2 comments about The Art of Multiprocessor Programming.

1. This is a great, lucid - and PRACTICAL book on concurrent programming in general. It's equally applicable if you're programming for a multi-core CPU ... or if you're simply programming threads ... or even if you're programming a cluster.
   
   Half the book is about "theory" (written in a thoroughly engaging, easy-to-follow style), the remaining half about "practice": various tips and tricks obviously learned from hard-earned experience.
   
   There's also a great discussion of "transactional memory", which I'm sure is going to become increasingly important - and increasingly mainstream.
   
   This book is a welcome addition to any practitioner's bookshelf!



2. Took the class from Herlihy that goes with this book. He's an extremely intelligent and knowledgeable man, and the book is invaluable. I will be using it many times in my future computer science career. Lots of valuable reference information, algorithms, proofs of correctness (critical for parallel systems!), and key core concepts that help you think about multiprocessor problems in new ways.

5 comments about Microsoft® Mobile Development Handbook.

1. Every now and then you run across a programming book that is exceptional; one that is far richer and more useful than the multitude of other resources out there. I recently had this experience while researching Microsoft .NET Compact Framework. While Microsoft has a wealth of documentation on .NET Compact Framework it's sometimes difficult to figure out what documentation is up to date and where to find coverage on a particular subject.
   
   Having many questions left unanswered by Microsoft's Web site, I finally turned to this edition of the "Microsoft Mobile Development Handbook" (Microsoft Press 2007) by Andy Wigley, Daniel Moth, and Peter Foot.
   
   In a nutshell the book is one of the best programming books I've read in a long time. In fact, I give it my highest recommendation. .NET Compact Framework is a nice piece of work and this book will help you appreciate all of its capabilities and how all the parts fit together.
   
   If you are thinking of developing mobile applications and are considering .NET Compact Framework, I recommend you buy a copy of this book.



2. This book is for new and existing mobile application developers who already have some experience developing applications using the .NET Framework, either desktop or compact version. If you are new to .NET, first read "Microsoft Visual C# 2005 Step By Step" by John Sharp or "Microsoft Visual Basic 2005 Step By Step" by Michael Halvorson. Those books can teach you the programming basics, and you will then be prepared to use this book to learn mobile application development. This book can help you develop mobile applications using .NET Compact Framework 2.0 and will introduce you to some of the new features that are in .NET Compact Framework version 3.5, which will be released with the next release of Visual Studio, currently code-named "Orcas."
   
   Along the way, the book highlights features that are new to .NET Compact Framework 2.0 so that the developer who has experience building applications using the version 1.0 product can identify new features that are helpful. However, the main purpose of this book is to give you the essential information you need to design and build applications that work on a constrained device such as a Pocket PC or Smartphone, or on embedded hardware. It instructs you as to how to build and debug applications, how to design GUIs that work on small devices, and how to deploy applications. It also delves into problems that are unique to mobile device applications, such as how to design and build applications that work well with unreliable, slow network connections, which is the usual state of affairs with phone-enabled mobile devices. This book is a handbook for the mobile developer that explains how to tackle the common problems that mobile application developers encounter. The book is divided into three parts:
   
   Part 1, Mobile Application Development Essentials, contains six chapters that everyone should read because they take you through topics that all mobile application developers must understand.
   
   Chapter 1, ".NET Compact Framework--a Platform on the Move," is an introduction to the .NET Compact Framework and explains the tools you need to build applications for smart devices.
   
   Chapter 2, "Building a Microsoft Windows Forms GUI," explains how to build effective Windows Forms applications on personal digital assistants (PDAs) and Smartphones.
   
   Chapter 3, "Using SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition and Other Data Stores," looks at data persistence on devices in SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition databases and how you can build a graphical user interface that binds to data.
   
   Chapter 4, "Catching Errors, Testing, and Debugging," shows you how to test and debug your applications on real devices and emulators, and how to trap and handle errors at run time.
   
   Chapter 5, "Understanding and Optimizing .NET Compact Framework Performance," is about creating applications that perform well, something that requires a little more care to achieve on a smart device with limited RAM and storage than it does in a desktop application.
   
   Chapter 6, "Completing the Application: Packaging and Deployment," looks at packaging and deployment and how Visual Studio 2005 makes it easy to build installation packages so that you can install your application on your target devices.
   
