / knowledge areas). In fact, analysing and connecting them using mindmap technique also helped me create a complete summary of the whole program management concept for easy and quick reference (even from exam perspective, such a reference would be very good reference for revision, I believe)
   
   2. On one hand the book extensively covers the conceptual frame work, what it appeared to lack in many places is - examples or illustrations (though there are some real world scenerio's here and there, but not extensive). What I mean here is, while the 39 program management processes covered follows the structured conceptual approach of 1.Inputs, 2.Tools & Techniques & 3.Outputs, if you look for some examples within this framework you may be disappointed (For example: you read the term -detailed program scope statement many times, but if you are looking for a concrete example of a detailed scope statement to understand it better, then you may be disappointed). To be fair, I don't see this as a negative aspect of this book because, having written this book from examination perspective, the 'detailed scope definition of book contents' itself would have been a limiting factor in including such examples (though this could have been an excellent value addition to the CD attached, if not in book pages)
   
   3. Though I could have made a choice of other books on program management, one of the reason I wanted to see the books targted at PgMP exam was: in such books, there is more gurantee that the contents are probably well adhered to the generally accepted body of knowledge (in this case, with the PMI definitions of program management); thus, benchmarking of my own experience would be against such professional body of knowledge. On the other hand, if needed - it also helps to get certified (though,secondary benefit in my case for now). From that perspective, I should say I am extremely satisfied with this book (It did reaffirm many of my beliefs and experiences in one hand, while filling some gaps in understanding and knowledge areas on the other. Not to forget the help it provided in aligning my own knowledge and experience to the professional definitions and body of knowledge).
   
   4. From PgMP certification perspective itself, what I see as limitation in this book is : it only focus on the exam preparation stage of certification (i.e. evaluation level 2). It wont provide guidelines or help in terms of either evaluation level 1(application review) or evaluation level 3 (MRA - multi rater assessment). Once again, this could be due to the scope definition of this book. In that sense, I would say - it is not an one-in-all book for PgMP certification, but a good reference on the PgMP certification exam part.
   
   5. In summary, this is one of the book that I would strongly recommend to be included in your program management refererences (either from exam perspective or from understanding of program management concept perspective). Not,if you are looking for some detailed practical tools & utilities that you could quickly pick and adopt for your usage (anyway, that is not the purpose for which such exam oriented books are written).

5 comments about The Definitive Guide to Windows Installer (Expert's Voice in Net).

1. Many developers who write applications for a Microsoft operating system know all too well of installation hazards. The possibility of introducing DLLs that are incompatible with existing DLLs, for example. Plus lots more things that could fail. Wilson starts off his book with a listing of what could traditionally go wrong in an installation.

   Not to put too fine a point on it, but this was a wretched state of affairs. You typically had programming expertise in your particular field. But there should have been no a priori reason why this expertise should have to stretch to the installation process. Right?

   Wilson gives an alternative. He details how you can use Windows Installer to install and uninstall your application. The process is still nontrivial, mind you. Which is why we have a book of this length. But it shows how, if you fit your application within WI's strictures, then the entire install is now much easier and safer.

   Perhaps the single best advantage is that WI makes your install a transaction. Either it all works, or the install will fail and your system will be unaffected. Atomic. We have rollback ability.

   Those of you familiar with SQL and transaction processing will recognise this. Wilson shows that WI is in fact based on SQL tables and relational processing. Some people at Microsoft made a nice design! By undergirding the installation with SQL tables. It lets WI have an inner coherent structure, into which third party applications can fit, in a disciplined way. Plus, it allows the panoply of SQL queries. At the right level, it is an elegant approach.




2. Specifically designed and written on an intermediate to advanced user level, The Definitive Guide To Windows Installer by Windows expert Phil Wilson fully lives up to the promise of its title. This informed and informative "how to" manual will enable users to create windows installer setups for all categories of .NET applications ranging from Windows Forms, to Services, to Web projects, including traditional COM applications. Sixteen superbly organized and presented "user friendly" chapters are devoted to every aspect of Windows Installers. Of special interest are that chapters specifically addressing "Updates Using Patches"; How-Tos, Tips, and Gotchas"; "Tools and Futures". The Definitive Guide To Windows Installer is a strongly recommended reference for both personal and professional Windows reference collections.



3. I liked that this was a Windows Installer book. I also liked how short it was (less than 300 pages). The author has an impressive resume which is at odds with the books grammer. It was like reading something printed verbatim, and this got annoying very quickly. I'm no english major, but whoever edited this book should re-edit and try again.
   Run on sentences, and redundancies aside, this book provided gutsy insight into the Windows Installer world. You soon find out why there are companies that specialise in making installation software.
   Since theres not much to choose from, this book will probably be a top pick for many. However, I found it difficult to read, expecting somewhat better "english".



4. I say it's not definitive because I think that means there's nothing more to be said on the subject. The MS Windows Installer technology is huge, and it would take a book five times the length of this one to be definitive. This book describes the client/server architecture of the installer and explains about the important tables in the database. It demonstrates how to make an installation package with Visual Studio, but assumes you will be using a commercial package in real life. To get the most out of the book, you'll need to install Orca, which is available in the Microsoft Installer SDK. Orca lets you view and edit the tables in an installation package.
   After a bit of orientation, each chapter tackles a common installation topic: patches, ASP.NET, .NET assemblies, windows services, and the installer APIs. Wilson is good about explaining why something should be done a certain way and giving you the background to understand it.
   My only disappointment is that, due to the shortness of the book, there is no room to go into more detail about some of the standard actions. I'd like to have seen an example of the minimal set of actions needed to install a file; kind of the hello world of installer. The beginning example he provides is built with Visual Studio, and I'm sure it puts in a lot more actions than are really needed, so it's hard to mentally associate what the package is doing with the action records that are doing it. To really understand how the installer works, you should be able to build a package from scratch with Orca.
   There are few or no typos, which is amazing for a computer book nowadays, and I didn't find any errors of fact.



