5 comments about Digital Integrated Circuits: A Design Perspective.

1. 
   Has some good information at the transistor level. However, the book falls apart after the first time you open it. I returned my first copy and got a brand new one, but same thing happened. The back of the book cracks and pages fall out as soon as you start flipping through the thing. Highly overpriced, as most books of this type are!



2. Great book as it is very clear, methodical, and gives great examples in which you can actually follow unlike some others. I would also recommend going through the problem sets from the authors website online as it really helps solidify the concepts taught in this book. This book is highly recommended for budding VLSI designers or engineers who just want to learn a little bit about VLSI design!



3. I had this book for both my Undergraduate and graduate level VLSI Design classes. I cant think of other book that would make a perfect course textbook to learn 'Digital' Integrated Circuit (DIC) design. The book starts with device concepts to give you a good understanding the physics behind CMOS technology. Then it introduces the basics of CMOS circuits (inverter analysis) and covers the aspects of digital integrated design such as parastic analysis, logic families, memories, timing and complex architectures etc... The real world design, challenges and technologies are also given in the book through articles, discussions, problems and examples. It gives a good background and teaches the concepts so a designer would be able to choose a correct design paramaters, logic/arch. family and targets such as power/performance/noise/area.
   
   The book does not go deep in to each subject since its intention is intro/intermediate. Also this book is not for serious circuit designers but its a start book to make one. Its the book to learn and broaden your knowledge on designing custom and high performace circuits.. The cons of this book would be that its not a user friendly at the beginning for a fresh starter but it will welcome and get you going pretty quick once you get the style of the author. I would recommend the Uyemura's book (CMOS Logic Design) for uncovered and extra examples to complete this book. And if you are looking more to designing complex high performance circuits, Chandrakasan's book (Design of High-Performance Microprocessor Circuits) would be the one.



4. I used the first edition of this book in my graduate class. I found the book well-written with good examples and explanations. It also covers a diverse range of subjects and I still find myself referring to it when I have doubts. If you are having problems with understanding fundamentals, I highly recommend this book as a reference.



5. It's a great book,I studied with it during the semester, and it covered all the topics i needed.

5 comments about Beginning Google Maps Applications with Rails and Ajax: From Novice to Professional.

1. I was worried when I ordered this book that it would just be a reference book of the Google Maps API, but thankfully I was wrong. This book is an excellent reference to anyone wanting to build a Google Maps enabled Rails Application.
   
   The first four chapters take you through building an application, similar to the author's hotspotr application where a user can save Wifi hotspot information. For many people this may be all they are looking for, a way to create maps, save information and geocode addresses.
   
   Chapters 5-8 deal with larger datasets and the example they use is from the FCC Antenna Structure Registration, which has 120k records already geocoded for you. It then takes you through different presentation methods. If you want to see the output, go to book dot earthcode dot com chapter seven, server custom tiles. It's a very impressive result, similar to the pictures of earth at night.
   
   The rest of the book gives other advanced uses and apis, I have not read all the way through that but it looks interesting. The other thing I like about the tone of the book is the conversational style. For example in Chapter 5 where they are using the FCC dataset they talk about the advantages of using a mysql import instead of going through the ActiveRecord layer, resulting in importing the data in less than a minute compared to 1.5 hours with ActiveRecord. This is the type of information that usually only comes from time spent trying different methods, so it's nice for us to be able to leverage their hard work.
   
   In general I have been impressed with the Apress books ( no pun intended) them and Pragmatic Programmers have really started giving O'Reilly a run for their money.



2. I would highly recommend this book for anyone who is interested in using Google Maps with Ruby on Rails. My expectations were exceeded and I believe it lives up to its sub-title "From Novice to Professional".
   
