1 comments about The Definitive Guide to Terracotta: Cluster the JVM for Spring, Hibernate and POJO Scalability (The Definitive Guide).

1. A must have book to buy to understanding Terracotta Best Practices,I personally was an early adopter and has had much success, Terracotta has proven over the years to help ease the development of HA systems, that scale from the start...this book has real world examples (not just Hello Worlds! Programs) ..to build and deploy systems backed by Terracotta for your enterprise.

No comments about Pro WF: Windows Workflow in .NET 3.5 (Pro).

4 comments about Essential Linux Device Drivers (Prentice Hall Open Source Software Development Series).

1. Writing a device driver in linux is not for the faint hearted. As this book makes clear, it requires the intersection of a set of skills. C programming, for one. Apparently, all serious [ie. practical] driver coding is done in C. There is no need for the higher level object oriented languages like C++ or Java. Plus, drivers often need the utmost in efficiency, and C appears best for this. It should be said that the book does not really argue for the use of any other language. Code snippets are in C, and that's it. But an associated reason is that linux itself [not just its device drivers] is written in C. And if you want to study other device drivers, these are invariably also done in C.
   
   An important idea explicated in the book is to use prior drivers as inspiration. See how they work. Often, you can borrow as much of their source code as you wish, if those drivers were released as open source. In fact, you are shown how to find archives of drivers. Very useful.
   
   Another skill described in the book is a close acquaintance with various types of hardware that need drivers. The hardware might be a mouse, joystick or trackball. These have fairly low bandwidths. But the book also explains drivers for disks and memories [think flash cards or USB drives], where the bandwidth needs are far greater.
   
   The book also explains why linux is so popular for the writing of drivers. Turns out that the kernel abstraction has layers that insulate the upper level operating system and applications from the gritty hardware details. Alas, for those writing drivers, it is these gritty details that you must contend with.
   
   One slight puzzle is the continual reference to PCMCIA. The book came out in 2008. I thought that several years before, the computer industry agreed to drop that acronym in favour of the simpler "PC Card".



2. I'd been frustrated by the fragmented and incomplete nature of documentation surrounding linux driver development. This is the book I was looking for, I guess.
   I specifically liked:
   1. the way the author ties all the pieces together. For example, in the PCMCIA subsystem, the diagrams give you the broader picture architecturally, and the code snipppets give you the minutia you'll need. 2. the fact that it is up-to-date as far as the kernel version is concerned.
   3. how it resolved a lot of questions I'd had about the scheduler.
   4. the really good handling of USB and the video subsystem.
   It is a little light on SMP and portability issues, but overall a very good book.



3. I've been frustrated by many other Linux kernel and device driver books. The authors often make assumptions about the readers knowledge and gloss over areas that can be quite confusing.
   
   To some extent, that's unavoidable: the Linux kernel is monstrous and very complex, and the hardware that drivers control can also be dark and mysterious territory.
   
   I really appreciated this books approach. It's not that everything is explained in complete detail; that would be impossible. However, the author obviously tries very hard to give an overview, an orientation that will hopefully set your mind in the right direction, before diving into details. Throughout the book he adds "go look at this" suggestions that can help you understand whatever he's dealing with at this point.
   
   I think Chapter 2, which is a high level fly-by of the kernel in general, is an absolute masterpiece. That starts by pulling typical kernel boot messages and explaining what they mean and what's going on in code to produce them. It then goes on to discuss kernel locks, briefly looks at procfs and memory allocation, and closes (as each chapter does) with pointers to where to look in the source for the subjects discussed.
   
   Chapters 3 and 4 flesh out basic concepts more, and then after that the book goes into details, picking both real world and fanciful examples of hardware and giving sample device drivers. Simple devices are presented first, while later chapters get into more complicated hardware, but in each case the same general format is followed: overview of the how and why, sample driver(s), how to most easily debug, and pointers to real kernel sources.
   
   Very well done. I have no complaints - oh, a few minor typos, maybe, but nothing serious.



4. This detailed guide to writing Linux device drivers is a solid acquisition for collections strong in advanced Linux programming: it's for audiences with a working knowledge of operating systems and C - but not necessarily device driver writing - and brings together all the basic concepts and methods needed to address common programming scenarios. Many driver are discussed in no other book, making Essential Linux Device Drivers a 'must have' for any collection serious about Linux programming applications.
   
   Diane C. Donovan
   California Bookwatch

2 comments about The Essential Guide to Flex 3 (Essential Guide).