5. This book covers in a simply and useful way several aspects of Windows Installer. I suggest this book as a "bible" for those programmers who needs to customize their installation procedure. Obviously this book does not resolve all the problems related to Windows Installer, but offers a valid guide to start to resolve them.

5 comments about Professional Joomla! (Programmer to Programmer).

1. I read this book yesterday in about 1/2 hour while sitting at the cafe in B0rd3rs. It could be a useful intro to Joomla for a novice or non-technical business user. It scratches the surface of about every topic related to Joomla and building or running a web site, but it has very little detailed information. The chapter on Joomla's weaknesses was interesting, but other than that, most of the information is available on the Joomla, PHP, Apache and MySql sites.



2. Well, I have to say that this is a good book. I has very good examples and gives you more than you could ever find surfing the web, for hours, trying to find relevant info by yourself.
   
   Most of all, it covers security issues that you don't hear about very often. It takes you from the basics of installation, to advanced levels in terms of management and best practices, among other things. I can't expect to have the author reinvent the wheel.
   
   This book is not called "The unknown practices" nor " The Secrets of Joomla". You wont find Joomla "top secret information here", but the author delivers what he promises and you can see the table of contents before you buy.
   
   I bought it, I have been using Joomla for a year, I am a PHP coder and found it very useful. My sites are much better now because of this book.



3. this book is ver clear and well done, it explains all the covered topics with simple but effective examples. The topics are all about Joomla 1.5 so don't buy it if you're interested in Joomla 1.0



4. Although I have been involved in many forms of application development (including 20 years of various Oracle products) over the years I haven't used PHP or MySQL before begining to develop a Joomla website. To me this book has been exactly what I've been looking for! I'm not looking to make a career of Joomla development but I want to add functionality to the JSN Epic Pro template I've been using and this is answering my questions nicely.
   
   I haven't experienced a problem with the way things are described. To me it has seemed very clear and has guided me through one topic after another very well. I went through several resources on the Internet and I'm still glad I picked this up. I am experimenting with MySQL database modifications and creation of new Joomla extensions. So far it's been very smooth. I had picked up "Mastering Joomla 1.5" by James Kennard and found it inaccessable because it assumed more PHP background than I have. I can imagine that would be a good guide for someone who has used these technologies but I'm very content starting with this.
   
   For someone in my category I would definitely recommend purchasing it.



5. This is a light read containing a reasonable amount of guidance on editing templates and a regurgitation of the stuff you can get by googling joomla 1.5 (with many edit errors).
   
   However, there is very little meat with almost nothing covering any of the underlying principles and a terrible guide to writing a component (that ignores MVC entirely).
   
   Its not worth the money I paid for it.

5 comments about Professional C# 2005 (Wrox Professional Guides).

1. I really liked this book when I first got it, but after digging into more chapters, I was let down.
   
   
   I do like the overall style of short examples and quick descriptions, but I found chapters on collections and delegates unreadable. They start collections off with picking apart an Interface when I wanted more general theory first. They need to give some small complete examples first, then pick them apart on complicated sections.
   
   I also think the book is too big and many chapters could be dumped as they are specialized.
   
   The best part to me is how it compares different languages on doing things.



2. I have been programming for quit a while in Visual Basic 5.0. I purchased Visual Studio 2005 recently and wanted to try to program in C#. The main problem I have with this book is that all most all of the code examples are for Console application. I don't know why you would want to program in Console applications. I want to make Windows programs, not Console applications. I lost interest in chapter 10 when the code was still Console examples. Maybe I'm wrong in this, but I think all the code should be for Windows applications not Console applications.



3. Great book. So far seem very clear and decent coverage. Good starter book at least.



4. Those guys on the cover actually wrote this book! What a bunch of geeks.., er I mean, professionals. When you have to know this kind of stuff, these are the kind of people you need to ask. I expect to be mining information from this book for years to come.



5. This book can be used to learn C# .net when you have a basic knowledge of another .net language (in my case C++.net and Visual Basic.net). Each chapter has a lot of samples. These can be downloaded, and are perfect base to extend these for your own use.
   For all subjects I needed the last 2 years I found helpfull samples.
   The book is also great for a reference.

5 comments about Data Structures and Algorithm Analysis in Java (2nd Edition).

1. Well, I have to admit I did not expect much from this book. But to my overly pleasant surprise, I found this volume quite useful both as a resource for algorhythms and data processing...Forget the Bible, this is the only book one truly needs. And it's fun to say "Java." Amen.



2. All of the practical algorithms are left as un-answered exercises! Great in depth discussion of introductory algorithms, but very few examples, mostly pseudo-code.

   INFURIATING FOR INDEPENDENT STUDY, but good if you have a professor to explain everything as you go.




3. If you don't know Java, don't expect to be able to learn the things you need to for a class. If you learned how to do alorgithms in mathematics, it may not be enough for computer science. You probably want to get a supplemental or two if you have to get this book for class. It is quite advanced and a hard read.



4. It is a nice book but i expected something better. I don't know what it is but something is missing here. I like the C/C++ version of this book better for some serious learning. On the other hand this is a good opportunity to learn java programming at the same time if you haven't mastered it yet.



5. I felt the author has a firm understanding of the concepts and truly what he wanted to convey, but this book lacked a great deal for beginners or newcomers to Java. Far too many of the examples were tough to understand and in many cases simply un-answered. This is not a book for beginners.

No comments about Expert C# 2008 Business Objects (Expert).