5 comments about Pro PHP Security.

1. PHP applications written without a concern for security risk cross-site scripting, SQL injection, session hijacking, and a multitude of other potential problems. This book examines how to setup a secure environment including encryption, hashing, SSL and using PHP to connect to SSL servers. The authors also examine how to install and configure OpenSSH and using it with PHP applications. Of course they also deal with the usual concerns of user authentication, permissions, restrictions, validating input, preventing SQL injection, preventing cross-site scripting, preventing remote execution (including PHP code injection and embedding), security for temporary files, and preventing session hijacking. The Pro PHP Security is written specifically for PHP programmers working in the Apache, MySQL, and PHP 5 environment and is highly recommended



2. Unless you're already very well-versed in the subject matter, ( sql injection, cross-site scripting, session hijacking, remote execution, sanitizing user data/input, ssh, encryption, ssl, dangers of shared-host scenarios, bulletproofing db installations, user verification, captchas, remote procedure calls ) this material is relatively comprehensive and valuable. Well-organized, well thought out, I won't hesitate to recommend this one.



3. The book is entitled PHP security. But the actual content covers very little PHP at
   all: less than 20 percent. It tries to cover everything from UNIX permission,SSH
   and all other security issues, but really doesn't have much to do with PHP. So I
   think the title is highly misleading. For someone interested in the general
   security issues, it might be a fine book. But not for programmers want to know
   the security about PHP.



4. Like the title states this book tells you about a lot of security issues you should be aware of, but doesn't go in depth for many solutions. Especially xss which is the only reason i bought the book. For how much the book costs i figured it would include some really good php solutions. I mean the thing is in black and white, what's with the price tag that doesn't tell me anything that i can't find on the web.



5. I found Pro PHP Security a very informative book. I received this book around the same time that I began developing online financial software. This book lived up to the name and answered a lot of my questions.
   
   I found the chapter on encryption and hashing very interesting. I knew what each system of protection accomplished but not how. Next the authors proceeded to discuss Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and how certificates are created. It was fun to be able to create my own certificate and keys, and gain a better understanding of how the whole process works.
   
   After covering server security and connection security, the authors moved onto secure programming. The first chapter covers user input validation. This is one area that many programmers, myself included, do not devote much time. If you can sanitize the data you get from the user, you have overcome one of the largest hurdles of securing your code.
   
   After that chapter, each following chapter begins with the presentation of an exploit and how it works, followed by discussions of sites affected by these exploits, and concluding with how to prevent it. SQL injection, cross-site scripting, remote execution and session hijacking are some of the exploits discussed. This section of the book gave me plenty to think about and more than enough to work on implementing.
   
   If anyone is a PHP programmer and deals with any kind of sensitive data, then this book is a must read. The authors attempt to provide all the best practices because one method may not work in a given situation, but they also let you know the disadvantages of each method. As Snyder and Southwell discuss in the first chapter, as developers we cannot eliminate risk but we can do our best to mitigate it.

5 comments about C++ Gotchas: Avoiding Common Problems in Coding and Design (Addison-Wesley Professional Computing Series).

1. This book works by living up to its title and showing distinct problem areas with C++, highlighting the wary and unwary, experienced and inexperienced, alike. One of our team brought this in, and told us he'd learned a lot, and thought that we senior members would also benefit. Having scoffed at him, we each had to eat our words after reading.
   
   Recommended



2. I prefer C++ gotchas to the C++ exceptional and effective series. Why? Because this book is much simpler. If you're a Hacker (?) I supouse you won't like this book, don't goes through the details of Exceptional and so on.
   But If you want to learn the basic idioms and know-how of C++ I must recommend this one. Simpler, without obscure features... the way 99% C++ projects should be wrote.
   Of course, This is a personal opinion :-) You should not be angry with me for don't say that the C++ pearls books are not nice.



3. There are unlikely to be many other C++ books where the word 'ignoramus' appears as often. Dewhurst's writing definitely has character. This book contains 99 items on common mistakes made by C++ programmers, and serves up best practices to replace those bad habits.
   
