5 comments about SCJP Sun Certified Programmer for Java 5 Study Guide (Exam 310-055) (Certification Press Study Guides).

1. Excellent book. Make sure you do all exercises and tests that come with this book.



2. This is a review of the previous edition of this book (ISBN:0072226846), but probably the same applies to this book. For learning Java, this book is better than revered Head First book from the same authors. I only understood Head First book when I downloaded and analyzed the source code. Otherwise, I see a lot of incomplete examples, it was like watching the movie from the half.
   
   This book gives you full understanding of the Java language. It explains what is possible, and what is not. It is complete. I don't speak about passing the exam, that was not my intention. I wanted to learn and understand the Java language. What was the most important thing to me was the limits of the language. Reading this book, all the time you have a feeling of control. Everything is explained, and you have a full control of the language. Not so many books explain all possible ways how to use the interfaces, how to arrange the source files,...
   
   Rare authors of programming books have this talent. The same feeling I had with the book "Programming C# with Visual Studio .NET 2005" by Jeffery Suddeth (ISBN:1411664477). Pure perfection. I would advise potential new and old authors of the books to read this book as a study guide of How to write programming books. Reading this book was an intellectual pleasure to me.
   
   Pero



3. This book is an excellent resource. I have 2 years experience with Java, and my company recently sponsored me the official SCJP course (CDJ-110A). I can honestly say that it is the biggest waste of time imaginable, as it doesn't cover anywhere near the material required for the exam. This book, on the other hand, provides clear exam objectives for each section. It points out common 'tricks' the exam may use to fool you, and provides good examples of exam-like questions. It is easy to read and full of examples.



4. I just passed the exam with 87% after reading this book. I spent two months reading the book and then two weeks some revision. When reading this book you keep discovering things that you know you should have known long before as a java programmer. The questions in the book tend to be harder than the actual exam, but they are helpful.
   
   
   I discovered a couple of minor errors from the book. But it's really no big deal.



5. i have just passed my exam with 97%. This book covers everything that you need to know for SCJP5 Exam. Once you read it you will feel confident but dont be fooled you are not finished just yet. you have to do a lot of mock exams which are available online. (for the mock exams and some help go to www.javaranch.com).
   The practice questions after each chapter are very important. These questions are very close to the exam questions. Solve them all before you enter the exam.
   I can not say the same thing about the simulated test included in CD, though you shall still go through once.
   Once again, this book covers 100% for SCJP5 EXAM.

5 comments about Workflow in the 2007 Microsoft Office System.

1. Its a great intro book, but In my opinion looks like a marketing brochure to SharePoint workflow, not real world.



2. Steps are not clearly defined. Author puts steps in paragraph when he should be putting each instruction line by line. Its very easy to miss one crucial step and nothing works after that. Reason I gave four stars because author tries his best however may be the subject or so many steps you need to perform to make workflow work in sharepoint.



3. I bought this book as a reference book, but found myself actually reading through it instead! It is very well-written and easy to understand for a non-programmer like me. It covers very simple workflow and also gets into the more complex things you can do to solve very specific business problems when you add Sharepoint Designer. Excellent coverage of workflow from beginning to end.



4. I wish all authors (programming) could write as clearly and as understandable as this author; no hidden stuff or tricks, just straight to guts. If you are new to workflow and want to get going fast enough, get this book.
   I put this author in the category of authors like Stanley B. Lippman, Dr. Grimmes, Dr. Major, Dino Esposito, Ted Pattison, and John Papa.



5. I think this book is a great starting point for SharePoint and WF. I have not another found a consolidated reference on the topic... makes it easy to find all of the needed material to get started in one read.

5 comments about Enterprise Integration Patterns: Designing, Building, and Deploying Messaging Solutions (The Addison-Wesley Signature Series).

1. This is a fantastic book if you are looking for patterns to base your messaging designs and architecture around. The way this book goes about explaining some of the asynchronous messaging patterns seemed to provide a great deal of benefit to developers and designers who were stuck in the synchronous way of doing things. Great explanations and illustrations, would recommend to anyone researching EAI or ESB technologies or just a more structured, efficient way of messaging in general.