1. I have learned a great deal from this book. Along with taking a course with the author and reading this book I have learned how to do things the correct way and have reaped the rewards from it. I would recommend this book to anyone looking to learn Flex quickly and/or catch up on whats new in Flex 3.



2. Good Book. Would have raised rating to 4 1/2 stars if that was an option.
   Enjoyed reading and doing the exercises. Not many errors, few but they where small. Wish Chapter 15 (AIR) would have been a little longer with more detail.
   
   All in all, a good start. Introduced to many topics, ColdFusion was a good one.
   
   Thanks

5 comments about Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach (2nd Edition) (Prentice Hall Series in Artificial Intelligence).

1. Pros: Well organized, Description is clear and complete, good for beginners.
   Cons: Examples chosen are not the best, author's attempts at humor are quite lame in most cases.



2. Form your own opinion on this book, don't let the gushing over this book force you into questioning your instincts
   
   I thought I liked this book at first, but I had confused interest in AI with regard for this book.
   
   Sure this was ground breaking. But, currently, it is bloated, full of wordy, unclear descriptions. I particularly dislike the coverage in: ch. 7, 8, 9 (logics + reasoning). ch. 13, 14 (prob, belief nets). Make the search chapters shorter, fewer. We get the idea, no need to spend so much time on it. Make the logic chapters shorter, dig deeper into those subjects if you want to use that much of the readers time. Scrap chapter 13 or write it over again (refer reader to Pearl's or others coverage of probability). It is partially to elementary, stating obvious rules with very simple usages. The rest of it jumps around, with unclear explanations. Chapter 14, skims past ideas, not enough time spent explaining ideas.
   
   I particularly like the detailed references at the end of each chapter.
   
   After glancing at Winston, Nilsson, and Poole books, I am leaning towards Poole, especially since I am more interested in the knowledge rep and reasoning than other areas.



3. Following the accolades in the reviews and having a keen interest in AI (as a physician and computer scientist) - I have dived into this book. It took me more than half a year of stubbornly trying to read and understand it. What a disappointment...
   On one hand, the math is inaccessible, least you have a major in computer sciences / statistics, math - or all of the above. It seems some, if not all of the math "proofs" are unnecessary for the matter at hand. Unless there are some sinister motives behind these superfluous math complications - such as providing professors with ammunition for students testing. But why should someone interested in AI - get bogged down in this? Is it really what the authors had in mind?
   On the other hand there are not enough examples to follow and the examples that are there - are inconsistent and insufficient (for example: the `wumpus' world that is used in the logic chapters, actually succeeds to stir an interest in the reader and then ....it is not followed up in the subsequent chapters such as the one on Bayesian networks)...
   Some easy to grasp principles (such as basic propositional logic) are repeated ad nauseam while some difficult subjects (such as MCMC) are left as puzzling axioms, for us to decipher on our own.
   
   I summarize my disappointment asking myself what I got from this effort that I have invested into this book, absorption and digestion wise, professionally speaking:
   1. Did this book help me better understand the depth and breadth of the AI domain? - No.
   2. Am I able to develop, even conceptually a plan for an AI application / "intelligent agent"? Absolutely not.
   3. Did the book clarify for me the fields of logic, machine learning, reasoning, uncertainty, probability and so on? - No. I am as confused now as I was before embarking on this study project, maybe even more so.
   4. Am I a smarter person, able to read now the multitude of scientific articles out there on the AI subject - after finishing this book? - No.
   
   The only reason I gave it 2 stars instead of the single one it deserves - is because of the historical and bibliographical summaries the authors have nicely detailed at the end of each chapter. I've seen other books recommended in these reviews - and I intend to look into them shortly. CAVEAT EMPTOR (buyer beware) !



4. I enjoyed this book as a student taking an AI class. However, it was too heavy to carry it to the class. I did like book website and Google code page.
   
   On the negative part I'd say the layout of the examples/pseudo code was ...rather inconvenient. LISP style made it a little bit awkward for a person who never saw LISP before. Some examples about evil king and his brother, and such were a little bit off... I'd rather get some real life examples. Problems at the end of chapters did not encourage going and doing it on your own.
   
   I am not sure I'd be able to use this book as a self-study guide, but in the class it did make sense.



5. I'm currently teaching AI. Since it's the standard textbook for AI courses, I decided to use Russel&Norvig's book, and I am really disappointed.
   
   The book is too superficial, trying to cover too much, and their notation and explanations are not always clear. For example, try to understand the Viterbi algorithm for HMMs. It's perfectly clear if you read an introductory article, but this book gives a very confusing idea of how it works. In several other parts of the book the same thing happens.
   More often than not I have given other texts to my students.
   
