5 comments about Microsoft Office Excel 2003 Inside Out (Microsoft Office Excel Inside Out).

1. As with all Inside Out books from Microsoft Press, Excel 2003 was fantastic. The thing I love most about these books is (1) the comprehensiveness of the book while (2) not forgetting to cover the fundamentals of the product. Thus, anything you want to do with Excel is covered, from simple formatting to working with external data all the way up to creating highly complex spreadsheets with macros and programming. This book is perfect for all Excel (or spreadsheet) creators.



2. From what I dicovered from the friend I puchased this book for, she is very delighted with this book because it has ALL the stars & bells she's been looking 4. Thanks alot !!!!



3. I just love these "Inside Out" books for their thoroughness and how well written they are! I'd highly recommend any of the books like this!



4. This book is a great tool and resource for Excel 2003. It provides more detail than MS provided help along with real-world examples. Stinson does another fine job. The included DVD is also a nice bonus. It includes the entire book and is great for traveling without having to carry the book on a plane.



5. This book is absolutely a waste of money if you have been using Excel. I thought since it's "Inside Out", it should include some advanced contents, but I'm very disappointed. I was too lazy to return the book, so I still have it as a decoration.

5 comments about SAS Certification Prep Guide: Base Programming for SAS 9.

1. For novice and experienced programmers who wants to write certification exam its a good reference book. I recommend to buy this book.



2. The most notable attribute of the SAS Prep Guide is that it contains a lot of information not included in the two programming classes that I've taken from the SAS Institute (Base Programming I and II). The classes were great, but the book adds even more material (and if it's on the test, I want to know about it!). The book is thorough, over 750 pages of material and includes about 10 questions at the end of each chapter as a test (answers and explanations in the back of the book). Also, the book doubles as a reference guide in case you're stumped and need a resource. I have not used the CDROM at all and thus have no comments in regards to it. Overall, I suggest it, especially if you can get your company to pay for it!



3. I bought this book and read it many times before the exam. Took notes for concepts that are confusing or may be tricky(like Do while/Until, Length etc.). Passed the test (90% questions correct!) and now preparing for the advanced test. The quizes on the back are good but a bit easier than the test. I also referred the e-planetlabs study guide which had better quizes. Then I reviewd this book again to clear some concepts. Overall, SAS base test is pretty easy if you have these two reference materials. Answering 45 correct questions out of 70 is not that tough. Also SAS website has a mock test which might help practice, but i suggest the e-planet. Good luck.



4. Buying this book from Amazon saved me time and money. I was worried about the cd not being included with the book at the time of purchase. However, the book was brand new with cd wrapped in a plastic wrap. I am very pleased to order this book from Amazon.



5. This is a great book if you are preparing to take the SAS Exam. It covers everything you need to know for the exam and it is very easy to understand. I was able to pass the exam after studying with this book.

No comments about Programming the Microsoft® ADO.NET Entity Framework (PRO-Developer) (PRO-Developer).

2 comments about Professional Windows PowerShell (Programmer to Programmer).

1. This book is extremely well written and easy to understand coming from a non or limited programming background. If you are completely new to programming, I'd suggest reading Microsoft Windows PowerShell Programming for the Absolute Beginner by Jerry Lee Ford Jr. first and then read this book. Also, so far the code has been exceptionally accurate, which makes the experience that much better.



2. This is a really good book. I have purchased a bunch of other books on Powershell but most of them were written with developers in mind and not system administrators. Well good news, this book is written specifically for Windows System Admins. It walks you through how the scripting language works (.NET), and it provides very clear examples of how to use and create power shell scripts. With this book in hand and the free information that is available on the Microsoft Technet site, you are on you way to becoming a proficient Power Shell Scripter! Well done Mr. Andrew Watt.

No comments about The iPhone Developer's Cookbook: Building Mobile Applications with the iPhone SDK (Developer's Library).

5 comments about Python Essential Reference (3rd Edition) (Developer's Library).

1. This book is a highly detailed reference to the Python language. The introductory chapters build on one another and give the reader a decent introduction to the language. The later chapters need not be read sequentially as they are a reference on more advanced features.
   