   Part 2, Solutions for Challenges in Mobile Application Development, contains 10 chapters that examine areas that present particular challenges to applications running on a smart device.
   
   Chapter 10, "Security Programming for Mobile Applications," is about security programming, an essential topic for any software developer, but of particular interest to mobile application developers who are responsible for keeping valuable data secure on a mobile device that can be lost or stolen, and must send data over public communications networks such as the Internet.
   
   Chapter 11, "Threading," looks at how to do multithreaded programming in the .NET Compact Framework.
   
   Chapter 12, "Graphics Programming" shows how to present UI that looks more polished and professional than one that is built using only the standard Microsoft Windows Forms controls from the Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Toolbox.
   
   Chapter 13, "Direct3D Mobile", discusses how 3-D graphics can be implemented on a Windows Mobile 5.0-powered device using Direct3D. It starts simply with 2D graphics and then gradually moves into 3D graphics.
   
   Chapter 14, "Interoperating with the Platform," explains how to call native APIs that are available in the underlying Windows CE operating system to perform tasks that are not possible using the .NET Compact Framework APIs alone.
   
   Chapter 15, "Building Custom Controls", looks at developing custom Windows Forms controls that you can use in .NET Compact Framework applications.
   
   Chapter 16, "Internationalization", explains how to create applications that are easily localizable to different cultures and languages.
   
   Chapter 17, "Developing with Windows Mobile", looks at the Windows Mobile 5.0 managed APIs, a set of APIs that are unique to mobile devices and that expose system information and allow programmatic access to data stores such as Microsoft Office Outlook Mobile contacts, calendars, and tasks lists.
   
   Part 3, New Developments, consists of a single chapter that provides an early look at the next version of Visual Studio and the next version of the .NET Compact Framework, version 3.5. The latest version adds new features for querying data collections, messaging, testing, and many other innovations and enhancements.



3. It is like my bitacora or bible when i am offline. I guess it has a little of everything you need to know in very compact book (i thought a 600 book will be wider but the size is great)



4. Got 2 copies for my moble development team. The book is simply invaluable. Either you read cover to cover, or select any chapter of special interest the result is in depth information and guidance. Very often our two copies are not enough for everyone in the team.



5. Definitely a good book: I found it very complete and easy to read. Useful and interesting, straightaway.

No comments about MCITP Self-Paced Training Kit (Exams 70-640, 70-642, 70-643, 70-647): Windows Server® 2008 Enterprise Administrator Core Requirements (Pro - Certification) (Pro - Certification).

2 comments about Mastering CSS with Dreamweaver CS3 (Voices That Matter).

1. The new book just arrived in the mail yesterday. I'm not a CSS expert but have played with it some. Couldn't wait to get into the book. I immediately read the first chapter and that alone made the book worth it. Given the credentials of authors like Sullivan and RewisMastering CSS with Dreamweaver CS3 (Voices That Matter) it's a *must have* book. (Sullivan - on Adobe Task Force, Comunity MX partner WebWeavers list mom, in-demand speaker, Rewis - Early user of what became the internet, Macromedia Dreamweaver product manager, Adobe Group Manager, conference/trade show speaker world wide.) Who else knows more about CSS and Dreamweaver than this duo? Book is HIGHLY recommended.



2. This book really does a great job explaining how to build websites using CSS and Dreamweaver CS3. I've bought a couple of other books and this one is by far my favorite. The layout of the book provides step-by-step instructions snd includes many "color" screen shots so you can easily see that you are keeping-up with the instructions. I highly recommend this book if you want to learn how to design websites using Dreamweaver CS3. Here's the Table of Contents:
   
   Chapter 1 - Laying the CSS Groundwork
   Chapter 2 - Using the Fixed, Centered Starter Pages
   Chapter 3 - Migrating a Table-based layout to CSS
   Chapter 4 - Using the Liquid CSS Layouts
   Chapter 5 - Creating a More Cocmplex Design with Elastic Layouts
   Chapter 6 - Building a Gallery Site with CSS and Spry

5 comments about The C++ Programming Language: Special Edition (3rd Edition).

