5 comments about Teach Yourself VISUALLY HTML (Teach Yourself VISUALLY (Tech)).

1. When I am asked the question, "I want to learn programming, were should I begin?" my response is always, "learn HTML." While some people will legitimately argue that HTML is not true programming, it is easy to learn and the results are visual and immediate. The skills learned in the study of HTML are fundamental to more advanced programming and the ease of learning gives the beginner immediate and clear success.
   This book is the easiest way to learn HTML that I have ever seen. With the illustrations all in full color, it is the epitome of What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG). Every step is set out in clear detail and all of the most commonly used features of HTML are covered. From this point on I will recommend it as my preferred first book in HTML.



2. The book is very helpful. The instructions are very clear and easy to follow.



3. This is the most colorful and most cutest book to have!!! Everything's fully explained.. Makes you what to explore further and eager to learn. I have gone through it repeatedly. by the end, you feel HTML is so powerful that other programming languages can stand aside. Simply LOVE Teach Yourself Visually HTML !!! GRAB YOUR COPY NOW!!!



4. I bought this book back in 2002 to learn HTML and it was exactly what I was looking for. Easy to follow VISUAL instruction. After years of webpaging I STILL referance this book for quick easy to find reminders and brushing up. I recommend it to anyone, but especially those who know absolutely nothing about HTML nor where to begin.



5. Two weeks ago I decided to re-work my company web sit. I ordered this book
   and "Creating Web Pages with HTML". Creating came first and with it I was able to create a seven page site with pictures in under twelve hours.
   
   Then came this book. There are three or four things in it that were not covered in "Creating" but "Creating" was much easier and simpler to follow and excecute. Creating did a much better job of taking it one step at a time, from the basic to the more complex in a more logical order.
   
   I am far from an expert and this will probably get the job done for you even with out any previous html experience, but I would recommend "Creating" for its simplicity.

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

1. A lot of "filler" material and poorly written on top of it, many typos as well that are distracting and get in the way of the material. Only useful with a lot of background in Joomla. Didn't help me at all. I found Joomla!:A User's Guide far better written with clearer examples of the underlying concepts. I understand this is a "professional" book - but it was really quite lightweight and it felt very padded. Doesn't Wrox use technical editors anymore? The language sounds very much like a non-native speaker - which is fine - but editing is always called for - for everyone.



2. 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.



3. 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.



4. 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



5. 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 comments about HTML for Dummies.

1. A few years ago I wanted to learn basic HTML. I figured the best way to do this was to buy "HTML For Dummies" and use it to set up a basic Web site for my church. That way I got both theory and hands on practice. This is exactly what I did, and the book came through for me. I learned enough HTML to set up a basic, but working, Web site for my church.
   
   The only thing I wanted to learn but never could figure out from the book was frames. I settled on tables for navigation since all my attempts at frames failed.
   
   I have since gone on to do a Web site for my cats, a text based site on the subject of the Sabbath, and a Web site to track my weight loss and measurements. I even coded my own little blog at one point.
   
   The next thing I want to learn is some basic CSS to have better control over the Web sites I've created.
   
   I recommend this book to anyone who doesn't know anything about HTML and wants to learn it.



2. I ordered this book along with Web Design for Dummies expecting to get started writing simple web pages. These books are not for dummies. It offers very little explanation of html tags; it doesn't offer pros or cons of the tag usage vs. another tag; examples are not near the explanation-you need to open the cd to view the eample in question. It spent too much time promoting tools and services outside of the "Dummy" concept.
   
   I was very disappointed with this book...I bought another book which out-performed the Dummy series.



3. This is a very user friendly book.
   On another note, I am impressed with the speed that I received my books.
   Thank you Amazon



4. Well I /was/ originally looking greatly forward to this book. I had been a fan of the "... for Dummies" books for a while now. Unfortunately I found this one to be a disappointment. Although I can appreciate having sections on good web page design, I felt it was too much to wait until chapter 4 to code your first page. Plus, there's just too much design-based content in the book overall, and not enough of actual HTML tag-based exercises.
   The examples on the CD ROM are awful. They really don't give any good insight as to how the tags work. Plus, many of the example files are identical. For example, TFOOT.HTM, THEAD.HTM and TR.HTM are the exact same file. That's just inexcusably lazy. How hard could it have been to exhibit some of the attributes of those tags?
   I give it two stars because if you already know HTML, it can be a pretty useful reference. Also, the troubleshooting chapter (chapter 16) was pretty good.