   The book has superb coverage of distutils, C extensions, network I/O, and introspection. The index is well organized so you can find text on obscure, subtle concepts easily. Need to know how to raise an IOError in C? Not a problem, it's in there. Need to know how to quickly generate a tuple from C? Not a problem, it's in there. Need to know how to split apart or join paths and filenames in a platform-independent way? It's in there too. How about creating a memory mapped file? Or parsing a date? Or resolving the IP address of a hostname? Parsing a python string? Running a python expression as a string? Grabbing the caller's call stack? All of these nifty and possibly dangerous features are all covered in this wonderful book.
   
   Normally, I'm a fan of O'Reilly books but O'Reilly's Programming Python (OPP) is disappointingly basic, and you'll quickly outgrow it. I found OPP very unhelpful as a reference for writing large, scientific simulations in Python. In such situations, the data sets are often large, and thus, one must be careful not to gratuitously waste memory with range() when looping over several arrays in the same loop. For example, there is no mention of the xrange construct, which creates a generator object used for incrementally generating numbers over a range. However, it is extremely rare I find an omission in Beazley's Python, and the omission always involves an extremely obscure and uncommon feature.



2. Very concise and precise information. I would recommend for anyone who wants advance book on python for reference and learning.



3. This little book isn't missing a thing! It's extremely well organized; I find it faster to get answers from this book than from the Internet. Can't say that too often!



4. I say Outstanding Reference, because that's what this book is. While there are examples, they are short and concise - this is not a "how to" book (though the introduction provides an excellent overview). Rather, this is a text to keep alongside a book like Learning Python. It's dimensions are smaller than your typical computer book, so it fits nicely on my desk. Also, the index is the best you'll find (Dave actually generated it from a Python script). It's faster than looking stuff up online.



5. I love the book. Use it with Python in a Nutshell. Use the Nutshell as a more comprehensive reference and this book to get exactly what I need when I have a general idea of what is needed. I see Python Essentials as more of a 'nutshell book' than the actual nutshell book. It is clear and concise and I find the print size to be very acceptable. The book is a maverick when it comes to being able to compare different approaches/elements. It will not do it for you, but since it is so precisely laid out, it is easy to think in terms of: "If I used this then I could do this; If I used that then I could do that, but not this, etc." If you have a basic background in python or other language, you will likely be able to frame up your ideas/knowledge into specifics and start coding to learn more or if you are already an accomplished programmer you can check and refine code in progress or established code projects.

5 comments about Java For Dummies (Java for Dummies).

1. What can i say, if you ever want to learn JAVA then this is your book. For some time i have found it hard to understand the basics in java, most of the books i have read gave me headaches they are just to complex but this book by Proff Barry Baud is an absolute knockout. The intresting thing about the book is the manner in which he wrote the book its very easy to undestand complex topics are broken down into bits and pecies that you can undestand.



2. I am a mature University student studying Web Development and Programming.I needed a gentle introduction to Java, and this book has provided just that.It takes the reader by the hand and introduces all of the basic concepts in an informative and uncomplicated manner (not an easy task).
   The author is also very accesible.I had a problem with some code and he responded to my email within hours.(He pointed me to a posting on his Weblog which did just the trick).
   I approached Java with some trepidation but thanks to Mr Burd I am now feeling very confident about tackling the more complicated issues.
   I am also more than holding my own at University.I can`t thank the author enough.
   An introduction to Java that I would highly recommend to anyone.



3. This was a gift for a friend. She really finds it a good resource



4. I needed a book that would explain the important concepts of java, but also introduce them to me from scratch. This book did exactly that. The writing is great, and easily understood, even if java itself seems to give me headaches! There are examples of pretty much everything that is explained, and whenever I had a moment where I looked at a code and said "what is that?" it would be explained a few pages later. All around good book.
   
   The only reason I don't give it five stars is because there were no exercises for the beginner. This is a major oversight since reading about something and understanding it is so different from actually doing it. I had to go to another book for exercises and found they didn't always line up with what I was learning. The explanations themselves, however, were great.