1. I believe its a great book, but not for beginners. Great concepts, of course from the designer of C++.



2. The C++ Programming Language is by far the best book I own. I love C++ and use it everyday. I've written video games using C++, written my own MP3 player, my own HTTP server, my own SSL implementation for Verifone terminals, hundreds of components... Countless amounts of software on Mac OS, Windows, FreeBSD/Linux, and embedded systems. Every time I had a problem and needed help this book was there to tell me how the language works. I have made a lot of money because of this book and it has shaped my career. Being an awesome C++ programmer will make you shine when it comes to newer languages / frameworks like .NET because of the fundamentals you'll learn.
   
   This is not a book for new people, although if you are learning and have questions, this book will answer them. It's a reference manual. Also, considering how programmers judge code aesthetically, Bjarne's advice columns at the end of each chapter are great for polishing up and building your own style.
   
   Make sure you get the hardcover version because it's worth it. It has built in bookmarks for your favorite sections.



3. If you are serious about learning C++ you really need to own this book.
   
   While I probably wouldn't recommend this as a "first book" to learn any programming language it is definitely one that you should keep around as a reference. If you pick up a lesser C++ book like C++ for Dummies, Sams Teach Yourself C++ in 21 Days (5th Edition) (Sams Teach Yourself), or Beginning C ++ Through Game Programming, Second Edition you'll want to hang on to this one to clarify any ambiguity.
   If you've used C++ and just need a reference this book will definitely help out.
   
   This is hands-down the best C++ book for anyone who really wants to use C++, it will take you through all of the features of the language and not only explain what each feature is for, but also why it was included, and the best way to use it.
   
   I hope I'm not being too repetitive, but BUY THIS BOOK.



4. Bought this as a gift for my computer programmer son. He reads from it daily, with the intention of finishing cover to cover. He is extremely pleased with the content.



5. A difficult book for beginners. Beginners would moan and complain about how messed up the content is. They would then give 1 star/2stars for this book, while crying, HARD HARD HARD, and stupid!!.
   
   This book is a great summary for the whole classic C++ programming language. One of the hardest books to master. However if you understand this book, it means you are few steps away from being the Einstein of C++ programming language.

5 comments about iPhone Open Application Development: Write Native Objective-C Applications for the iPhone.

1. The biggest problem with this book is that it addresses programming for the 1.1.4 iPhone firmware and was written prior to the official iPhone SDK being released. As a result it is already outdated with respect to many of the frameworks and APIs that aren't available in the official 1.2/2.0 firmware release and will most likely also be outdated in terms of the open toolchain, which is already changing to adapt to the SDK. So while the book has been helpful for me in getting up to speed with iPhone development pre-SDK (I have a draft PDF from O'Reilly), it is of little to no use now given the resources Apple has already made available for free at the iPhone Dev Center.



2. As a programmer who creates interactive demos for visions of the future, it is very important for me to be on the bleeding edge of mobile and multimedia technologies. Such technologies include the release of Flash player 9.0.115.0 (with HD support), Flash Lite 3.0, Flash Media Server 3 (ActionScript has been key for me in its portability), and lately the iPhone open toolchain (due to the coolness factor of the iPhone).
   
   When it comes to the Mac platform, I've only just begun getting my hands dirty. I got my first Mac a year ago and was surprised with the ease in which I was able to get started with the toolchain from the instructions in this book. The setup was extremely easy, but the most benefit of this book comes from chapter 3, which describes UIKit, the framework which handles most of the UI elements on the iPhone. This chapter was incredibly descriptive and helped me to better visualize how my app is put together.
   
   For a programmer who needs to be able to get things done yesterday, this book really helped me earn a lot of brownie points at work. Coupled with the helpful nature of the author (who is available via IRC), I find this book an excellent resource.



3. I returned this book, since I bought it after Apple's iPhone SDK was released, I assumed that would be the topic of the book. This book is for the development of Jailbroken iPhones. I'm sure I would have learned quite a bit from reading this book, but I'm just more interested in using Apple's official SDK, since my iPhone is no longer Jailbroken and I don't plan on Jailbreaking again.



4. iPhone Open Application Development is meant for hard core developers.
   The writing style is very concise and to the point, not much BS. If you don't understand certain parts of the book, you can always Google.
   
   I'm from Java background, but picking up Objective-C and trying out some samples in the book do not seem to be super difficult for me. I also got the toolchain built successfully by following the steps in the book, although there was one error in the LLVMOBJDIR setting but can you find the solution in iphone dev google group.
   