2. Upon recently changing jobs and focusing on messaging design and architecture, I was steered toward this book by my peers. Without getting into too much detail, before joining my new team, I had never heard of patterns (came from a product support area), much less asynchronous messaging design. Needless to say, this book has been invaluable in my learning process as well as conveying our direction to others.
   
   This book is written in such a way that it is very intuitive. Diagrams help support the concepts and code examples as well.
   
   I would highly recommend this as a must read/reference guide for anyone designing messaging solutions.



3. This is the best book I've found that helps to organize the integration space within the industry. This book has helped to organize my thoughts and communicate with others effectively on how to leverage integration patterns. I highly recommend this book to help obtain a foundational understaning of the integration space.



4. Many books have been written about SOA, but most of them are just about the theory of SOA. It's important for Software Architects and Software Engineers to understand the theory, but just knowing the theory is not enough to develop system utilizing SOA principles.
   
   This book fits nicely to bridge the gap between theory and practice. It contains not only the theory behind the patterns that can be used to design a loosely coupled, scalable system, but also the code in Java and C# on how to implement the pattern to build the system.
   
   If you are serious on building a loosely couple system and strongly believe on the powerful of messaging system to accomplish this task, then you have to read this book from the beginning to the end, it will help you to design the system without reinventing the wheel.



5. I am an occasional buyer of reference works on software technologies I need to get familiar with, and I teach an evening section at a local area college in object oriented analysis and design. After reading this book, I am actively trying to construct a proposal for a new course based on its contents ... it's that good.
   
   Quite simply, Enterprise Integration Patterns blew me away, on both a technical and pedagogical level. On the technical level, it's all here (except for "aspect" patterns like security, robustness and scalability which would each have really required another book). All the patterns necessary to successfully support asynchronous messaging between groups of remote applications ... which is the basic situation facing anyone trying to do a mashup of web services and / or construct business processes by integrating internal services via an ESB. Even the Process Manager pattern is here.
   
   On a pedagogical level, the material is complete, very easy to read, well illustrated, and above all, well organized. Even a first look at the inside covers reveals this. The front has each of the 60+ patterns listed alphabetically, with its respective icon and 2 sentence paragraph. The back has the patterns (name and icon) clumped into 6 hierarchical "pattern buckets" (Message Endpoints, Message Construction, Message Channels, Message Routing, Message Transformation, and System Management), linked together in a single diagram, showing where the buckets fit when Application A is connected to Application B.
   
   And on both inside covers as well as every place in the text where a pattern is mentioned (quite a bit since patterns are extensively contrasted with each other), the page number where it is defined is given with its name. This makes it very easy to use this book as a reference, because all the patterns it contains are cross-referenced in so many ways.
   
   After an excellent introduction the first chapter explains what a pattern is, what the domain of integration patterns are, and introduces the Widget Manufacturing Company, whose problem grows as tools to handle those problems are introduced.
   
   Bottom line ... I read this book during the two legs of a round trip flight from Chicago to San Francisco, took copious notes within the pages of the book, and walked off the 2nd plane feeling that I had seriously increased my understanding of the entire topic of how to integrate loosely coupled applications.
   
   Not bad ... plus since I snagged an upgrade on the return flight, I can also report that two glasses of wine did not interfere in the slightest with the learning experience. The book is THAT good.

4 comments about Core Java, Vol. 2: Advanced Features, 8th Edition.

1. Updated for Java 6, "Core Java Advanced Features" does not disappoint. This is for those of you who have finished volume 1, either this 8th edition or the 7th edition. Quite frankly, I think in the case of Volume 1 you can skate by with the older 7th edition. However, in the case of the eighth edition of Volume 2, there is quite a bit of expanded coverage to the tune of the resulting book being over 1000 pages in length. It follows the same format as past versions of Core Java Advanced Features. The authors start at the beginning of each topic and walk you through increasingly difficult programs and very well done illustrations and screen shots of applications that are really quite helpful. I include the table of contents since it currently is not included in the product description.
   
