5 comments about Murach's C# 2005.

1. This book is very well organized - each topic builds on the previous topic making the learning experience easier. All other programming books I've read contain exercises and examples that don't relate to the real world. This book is different. These exercises and examples relate directly to real world situations making it much easier for me to understand how to apply what I have learned.



2. I strongly recommend this book, if you are new to programming, or you have no experience in programming with c/c++/java then this book is for you.



3. I feel the book was good, and met my expectations. There is a lot of good information in the book. There is a good balance between the programming language C#, and Visual Studio 2005. After reading this book, you should be well-rounded at C# and Visual Studio 2005. You should be able to develop your own applications after reading the book, and you'll have a good foundation.



4. Murach's C# 2005 and Murach's ASP.NET 2.0 with C# 2005 are plainly excellent books.
   They are organized and presented in such a way that the reader can learn very fast and acquire a very complete knowledge about C# and ASP.NET.
   These books go directly to the point, in a practical way, presenting examples that can be applied to real programs. The way they are organized makes them useful for learning and for reference.



5. This book has excellent examples, thorough explanations and little errata can be found inside the book so you don't end up having to second guess the authors. I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn C#. I recommend this book over Head First C# and Jesse Liberty's C# book. If you could get your hands on all three of these, I think its a winning combo, since all of them take a slightly different approach: Application driven examples (Murachs) vs. and pictorial-exercise based (Head First) and example-explanation based (Jesse's C#). All of them are great, but this one just put it all together for me. 5 STARS.

2 comments about Visual Basic 2008 How to Program (How to Program (Deitel)).

1. The book is excellent in presenting a topic and then breaking it apart piece by piece so that you gain even further insight into what is being presented.



2. This is a detailed and comprehensive book on Visual Basic 2008. There are many examples and case studies (gradually developed) for a reader to hone his Visual Basic programming skills. He also gets to see how Visual Basic 2008 ties in with stuff like WPF, WCF, AJAX and LINQ. The reader who has worked through and mastered the book will be well-equipped to harness Visual Basic 2008 to develop real-world applications. A much easier book for a beginner is Simply Visual Basic 2008. Both books are highly recommended for anyone wishing to learn Visual Basic 2008.

5 comments about Java Examples in a Nutshell, 3rd Edition.

1. Just type these in and learn, learn, learn. Good examples across the board.



2. While writing this I can already imagine the shock and dismay of the Fan crowd with my review. I don't have much time so let me get to the point.
   The 1 star I've given it (bcs I had to, preferable I'd rate it 0 stars) mostly pertains to the GUI section of the book. Instead of providing the reader with abundant and clear examples, this author wants to impress the Java geeks by writing an 'smart' generic class that shows all the different aspects of the java GUI elements. Aside from just lame, this is also done most likely because of laziness. I can imagine it's not very exciting to write up the core program structure for every GUI example. But that's just the way a decent author would go about. No need to waste pages by explicitly mentioning everything more then once. Such things can be saved for the example source right ? But mr Flanagan does not share that view. He sits back with his (admittedly entertaining) 'showcomponent' program that loads in all the gui program code (classes) and displays the material. So, again, his 'Java examples' are merely small files with therein declared a certain class without any(!) surrounding program code. (basically similar to what you'd see in the Swing lang spec). All these compiled examples need to be read in (from the command line no less, by his showcomponent class which then actually does all the work of creating the frame, displaying it etc etc etc.
   
   And then cometh the reader, . . . . The moment you have to incorporate some of these lay-out en control components in you're own program this entire structure is obviously useless. Hence you have to struggle to get every component to work after all. The exact thing one is trying to avoid by buying a book. (No, you can't just copy & paste several separate sources together :) ). Basically you end up doing all the work yourself in the end anyway. Henceforth this book, particularly the part of GUI's , dialog's and event handling is of little practical use. I guess it would qualify as some sort of java coffee table book. Interesting functions, a clever introspective class here and there, things you can sit back and debate about with you're friends.
   Not with you're collegue(s) when you fighting the deadlines.
   While I'm not very proficient in Java, I've coded in c/c++ for far too long. Hence I don't need trivial lectures on what a ip port is. I just need to see some _completed_ (as in finished) programs, to get up and running with particular Java idiosyncrasies & components. If you are in a hurry, and simply have to get something up and running, keep running. Away from this piece of trash.
   Go with "Core Java" or some of the Swing books. it'll get you there much much faster.
   