5. I recommend Barry Burd's book. It is a good starting book with humor and illustrations. The material is clearly explained and not overwhelming. Perhaps more important is the author himself who will answer email questions. The programs can be typed into notebook and compiled and run using the Windows run feature or with an IDE provided on download. Ralph Fullwood

5 comments about Hackers and Painters: Big Ideas from the Computer Age.

1. I was entertained and greatly appreciated the view of the author but the many times I completely disagreed (due to very substantiated reasons) made me skeptical of several ideas of the author. But, the reasons for him holding those views is, in and of itself, interesting. He does have several good and controversial ideas and his experiences are quite valuable to read. Most of the time, I found myself flying high with him as he stated things that really need to be said which ran against conventional thought. Other times, I found myself raising my eyebrows in bewilderment. After all, it really is a book about his thoughts so take it as such. His book, his soapbox.
   
   The book reads well but really trails off towards the end. I found myself finishing the book just so I could say I was through with it. The opening chapters are quite entertaining. Read a few chapters that you find interesting and leave it at that.



2. In spite of the strong desire to punch the author in the face after finishing the book, there are many great truths inside. Basically why is it that most people think salaries on the same position should be the same if work results differ in orders of magnitude.
   
   Also it's funny to see an ultra-capitalist criticize the western decadent corporate structure. It's The Market for Lemons all over the place.
   
   Don't expect to find anything useful to make a dot com startup on this book. It's all anecdotes from his experience and his quasi-religious views. It's more rhetoric on Lisp than business.
   
   As another reviewer said, read first his online essays before diving into this.



3. Paul Graham is very clever (and rich - is that relevant?), however light also bends around his ego. Whether the sum of these qualities is positive is not absolutely clear to me.
   
   If you want to read the best thing that he has written, you might be better served by his book on advanced Lisp programming, which is a monument anybody can be proud of - it comes close behind SICP on my personal list.
   
   And, if you do read this book, I suggest you also look at 'The Science of Art' by Martin Kemp, which gives another perspective on the maybe slightly overweighted metaphor of the title, and the relation between theory and practice it implies.



4. The book particularly deals with the nexus between programming, creativity, social commentary, wealth-generation, business-personal-entrepreneurial psychology (his specialty!) and LISP-related stuff. I skipped the programming sections because Im not a programmer. The philosophical commentary was better than 90% of other philosophy books I've read, more cutting and more true-to-life.



5. Hackers and Painters is a good read. I enjoyed learning about the author's perspective on programming trends. I really enjoyed learning about his enthusiasm for Lisp. This book is not a how-to, but a collection of essays describing the authors views, opinions, and experiences with various programming topics. I definitely recommend it.

5 comments about Foundation ActionScript 3.0 with Flash CS3 and Flex (Foundation).

1. Like most of the friends of ED books on Flash and ActionScript, this book by Steve Webster, Todd Yard and Sean McSharry is a good book for the novice. Most beginner's books on ActionScript cover just the basics such as variables, loops and functions and don't go much further. However in this book, the authors go one step further and help the readers to extend their ActionScript skills for both Flash and Flex.
   
   The authors first discuss the development process for building an ActionScript project and dissect a simple bouncing ball example. The next chapter covers ActionScript fundamentals including variables, data types and constants. As you move on to objects, classes, inheritance and other aspects of OOP, you take a look at a sample iPod project.
   
   The most interesting topics for me are the visual aspects of Flash. The authors cover everything from the Display list to movie playback. But they don't stop there. Next, they delve into the Graphics class and the drawing API. As you build a drawing application, you learn the essentials such as how to use ActionScript to draw line strokes and shape fills.
   
   Next, you learn the aspects necessary for building interactivity in Flash including events, listeners and the event flow. You apply this knowledge of event handling to build a video player and along the way learn about displaying and controlling video in Flash. Moving on to audio, you build an MP3 audio player.
   
   One of the most important aspects of any programming language is the ability to streamline a project or projects with reusable code. In Flash, that means components. The authors cover components starting with building a framework for UI and video components to skinning the finished components.
   