   You don't need to wait for Apple's official SDK 2.0 release in order to build iphone applications. And the most important thing is: you can run your application on your iphone w/o bricking it (as comparing to what Apple's beta SDK will do to you). And it's totally FREE!
   
   Highly recommend this book to any serious iPhone/iPod touch developers.
   The samples in the book along can last for quite a long time.



5. If you are confused by the reviews here, you really need to go read the forum posts ( look for the "Customer Discussions" links below these reviews).
   
   
   Personally, I wouldn't do this - too geekish for me, and if I were going to get into it, I'd go the "official route". The author made a very good point about this in the forum:
   
   quote
   It clears up a lot of confusion if you look at the Apple SDK as the "AppStore SDK", rather than a form of official SDK. The "AppStore SDK" as it is today summarizes what Apple will probably allow you to do in official AppStore applications. What you can technically do hasn't changed - it's just what Apple will "allow" you to do if you want to get on AppStore.
   endquote
   
   So if your interest is developing your own apps that you either aren't selling or at least won't be selling through the official store, this is fine. I thought it was well written, and although I can't follow it fully , it seems to lead you into the subject well.
   
   I do harbor other feelings about this. While I think Apple is very smart in how they've opened this up while keeping it firmly under their control, I still think that Apple and the world would be better off it it were really open. In that respect, I applaud the author and hope that thousands of developers embrace this and force Apple to relinquish control.

5 comments about Classic Shell Scripting.

1. Great book. The emphasis is nicely split between actually using the shell itself and the whole supporting cast of unix tools (sed, awk, cut, join, sort etc.) The idea of carefully crafting solutions using the unix toolbox mindset is key. I also like the fact he doesn't try to teach to multiple shells, but first tries to emphasize portability by sticking mainly to a POSIX standard, and only later adds info about non standard shell topics. If I could only have one book on shell scripting, this would be it. The best description is 'Practical'.



2. I would say this is a pretty good book that covers it's subject very well, buti didn't use it much because i had also bought Unix in a Nutshell, Fourth Edition, which covered the basics and differences between the shells briefly, which was all i needed at the time. but i looked through this and read some stuff that helped and it is a good book if you plan on doing extended shell scripting. it was just a little more than i actually needed



3. This book provides a nice overview of the Bourne/sh shell's commands. I wish there were more examples with complete scripts. Korn shell users might want to consider "Korn Shell: Programs for Your Survival at Work" by Larry L. Smith. Bash users might want to consider "Bash Shell: Essential Programs for Your Survival at Work" by Larry L. Smith. Some of the examples in Randal K. Michael's "Mastering UNIX Shell Scripting" are also helpful.



4. The purpose of this handy little book is to help someone who is working with Unix through the labyrinth of tools available and learn how and when to use them. It is important to note what is mentioned in the preface - "Throughout this book, we use the term Unix to mean not only commercial variants of the original Unix system, such as Solaris, Mac OS X, and HP-UX, but also the freely available workalike systems, such as GNU/Linux and the various BSD systems: BSD/OS, NetBSD, FreeBSD, and OpenBSD." I quote the book because the word "Unix" is about as descriptive as the word "car". The intended audience is anyone who is computer literate, already knows how to program, and is regularly faced with diverse problems in the workplace that must be solved with Unix tools. This book should give you a taste of which tool to turn to and when.
   
   This book can be divided basically into two halves. The first half is a tutorial on writing Unix scripts. The book starts with a brief history of the Unix language and the philosophy behind Unix tools. Slowly, each chapter builds up your skill at script writing. You are shown how to differentiate between shells, how to work with text extensively, how to use loops, pipelines, variables, and decision statements, and how to work with files. There are detailed example scripts at every step along the way. By the end of chapter seven, you should know enough about basic shell scripting to be dangerous.
   