   I develop Rails applications and became interested in Google Maps in conjunction with a Real Estate application I was working on. In particular, I was interested using Google Maps for visual analysis of large data sets. Knowing next to nothing about the Google Maps API, I was truly at the Novice level. The book started off at the basics and quickly built on example and technique to the point where there was a working example of a problem similar in scope to mine. Along the way, the trade offs and techniques were well presented and explained in detail. Not only did I gain the knowledge and confidence to tackle my particular problem, but I was also inspired by all the other potential applications of this exciting new technology.
   
   This book was well organized and written. I was obvious that the authors had worked through the examples and I especially appreciated many of the best practices and hints they gave. Chapter 7 "Optimizing and Scaling for Large Data Sets" was particularly interesting for me and my application. It included code and examples for several server-side and client-side techniques and as well as a clear explanation of their uses and trade offs.
   
   If you are a Rails coder and you want to master Google Maps, this is a must have book



3. A good guide if you are new to google maps. If you are an experienced google maps developer trying to integrate RJS or other cool rails techniques, this book is not very useful. I'm coding rails and google maps applications daily and I haven't picked this book up more than twice since receiving it.



4. I was a little disappointed. Although there are a few interesting tips, I did not think the book was very well edited. There are several typos. For example, one obvious mistake in chapter two, which for a novice, would make the code unusable. array.size should be array.length. Furthermore in chapter three, the authors abandon the completed code listings altogether leaving the novice totally stranded. In addition, the online code is also incomplete and quite broken. I would not recommend this book unless you are already an expert and can filter through the errors and omissions.



5. This item is an excellent start point to developers who want to learn how to use Google Maps API within Rails. Helped a lot to increase productivity with the basic skills.

5 comments about The Definitive Guide to Stellent Content Server Development.

1. If you do any customization to a Stellent Content Server or want a detailed over-view of what can be done to a Content Server, then this book is for you. Both developers and managers could benefit from this book. It's easy to explain what needs to be done or what you are asking for, once you know what can be done within the Content Server.
   
   Finding information is easy in the book and Bex's example are clear cut and to the point.



2. Well written, easy to understand and use, congratulations on a truly useful tool. I have worked with Stellent for many years, and have this book next to my keyboard at all times! Bex has always provided clear answers for the user group, but this provides a clear direction no matter what you need to do with your Stellent system.
   
   Kudos!



3. I only wish this book was written two years ago. However, it is a very well written book with a good layout and great examples. At last many questions that I did not know to ask have now been answered.
   
   Way to go Brain!



4. brian did a great job of getting right to the matter at hand with excellent real world examples.



5. Very good collection of Stellent Content Server. Only reason i gave 4 star instead of 5 is that sometimes it is hard to find stuff you are looking for. I have this book for about 18 months now and i have used it so many times both during new development as well as fixing some bugs.
   
   Now that Stellent is bought by Oracle and not knowing how oracle will integrate Stellent CMS with other oracle products, I would suggest hold off buying it, if you are looking for a long term value. If you looking for only short term use, go ahead and buy it.

4 comments about Microsoft Visual C# .NET.

1. Bad...REALLY bad...This book claims to be for the beginning programmer, but unfortunately, it takes the....blah,blah,blah-"OK, got it? Good!"...blah,blah,blah..."OK, got it? Good!"...approach. In other words, this book VERY QUICKLY, in far too FEW pages, piles new concept on top of new concept WITHOUT giving enough examples. Exercises at the end of each chapter often follow a different format than examples given throughout the chapters. In chapter text, example code is given with some minor quick-over explanation (if you can call it that), and then in-chapter coding exercises are given often with little or no explanation as to how the code works...e.g. you get a breakdown on how the code works on one, but not the other example. You find you are TEACHING YOURSELF BY TRIAL AND ERROR, and referring back to the book only as a reference. Perhaps that would be a better title for the book: "Learning C# By Trial-And-Error".
   My gut tells me this book was really written in a hurry. I suspect Farrell was under a rough deadline or something. She obviously knows her subject very well, but unfortunately she assumes that by stating a fact once, with little or no reference or analogy, the reader will get it the first time. An ANALOGY might be: I KNOW how to bake a cake, and I assume that even though you've NEVER baked a cake in your life, if I tell you ONE TIME VERY QUICKLY all the details of how to bake that cake, that you'll be able to do it too! Sorry! New concepts don't cement that way.
   This book should be AT LEAST twice as thick, giving far more examples for each new concept and breaking each concept down into MUCH GREATER detail...that is *IF* Joyce Farrell is attempting to write for the beginner who is new to the concept of Object Oriented Programming as well as the specifics of the C# language.