   Edit: Took the flames out of the review. I was rather disappointed with this title at first. (now it's just collecting dust, but at least it doesn't aggravate me either).
   If you're a programmer, (like me) you can read the spec by yourself. It's the little things on the outside of the program (event & message que's ,window trickery etc.) that differ from platform to platform. Those are the exact things the author glosses over with this text.



3. This book should not be expected to substitute as a tutorial for people looking to learn the Java language. Instead, it is a book full of short programs that each illustrate specific concepts in the Java language. If you are needing a tutorial on the Java language in general, I suggest "Head First Java", which is also published by O'Reilly and Associates. You can either read the appropriate chapters of this book in parallel with that one, or look through this book after you finish the Head First Java book. If you already know Java, keeping an updated edition of this book around as a reference is a great idea.
   The first four chapters of this book cover the basics of Java, objects, classes, interfaces, input/output, and threads. Thus these chapters remain largely unchanged from the previous edition. Chapter 5, on networking, has been updated to reflect the changes in the language since the last edition, and contains examples of a simple network client, an HTTP client, and a POP client in addition to the programs of the previous edition. Chapter six is a new chapter on The new I/O (NIO) APIs introduced in version 1.4. These provide new features and improved performance in the areas of buffer management, scalable network and file I/O, character-set support, and regular-expression matching. The NIO APIs supplement the I/O facilities in the java.io package, and this chapter does a good job of demonstrating the APIs in action. The next chapter that has had a major overhaul is the chapter on printing. Printing in JDK1.4 was updated considerably and allows you to list specific printers with specific capabilities, query printer status, spool text or image files directly to a printer, and convert image files to Postscript files. There are examples of all of these upgrades in this chapter. The chapter on data transfer has largely been rewritten to reflect that Swing has added support for data transfer between applications. When adding data transfer support to Swing, the goal was to make it easy for developers using Swing components to add clipboard transfer as well as drag and drop to an application. The examples in this chapter demonstrate these concepts very well. There is a completely new chapter on the Java Sound API reflecting the capabilities of that API. In addition to simply playing sounds and sequences, the chapter demonstrates synthesizing MIDI and also real-time MIDI. Finally, the last part of the book on the Enterprise API's has been completely rewritten to reflect all of the changes that have taken place in those API's since the last edition due to the popularity of the Java language in enterprise applications.
   Currently, this book is two years old, which is getting a bit long in the tooth for a computer book. This is especially true if you consider the fact that JDK 1.5 has been released since this book was published with its own set of upgrades and nuances, and that JDK 1.6 is scheduled for release in the fall of 2006. I don't know if a fourth edition is planned for the immediate future, so if you can get the 3rd edition used for a low price it might still be worth the investment. If you are a Java novice, it is definitely worth your time and money.



4. Great overall summary of Java with examples. Replaces short surveys, tutorials and cookbooks of Java.



5. This book rocks. I started learning Java about 2 months ago with the Head First Java book, which is AMAZINGLY helpful (even if you know absolutely nothing beforehand). Once I got through that all that I began writing small apps on my own, but found in many cases that the API (Javadoc) was hard to understand because my limited Java knowledge leaves me with no context in many cases. I would think, "ok, it says this class can do this using these methods, and that's what I want, but how exactly do I put this into practice." Java Examples in a Nutshell fills this need perfectly with excellent examples(!), explanations, and clarifications. There's only so much that it can cover, but what it does cover, it covers really well.
   
   I might also add that I bought this book after *returning* Java In A Nutshell because for me it really just seemed like a $50 printout of the API you can read for free at [....].
   
   What I want to say is that, from my own experience, if you are pretty new to Java, and you are clicking well with it, and want a boost to propel you forward even faster, this is an excellent book to buy.

No comments about CSS Artistry: A Web Design Master Class (includes full-color Transcending CSS book and 2 1/2-hour Inspired CSS DVD video training) (Voices That Matter).

3 comments about Fanuc CNC Custom Macros: Programming Resources For Fanuc Custom Macros B Users.