   Starting in chapter 8, you are showed more application-related information. First, Chapter 8 shows and discusses some ready-made scripts for some tasks for which there is no out-of-the-box Unix solution. Some of the handy solutions shown are for path searching and automating software builds. Chapter 9 is a crash course on awk, and is aptly named. It is just enough to be dangerous. You learn how to solve common text processing problems with awk, but you'll need more resources to be really knowledgable. Chapter 10 explains the usage of common commands for listing files, modifying their timestamps, creating temporary files, finding files in a directory hierarchy, applying commands to a list of files, determining the amount of filesystem space used, and comparing files. Next there are two applied chapters showing you how to merge several databases and how to perform spellchecking by using scripting. Chapter 13 changes the subject a bit and talks about the concept of processes in Unix and how you can use their statistics to accomplish a number of monitoring and control tasks. Chapter 14 talks about problems you may run into if you try to take advantage of shell-language extensions, while Chapter 15 addresses the issue of writing secure scripts to the extent it is possible to do so. Writing man pages, and the basics of the Unix filesystem are the subjects of the last two chapters of the book.
   
   I would say it is a good modern introduction to the subject of shell scripting and Unix tools and how to use them. It doesn't dive deeply into any particular topic, but it will get you started by broadly introducing you to the problems most Unix script writers and system admins face regularly and how to get started solving those problems. I highly recommend it for that purpose.



5. I've scrolled through lots of books, there is so much information out there, but this book has a tendency to keep it simple and to the point. It has good illustrative examples that not only are useful but also serve as a good practice guide.

5 comments about Flash CS3 Professional for Windows and Macintosh (Visual QuickStart Guide).

1. A major upgrade to the previous editions and a must for any serious web design professional.



2. Programming/scripting is not natural for me! It is hard work. This is the third book on AS 3.0 I've tried. The other books did not work for me. I need a book that will tell me what to do in a very elementary manner. I can then put it in context. For example:
   
   1. This is how you script interactivity in a button (code)
   2. This is what it is doing
   3. This is what the various segments of code mean
   etc.
   
   This is the way I learned HTML. I looked up the code to do a given item. Over time if morphed into a thorough understanding of what HTML is and how to do it. This book enables me to do something similar. It takes basic AS 3.0, shows you how to do it then gives the information so you can put it in context. I'm relieved and grateful to find a book that allows me to construct the learning in a way that best fits me. THANK YOU!



3. I love the Visual QuickStart Guides. This book has easy to follow lessons which are great for beginners. Professional refers to the more robust version of Flash not the skill level of the reader. I have combined this book with some video tutorials which is ideal for learning actionscript fast.



4. This book has taught me sooo much already! If you want to learn how to use flash, this is the book for you!



5. This is a great guide that will give you step by step instructions on how to use Adobe Flash CS3 professional. You'll learn how to make Flash animations to add great multimedia to your websites or just games for local use.

5 comments about Upgrading and Repairing PCs (18th Edition) (Upgrading and Repairing).

1. As described, this book is a complete reference manual and I'd recommend it to anyone that wants to learn more about the fine details of computers, their history and the technology that makes them work. Just started the book and have continued to read it.



2. If you are building a new computer from scratch, this is a useful resource. Has a lot of basic information (goes back too far with historical information in my opinion). Publishing time makes it somewhat dated for leading edge technology, but that is the nature of a dynamic computer industry. Also, would be somewhat helpful in trouble shoothing an older system. Check the internet for very lastest info.



3. This is the book that i've been dreaming to own 8 years ago...I finally got it and it's all worth it. It's a must have books for computer enthusiast.



4. very useful reference and all around great book, if you so much as think you may want to pep up your PC, GET THIS BOOK.



5. Authour should get rid of the information about old IBM 80286 processors and other vintage trivia. If we want to know about that we can order the 10th or earlier edition of the book. The 17th edition had a lot of good explanation about current technology but lacked the dual and quad processors that the 18th edition carries. Unfortunately they took out some of the good stuff (dual channel memory explanation for example) but again kept pages and pages about 80's computers.

5 comments about Programming Erlang: Software for a Concurrent World.

1. "Programming Erlang" numbers among the classic programming books which not only show you how to program in a language but also teach why you would want to do so. Joe Armstrong communicates the philosophy behind Erlang, which excels at building concurrent, distributed, and fault-tolerant software. He writes with a light touch, which makes learning Erlang's somewhat unusual syntax more enjoyable.
   
   The first few chapters provide an introduction to "sequential programming" in Erlang. Armstrong covers basic language features, simultaneously providing an introduction to functional programming concepts. He shows how to use functional ideas like pattern matching, higher-order functions, and tail recursion to write powerful and compact Erlang modules.
   