   1. Streams and Files
   2. XML
   3. Networking
   4. Database Programming
   5. Internationalization
   6. Advanced Swing
   7. Advanced AWT
   8. Javabeans Components
   9. Security
   10. Distributed Objects
   11. Scripting, Compiling, and Annotation Processing
   12. Native Methods
   
   Before you go out and buy expensive books on the topics in any one of these chapters, get this book and read the corresponding chapter. It will make whatever you hear or read from that point forward much clearer.



2. In my review of Professional Java JDK 6 Edition, I said I didn't think one book could cover such a wide variety of topics and expect to do a good job overall. This volume is, I think, an exception that proves the rule.
   
   It is indeed a monster book, easily several months of steady work to get through, and an useful reference afterwards as well. It is well put together, clearly written, methodically presented. I wouldn't put it down if that were possible. The coverage is broad and the examples are interesting. The topics also feel complete, not because they are thorough, but because they leave off right where intermediate-level programmers could work out most details on their own.
   
   I read the first and second editions years ago, and I must say this title has become a case study in steady, disciplined, tireless improvement and refinement of the original. It's 990 pages, but I haven't come across a useless sentence yet. The authors haven't just added on. They've refined their examples, improved and replaced others. Most importantly, they've realized a format that puts boilerplate and API tables to the side, allowing the reader to focus on the concept at hand. Complete code listings are in the text, presented in a way that makes it easy to gloss them in favor of the soft copy available by download.
   
   If you need lots and lots of code work on different topics to burn Java into your fingertips -- and there really is no other way to do it -- this book is an excellent choice.



3. The Core Java (vol 1 and 2) are simply superb books. If you are a developer looking for thorough books on this subject, look no further.



4. Like many reviewers I find the the Core Java series to be very valuable. However, be forewarned that the kindle edition is not a good representation of the book. The figures are completely useless either because they have not taken the time to convert them properly or because the kindle technology is simply incapable of displaying non-text content properly. I wish I had known this before I paid for the kindle edition of this book.

5 comments about The Essential Blender: Guide to 3D Creation with the Open Source Suite Blender.

1. I think it is well written but the illustrations are rather poor. A book like this that teaches a subject dealing with imagery etc. should be well illustrated.



2. This is exactly what I needed to learn Blender - well written with lots of illustrations.



3. I am not done reading the whole book, but so far I feel much more knowledgeable about Blender. There are a few problems with the book though. A lot of the pictures are small and hard to make out, also they are not in color so showing off how Blender uses color for different modes is impossible. Overall it seems to be a very good book for beginners, it does skip a lot of more advanced features for other books to cover.



4. I have not actually read through the book entirely yet, so I'm not going to address the content at all. What I did want to clarify is that there seem to be a lot of comments about poor picture quality. Okay - they're not stellar full-color prints with 3D popouts. But they're hardly as bad as I've seen them repeatedly described. I was a bit nervous about ordering this book, but the pictures easily compare to the quality of "Introducing Character Animation with Blender" by Tony Mullen (which, btw, are black and white as well), a book we probably all know and love (and I'm very glad I own). So, to those interested in buying, don't let a bunch of negativity about image quality get in your way. I'm very much looking forward to using this book.



5. This book is composed by 372 (black and white) pages featuring 15 chapters, describing Blender 2.43 and later bug fix revisions in its essential features needed to start working with this wonderful piece of always evolving software. The book try to "hit" the biggest audience possible and it is tailored to three kind of people: those who are completely new to 3D and Blender, those who are new to Blender but have reasonable 3D experience (and maybe want to read the book for software evaluation)and those who already know Blender but need a refresh in their knowledge to fill the gap with latest Blender development.
   This book has been written by well renowed Blender artists and chapters are packed and extended in a wonderful book by editor and lead author Roland Hess. Each chapter speaks its own voice, so you can read the book in a non particular order and they're divided in two parts: a tutorial part (in which you explore main tools and techniques with a "learn by doing" approach) and a discussion part in which more detailed concepts are explained, completing the topic with further advices and tips.
   Chapters are grouped by topic (basics, modelling, animation and rendering) and they are:
   