1. This was a good book to learn how to write Fanuc macros.



2. A good book for anyone doing Macro programming in the CNC profession. I it has a lot of real world examples as well as practical syntaxes and other protocols needed in todays demanding global market to help programmers, operators, and set-up personal become proficient and effective at doing their job. The book helps the aforementioned to use machine tool more for what it is designed to do.



3. Awesome book for anyone, who intresting about CNC nachining/ programming - from begginers to experiensed programmers. It very simple to read & understand, with many clearly explained examples.
   For begginers highly recomended to get with "CNC programming handbook" - http://www.amazon.com/Programming-Handbook-Third-Peter-Smid/dp/0831133473/ref=cm_cr_pr_sims_t

3 comments about VBScript Pocket Reference.

1. I like the O'Reilly pocket reference series. They don't take up a lot of desk real estate, and you can generally find what you need to know in a hurry.

   From the perspective of a programmer who hasn't touched basic since he had a Sinclair Spectrum, I found this book got me up to speed reasonbly quickly. However I suspect it will attract a fairly small audience - a non programmer would find it too terse to be a good learning book, and an experienced VB programmer would probably be better off with a book specific to the environment they're using (eg, ASP) because this book does not cover any enviroment specific objects, and VBScript has no enviroment specific functions. It does however cover the filesystem objects and the dictionary object, which is handy.

   Every now and then I get frustrated with the book when I can't find a function that I want, but then I usually discover that the function doesn't exist in VBScript, which is really such a trivial language that a pocket reference can cover it more or less completely.




2. It you want to learn VBScript go elsewhere. However, if you just want a quick reference that you can take anywhere this is the only book for you. It is remarkably concise and very well written. Its perfect for the VBScritp programmer that needs a little help from time to time looking up a hard to remember command and its syntax.



3. The reference material seems accurate but I have found more detail in the free help file that comes with VBS 5.6. Return values and types and the actual values of the builtin constants, which I didn't find in the book.
   
   I apparently overlooked the note that this book was based on VBS 5.5 when I ordered it. I have several pocket references and this is the first that fell short of my needs.

5 comments about Designing Virtual Worlds (New Riders Games).

1. To begin with, this book is not a programming book. There is no code, no discussion of VRML, MPEG-4, or X3D. Instead, this book stands back and takes a "big picture" look at the design of a virtual world from the viewpoint of systems engineering, social engineering, philosophy, history, and psychology. Ethical considerations are even tossed in for good measure.
   The book starts out with chapters on the history of virtual worlds and the cultural influences that affected their characteristics. Next, there is a fly-over view of the "production line" of building a virtual world. Bartle then turns his attention to the players - who they are, what they want, and how a virtual world can meet their needs. World design is examined from the standpoint of virtual geography, virtual world citizens, and finally the physics required to implement your world. Chapter 5 is about the specific sociology and physiology of the virtual world - skill levels, individual characteristics, how virtual inhabitants divide themselves into groups, combat, and even the meaning of death in the virtual world. The final three chapters are very philisophical in nature. Chapter 6 is basically a liberal arts syllabus through the prism of virtual world design. The last chapter, on ethical considerations, talks about censorship, and also looks at the player as a person and how game playing in virtual worlds can hurt more than help some kinds of people, particularly those prone to addiction.
   Bartle's social commentaries may be a bit long-winded for some people, although I found them interesting. Some readers may also be somewhat frustrated by the fact that the book talks more about what can go wrong in the design of a virtual world - overly complex and static story arcs, characters that players do not get invested in, characters in which players get too invested, etc - than what can go right. I really enjoyed the book, mainly because it moves the focus of the potential virtual world designer from the artistic and technical viewpoint to the player's viewpoint - why they plays games, and why a player would pick your game versus someone else's game.



2. You're getting it straight from the horse's mouth since this book is written by the grandfather of the modern MMORPG.
   Rest assured - if you are a game designer, developer, or just love reading about game theory, this book is worth every penny.
   
   I have read many other books on the subject and not one of them are packed with as much depth, knowledge, and wisdom. Bartle covers every avenue that a designer needs to consider in order to be successful. This book will help you and your team create an active, emergent virtual world.
   
   As a game developer, I learned many valuable lessons on what made other games lose subscribers, or worse -- catastrophically fail.
   