   Armstrong then dedicates several chapters to "concurrent programming." Here is where Erlang really comes into its own. He demonstrates how easy it is to create parallel processes, which can also be made to communicate between networked machines or across the Internet. The trick is that these processes do not communicate through shared memory, but by passing messages asynchronously. These chapters also discuss error handling, showing basic patterns for monitoring processes and for guaranteeing that processes are kept-alive.
   
   The final chapters deal with a range of subjects, including socket programming and how to optimize Erlang for use on multicore processors. The book also includes the code for building an IRC-like chat server, a SHOUTcast server, and a text-indexing engine which implements the MapReduce algorithm.
   
   My goal in reading the book was not so much to start programming in Erlang, but to expand my understanding of functional programming. I came away with a good grasp of what Armstrong calls "concurrency-oriented programming" and why this style of programming is likely to expand in the coming years. While I may not be using Erlang in any projects in the near future, I recommend "Reading Erlang" to anyone who enjoys thinking 'outside the [imperative programming] box.'



2. I got interested in learning more about Erlang when I discovered that some of the Amazon web services use it underneath (SimpleDB). And I consider these services to be very well designed.
   
   I enjoyed the book as it gave a good overview of the concepts and capabilities of Erlang. But now I'm wanting for more -- more depth on concurrency and fault tolerance; more complete real world examples; how to use for building web apps; and of course how to use with Amazon web services.
   
   So what this book needs now is a sequel!



3. Erlang really appears to be an interesting language, and the author's enthusiasm for the subject shows - which is good. It helped me to keep going, when at times the code was a little hard to follow.
   
   The book does a good job of introducing the language. In particular later chapters give emphasis to the topics of concurrency through multiple processes, multi-cores and distributed programs. All very timely subjects for a world that is connected to the Internet, and where even laptops have multi-core processors
   
   I gave the book a 4 star rating because I feel the author somewhat forgot who his audience is.
   
   On page 5 he starts out with a description that fit me almost perfectly, and probably many other readers: "Once upon a time a programmer came across a book describing a funny programming language. It had an unfamiliar syntax [...] it wasn't even object-oriented. The programs were, well, different....Not only were the programs different, but the whole approach to programming was different."
   
   After reading the book I don't feel like the "Erlang Master" that the road map described (pg 9). While the syntax is now familiar, I still look at the Erlang code and it feels foreign. I still have to "decipher" the code instead of read it.
   
   I would have liked the book to more fully address the items from the "Once upon a time" paragraphs. Being that "the whole approach to programming" is different than the OO that many readers are used to, I would have liked to have seen a chapter (or three) on how to best get into that mode of thinking.
   
   I do think the book is a good jumping off point. It gives you more than enough to get started.
   
   However, if you are unfamiliar with languages where functions accept functions which also accept functions as parameters and return another function as a result, you may end up feeling (as I did) that you only have half the puzzle.



4. This book was recommended by a colleague and I was hesitant at first, but it really is an excellent read.
   
   After flipping through the first few chapters, taking in the examples and absorbing what it was spelling out, it really altered the way that I fundamentally look at software modeling. Joe Armstrong's style of teaching by example and breaking things down into the smallest possible space makes this book worthwhile.



5. I've been working through this book and am very glad for it. I'm not sure how else I'd efficiently have gotten up to speed on Erlang.
   
   The book does need lots of minor work, though - it still feels like a beta piece of software. There are examples / explanations that make use of not-yet (or never) explained functions/modules. The appendix describing some of Erlang's modules only claims that the set of documented modules is incomplete, but doesn't mention that the set of functions within some modules is also incomplete. Etc.
   
   Another issue is the license of the code examples. The author shows some example code for how to do certain things, such as a distributed map function (pmap). After reading the book, it's hard (at least for a newbie) to imagine a different solution than the author's. But if you go to the website containing the example code from the book, you find a pretty restrictive license on the example code. So this leaves the reader in a difficult position: the book only shows you one way to do something like pmap, and the author has a license on that code that makes it unusable to many readers. This is more than a little frustrating.
   
   Finally, the index is very incomplete.
   
   If you're new to Erlang you still want this book. But it would really be a good thing for the author to gather criticism (if he hasn't already) and go a second round.