5. I'm never disappointed with Dummies books and this one is no exception. Great read, easy to learn.

5 comments about Game Programming for Teens, Second Edition.

1. Being that I am 25 years old, I have learned a lot for game programming from this book. Also, I own Blitz 3D, which is perhaps Blitz's best language. However, all of the code from this book is geared more towards 2D, which is good. However, I was hoping that Maneesh would have covered more with the 3D aspect, as most good games these days do involve the third dimension.
   
   Needless to say, this is perhaps the best game programming book for the beginner/hobbyist. You can create SNES/Genesis-quality games right out of the box with no problem. If you are a great artist, you can even make games comparable to today's console games, if only Maneesh would've covered more detail towards Game Programming in Blitz 3D. Great start to starting a hobby in making your own games, and it really has me sold on this book. I'm hoping that more books can come with this simplicity, and it's perhaps the most defined code I've used.
   
   Bottom line, good job Maneesh, great book, but just include some game code for the 3D version of Blitz in your Third Edition.



2. The reviews for the first edition of this book, and its software, were very positive. I bought it for my kids shortly after the second edition came out. This edition of the book is useful, but the software--supposedly the key to making the book work, since it is supposed to allow you to actually design games as you go along--is advertised on the back of the book as being unlimited, and it's not unlimited. It's a demo that expires after several uses. Supposedly there's an unlimited version on the author's web site; good luck finding it.
   
   Followup: I'm told the URL for the software is at www.maneeshsethi.com/BlitzPlusDemo.exe but I haven't used it yet to see if it's completely unlimited, or just has more uses.



3. Short: I am writing this review from the perspective of a high school student who started with Blitz, went on to a more advanced language, and is now revisiting Blitz again.
   
   Long: When I first picked up the book, I was a high school student with no prior programming experience. I had written code before, but it was HTML so I didn't actually write programs.
   
   I abandoned Blitz for a while when I finally got the chance to take a programming class(C++) in school and have recently returned and thus revisited the book to brush up. I took this oppertunity to write a review here.
   
   C++ is a more advanced, powerful, and widely used language but I still use Blitz to make simple games because it's hard to get good graphics in a C++ compiler without costly graphics pacakges to go with it.
   
   Opinion
   
   Short: The book is very intuitive and well written. The author does a very good job at explaining things and the book is very well paced. When going to a more advanced language I was helped significantly by the concepts I learned when using Blitz. I would highly recommend this book.
   
   Long: When I first got this book, I thought programming would be a daunting task. This book goes through it very well and has a nice pace that keeps you from getting overwhelmed. The author writes very clearly and is very good at explaining concepts. This is a great book to get started with programming.
   
   When I dropped this because I started programming in C++, I found transfering languages easier than I had hoped. I learned a lot of basic concepts in Blitz and was able to take many of them over into C++.
   
   For a short time, the only real changes that I experienced were different syntax between the two languages and some other basic priciples (such as library functions) not used in Blitz. By the time I got to a point where most of the material I was learning had no equivalent in BLitz, I had been using C++ long enough not have any problems.
   
   Conclusion
   
   Short: It's a great, well written introductory book for those looking to program for fun or those who want to go further but need a good starting point.
   
   Long: When I got this book, my purpose was to get something to introduce me into programming in a simple, easy to understand manner. I am happy to say that it works very well for this purpose. The Blitz language will not carry you especially far but if you are in it for fun or are just looking for a starting point, this will work very well. I still program with it myself a bit even after learning a more advanced language.



4. This was my very first game programming book. Eversince I have read 2 other books about programming, and am working on two more.
   
   Not only does this book give you a very good head start in game programming, it also gives you a sense of pride in programming. I don't know why, but it's just how the author explained everything.
   
   Overall, the book is very well put together, and it gives you a basic head start in programming in genaral.
   
   But be warned. If you want to do some 3D programming, this is not the book for you. It will only teach you the basics in both programming, and a little in graphics. Don't get me wrong, it teaches enough graphics to make a fine game. But you it doesn't teach you anything about maps, side scrolling, or other gene's. The only genre it really teaches would be like a space shooter.
   
   Use this book for a beggining in programming. Don't stop here though. Find another source that can teach you other programming techniques and languages.
   
   5 stars, all the way.