2. I am using this book as part of course curriculum and I am sad to say that this has to be without a doubt the worst computer book I have ever read. Reading this book makes my eyes want to bleed it is so bad.

   It glosses over topics such as arrays, classes & class interaction and only briefly mentions recursion. Add to that the fact it does NOT even cover multi-dimensional arrays or any type of dynamic data handling. How do I store data if I don't want to cap how much data can be entered?

   Not only is the information lacking it is poorly structured. It "covers" classes before it goes into selection ,repetition and arrays. This seems a little backwards to me.

   Avoid at all costs.




3. This book is used as a textbook for computer science majors at a local communitry college. And interestingly, I found it to be the most comprehensive programming book I have ever read of either school textbook or mass-marketed (like SAMS).

   I have some programming background as a CS major, so alot of the constructs of the language already look familiar having studied Java and C++, etc. In fact C# is just that--a slightly modified Java for the Microsoft .Net platform. Now, I actually prefer C# to Java.

   I would recommend this book to anyone looking to learn the basics of C#. But, would not recommend it to anyone without prior experience of at least one professionally taught programming class. Of course an experienced programmer will want to breeze through much of the chapters which will serve only the purpose of making sure any slight quirks in syntax are understood--such as the way C# allows for printing of variables with curly braced symbols.

   One thing I really like about the way Joyce Farrell writes is that she explains all the syntax of the language she presents right away, instead of writing "You don't need to worry about that now" or "You won't understand this part of the language yet anyway" as so many annoyingly condescending computer learning books do.

   I plan on buying more of Joyce Farrell's books because I enjoy reading the clarity in which she presents the subjects.

   If your familiar with object oriented languages and want to learn the basics of C#, buy this book. Conveniently, the books also supplies a trial version of Visual Studio .Net which she requires as needed to compile C# for her book. If you can't get student software discounts, microsoft's compiler is expensive. However, I believe there may be free non-microsoft C# compilers that can be used with the book instead but am not sure.




4. I fully concur with the last reviewer. I think Joyce Farrell has done an excellent job with this book. The simple no-nonsense approach she takes in writing material that is geared for the beginning programmer. In the past, I had a hard time understanding Object Oriented Programming until I read this book. Now, I feel that I have a solid background in OOP. I also purchased this book to help my transitioning from Visual Basic to C# and I have to say, it has helped me tremendously. I would love to see her write a book on developing Windows and Web applications using C#. Keep up the great work Joyce!

5 comments about Database Administration: The Complete Guide to Practices and Procedures.

1. This is a well-written, well-organized guide to the practice of data base administration. Unlike other books on general database theory or relational database theory, this book focuses more directly on the theory and reality of database administration as practiced by database professionals today, and does so without catering too much to any specific product implementation. As such, Database Administration is very well suited to anyone interested in surveying the job of a DBA or those in similar but more specific roles such as data modeler or database performance analyst.

   Yet, even with that direct focus on database administration, the author succeeds in covering a great deal of ground and cutting a rather wide swathe across the database spectrum, doing so with rigor and expertise and the benefit of experience. While the book will not and is not intended to serve as a reference substitute for product documentation, it will nonetheless enhance your knowledge, and I find it of such quality and utility that I recommend it to anyone in the database field in general. Consider it a base text to serve alongside Date and Codd.