   
   Richard Bartle's writing style is very creative and detailed, and like his games, it gives you the 'just one more page' syndrome. For example, in this book it mentions how often a player must be rewarded in order to retain interest. He uses this same technique for writing by giving you something insightful to read atleast every 10 pages.
   
   
   Bartle has covered all the bases. Designing Virtual Worlds is a great book, very entertaining. I give it 5 out of 5 stars - a must read.
   
   More than 700 well-written pages packed with valuable insights, and it still leaves you begging for more.



3. Covers all the aspects of virtual worlds from a psycological perspective; the intentions, the types of virtual worlds.
   Doesn't include indepth technology and the development issues related to designing virtual worlds
   Good primer on virtual worlds.



4. This book taught me the theory behind Virtual worlds and I beleive nearly everything I read in this book.
   
   I didn't simply believe everything because it was a published book, I beleived it because Richard used examples from real games. With all the experiance Richard has you would expect him to have learnt everything the hard way, he has but he's also smart enough to realise that sometimes you can learn from others mistakes instead of making them yourself.
   
   The book is aimed at the 'Dungeons and Dragons' (and most of his examples are) type of game but there is no reason the information cannot be used in other genres.
   
   The most amusing part is how right he can be.
   Richard states that 'you cannot allow players to carry items over from the Beta testing to the online game, even though your players will try to convince you otherwise'; something I didn't really think and didn't really agree with.
   My family and I were all about to join 'Pirates of the Caribbean' when it started; when the announcement was made that players form the Beta test would be allowed to keep items my daughters asked what a Beta test was, I explained and now they don't want to play as they consider that to be cheating. We have all decided not to play.
   
   Learn from others (like Richard) or pay the price.
   
   James



5. Mr. Bartle's writing is precise and his facts carefully researched, even the ones he experienced himself. This is a huge, superbly constructed history of the tools and philosophies developed over the years in experimental and commercial development of online virtual worlds. Because of Mr. Bartle's personal knowledge as a long-time designer and his sharp memory for the significance of trends and details, this book will raise anyone's appreciation of whatever virtual worlds one comes across on line or on disk, whether they be famous commercial ones or those developed by enthusiasts for their own pleasure. I would think it would be a must read for gaming students. What a grand, satisfying, fascinating book! And when one considers that this exciting history is only the beginning of VW development... Wow!

5 comments about HTML 4 for the World Wide Web, Fourth Edition (Visual QuickStart Guide).

1. Very good book. A little heavy on the deprecated tags good intro material for JavaScript and CSS.



2. It's hard to believe such a thin book could be so valuable. They only say it once and they say it well. The book is richly cross-referenced and well indexed, so wherever you are, you can page to the right spot for more if you need it. For me, this is the perfect design. I never read a software book front to back. I scan through it to find that one nugget that will get me going again. I'm always learning stuff "that I really don't have time to learn."
   
   Ms. Castro has written this book especially for that style of use. The writing is concise and you can find your way to the topic you need. The examples are very very good and the author has put special care into how well they commmunicate. My favorite is Llumi the cat, who's picture becomes a tiger ("what Llumi is thinking") when you mouseover the photo. Very memorable.
   
   I recieved this book about 3 years ago, not knowing anything about html, and I still use it today. I started out wanting to add a couple things to a web page another program made, now I'm thinking about a whole app. interface. In fact I just realized, I've finally read the whole thing, one bit at a time. Yes, you can read it chapter by chapter and it flows well. But if you're like me, you'll love the way you can find the relevant part, learn what you need to and move on.
   
   Overall, this book is good for beginners and is a good basic reference. It sticks tightly to it's subject, so it doesn't teach Javascript or CGI, other than to explain where they fit in. It makes great use of your time because of the clear concise writing, excellent examples, experience of the author, and rich cross-referencing throughout the book.
   
   I'm now in a spot where "I don't have time to learn" ... CGI. So I'm visiting Amazon looking for a CGI book by Elizabeth Castro based on my experience with this book.



3. Elizabeth Castro is an excellent technical writer. HTML for the World Wide Web is easy to read and easy to understand. Anyone who is a beginner to HTML should have this book in their library and/or on their desk for quick and concise learning and reference.



4. If you're new to HTML, this is the best book I could find. I did some research and even went to a book store and poked through 7 or 8 competing books. Those other authors really couldn't compete.
   