   Now you are ready for advanced topics such as regular expressions, XML and E4X parsing. Over the last few chapters, you build an RSS reader application in both the Flex 2 SDK and Flex Builder 2. Then, you expand the functionality of this RSS reader with ActionScript.
   
   Steve Webster works as a developer at Yahoo and has contributed to several Flash-related books. Todd Yard is a software architect at Brightcove in Cambridge, Massachusetts and has contributed to several Flash-related books. Sean McSharry is an Adobe Certified Flash Developer and Designer and a prerelease tester for many Adobe products.



2. Boy I was loving this book until chapter 7.
   
   The Video project in that chapter is pretty complex, although the author (Sean McSharry - author of Chaps 7 & 8) keeps telling you what a simple example it is. Sadly, in chapter 7 there are several typos and some that I *think* are typos but can't be sure of. The downloaded source didn't work either. I switched the publish settings from 'Adobe AIR Player' to 'Flash Player 9' and that worked while I was at work. However, my files that I've created while at home (my 2nd attempt at getting this to work)are not responding to the same fix. I've spent hours looking at the book and my code and his source with no luck. There is a book site with an errata, but there isn't really anything there that helps with this issue.
   
   That's the bad news. The good news is that up until that chapter, I was following everything and everything worked as it was presented in the book.
   
   That said, if you want to pick this book ONLY to gain understanding of the capabilities of Video in AS 3 (I don't know why you would...maybe you like to throw money away at a whole book for one chapter, what do I know?)- I'd skip this and find some good tutorials online on the subject.
   
   I'm in this book till the end as I'm using it to prepare for my Flash CS3 cert and I feel like, in general, it's helping me. I also tore through Friends of Ed's Foundation Actionscript for Flash 8.
   
   Bottom Line: Flawed but worth the money if you want to put the effort into it.



3. This was not your typical dry reading tech book. The author did a great job of mixing humor into the writing, so that you did not feel like you were trudging through just to get to the end. To me, it helped the concepts stick in my head a little easier/better.



4. I've benefited a lot from the user reviews on Amazon.com so I figured I should contribute and give back. I have no association with the authors or the publisher. I purchased this book after reading the reviews on Amazon. I am a programmer with
   
   experience in Java, PHP, C#, JavaScript, ASP, Visual Basic, MySQL, Oracle, Sybase, MS SQL Server, and now ActionScript 3.0!
   
   "Foundation ActionScript 3.0 with Flash CS3 and Flex" by Steve Webster, Todd Yard, and Sean McSharry is a very good book. It is definitely worth the price. The authors provide interesting facts that make the book interesting to read. For
   
   example, did you know that ActionScript 3.0 is based on ECMAScript Edition 4? This fact is not going to make you a better programmer but they do make the reading more interesting. The authors have a good sense of humor. They inject
   
   some funny lines to make the reading less boring. Let's face it technical books can be very dry. The humor makes the reading a lot less dry. Here's a sample:
   
   "So, far you've created an IPod class and creaetd an instance of it, but we've already discovered that it's completely useless as it is. It's like an annoying socialite factory capable of churning out an endless parade of celebrity wannabes who are
   
   famous just for being famous, despite being completely devoid of both substance and talent...."
   
   "Anyway, where was I? Ah, yes -- properties."
   
   This book targets novice ActionScript 3.0 programmers and designers. There seems to be two camp of Flash users: designers and programmers. You can do quite a lot with Flash using only the time line, scene(s), resources in the Library
   
   (movies, graphics, buttons,...), and some simple scripts. However, the real power of Flash is harnessed with the use of ActionScript 3.0. This book is targeted to those individuals who want to move beyond just using the Flash IDE to lay out
   
   their Flash project.
   
   I have one warning. The book covers Flex 2. Flex 3 was recently released. I'm sure the concepts are applicable to Flex 3 but the newer features of Flex 3 are obviously not covered. Hopefully a new editon of this book will cover Flex 3. If you
   
   plan to use Flash CS3 to program ActionScript then this is a mute point. The authors state that the book is geared more towards Flash CS3 ActionScript 3.0 programming with bonus coverage of Flex ActionScript 3.0 programming. Flex 2 does
   
   support ActionScript 3.0.
   