   Does this sound a bit familiar? Well, yeah, there's substantial overlap with books by Scott Meyers and Herb Sutter, so not every item is a revelation. That said, C++ is sufficiently complicated that I can do with all the help I can get. This also covers some more basic material than others, for example new-style casts. It also covers pointers to members and pointers to member functions very well.
   
   However, there isn't any material on templates here, and there's quite a lot of overlap with the author's subsequent book, 'C++ Common Knowledge', which I consider to be superior to this one. So while this is a perfectly good book, I would point you towards C++ Common Knowledge.



4. I forced myself through the first chapter (first 12 Gotchas) and decided that I'd rather spend my time somewhere else.
   
   First, many practices preached in this book are questionable. Quoted from the book: "I've received strong, negative, and sometimes abusive reactions to my use of every one of the constructs above." (Gotcha #7).
   
   The author is against himself all the time - best described in his own words. In Gotcha #11: "Unnecessary cleverness is a common problem with C++ programmers. Remember that it's nearly always preferable to be conventional, clear, and slightly less efficient than unnecessarily clever, unclear, and unmaintainable." In Gotcha #12: "We programmers are good at dispensing advice but often have a hard time following it."
   
   The editorial (or organizing?) quality is not superior either. For example, Gotcha #8's title "Failure to Distinguish Access and Visibility" doesn't describe what is discussed in that section.
   
   The author's arrogant and condescending attitude doesn't make the reading very pleasant.
   
   The reason I gave two instead of one star is that the author is obviously very knowledgeable in C++ language. This is NOT one of those useless garbage books. You do have a chance to pick up some tricks here and there. But if you're busy and still want to learn something valuable as quick as you can, I suggest read or just re-read Stroustrup, or try Meyers's Effective C++.



5. This book, along with Dewhurst's other one, C++ Common Knowledge: Essential Intermediate Programming should be mandatory reading for C++ programmers.
   
   No groundbreaking discoveries, only problems you are guaranteed to come against while developing in C++, solutions and advice. Some gotchas are pretty well known, others I haven't found in any other book, while most of them were a refresher or clarifier.
   
   Read it so you won't have to learn these lessons the hard way, in the debugger.

5 comments about Beginning REALbasic: From Novice to Professional (Expert's Voice).

1. I'm honestly surprised at the good reviews this book has gotten. I own literally hundreds of technical books (and have even helped write a couple), and believe I know good technical writing when I read it. Good technical writing makes the reader more enlightened, not more confused and frustrated. But after spending several trying hours with this book, the latter is just how I feel.
   
   I don't doubt that Mr. Ford is a whiz programmer, and has a thorough understanding of the subject. But it's quite a different skill set to be able to convey that understanding in a methodical and enlightening way.
   
   There's certainly a lot of information in this book, and much of it is helpful. But what drove me up the wall, among other things, is the subtle penchant the author seems to have for assuming that you already know what it is that he's referring to, even before he's actually bothered to explain it.
   
   Thus, one of the first things I looked for was a brief Glossary of key terms and concepts. ... There wasn't any.
   
   Failing that, I resorted to the Index -- which turns out to be quite hit-or-miss as well. A cursory search through the book reveals that certain key terms appear a full *80 pages* or more before their earliest reference in the index ("module" and "method" are but two examples).
   
   And a handful of key terms don't even appear in the index at all! (Omissions I quickly chanced across included: class[!] ... declare ... intrinsic ... literal ... variant. And I'm sure if I continued to plow through this tome, my guess is I'd find a bunch more.)
   
   Additionally, some passages describing key concepts scream out for a well-placed diagram or two. Instead, they're conveyed through languorous prose. (Example: Classes/Subclass/Super Class, on pages 209 & 211.)
   
   There's also circumlocution: for example, on p.117, Mr. Ford goes on about how "difficult" it is to preview how menus will look under different OS's ... and then in the very next paragraph, demonstrates how easy it is!
   
   But the last straw, and what spoke volumes to me, was a number of minor typos scattered throughout the text. Clearly, if I could find a bunch of these in just the first hour or two of reading, then clearly there wasn't a decent book editor/proofreader assigned to the case. (Someone worth their salt could also have helped spruce up organization of the content, and made it more accessible in general, with respect to much of the above.)
   