   Among the nice touches, the author includes discussion of database denormalization, often missing in discussions on database design. Chapters end with both a set of review questions and a Suggested Reading section, and I find myself in agreement with most of the suggestions. An excellent Bibliography section follows the text. I would have liked to see some discussion of the difference between relational domains in theory and their implementation in practice, particularly as it impacts the design of integrity constraints. Even so, Database Administration is an excellent book and I highly recommend it.

   - Sal Ricciardi




2. I've forgotten how many times I've recommended this book to people. It's well written, to the point, and covers the topics that you need to know to become an effective DBA.
   
   - Scott Ambler
   Thought Leader, Agile Data Method



3. This was a good introductory book about all the different
   terms and concepts in generic database administration.
   
   This book does more to cover from the managers perspective of all the
   extra stuff that managers would think about in terms of data
   loss, disaster recovery, recovery, etc.



4. Database Administration: The Complete Guide to Practices and Procedures was delivered sucessfully. I enjoy the book.



5. I bought this book as a required text for a class I was taking. While I find text books dry and difficult in many cases, this one was different. Mullen writes with some well placed humor, and yet covers a very large spectrum of information.
   
   This is not light reading, and it goes into quite a bit of depth on the various topics that a DBA needs to know, like backup and recovery or indexing. He doesn't get into how you mechanically do the procedure on each DBMS, but rather, he goes for an under the hood approach, so that you understand how/why the DBMS works. After each chapter he gives very good references for additional reading on each topic.
   
   Even though Mullen is a DB2 guy, this is not a DB2 book, it is well rounded non-platform specific. While some books can be TOO generic and not useful, the author treads a delicate balance and delivers value in every chapter of the book.
   
   One final note, he does convert real life experience into this text and I really appreciated the information he provided on denormalization and some other aspects that are not covered by other books.

5 comments about An Introduction to Design Patterns in C++ with Qt 4 (Bruce Perens' Open Source Series).

1. I am extremely impressed by this book - not only does it provide excellent information on design patterns, and using Qt 4, but its written so that those new to C++ and Qt can understand and progress throughout. This book is heft, but extremely informative, and I would recommend it to anyone interested in C++ development!



2. If Qt is what you are interested in, go to trolltechs website or another online resource and don't waste you money on this book. The book is not very well laid out, the exercises are ambiguous and you have to work on the example code to get them to work. Although a lot of material is covered, the coverage of certain topics is barely adequate, although they do supply information on where you can get additional information.



3. The book is an easy read and has good examples, but unless you already know how to use Xcode or have KDE on your Mac this book is not for you, because you will find that the build instructions found in the book do not work in Mac OS X. Has anyone tested them on Unix or with KDE? I can only assume that they work there.
   
   Qt4 is not compatible with Xcode. (It is not possible to display Qt4 Objects like QString in the Xcode debugger. This used to work with Qt3, but was lost in Qt4.) While this is not the book's fault, it makes it very difficult to step through the examples or debug your own coding efforts in the exercises.
   
   I like the way the book introduces topics a chapter or two before going into detail. Also, the book makes an effort to reinforce what was learned in previous sections and chapters, making it a very good learning tool for anyone new to the topic.



4. This is a very good good which teaches you C++, Qt and design patterns.
   
   I am surprised by the commentaries saying this is not an introductory book. Quite the opposite: this is the perfect book if you do not know any one of Qt, C++ or design patterns but you want to use them together.
   
   Some may say the book worries too much about syntax. Wrong. The authors want to make sure you understand C++ perfectly well because subtle differences (such as the 'static in declaration' vs 'static in definition', introduced in chapter 2) may have devastating effects in your software. The same goes for Qt macros: the book explains them because when you know and understand them, you will write better code; the book by Blanchette and Summerfield barely names them.
   