   I do not think using "one big book" is the right approach for teaching AI, because "AI" is too large. If you are teaching undergrad students in a "BS in AI" then you should use specific and in-depth books for each course: knowledge representation, vision, uncertainty, etc.
   But if you are (as I am) teaching a short AI course in a Computer Science context, then I think you should probably pick very few subjects and treat them *in depth* -- otherwise your students will have no benefit in taking your course (whatever you tell them in that short time, they could learn by other means).

No comments about MCTS Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-632): Managing Projects with Microsoft Office Project 2007.

5 comments about Windows PowerShell in Action.

1. As a developer interested in PowerShell I found this book ideal in covering what I needed to know as well as what I didn't know that I needed to know! It minimizes the material (accessing WMI, COM, Active Directory, etc.) that you can get elsewhere online (blogs, etc.). Instead, this book has the stuff that is hard to get just from reading blogs but which you need to get an appreciation of PowerShell.
   
   The writing style keeps you interested so you'll want to read it for fun too (just don't admit this to anyone else). The only con is that you frequently come across nuggets of knowledge embedded within a section, so don't skip too much, and keep a few notes on paper to tuck into the back of the book.
   
   For new v2 features (CTP is out) you'll need to look online at the PS blogs.



2. This book is written by a self-admitted geek expressly for geeks. Being a geek myself I rate it highly for content. However, Administrators should bypass it. There are few administrators or programmers that need to know "Why" something was done. There is too much information in this world to absorb and reading this book contributes to that. Plus, practical things like profiles and snapins are not even mentioned (I didn't find them while reading it, but if they are there it emphasizes the following point).
   
   I disagree that it can be used a a reference, except by an occaisonal geek. It would take too long to find anything related to your daily problem even though it is probably there. Few publishers know how to organize and display technical data so that after it is read it can be found again. There are silly things like showing the wrong way to do things. Who needs that in a reference book since you may copy it without checking if it works? A true reference book defines every (well at least the most useful) command/parameter nuances and tells you what you can't find in the normal documentation. Another book I own, Professional Windows PowerShell comes far closer to being a reference, and is a better book for a general programmer.



3. This guy maybe be a Guru at PowerShell but this book is not beginner friendly at all. If you have been scripting for years then this may well be the "definitive guide". However, if you are a Windows System Administrator who tends to script from time to time to solve basic problems then this is book is absolutely not for you. I got better examples and information from the guide that came with powershell and webcasts on powershell that are on the microsoft technet site, than I got from this book. Once again its probably great for a developer or an person with scripting experience but its of little value for a beginner Sorry Bruce :( I had high hopes for the book based on all the other stellar reviews.



4. I purchased this book with high hopes based on the other glowing reviews to get started with powershell. The book covers the basic language pretty well, maybe it's because I am a beginner with powershell, but when I attempt to actually get something done with powershell, the book just doesn't have the answers. Beginners and task oriented people should look elsewhere and avoid this book.



5. This is the only Powershell book you will ever need - until 2.0 comes out anyhow. Even then, this book builds the groundwork for using Powershell to automate all types of tasks and will be usable far into the future. I've used it to write a couple of Powershell applications so far and it's been worth every penny I paid already. After years of scripting in Windows shell, Perl, and some brief work with VBScript, Powershell is the way to go and this is the guide you need for it.

5 comments about Implementing Lean Software Development: From Concept to Cash (The Addison-Wesley Signature Series).

1. This is excellect book for seasoned software developer. I had trouble with some books on XP pushing process as rigid thing ... here in this book there are reasons behind XP process, knowing them allows one to modify process to fit environment... This is just what I needed - this book was excellent investment of my time and money



2. While the book contains many interesting ideas, it is very tedious reading; an in-depth article could have adequately covered the same material. The book is often fairly repetitious with the same story used to make the same point in multiple places. While the title might lead one to expect a fairly "applied" book ("Implementing" and "concept to cash", the actual purpose is to sell you on the concept of lean software development.
   
   The authors like to bring in real-world examples to help bolster their arguments but frequently get the facts or their interpretation wrong. While the authors need not be experts in areas outside their expertise, one would expect that they would fact-check the basis of some fairly definitive statements; here are some examples: "... 16 is the standard number of missiles in a submarine to this day" (wrong since 1979 when first 24 missile Trident sub was launched); "... in 1985 the value of the yen started its steep fall" (actually the value of the yen rose). Nitpicking?---perhaps, but I find them wrong on areas that I know a little bit about, it makes me wonder how well they are doing when citing knowledge that is unfamiliar to me.
   