   In spite of this book being billed as for "Beginners" and "Novices" -- I frequently got the impression that it's really targeted for *experienced* programmers (who just happen to be transitioning from some other language, like Visual Basic).
   
   Thus, in spite of the glossy cover (and even the author's CV), I do get the distinct impression that the book is put out by a relatively-fledgling publishing company. Clearly, they aren't one of the majors -- or for that matter, my impression goes, even particularly experienced in this realm.
   
   Now, don't get me wrong: I'm a very technically-savvy guy. And I really don't have an axe to grind. I just didn't know RealBasic ... which is why I bought this book! It's too bad there's such a dearth of current material on this intriguing cross-platform development environment, and thus, more choices of good books on the subject.
   
   Nevertheless, based on all the foregoing, you may consider looking elsewhere (even at older books, by more established authors), if you're looking for a genuinely well-written introduction to the topic. As soon as I finish posting this review, I'm going to do the same.
   
   
   [Addendum, 7/8/07]:
   Yesterday, I just happened to run across the author's latest book, "AppleScript Studio Programming for the Absolute Beginner". Surprisingly, it's far better and seems to address many of the weaknesses from this book, listed above. But unfortunately, it's not about RealBasic! The notable difference in style, though, is enough to confirm my hunch that what "Beginning REALbasic" could have used was more rigorous editing and insightful layout, by someone knowledgeable about presenting technical material. Hopefully, someone will catch onto this for a future edition ... or perhaps some other author will give the subject a go. In the meantime, I'm going to return this book, and pick up the Neuberg and Tejkowski ones instead.



2. For me, this book is a good review. I've done a lot of programming, so it's nice to get some specific tips on REALbasic to remind me how it works as opposed to other languages. It is written from an IT guy's viewpoint, so it is pretty thorough. It doesn't quite go as advanced as I need, and it's so thoroughly multi-OS that I have to dig out info about Mac OS X, which is all I'm really interested in.



3. While not as in depth as I would like, this book is definatley helpful for RealBasic beginners. I went from clueless to creating decent apps in a couple days. Modifying the included examples to my own purposes was easy. I added bookmark functionality to the web browser, tweaked this and that just to see what I could do, and am very pleased.
   
   
   recommended.



4. Looking to learn REALbasic...this book won't get you there. It will get you interested. It will even show you what it's capable of doing. It just won't get you there. If you already know REALbasic, there's nothing new to learn here. If you don't, just don't expect this to be the only book you purchase to learn it.
   
   That being said, the book is well-written and easy to follow. I recommend it, but only if you know what you are getting and that is basically an intro to REALbasic.



5. and then you realize that REALBasic does not have the sophistication of Visual Basic. Forget about a converting program, there is just not enough similarities between the two languages. I have several thousand pages of books on Visual Basic, but just this one book on REALBasic. Maybe there needs to be more books to get across all the capabilities of REALBasic.
   The author of this book gives examples, but they are simple and of limited use in writing programs.

5 comments about WebSphere Application Server: Step by Step (Step-by-Step series).

1. It's a excellent source of information for Websphere 6 administration from development to production environment, I would expect something like this for Websphere Portal as well. A must for all websphere administrator's.
   Would like author to provide chapters online for Websphere 6.1.



2. I am an Applciation Developer who bought this book but I am afraid to say that it does not meet my expectation. The title of the book should be renamed as - "WebSphere Application Server: Administration and Deployment".
   
   1) The book assumes that you know the Deployment Managers, Nodes, Cells and their relations. There should be an Intro. section which talks about the basic terms used for Webpshere.
   
   2) There is not enough coverage of Webservices/SOA . How do we create a enterprise applciations using SIBus. At least a Hellow World applciation should have been mentioned. More coverage should be on developing enterprise aplciation using the services/components provided by Webpshere 6
   
   3) The level of this book is: Novice to Intermediate but in true terms is actually : Intermediate to Advance.
   