   I highly suggest you read the help files that come with Flash CS3 before you read this book. You should know about timelines, frames, movies, scenes,...before you read this. Get the basic concepts out of the way first.
   
   I know I will be looking at other Friends of ED books after reading this book. I will be a life long fan of Friends of Ed if any other there other books are as good as "Foundation ActionScript 3.0 with Flash CS3 and Flex".
   
   
   Chapter 1 walks the user through the creation of a simple application to demonstrate the power of ActionScript 3.0. This is a demonstration chapter and not a detailed tutorial based chapter. Type in the code and watch the movie execute. The
   
   author promises to clear up any questions later.
   
   Chapters 2 and 3 get into the grit of ActionScript 3.0's syntax and object oriented programming. These are the hardest chapters for a person not exposed to OOP. If you have C++, Java, C#, or worked with OOP before then this chapter is a
   
   quick review. Don't skip the chapters, though, if you have previous OOP experience. For example, the implicit getter/setter methods are not available to Java. C# and Visual Basic programmers will be familiar with this syntax.
   
   Chapters 4 throug 11 are mini exercises that introduces the reader to ActionScript 3.0 in action. Each excercise is well written. You can also download the source code if you don't want to type in the code examples. I suggest you actually
   
   type in the code. It reinforces your learning. Take time to read the code and actually understand it. Your knowledge about ActionScript 3.0 will be vastly different by the time you complete the chapters.
   
   You knowledge will then be put to the test in chapter 12. Actually, your knowledge will be re-inforced as you build an application that ties all of lessons you completed in chapters 4 through 11.
   
   Chapters 13 and 14 will quickly introduce you to Flex 2. I will probably purchase another Friends of Ed book for Flex 3 and ActionScript 3.0 programming.
   
   I love this book. If you want to learning ActionScript 3.0 from the view point of Flash CS



5. I find that one of the hardest things about picking up a tech book is determining the book's target audience, i.e. what do the authors assume you already know? Personally, I've been a programmer for the last 10 years and have been tasked with learning ActionScript as part of a new project. When I started looking at books on the subject, I couldn't find very many AS books that were aimed at developers only without going to a reference manual. I suppose this is a function of AS being intimately related to Flash, but that's just where I was coming from. In the end, I picked up this book because it covered AS and Flex, which I am also picking up.
   
   Before I say anything else, its important to realize that ActionScript 3.0 has a massive API, so it will be almost impossible to do lots of work with it without using a language reference. Anyone learning AS should be prepared for this.
   
   Overall the book is a good one. It does a very solid introduction of the language, including a good overview of object-oriented programming. Maybe it was because I already understood 90% of the concepts, but I found most of AS pretty easy to pickup. Most of the examples are from Flash, which makes it a tad confusing at times if you don't already know Flash. Most of them are not that difficult, so its not insurmountable, however. I had to ask a few questions of some friends who are flash guys to make a few things make sense, but thats not the end of the world. Flex is really only touched on at the end of the book, and its Flex 2 at that.
   
   So, here's my .02 on the target audience issue I mentioned. I would recommend this book to any Flash developer looking to learn ActionScript, or to a programmer from some other OO language (like Java) that knows some Flash and wants to learn AS. It will definitely get you going in the right direction, and when combined with the reference I mentioned will give you a solid foundation. If you are a developer looking to learn AS and/or Flex, I wouldn't recommend this book. There are better books out there that don't require as much Flash knowledge. Its a good book, just not the right one for me.

5 comments about Software Engineering: A Practitioner's Approach.

1. I'm not a student. I am software development manager and have over 20 years of real-world experience developing sophisticated banking and financial applications. I have one of the original first addition books, and I have to say that this book was critical to my learning software engineering principles. The criticism of this book are unfounded in my opinion. This book contains the critical elements to implement SE principles.
   