5. I really didn't like this book. It was written oddly, and doesn't teach you that much (which may have more to do with the fact that the programming language taught is really simplistic). The programs included are limited demos, and the final project (Invaderz!!!-what a wonderful name >_>) is not even explained in the book.

5 comments about Macromedia ColdFusion MX 7 Web Application Construction Kit.

1. Ben Forta has compiled an enormous amount of information on ColdFusion and put it into an easy to use format. One can go through the book in order to be walked through a complete web site construction, or use the chapter guide to find specific information to meet your needs. One side note; the book comes with a companion CD. Make sure that you get this also as it contains the last 4 chapters of the book.



2. Learning CF or getting more tips on how to improve a website, this author knows how to explain the process.



3. I am a beginning CS student and even though I don't have too much experience programing this book teaches CF in such a simple and easy way. Don't let the simplicity fool you though, though CF is simple, it's also very powerful.



4. I like this book, but it is way too big and I find myself looking for other things to do. It is just overwhelming, but it has a lot of good information.
   
   I really wish there were Quick Visual Pro Guides for CFMX 7 like in previous versions. It seems that no one wants to write anything for CFMX7.
   
   I would really like to see shorter versions of this book that works like a lesson plan.
   
   In all, I really do like the book and would recommend it (especially since it is the "only" book out there that has about every thing in it).



5. If your a CF developer you need this by your side. Alot of the step by steps are the same for version to version of this book but its got all the tags, and functions and their various attributes which is invaluable to your development.

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 Pro Oracle Database 10<i>g</i> RAC on Linux: Installation, Administration, and Performance (Expert's Voice in Oracle).

1. This is a very hands on command line oriented book. Good understanding of RAC concepts. I found it extremly useful in my day-to-day work.
   
   Highly recommended.
   
   Thanks!



2. Very well written. No mater you are a Pro or a newbie, it will be helpful. A very well written book.
   
   
   Highly recommended.



3. This book delivers what it promises. It contains a great balance of technical detail,examples and theory. It encompasses all aspects of implementing/maintaing 10g RAC on Linux.



4. Many books around Oracle's advanced topics simply parrot the manuals. Julian avoids that. Instead, he describes Real Application Cluster technology from the ground concepts up to full implementation, with practical notes and tips. He gets into topics that the manuals never touch, and much of what he writes can be useful in any RAC environment, not just Linux.
   
   I whole-heartedly recommend this book and own both the paper and eBook version which I often reference.



5. This book can easily be used as a college textbook on Oracle RAC. I am studying for the Oracle Certified Master exam and this is possibly the most high level book on Oracle I have read.
   
   It has 3 major strengths which I found to be superior to any Oracle RAC books I have read (including the manual from Oracle).
   
   1)Technical Depth
   2)Comprehensive Overview and instructions
   3)Quality of writing
   
   
   1)Technical Depth
   The authors write about Linux and Oracle and are high level experts in the subjects. For example, the authors have a very detailed description of how Oracle Cache Fusion handles locking across all the nodes in a RAC environment (probably the crown jewel of RAC technology). They also discuss, in detail, different types of CPU, memory, and storage and contains detailed description of each architecture. Lastly, it contains vast number of "how to" install, configure, change, analyze, backup/restore, and utilize Oracle RAC and Linux.
   
   2)Comprehensive Coverage and Instructions
   No small amount of detail has been skipped. The book contains every utility (there are many) provided by Oracle to implement RAC. It provides a good step-by-step coverage of Linux and Oracle RAC installation as well what each step is adding to the RAC environment. To top it off, it adds how to performance tune, administer, troubleshoot, backup/restore, and use Dataguard in a RAC environment. I can't think of a subject on RAC which the authors did not cover.
   
   3)Quality of Writing
   I was pleasantly surprised how well written this book is. Although far from a Pulitzer Prize material, it certainly belongs in that category amongst the Oracle books. Every praragraph has been well organized and written. The proofreader of this book deserves major praise for their work.

5 comments about Java Software Solutions: Foundations of Program Design (6th Edition).

1. There is an updated printing of this book that uses ISBN 0-321-32202-7. The updated printing (which corrects small but important changes from the final version of Java 5) also is called the 4th edition. The publisher added words "Java 5.0 Version" to the title listed in online stores, and added a leaf with the words "Covers Java 5.0" to the bottom right of the cover. Be sure to verify that you get this ISBN, and do not to buy an old printing that you can't return.
   