   Overall I still think that the best book published on the Webpshere is the Websphere Bible by Brayon Kataoka et al. Though it was on WAS 4.x, it still does a good job of explaining the fundamentals of Webpshere platform and how to develop and administer application on it.



3. The book has clear exposition and coincise, than is a complete tutorial on Websphere AS (the earliest version!!).
   Much better then Red books !!!!



4. The step by step format of this book is excellent. Within minutes after unpacking the book I was putting it to good use. I had spent a few days trying to follow all the cross references and procedures in the RedBooks for configuring SSL and was getting lost. But this book provided all the information I need in chronological order with step by step instructions and screenshots. The procedures are not infested with references to other 500 page documents or worse yet links that lead to the general ibm support page. And no "out side the scope of this book" statements leave you hanging at critical points.



5. CLEARLY EXPLAINED EVERYTHING. IT'S EASY TO FOLLOW AND ANYBODY CAN START LEARNING WEBSPHERE WITH THIS BOOK.

No comments about Python: Create - Modify - Reuse.

5 comments about Algorithms in C++, Parts 1-4: Fundamentals, Data Structure, Sorting, Searching (3rd Edition).

1. If you're looking for an exhaustive, upto-date reference/textbook for
   fundamental, searching and sorting algorithms, then this is one of
   the very best available.

   Sedgewick has split his popular book into two volumes, with Graph
   algorithms being hifted to the second volume. Moreover, many advanced
   topics like computational geometry, fft, number theoretic algorithms
   etc, which were introduced in the previous edition, seem to be missing
   now - so the breadth of coverage seems to have reduced, which is a pity.

   However, the depth has increased instead - i doubt that even Knuth
   covers more sorting algorithms ! In particular, there are several
   recent algorithms and data structures which are treated in greater
   detail here than by Knuth. Of course, Knuth analyses all the
   algorithms he presents in rigorous and exhaustive detail, which
   this book doesn't.

   Moreover, the book has many new algorithms and presents the state of the
   art in sorting and searching algorithms, giving it a distinct advantage
   over the older books.

   Sedgewick makes it very clear in the preface that the emphasis is on
   the practical importance of the algorithms, so esoteric algorithms which
   are important 'only in theory' may find no mention. Also the emphasis is
   more on the design of algorithms than on their analysis.

   The number of (exercise!!) problems has multiplied manifold in this edition
   to become more than most competing textbooks. Problems are graded by
   difficulty level to help you choose the ones relevant to your needs.

   The exposition is clear and authoritative - Prof. Sedgewick is a leading
   authority in the field of algorithms and a student of Donald Knuth.
   He has a gift for making difficult concepts seem simple, and the great
   illustrations in the book go a long way in explaining the behaviour of
   the algorithms.

   For the practising professional, this is an ideal reference, since it'll
   help you select the best algorithm for your task without bogging you
   down with heavy mathematics.

   The reasearcher, on the other hand, may benefit by gaining unique insights
   from a master of the area, while using other books for the detailed
   analysis of algorithms, including prehaps Sedgewick's own book on the
   analysis of algorithms(with Flajolet).

   A caveat - the code may not be 'ready to run'. It's better not to rely
   on this book to provide you with usable code - if that is what you want,
   perhaps the books by Drozdek/Weiss/Heileman/Rowe might be better choices.

   If you want C code rather than C++, then the C version of this book is
   a good choice, since the code provided is of 'K & R' class and therefore
   a delight to read.

   Of course, if you're looking for a language independent coverage,
   then 'Introduction to algorithms' by Cormen,Leiserson and Rivest is
   possibly the best book which combines rigor with comprehensive coverage
   of the most important algorithms. Look out for the newly released
   second edition.

   And if you want a more rigorous and equally exhaustive coverage of
   sorting and searching, go for Knuth vol.3 - still the authoritative
   reference, though it may require more hard work on the reader's part.

   Otherwise, invest in this and you won't be disappointed.




2. This book is full of great information on C++ algorithms. There are many excellent examples, and the author presents the gammit as far as topics. They really open up your mind to possibilities. The reading at times is rough going, though (very dry). Sample code or examples to download may be found at the publisher's website instead of the one printed in the book.