   Chapter 0: How to Get Blender and Install it.
   Maybe this chapter is completely unuseful. If you're interested in this software, probably you already own Blender, you know where to get it and you know how to unzip/untar an archive or double click on an executable to install it (depending on your operating system). Fortunately, it's only 3 pages long and include a reference on where to get help when you need it.
   
   Chapter 1: An Introduction to 3D Art (Roland Hess)
   This 11 pages long chapter gives you a gently introduction to 3D art, how it is accomplished and what working with a 3D app means. It's short but still worth reading, especially for those who are completely new to the 3D world. It describes the main differences between triangles and quads (and their relationship), the necessity of materials to achieve realism, the importance of modeling tools and an accurate lighting description and the (very basic) principles of animation, keyframing and rigging. Read this chapter if you're new to 3D, you will surely be interested.
   
   Chapter 2: The Blender Interface (Roland Hess)
   As the title imply, this chapter gives you an overview of the Blender interface. Many new users gets frustrated with the Blender interface at first. This is no longer the case, as the chapter gives you nice informations on how to master the basic concepts to work proficently. After reading this chapter, you will finally appreciate this interface and you will be able to exploit the real potential of the efficient workflow it produces. Headers, the toolbox, the buttons window, orthographic/perspective modes, layout adjustments, all is covered here.
   
   Chapter 3: Object Manipulation (Roland Hess)
   No exageration, this is the most important chapter of the book. The material covered here will be used all over the book and it's a description of the basic knowledge to use the program and its main tools. Many important principles described here are the basis of most of the Blender tools. This chapter is structered in a way you will work through a simple Blender project, complete with a keyframe animation.
   Main hotkeys and functionality are covered and it will touch concepts like undo/redo, the meaning and use of the 3D cursor, adding objects to a scene, moving/rotating/scaling principles, transform manipulators and their activation/use, mouse gestures, object duplication, what empties objects are and how to use them, object parenting, the snapping menu (very important), layer management, object constraints and the basic of keyframing animation. If you are new to Blender and 3D in general, this chapter will teach you the basics of working with a 3D modelling package. A very well written and informative chapter. You will be surprised on how many topics can be well covered in just 37 pages.
   
   Chapter 4: Mesh Modeling (contribution by Kevin Braun)
   How to produce complex objects with Blender using its modeling tools. I really enjoyed this chapter. You will build a complete bridge with wonderfully decorated pillars. You will discover various kind of selection tools fo verticies, edges or faces, how to effectively use the mirror modifier, how to subdivide objects, the art of the knife tool, object extrusion, a good introduction of the proportional editing tool, the loopcut tool, edge slide, edge loop/ring selections, the use of the array modifier and much, much more... Even experienced users may learn something new from this chapter. Personally speaking, I liked the technique described to pull vertices into inline. This is used everywhere in modeling but it wasn't described in any book I bought in the past.
   
   Chapter 5: Multiresolution Sculpting (Tom Musgrove)
   Multiresolution sculpting is an approach to mesh modeling that allows you to shape and add detail to a mesh by pushing and pulling polygons with specific sculpting tools (brushes), instead of direct manipulating vertices/edges/faces. Not much to say about this chapter, you will produce a nice detailed monster using the draw/layer/grab/inflate/pinch brushes. It will teach you all the tools needed for sculpt modeling, including informations on how to use a regular texture and transforming it in a brush. Mesh hiding to improve performance is also explained in detail. Advices and tips complete this nicely structured chapter.
   