   The authors belittle an "efficient expert" (the subject of "Cheaper by the Dozen") for believing there is only one way to efficiently do things. They later turn around and advocate that all developers be subjected to inspections---not inspections of their software but inspections of their desks to insure that they are tidy. They opine that a developer with a messy desk will probably be responsible for messy software; do they feel that a little maid-service will massively reduce software defects? (Why is it that morning people and neat-freaks always so self-righteous?). Sounds pretty "one-way" to me.
   
   The bottom line is that you could probably find a good article in print somewhere that would provide you with most of the content here saving both time and money (sounds like the "lean" way to do things). Still you will get some value for your time and money if you do invest in this book.



3. This book brings some discussions around concepts that comes "in a black box". It's always important to review our concepts. To reinforce then, or to change then.



4. This book explains how to apply the lean manufacturing principles developed by Toyota to Software Development. It focuses on increasing the development speed, since a faster speed results in higher efficiency, lower costs, better value for the customer and also drives higher quality. I strongly recommend it as an introduction to the Agile software development methodologies.



5. Implementing Lean Software Development is an essential resource if you want to understand the value of lean software development. It explains the theory of lean manufacturing and how it applies to software development. It contains practical advice for implementing Lean and anecdotes to help you to understand the value of Lean. This is a great addition to the library of any agile developer or project manager.

5 comments about Beginning ASP.NET 3.5 in C# 2008: From Novice to Professional, Second Edition (Beginning from Novice to Professional).

1. First Edition of this book 1-59059-468-1 was a step by step tutorial of how to build sites. At the end, you get a decent working model of a balloon website. Thus, the title Novice to Professional. This book doesn't do this. The book is more laid out like other books. Chapter by Chapter, it covers a big topic like State Management, Error Handling, and others. This book is just like other books out there. I am bit disappointed that the publisher thought that previous book was not in an optimal format. There is really nothing wrong with the content or the information. This just isn't the Novice to Professional Book. It's as if you were reading the Harry Potter. On first edition, you know how Harry Potter is like. On second edition, he is gone or he doesn't do the magic tricks anymore. Instead, he cooks or sings. This book is like that. I can see Harry Potter Singing and Cooking. But that's not the Harry Potter series. He does magics...
   
   This book is good but it's not in the original format.



2. I have purchased (what feels like) hundreds of computer related books from Amazon.com (including other ASP.NET books), and this is the first one that I have ever felt the need to comment on.
   
   This is just a great book, in my opinion! I found the book to be very easy to read, and logical to follow - Matthew MacDonald's writing style is very effective in communicating technical information in a way that made it easy for me to understand.
   
   I've been developing Windows client applications (VB/C#) for close to 10 years, and have "played around" with ASP.NET 2.0. I knew how to make some basic web apps work, but didn't really understand what was going on underneath the covers. I had a lot of questions that were answered and now have a lot more confidence going forward with creating ASP.NET apps.
   
   As I mentioned, I had purchased ASP.NET books by different authors (for 1.1 and 2.0). Maybe I never gave those books a chance, but this is by far the best that I have come across.



3. Usually technical books are very booring to read. I buy many books as I tend to easily get trapped with reviews about book. But this book is one of the best book on C#. Every chapter is in detail and all it needs to get concentrations is to start reading it. The examples and the flow of topics are well planned. This is the book one should have if you are in to C#.
   This is my first review on any book although I have purchased many books from many website. I felt a book which is soo good needs to be acknowledged.
   Mark my words...this book is worth buying ...!!!!



4. I don't read many 900 page books cover to cover.. It's an accomplishment for both finishing this tome, and for the author of this great read.
   
   The first sections gets you up to speed on C# quickly.. You should know some programming before diving in. Then each area of ASP.NET is covered at a healthy pace. Useful samples, and explanations and recommendations throughout. He first covers the manual ways of doing things, then goes into the slightly narrower scope of productivity shortcuts that turn days of development into hours. He's given me a new respect for it.
   
   There are so many books on each tech subject, it's hard to know where to go. You find a few authors you like, and read their books. I'll pick up another one of his books soon.
   
   Great read, highly recommended.



5. ASP.NET 3.5 is the latest version of the .NET Framework from Microsoft. C# is the defacto standard programming language for Microsoft programmers. Although there are more VB.NET programmers out there, C# is considered the more "professional" language and hence forth there are more job opportunities for C# programmers.
   