   As the title says, this book is only an introduction. There are three natural companions you should get if you want to delve deeper in the wonderful world of Qt and design patterns:
   * A Complete Guide to Programming in C++ by Prinz and Prinz
   * C++ GUI programming with Qt by Blanchette and Summerfield
   * Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software by Gamma et al.



5. I don't major in CS but I have to use C++ and QT for my PhD research. Although I had pretty good general understanding of IT and some experience in web programming, I struggled to teach myself C++ from scratch. I tried a few popular books, but none of them worked very well. As someone said, "the trouble with C++ is there's an awful lot to remember". Those big thick books are often quite easy to follow from page to page, but very quickly all the details become overwhelming. C++ is a powerful and flexible language that incorporates different paradigms so there're always many different ways of doing things but quite often (particularly for beginners) we only need to know the best practices. As Bjarne suggests: "A focus on details can be very distracting and lead to poor use of the language. You wouldn't try to learn a foreign language from a dictionary and grammar, would you?" (http://www.research.att.com/~bs/learn.html). Ironically, most of the big books I read did exactly the same for me. They all tend to provide too many details upfront. You could end up reading 500 pages but still don't have a clue what's the correct way of programming in C++. Plus you'll probably forget what read before...
   
   
   
   I felt a great relief when I came across this book. I would say the authors have done a marvellous job. From the very beginning they teach you how to program in the C++ way, more precisely in the Qt way. The book suggests Qt coding style is not "pure" C++ but that's a different story. By throwing away all the irrelevant bits, they give you a good idea of the whole picture so that you'll be on the right track very quickly. Then you can let you knowledge grow by accumulating more technical details - it's just a matter of time and practice. Of course, a big thick book is still needed as reference. If you don't know anything about programming, I would suggest you read the first few chapters of one of the primers, then switched to this book. I feel it still requires some basic programming background.
   
   
   
   I would definitely give it a five star and recommend to anyone learning Qt

2 comments about Pro Netbeans IDE 6 Rich Client Platform Edition (Expert's Voice in Java).

1. I've bought this book hoping that it'll help me use the "platform", i.e. a set of reusable components that Netbeans itself is built with, to write my own app.
   
   Instead the book is basically a shrunk paper based version of the Netbean's own help.
   
   Absolutely worthless. Definitely returning it.



2. Eagerly anticpated book that was utterly disappointing. I had decided to make Net Beans my IDE of choice, but because of the lack of good documentation (including this book) I am going back to [...]

5 comments about Java I/O.

1. [Review of 2nd edition]
   
   Getting data into and out of files in your Java program can be painstaking when you consider all the variations... network resources as files, compressed files, text vs. binary data in the file, etc. Java has significant power in this area, but there's a lot to know and understand. Elliotte Rusty Harold has made the task of learning it all a little easier with the book Java I/O (2nd edition).
   
   Contents:
   Part 1 - Basic I/O: Introducing I/O; Output Streams; Input Streams
   Part 2 - Data Sources: File Streams; Network Streams
   Part 3 - Filter Streams: Filter Streams; Print Streams; Data Streams; Streams in Memory; Compressing Streams; JAR Archives; Cryptographic Streams; Object Serialization
   Part 4 - New I/O: Buffers; Channels; Nonblocking I/O
   Part 5 - The File System: Working with Files; File Dialogs and Choosers
   Part 6 - Text: Character Sets and Unicode; Readers and Writers; Formatted I/O with java.text
   Part 7 - Devices: The Java Communications API; USB; The J2ME Generic Connection Framework; Bluetooth
   Part 8 - Appendix: Appendix; Index
   
   The first edition of this book was written back in 1999, and that's an eternity in computer years. Not only has the java.nio classes come into play since then, but you now have devices that were either bleeding edge or concept-only in 1999, like Bluetooth gadgets. Harold has improved the basic material to bring it up to date with the current state of Java development, and added the additional information for I/O classes through Java 6. I appreciated the large amount of coding samples that he uses to illustrate his points, as it makes it easy to adapt your learning to your own particular situation. The examples are also very focused, so you don't end up trying to filter out extraneous code to find the applicable concept you need.
   