   Chapter 6: Character Animation (contribution by Ryan Dale)
   Character animation is a huge field and not much can be covered in 23 pages. But this chapter make a tremendous good job in concentrating much of the key concepts of character animation in a good practical tutorial. You will produce a complete walkcycle and you will be introduced to various stages of the walkcycle poses. The Timeline Window, the Action editor and the NLA editor are the main actors for character animation production and they're well covered in this chapter. Inverse Kinematic (IK) and Forward Kinematic (FK)are also introduced. Good the choice of presenting character animation before introducing rigging/skinning concepts (which are concepts explained in the next chapter).
   
   Chapter 7: Rigging and Skinning (contribution by Ryan Dale)
   The natural extension to the previous chapter. All the basic knowledge you need to create a solid rig and hook it to a mesh is here. You will be introduced to bone creation/manipulation, bone naming and its importance, bone layers, parent/child relationship with bones, IK (inverse kinematic) chains, constraints usage and explanations like Locked Track, Copy Location/Rotation, Track To, Floor, Stretch To and the IK solver. The skinning part (hooking the final rig to a mesh) covers the main concepts like the Armature Modifier, envelopes, vertex groups and has a nice tutorial on weight painting too for a fine control of mesh deformation. Rigging/skinning is the essence of character animation and naturally not everything can be covered here. The only complain I do with this chapter is that it doesn't cover many useful constraints.
   
   Chapter 8: Shape Keys (by Andy Dolphin)
   Shape keys are the Blender implementation of what other packages call "morph targets" and it's a new implementation of what Blender called RVK (Relative Vertex Keys) and AVK (Absolute Vertex Keys) in the past. Very useful in facial animation, shape keys are the way Blender implements mesh deformation in a time aware manner (animatable). This tutorial teach you how to create/edit multiple shape keys and how to use them in conjunction with the action editor to produce mesh deformations by editing vertex keys in the action editor. And it does a good job in this. After you read this chapter, you will have full control of these concepts.
   
   Chapter 9: Materials and Textures (contribution by Colin Lister)
   The chapter I liked less. It stresses a lot on real materials observation (and this is right) but it gives little informations on the settings meaning. You will produce a "wood like" material and you will enrich it with a coffee stain. It left out many interesting concepts on material creation and this is a real pity. It does not even mention the difference of having two texture channels with the same texture and two separate channels with the same texture. Fortunately, the discussion part of the chapter try to fill the gap but it's still insufficient. I was expecting more from a chapter that's 30 pages long, to be honest. There is nothing about shader editing with nodes. What a pity!
   
   Chapter 10: UV Mapping (contribution by Modron)
   Suzanne unwrapping! Modron will guide you through the art of mesh unwrapping, a refined method for texturing complex objects. As an exercise, you will going to unwrap the Suzanne mesh (Blender's mascotte) using the automatic unwrapper (the easy method ...) exploring texture painting in the UV editor and in 3D view using texture painting mode. You will have fun with the live unwrap transform. Easy, informative and direct to the point.
   
   Remaining chapters are a gentle introduction to the topics and are not advanced at all, but they give you the understanding you need to read more advanced material on these subjects.
   
   So, from what I said so far, you have already understood we are speaking about a very good book to begin with, with many topics covered, useful to read more advanced documentation. A very good book, but still far to be perfect and these are the reasons why I give it 4 stars:
   
   1) It doesn't cover scene management (link/append features) also known as "the blender database" and the obData system. This is very basic knowledge (and unintuitive, I would say, expecially the obData system) so it really should have been covered in this book.
   2) Figures are (sometimes) really too dark to be useful. Fortunately they can be downloaded from the support site (*).
   3) It has many errors. Not bad errors but still it has many of them (again, look the support site).
   4) It does not cover many new features since the 2.3 guide, so its use for updating your knowledge is limited.
   
   (*): The book has a support site that contains an errata, all images used in the book and some additional files to play with.
   You can reach this site at http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Books/Essential_Blender
   
   Conclusion: if you are a new Blender user (new to Blender and 3D) you should buy this book without thinking twice. If you're new to Blender but you already know 3D, you should buy this book as well. If you know Blender and you have already read the 2.3 guide, you may want to skip this book and buy something more advanced and illuminating, like "Introducing Character Animation With Blender" by Tony Mullen, for example, if you're interested in animation or "Bounce, Tumble and Splash!" by the same author, if you're interested in physical simulations. New features can always be learned from the user manual on the Blender wiki, assuming you already have the basics.