   This book is huge (800+ pages) and really covers everything you need to know about C# and ASP.NET 3.5. Of course there maybe a few database topics it did not go into detail as much, but for the money it can't be beat. The author (Mathew MacDonald) really explained all the topics very well and assumed no prior knowledge of .NET knowledge. You really can be a `novice' and learn a lot from this book.
   
   The great thing about the .NET framework from Microsoft now, is that there are so many free programs to learn before you invest any money (apart from the book of course).
   
   The author explains the C# language first (great choice and wish more authors did it that way), in the first few chapters before getting into web forms and ASP.NET objects. C# is a professional language and definitely should be learned first before getting into anything else.
   
   Starting at chapter 5, the author starts to explain what a web form is and how ASP.NET works. Covering everything from how sever and web controls work, to the web.config customizations, WAT, web control classes, etc. The following chapter focuses in detail about web controls (what ASP.NET is really all about) and probably is the meatiest of all the chapters. The chapter 7 goes into state management which is a very important and goes hand-in-hand with how web controls work.
   
   Error handling (chaper 8) and deployment (chapter 9) is next on topics covered and then in the next sections of the book the author goes back into web controls with lots of examples of using the validation controls and master pages. Master Pages have grown a lot in this version and it is the core of how you will design you own ASP.NET 3.5 web site. There are 3 chapters dedicated to web site design and development and I have never seen a book with so much detail on the subject. Well done!
   
   The rest of the book goes into database topics such as SQL, ADO.NET, Data Bindings, etc. I can't describe how impressed I am with how many topics are covered in this book and how well they are covered. You really only need this book for 80-90% of you ASP.NET development work.
   
   A great buy!!!

5 comments about Beyond Bullet Points: Using Microsoft PowerPoint to Create Presentations That Inform, Motivate, and Inspire (Bpg-Other).

1. I was disappointed having bought this book based on good reviews, so here's my review:
   
   1. The author provides just one tool for one particular type of presentation: "pitch an idea to your bosses". The tool is a 3-act presentation using few words and more graphics and presenter narration.
   Although a good tool for some presenters and some presentations, I can only see myself using this in 10-20% of my presentations.
   
   2. Because the author refuses to explore other methods, the book becomes very repetitive and too detailed going on about the same points all the time.
   
   3. Because of this, this is certainly not a book to keep for reference.
   
   4. ...unless you are a total PowerPoint novice and computer-illiterate and want to read a step-by-step instructions about how to resize and crop images in PowerPoint, etc.
   
   5. This is the first book by Microsoft Press I read and I was shocked at the obvious attempts throughout the book to advertise other marginally-related Microsoft products.
   
   The book description says: "Targeted for intermediate to advanced level users". I would never recommend this book to anyone but absolute beginners and even then there must be better books.
   The intermediate user should really just browse the first couple of chapters to get the basic idea (1. set the scene 2. show the conflict 3. resolve the conflict) in a bookstore and then decide for himself if he really wants to waste money on something which can easily be summarized on one page.



2. I borrowed it from the library and I am going to purchase it for my personal business library. I think that this is a great resource book. I decided to try this method since I do a presentation about once a month to pharmacists. This book helped me to organize my thoughts and present the material in a logical manner. I am in the health care industry and the people I present to are used to seeing bullet points BUT they are bored with it. For those that think the information here won't work, I say give it a try before dismissing it. You may find that your audience doesn't want as many bullet points and facts as you think and that you are a breath of fresh air in doing something new and innovative with your presentations. And remember you can put all of that information from your bullet points in the notes pages and print that out for them.



3. Microsoft PowerPoint changed the world of presentations by simplifying the process of creating a computerized slide show. Alas, over time people started squeezing too much information into every slide and using the preinstalled generic titles. PowerPoint's simplicity let people forget the purpose of presentations: to persuade or to inform without being boring. Cliff Atkinson shows you a creative way to build a good presentation without falling into the PowerPoint template trap - tell a story instead. At present, he provides a free template, storyboard formatter and story guide at sociablemedia.com that adds value to the book, which refers to these resources repeatedly. We recommend this to anyone who gives presentations.



4. I bought the book, enjoyed it and then realized that I hasd purchased the 2005 edfition and not the new 2007 edition. be careful as the new one is much better. Amazon should have made this clear!!!!!!!!!!!!



5. I thought there would be much more content. I was already aware of the concept of forming a presentation using a story arc, so there wasn't much new that I can use.