3. I purchased this book to refresh my memory on data structures with templates. It is well written in most spots and provides excellent examples. I would recommend this book to any intermediate c++ programmer who wishes to learn/relearn advanced data structures such as Linked Lists,Hash,QuickSort,etc....



4. When you are ready to take the bold step into algorithms, this book is a great second step. I say second step because I think it helps if you read "teach yourself algorithms in 21 days" before this book.

   This book deals with a good number of algorithms and does not shy away from reasonable analysis. The book helped a lot when I was having problems with putting a good harsh function together.

   The chapter on recursion is also very good too.

   In order to write decent code you have to know about this difficult/painful subject and this book takes some of that pain away.




5. This book puts most of my college textbooks to shame. Not that they were bad, but really this is a step above. Sedgewick is a master at distilling difficult concepts into just a few lines of code, and then talking the reader through all of the implications of any design decision. For a professional who needs to reacquaint himself with the basic principles of algorithms, and needs some simple code to get started on coding a solution, this cannot be beat. While I am not in school anymore, I feel this can also be a great supplemental text for any serious Computer Science university student, although it's possible that the focus on C++ implementations may not be ideal for curricula where Java is the mainstay.
   
   One of the factors that I did not see mentioned in other reviews is that Sedgewick's visual representations of the algorithms are phenomenal. In older algorithms textbooks, these have always been represented by small diagrams--if any--that show what happens when an algorithm is used to attack a small problem (say, a linked list with 10 nodes). This text shows a visual representation of those small cases, but then goes the extra mile to show visual representations of the same algorithm when scaled to a variety of massive inputs. These representations are a great tool for comparing the scalability of various algorithmic approaches against one another.

5 comments about Professional Java Development with the Spring Framework.

1. This book is TERRIBLE! Almost as bad as the Spring manual itself which doesn't surprise me because it was written by the same people.
   
   Some examples give good detail but they are VERY hard to follow. For most things that I want to do, there is little or no examples.
   
   For example, there is no mention of Acegi taglibs.
   
   If you want a better book, try the Manning "Spring In Action" book. I have that one too and it is much, much better.



2. Very incomplete information and examples, the missing pieces being crucial. Overall, poorly and inaccurately written. The authors jump into details before giving the reader the context into which the details should fit. The examples are three-line snippets that fail miserable in showing how to put all the pieces together. Lots of features covered in very short sections that never explain how to use the framework to build a system from beginning to end. Only confused me and wasted my time. I'm at the point of giving up on Spring.



3. I lent it to a guy on my development team, and now I can't seem to get it back. He must like it. (!)
   
   One thing I really appreciated was the comparative tables showing benefits and tradeoffs of using the different web frameworks with Spring. The book does seem a bit shallow for the number of topics presented -- should have been a couple thousand pages to cover everything I'd like to know.



4. I think this is a book you would use as a reference for getting deeper into the understanding of concepts and being aware of the options for configuration and implemention of various aspects of the framework. But you would need to already understand the basics of Spring.
   
   If you want a Spring tutorial that will help you start building Spring applications from basic concepts, especially if you are a beginner, you may struggle with this book. You get explanation of concepts and code snippets, but you may need to read other books and online articles that are written more in a tutorial style.



5. bought this book long back,
   kind of boarting book,
   its standard kind tricks has written there
   although you can try it, but its boaring too

No comments about Windows PowerShell Pocket Reference: Pocket Reference.

5 comments about Objects First With Java: A Practical Introduction Using BlueJ (3rd Edition).

1. Most other books on Java are practically carbon copies of each other. They'll take you through the same boring sequence of learning. When you get to objects, you're just overwhelmed with (what seems to be) information of little practical relevance - or at least, no fun. One hardly gets the feel for what the Object Oriented programming hype is all about.
   BlueJ gives you an IDE and code. Like most professional programmers, you won't be writing HelloWorld.java. Instead, you'll begin with code that was already writen by others. The book will take you on a tour in which you'll be exploring the behavior of objects. You'll be asked to reimplement classes, and observe the effects your changes have on the program's behavior. The IDE shows you class diagrams, so you can begin to analyze dependencies. Objects in BlueJ are "live", and you inspect their behaviors on the fly. This is unlike most other books, where you are required to use a text editor. This is miles ahead from the other 99% of tutorial books.
   BlueJ almost feels like the Java programmer is in a Smalltalk environment. BlueJ gives the beginer a real feel for code reuse, modularity, and objects, and the IDE is an integrated tool in the development process, just like it is for a professional Java programmer. An outstanding book. Having gone through piles of Java tutorial books, this is the one to learn from. This one's truly for learning OOP.