5 comments about Discovering Statistics Using SPSS (Introducing Statistical Methods S.) (2nd Edition).

1. When I study my MBA classes, this book helps me a lot. The book provides essential review of all Statistic knowledge in the beginning of each chaper, and then lead readers use SPSS step by step.
   Especially the practical examples and funny illustration, I will say the book is the only one interesting and powerful Statistic book I can find. I highly recommand it for readers work for Marketing, Medical , Engineering , Finance, and MBA classes. The book can lead you to resolve many "real" problems.



2. I love this book. It covers everything from the most basic t-tests and ANOVAs to factor analysis. It tells you the basics of what the test is meant to do, what sort of data is appropriate for it and it tells you how to actually run and read the test in SPSS.
   
   It isn't the best book for someone who wants a detailed explaination of how to calculate a statistical test by hand and it doesn't give extensive detail on the assummptions required for each test. Nonetheless, it's a great quick reference book, particularly if you've already had a statistics course and you just need a refresher. Graduate students will find it useful.



3. This book contains very comprehensive explanations and descriptions with practical examples which are sometimes not so familiar with me (I'm a physician.). overall, this is an excellent book and I regret not being able to meet such a book in a way more focussing on medical fields. But this has a critical shortcoming in book-binding. you should not read this book so many times to keep the original shape. that's a reason why I gave 4 stars.



4. dr. field has done an excellent job of making stats understandable and spss user friendly. as a social psychology grad student, i enjoy the ease of use found with the index. if i forget the differences in rotation methods for factor analysis, i can quickly find clear explanations in the book. i suggest to all grad students and advanced undergrads using spss to get a copy of this text!



5. Useful and entertaining stats books are hard to come by but this one has hit the mark! Comprehensive and clear explanations of statistical theory are provided as well as of SPSS output. Love the examples and icons. Who would have thought a stats text could make me laugh out loud?!

4 comments about Building a Web 2.0 Portal with ASP.NET 3.5.

1. I've read the author's articles on Code Project, and when I found out he had written a book that built on them, I didn't waste any time getting my hands on it!
   
   Being the one of the few developers in my group that work with the latest "cutting edge" technology, and with no one to answer the questions I have, this book has simply been the fountain of knowledge I'd been looking for. Definitely a must-read for those wishing to utilize the latest and greatest.
   
   The book is well organized, and the writing style makes it an easy read (usually technical books put me to sleep, but not this one). It does assume that you've already had some experience using ASP.NET 2.0/3.5, Javascript, and so forth, so I agree that this book will be the most beneficial to seasoned and advanced ASP.NET developers.



2. Omar is an excellent .NET programmer and I really enjoyed his book. This book gave excellent insight on running a high volume website with ASP.NET. It also dives into some of the new features of the .NET 3.5 framework. I really enjoyed the sections towards the end where he showed the type of hosting environment necessary to run a large scale website. I would also recommend subscribing to Omar's RSS feeds for excellent tips.



3. I would say this is a better "Tips" book than a cookbook. If you are just starting out with this technology, you'll need to fill in a lot of details. But there's a lot of good work here.



4. This book explains the techniques behind the DropThings portal [...] showing some source-code (available at www.codeplex.com) and giving a couple of tips and tricks of web 2.0 programming. The book is very interesting but it's for those developers who already know the technologies it covers (ASP.NET, C#, LINQ, WF and ASP.NET AJAX) and want to know "the best way to do it" or became aware of commom problems that big web 2.0 portals generally has.
   Below is the main topics of each chapter:
   
   Chapter 1 - Conceptual meanings of Web and ASP.NET.
   Chapter 2 - How can you design your own Widgets Framework (Based on his ideas that lead him to develop his own framework) and things that you need to concern when you develop a big portal.
   Chapter 3 - Tips and Tricks of developing rich client controls
   Chapter 4 - How can you add LINQ and Workflow Foundation to your Data and Business Layers.
   Chapter 5 - Developing Widgets itself
   Chapter 6, 7, 8 and 9 - Reflections over performance (at Client, Server and "client-server" interaction)
   Chapter 10 - Solving Deployment and "Go-live" problems.
   