   Pro:
   -Written in plain English so anyone can get started
   -Each topic is on its own page so you don't have to flip page upon page... truly unique!
   -All major topics, from getting started and creating your web page to advanced things like scripts. Also contains debugging tips as well as techniques to help get your page noticed and to increase site traffic
   -Unbeatable index and appendices... You'll want to photocopy the "symbols" appendix!
   -Fourth edition to me indicates that this book is popular and also likely getting enhancements
   -Great use of pictures/visuals
   -Even compares different HTML editors and other multimedia tools
   -Not long-winded, uses examples to teach you
   Con:
   -Some very good "freeware" not listed in the comparison section, plus revision number not listed (features can vary a lot in different versions). Note: this is a picky comment on my part as othersdont even offer a section like this
   -I do not recall the author giving us perhaps my favorite tip for beginner programmers: visit a page that you like anduse the "view source" command in your browser... So handy for getting ideas!
   
   Bottom line: I think that this book is a must have.



5. A nice pocket book that has already proved it worth. Not the whole story but full of little tips that are making my life easier.

5 comments about Visual Basic 2005 For Dummies.

1. I use a variety of programming languages and target a variety of platforms. When I needed a quick fix on Visual Basic 2005, I picked this book. Boy, am I delighted that I did!
   
   This book is easily the best introduction to Visual Basic 2005 as well as to the Visual Studio 2005 IDE. The author is concise yet crystal clear. The conciseness and depth makes this book an outstanding overview for experienced developers. The clarity should make it an excellent introduction for beginners.
   
   This book should really have been titled "Visual Basic 2005 Distilled". Five up!



2. I hate to be the person to ruin the perfect score that this book has acquired, but I simply in good conscience cannot give a five star rating due to some flaws in the methods used to teach VB 2005.
   
   In all fairness however, there exists no single programming book that will be able to suit every individual, at least in my opinion. For some this book could easily be 5 stars, for others much less. I think that much of this is based on the reader's perspective, experience, preferred learning style, and goals.
   
   First the good; the book is very well written. The style that the author uses is clear and concise. The book is an easy read in the sense that it doesn't feel like you're reading a textbook, or rather, a lab report on some obscure organic chemistry finding from 1970. Instead of throwing numbers, statistics, or tables requiring massive amounts of raw memorization, the book allows the reader to jump around and reference the parts that are relevant to their "here and now" issues. The book can be read straight through, or used as a reference, and in either case the introduction and application of the .net backbone is well advocated and mostly easy to understand.
   
   Furthermore, the code examples work and provide for very good, usable programs that the user could build upon should they desire. Rather than just providing for simple programs that are useless, the book demonstrates viable, functional programs which is something that many programming books fail to do. Also, there is a lot of explanation given as to the relevance of class libraries and dll's, and how they tie into a project.
   
   Unfortunately, there are some critical flaws that many will notice if they take the time to really evaluate the techniques this book uses. To start with, this book is not for beginning programmers that lack experience. The author assumes that the reader already knows quite a bit about VB and more specifically, about .net when providing very brief explanations or examples. If the reader has never touched programming before, this book would be a waste of time, and I find it odd that a dummies book would be allowed to require a non-dummy. Fortunately for me, I have done quite a bit of coding in VB 6.0 so most of the time I was familiar with the references the author would make when he used programming lingo that lacked explanation.
   
   Moving on, the teaching method of this book is a big no-no in my opinion. Rather than explain what every command is doing in a program, the book basically says, "here's how you make a program that does "X"", and then the reader is spoon fed a big block of code, often with only one or two commands or lines within the code explained. Making a person a programmer this does not do, rather just copying code from a book that fails to explain the dynamics behind the code resembles data entry more than coding. Anybody can just copy blocks of code and make a windows program in VB, or any other language for that matter, and most people that teach VB strongly suggest against just spoon-feeding code to people and solving their problems for them.
   
   Coming from VB 6.0, I was mostly interested in getting behind the .net framework and utilizing this added power to create much more serious programs. Unfortunately, little advice is given to the 6.0 programmer, and most of the specific .net commands (especially the new ones in 2005) are not presented in a way that the user can utilize that suits their own style, rather we're given a gigantic line of .net specific code and told, "this does that". Rather than explaining how or why each specific property comes into play to produce a result, we're just given a big line or a big block of code and are supposed to just trust that it helps to perform a function that contributes to the results of the final project. The problem this creates is that many people will be likely to write out code because they just happen to know that it performs a certain function, but they don't know WHY it performs this function, and therefore will lack the ability to create custom code to suit their needs.
   