   The complaints seem to be from students and they seem to think it is a poor text book. Well, that's probably a good sign, as good text books are usually worthless for real world examples, and books that give you worthwhile information aren't usually good text books.
   
   If you look through all the 5 star reviews, they are from Software Engineers working in the field. If you look at all the 1 star reviews, they are all from students who, frankly don't know what really is important and what isn't when it comes to developing quality software. (I know I didn't when i was a student). That alone gives speaks volumes about the book.
   
   Some said that Code Complete is a better book. Where do you think the authors of Code Complete got their material? This book is first published 15 years before Code Complete. Code Complete is a good book, but doesn't explain the "why" of things, whereas this book does. Studying this book will give you the "why" on certain principles so you can enact them to whatever situation you are in. It is not an "ABC" book on how to do "XYZ."
   
   The theories and examples on the programmer productivity were very valuable to me, and I have saved me countless hours and money on developers time because I learned how to maximize programmer productivity. This book is the framework on how to development high-quality software. I can speak from experience that the software I've been respopnsible for developing, using the priniciples I learned from this book, has been excellent. The software failure rates I have experienced are far lower than industry averages. I have some applications that have run for many years without any software failures. It can be done, but this doesn't garantee your success. This book shows you the blueprint. You still need experienced developers to be able to create high-quality code, but only by following the principles laid out in the book.
   
   Perhaps if all you students had to see all the poorly written software in use in the world, you would appreciate this book more. This book is well worth it the price. If you plan on having anything to do with software development, keep this book, and don't sell back to a book store. I ordered the latest version and read it, and Pressman has done a good job in keeping up with the latest in software engineering. With out a doubt, the book is worth the price. My copy has paid for itself many times over.



2. I had the 4th edition of the book back in college. When I started studying for the CSDP (Certified Software Development Professional) Exam, I ordered the 6th edition. The 6th edition is a huge improvement over the 4th.
   
   This book covers just about everything you need to know on the subject of software engineering. Great book, great reading. Applying the concepts on the job will help out tremendously in your career.



3. This is a good book. I have several editions of this book, including a very early one. In my view, in looking for a thorough perspective of software engineering, there are two major routes: McConnell/Weigers series or one of the comprehensive volumes by Pressman or Sommerville. McConnell's books (Code Complete, Rapid Software Development, and Software Estimation) and Weigers (Software Requirements) are each highly detailed. Hence, four-plus books. Pressman encapsulates (sic) the whole shebang into one big comprehensive volume. Not as detailed as those Microsoft Press authors, but that's not a drawback. If you've been practicing for a long time and you're the project manager, sometimes a substantive overview is what you need, not minute details. You're not living in the deep details anyway, your engineers are. Plus, the coverage of the more advanced development technologies, like formal methods, are very good and not included in the Microsoft Press books. Bottom line: if you're a technology director or project manager and want the big picture (in one place), get Pressman. If you're a systems analyst or software engineer and want the larger view, get McConnell and Weigers. (I have not read the Sommerville text, but from the table of contents there's a chapter on security which the other books only cover lightly.)



4. I used this book in my Grad class and I'm still confused. I don't know what to make of this book. On the one hand, I think the author tries to cover most of the important topics, but on the other, the book falls short in intellectual substance.
   
   Problems at the end of each chapter are very time consuming, and in some cases cannot be answered at all. This makes me wonder if the author can answer any of those tough questions that he wants you to ponder.
   
   If you're looking for a good SE textbook, don't buy this one. You will regret it!
   
   There is nothing much in this text that's closely related to what the author is asking you to consider. His book is based on fluff, and lacks the important stuff; just a bunch of snippets.
   
   You will get an "F".
   
   This is by far the worst textbook I have ever read, and isn't worth $128 dollars.
   
   Thanks for nothing Roger, but you deserve at least 1 star!



5. This book will bring you up to speed on all the buzz words for all the methodologies, but thats the extent of the book.
   
   This book covers very little of actually process, how to analyze and existing process, how to setup a new process or improve a process. It actually does a very poor job of explaining what sofrware engineering is all about and leaves you feeling that is about writing documents, not about creating reliable, verifiable software.