   Bear in mind this book don't teach you those technologies, it only leads you to use them in a better way based on the author's experience (Author is the PageFlake's co-Founder and CTO, so he really knows what he's talking about).
   
   In conclusion, if you want to learn how you use those technologies (Asp.net Ajax, Workflow Foundation..), I recommend you to try other books. Otherwise, if you want to know more about how to create a scalable web 2.0 site, tips & tricks and the best practices of those techs at web, this book will hit at the bullseye.

5 comments about Java How to Program (7th Edition) (How to Program).

1. I bought this book for a sophomore computer science class on OO and web-design. This was one of the worst textbooks I've come across. The examples are old. (Who really wants another Employee class example?). The text is full of 'helpful' facts that are often obscure and distracting. This book never really explained the most important topics of OO (such as polymorphism) in a way that I understood.
   
   Computer Science textbooks should not be sold based on weight but on content. Do yourself a favor and purchase Head First Java.



2. I purchased this book after I had taken a Java class that used the Head First Java book as a textbook. I could not stand trying to use that book, so I purchased the Deitel book. It is a great book to learn java and to use as a reference. I have continued to use this book in every java class I have had and even purchased another Deitel book (C#) because they are so informative and easy to use.



3. Used this book for a hybrid Introduction to Java Program Course. Didn't need to e-mail the professor at all for help on assignments or online tests. I recommend either jGrasp or Netbeans for your compiler. Used both and they were both extremely helpful.



4. There is no other book which is so complete and student oriented like this. It is worth any penny of its price. It covers programming from the basics and it takes you to an intermediate level of knowledge. The presentation of the ULM stuff in combination with OOD/OOP is super.
   
   If you want to learn Java from scratch this is the book!



5. I purchased this text for my class on Java Programming. I never had experience with any Object Oriented Programming (OOP) languages such as C++, C# and Java before. I love the way that this text introduces the concepts "Object" and "UML" and tries to familiarize you with complex terminology and structure of Java. Sometimes you feel confused with terms such as method, class, argument, identifier adn etc., but the way that this text presents and gives the examples for each of them is excellent. Case Study examples are complete with thorough explanations and are "oriented to objects".
   
   No doubt that I am confident in giving 5 stars to this text. However, I must mention couple cons I encountered in the text and I hope Authors will take'm into consideration in future editions:
   
   1) "Error Prevention", "Good Programming Practice" and other tips occur in the middle of the text quite frequently and therefore are sometimes a bit distracting when you read the text. However, sometimes they do contain very important concepts and definitions for terminologies which are very pricy to ignore or skip (sometimes I did so in order to focus on the main text:-( ). Therefore I would urge the authors to incorporate those tips into the text so that readers would neither skip those concepts nor be distracted by frequent occurance of the tips.
   
   2) I personally had difficulty in installing the JDK and JRE's latest versions and the directions in the text are not user friendly.
   
   3) The "Examples" folder in CD does not have Appendix M.
   
   Nonehteless, these cons do not affect the overall quality of the text, and again, it is highly recommended to own one!

5 comments about Beginning ASP.NET 3.5: In C# and VB (Programmer to Programmer).

1. I've picked up copies of Beginning ASP.NET 2.0; Build Your Own ASP.NET 2.0 Web Site Using C# & VB; Beginning ASP.NET 2.0 E-Commerce in C# 2005 From Novice to Professional; and Microsoft ASP.NET 3.5 Step by Step (the only one I can recommend). With all of these, I struggled to read them and didn't feel as though I learned much, or in the case of the last, failed to get much more than an overview of ASP.NET (albeit a good one).
   