   If I don't know why a command, command property, or event does what it does, then all I can do is memorize lines of code from other people, and mish mash them together to make my own programs.
   
   In any case, this book is probably better suited to the individual that is taking VB 2005 classes and needs another perspective, another reference to aid them. As a standalone product however, I feel that it is lacking somewhat. On the other hand, if you're not receiving any instruction, want an easy read, and have no problem with being spoon-fed code just to see its end result, then look no further.



3. This book hits the ground running. It familurizes the reader with Visual Basic 2005, pointing out what is new for experienced VB programmers on the way. If you are looking to learn Visual Basic, this is the book to start with. It will give you a solid foundation for further study.



4. I always click on "See all my reviews" when I don't agree with a bevy of 5 star reviews, and more often than not you'll notice all those glowing accounts of greatness are the only review a person has submitted. I have a hard time swallowing those reviews, especially after having read the book.
   
   There's one thing I can't stand in any type of tutorial/guide, and that's basic mistakes. For a programming book to have a minor typo a couple times is forgivable; for entire blocks of code to be just WRONG is not. This book has plenty of examples of mistakes - just look at his website [...] to see all of them listed. I gave up on this horrible text after finishing chapter 4. It's a complete mess. I found his website after-the-fact and he even says, "I did less than a good job of describing how to [ ... ]. I guess I was drinking that night."
   
   You got an extra star for at least being truthful.
   
   A read-through of this book by someone other than a non-technical editor is in order before sending this thing to print. Disappointing text, not worth the time/$ when there are others that explain the same concepts without being ripe with mistakes.



5. This book is terrible, especially for new programmers. I am an experienced programmer and just picked up this book at a yard sale, because I like programming books. If you are new to programming, do not get discouraged by this book. There are some other beginning programming books that are much better.

5 comments about Introduction to Game Development (Game Development Series).

1. Steve Rabin edits Introduction To Game Development a weighty text based on the curriculum guidelines of the IGDA and the first to examine all aspects of the theory and applications of game development and design. It lends to use either as the classroom text or as supplemental college-level reading: a comprehensive overview accompanied by a detailed CD-ROM holding all animations, documents and demos referenced in the text makes for a very detailed presentation packed with tutorials and source code, while almost thirty leading industry game developers and programmers contribute technical chapters. A highly recommended pick, indeed.



2. I am a Instructor who adopted this book for a College Course, Intro to Game Design. This book is well organized and goes over numerous major concepts that apply to all interested people in the game field. The only complaint is there is almost no pictures, so that makes the text extremely heavy being 945 pages.



3. This is a good book introducing game programming. It is massive, trying to cover almost every essential aspect of game programming. This book would be a great supplemental text, along with another code specific book, for a two-semester game programming class. If you are a newbie looking for a quick way to learn basic game programming techniques on your own, this book is probaly not for you. (Not that there is truly a quick way.) It is a long read with little code. Let me make it clear this is a good book worth reading: it is just not the quick and dirty introduction that I was looking for. I suggest a step-by-step type book that offers a working game at the end, along with this book.



4. The book only offers some insight into a realistic game production pipeline; it tries to cover subjects from "Fun" theory to BASIC to small Physics equations to Artistry.
   
   As an introductory book it is -ok- in these respects; however, I just suppose I found myself disagreeing with alot of the subject matter that is presented. Especially when it came to the design section, they try to put in the "waterfall" flow of design into game design which just seems too counter productive to be a realistic methodology for developing a game. Especially if you're only an 'entry' level designer.



5. This is a very useful book with respect to tying the elements of a game together as well as giving a broad outline of game program flow. It highlights necessary business considerations toward completing the final product.
   
   Sadly, as a programming book, it falls short of the mark with respect to teaching any programming code. It aludes to examples on the included CD but does not explain concepts covered in the code.
   
   This book is useful to a person who already has a strong programming background who is looking for ways to tie things up and market their final product. For a person who is looking for a tutorial for programming games, I would look somewhere else.