2. I purchased this for use in a Java class. The instructor swore by this book. In the end, it just wasn't worth the money. All the information I needed were already available online at through Sun and other Java resources.



3. most intro to programming books expect/assume you to know about programming before you can begin. This book actually teaches you the very basic and doesnt assume that you know anything. :-) Its probably the best one for beginners.



4. I bought this book because it was required for a course. Out of all of the exercise books I have used, this is by far the hardest to follow. There are not enough examples to actually teach you the information. There are no answers, so you never know if what you're doing is correct. Overall, the book is vague in its descriptions and has not given me any kind of useful Java skills. I'm sure it would be good for someone who already knows a little about Java or that has a teacher standing right by them to explain everything. Even the exercises were not very clear and hard to understand. I would recommend searching for a different book.



5. i received the book on time. the condition of the book was brand new as stated. thank you for providing such great service!

5 comments about Pro SQL Server 2005 Replication (Definitive Guide).

1. I found this book to be very usefull as it enables one to very quickly understand the concepts of replication and implement a solution quickly.
   
   This a comprehensive single source of information and there is no need to go through multiple manuals/books to design, implement and maintain replication solutions.
   
   The first three chapters cover the basics very well and comprehensively.
   
   I also found the presntation of each replication method in configuring and internals chapters to be extremely useful. This way I can easily set up and get my replication going by refering to the configuring chapter and if required I can refer to the internals chapter for advanced understanding.
   
   The screen shots are a bit difficult to read. I understand that increasing the size of the of the screen shots will increase the number of pages, however the book then could have been published in two volumes.



2. There is nothing useful in this book. The author makes it more complicated than it actually is. I rather use the Books On-line or MSDN than this "book". It is unbelievable how he wrote almost 1000 pages without content actually saying anything worthy. Thru all the book you can see the author's ego say: "I am so pro and I worked so hard to find the answers, so don't be naive dear reader, I won't give you any of those answers." Well, thank you for that dear author.
   I regret I spent my time and money on this ... so called "book".



3. Coming from mostly an Oracle background, I needed to come upto speed quickly to work on some replication projects. Paul's book was just what the doctor ordered. It provided clear and concise coverage of all the key topics especially peer-to peer replication and Merge replication which were essential reads in my case. I would recommend this book to SQL Server and other DB products users as well, who are looking to work on SQL Server replication projects.



4. I have been involved in administering a database working on several geographically-separated servers. Initially, we've been using IPSec protocol for connections between the servers. To connect the clients, we've been using stunnel, which is easier to manage and to route. We were planning to stop using IPSec and moving to stunnel entirely. But I had no idea how to make Microsoft SQL Server 2005 to synchronize using stunnel. Microsoft had no ready-to-use solution for this. Thanks to this book, I have found the answer. Although this book does not explicitly state how to use stunnel, but it had enough clues to make me able to figure out the answer. For our company, this book was worth its price.
   
   Anyway, this book is for an entry-level administrator of the SQL Server 2005. It contains the most basic information, with lots of screenshots and explanations. This overall information is quite easy to understand. If you want something specific, for example a solution for a rare or a complicated problem, this book is not for you, you would better to go to a specified forum. But if you are a novice in replication, I highly recommend this book.



5. I have never used any other SQL SERVER Replication books, so I can't compare it to anything else.
   I needed a book for reference as I set up a large scale SQL replication enviornment. I have done it in Oracle, and was experience with SQL 2005, but never SQL replication.
   This book gave me enough knowledge that I was able to accomplish some advanced replication. I highly recommend it for those, like me, that are new to SQL replication.