   However, with Imar Spaanjaars' book, I finally feel comfortable with ASP.NET 3.5.
   
   In this book Imar works through the steps of creating of an actual, fully-functional, ASP.NET 3.5 Web site, that's actually not that bad (ignoring some questionable design).
   
   Unlike other books, Imar covers both the Express and commercial versions of Visual Studio, in a very unobtrusive way. In addition, Imar doesn't rely solely on the ASP.NET components, but gives a good deal of actual programming, in both C# and VB (in a very clean, comfortable, way).
   
   While it's true that he references a number of other Wrox books, such as Professional ASP.NET 3.5: In C# and VB (Programmer to Programmer), there is very little that needs to be examined to get a site up and running, that would suit the majority of business needs.
   
   Overall, my faith in the ability of Web developers to write good books has been restored by this tome (and at over 700 pages, tome it is). A Web developer Imar is, and to us, as equals, is to whom he speaks. This is clearly seen in his summaries and tips, at the end of each chapter.
   
   I give this book 5 stars of 5. If you've read the other books and been left sad, confused, and/or angry, this is the volume to pick up.
   
   Note: I will be reading this book twice, once I've finished with Professional ASP.NET 3.5: In C# and VB (Programmer to Programmer). There is so much in this book that bears repeating, and many things that I'm sure I missed in my first read, since it's so full of (valuable) information.



2. I think this is a great start for anyone looking to get into ASP.NET. The entire book takes you through creating a professional-looking website. The book was very well thought out and I have yet to see any errors. I've found the author to be very responsive on the WROX website, as well.



3. Recieved book in excellent condition! The book is very organized and very constructive in teaching me what I need to learn in a step-by-step manner. I very much recommend this book!



4. This is a good hands-on tutorial. The author will walk you through an operation, and then explain how it works. I like that approach.
   
   The online resources provided to accompany the book have been very helpful to me. When you start working through a new chapter, you might find it a good idea to start with the official source code provided for the previous one, instead of relying on the results of your own work, especially if you skip some of the exercises.
   
   There is an online forum for the book, and the author and the editor do a great job of answering questions.
   
   To fully benefit from the code-intensive examples in the book, you may want to study C# or VB in its own right as well. If you have no knowledge of programming languages at all, you might find the book a little hard to understand.
   
   The book could benefit from some more editing, which is why I have only given it four stars. Nevertheless, I highly recommend it for anyone who wants to learn ASP.NET 3.5.



5. I am using this text as the basis for a university-level business web application development course. It is a better introduction to ASP.NET 3.5 than any textbook I have found. The chapters unfold logically, each new skill building on the last. The prose is clear and relaxed. The code examples are correct and clearly presented. Imar has used the same organization and logic skills needed for good programming to produce an excellent book!

5 comments about Adobe Photoshop CS2 Classroom in a Book.

1. This book was a required purchase as a supplement for a 4-week class I recently completed. Aside from a few minor typos, the book proves to be a helpful resource for me in and outside of the classroom. The examples are specific, and the word choice is straight-forward and easy to interpret. The CD of lesson materials has been expertly assembled. The lessons seem a bit "time consuming" as compared with other books... but the learnings are complete and easy to reference in the future. I intend to purchase other books from the "Classroom in a Book" series in the future.



2. Quick responce for delivery of an most satisfying product. meets my need for initial training in Photoshop and is truly Classroom in a book.



3. There are many better books out for teaching about photoshop. I had to buy this book for my digital photography class. Anything from Scott Kelby is better.



4. As a complete novice to PhotoShop, this has been a great book for me. However, I am more interested in photo retouching using photoshop and so probably should have bought a book that focuses on that subject. Overall, though, it's well written, informative, and easy to follow. I would recommend it for someone looking to gain all around knowledge of PhotoShop and its features.



5. Great information and details. This book is so easy to follow and understand. It's great for starters and pros.