   This URL to purchase the most up-to-date printing from Amazon is: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0321322037/qid=1126549578/sr=8-2/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i2_xgl14/102-3991796-1688157?v=glance&s=books&n=507846



2. Lewis & Loftus give the reader an excellent introduction to object oriented programming in Java. The very clear explanations as well as simple examples do an excellent job demonstrating many concepts to the reader. I recommend this book to anyone wishing to learn Java for the first time.



3. Another great hit by Codemate. Best programming book for new programmers/students. Really goes step by step and gives adaquete information for newbies.



4. For the price I wouldn't buy this book unless it was a textbook for a class or if you can find one used. That said, it is a great book for someone with a few Java basics under their belt. You could use it as your first Java book if you are a quick computer learner and can remain focused as the chapters are rather long and meaty. Each ends with a GUI section which could almost be a chapter on its own. The code runs well and is available for download. There are very few mistakes and/or jumping assumptions in Java learning although the complexity makes having an instructor to ask questions helpful. Basically it is a textbook for just after intro object programming college class and it does that very well.



5. In case you're doubting how much of a beginner's book this is, consider that the first chapter of this book is all about telling you what a computer is. If you have any experience writing any sort of script or program you will not want this book. If, like for me, it's required for a course, keep an eye on the bookstore's textbook buyback schedule.
   
   Even once you have learned what's taught in this book, you will probably find it frustrating if you try to use it as a reference for Java syntax. Information about the language is dribbled out in bits and pieces with no clear way to find what you're looking for. Well, yes, there's a table of contents and an index, but you'll do better selling this book back and picking up Java In A Nutshell, 5th Edition once you have some familiarity with Java.

No comments about C# Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Second Edition.

2 comments about Pro Java 6 3D Game Development: Java 3D, JOGL, JInput and JOAL APIs (Expert's Voice in Java).

1. There is some overlap between this book and the author's other book on Java game programming, "Killer Game Programming in Java", but overall there is enough new material to make it a worthwhile purchase. The author starts out trying to explain Java3D. His explanations are OK, but the best explanation I have ever found as an overview of the API is "Java 3D API Tutorial" on the Sun Microsystems website. It's old, but the basics haven't changed. For the specifics of working with Java 3D in the modern era, come back to this book. The author has done a good job of putting together some programming examples that show how to program in current versions of Java 3D including a 3D version of Conway's game of life. He then modifies the program to show off some of the features of Java 6 such as its ability to communicate with scripting languages. Further chapters show how to build creatures with operational limbs that demonstrate Java 3D's TransformGroups, how to handle physics and Java3D using a specific physics API, multitexturing for more natural looking outdoor scenes, and finally how to deal with level of detail problems using mixed mode rendering. In each case, the author just doesn't talk about how to do something, he produces working code that gets the job done and provides a blueprint for the reader to go further.
   
   The section on non-standard input devices deals with interfacing devices such as webcams, game controllers, game pads, and the P5 Virtual Reality Glove to your 3D worlds and games. He mentions parts of Java that are seldom well-explained such as JInput to describe how to control these devices. In the section on webcams, the author talks about JMF and an alternative method of interfacing to cameras. This is good, since for all intents and purposes JMF is really a dead API with very little useful capability. One of the more interesting chapters in this section really has nothing to do with input devices, that being the chapter on JOAL, which is a wrapper around OpenAL, the OpenAudio Library. This is very practical since there are bugs in Java 3D's sound interface that have been there from the beginning and show no sign of being resolved. This chapter provides a practical way for Java programmers to get actual reliable 3D sound into their games and applications.
   
   The final section of the book is on JOGL, which is a Java wrapper for the OpenGL graphics library. The author explains and illustrates the use of JOGL by first implementing a very simple application to clearly illustrate all of the steps needed. Next, a 3D world is written using JOGL that includes a floor with a checkerboard pattern, an orbiting earth, a skybox of stars, a billboard that shows a tree, overlays, and keyboard navigation.
   
   This book, along with the Sun tutorial, is a good education in how to use the Java 3D API in general, and also how to build virtual worlds in Java as well as how to write 3D Java games, which was the book's original purpose. Highly recommended.



2. If you are new to 3D programming in Java then this book is not a very good place to start. That's not to say this isn't a good book its just that you will need to be somewhat comfortable with Java3D before reading this book. Like the previous reviewer said the sun tutorials will help to understanding the examples used in this book, just don't think that this book will hold your hand.