   There's another way to use this book that makes it even more valuable than just a reference manual. If you've been coding for awhile, it's possible that you've developed some ingrained approaches to file I/O that are outdated. By simply scanning the information here, you could easily find new ways to build your applications using newer methods. Or, you might find there are language features you didn't know existed, like the ability to write your files in a compressed format without having to go through a separate utility. Two or three personal revelations like that, and the book has quickly earned its place on the shelf.
   
   While you may not use this book for every Java application you build, you'll definitely want it whenever you're working with I/O logic...



2. Not a fan of O'Reilly books, but this one stands out because of excellent NIO coverage and topical examples. It beats the the "Java NIO" book from O'Reilly hands down. Overall I'd say this book is geared for those who want to implement but covers enough detail that it probably even soothes the more 'academic' out there (those who talk a good show but do not build real-world software).
   
   Some highlights:
   
   - You'll find good coverage of cryptographic I/O aimed at practical implementation.
   
   - Excellent NIO coverage (including basic network servers in sync and async patterns)
   
   - ZIP and JAR information including dynamic class loading
   
   - Serial, USB and Bluetooth chapters (caveat: I don't use these but read them out of curiousity)
   
   - Detailed coverage of readers/writers
   
   - And obviously good coverage of the basic java.io/net packages.
   
   As of Septemebr 2006 I find the book topical and current (even had some examples of future Java 6 code). To give you an idea of the detail offered here, there is a whole chapter (37 pages) of information on File access alone including pitfalls of cross-platform implementation. Not reading/writing files...just the trappings of opening and accessing files and directories using particular patterns, URLs, etc. The actual I/O is covered in similar depth in other chapters.
   
   I'd also like to say that I highly appreciate examples that are concise and independant. There is nothing more frustrating than flipping to the middle of a book (what we all do anyway) and going through an example...only to find out that the author is using opaque references to classes and methods he/she developed on their own in five earlier chapters (bouncycastle APIs in Java Cryto for example). This pretty much makes quick-reference difficult to impossible and this book thankfully avoids it in spades.
   
   I give it five starts because it'll be well used in several projects and because it is readable and accessible to both novice and advanced developers alike.



3. Howell do you know I/O? If you don't know it very well, then this book is for you. Author Elliote Rusty Harold, has done an outstanding job of writing a 2ndedition of a book that shows you the I/O tricks and techniques used by gurus and wizards of the Java world.
   
   Harold, begins with an exploration of I/O in Java. Then, the author discusses the two most common targets of I/O, the filesystem and the network. Next, he discusses filter streams, which are Java's mechanism for processing data as you read or write rather than doing it after the fact. The author also discusses a completely new I/O model based on channels and buffers instead of streams. He continues by discussing operations on files themselves as distinct from the contents of those files. Then, the author explores how text is represented in Java and how it can be manipulated through special text streams called readers and writers. Finally, he shows you how to communicate with different kinds of peripherals and small devices that don't have traditional filesystems or network connections..
   
   This most excellent book assumes you have a basic familiarity with Java. More importantly, this book is not a language tutorial, and the emphasis will always be on the I/O-specific features.



4. It covers a lot of topics but I did find it particularly helpful in any way. The idea of gathering all the information about I/O into one book to use as a single resource is nice, but this book doesn't do a good job. Not that much help in explaining things and no help at all as far as practical examples went. You will learn much more from general Java books and Google searches.



5. Thorough guide to the java.(n)io API. Less useful as a cookbook as the organization of the book follows the API rather than focusing on specific tasks (e.g. how to best copy a file). Could have done without some of the cool chapters such as the one on J2ME (better treated in other books), or the one that describes hooking up a temperature sensor via USB, or a GPS via Bluetooth (publish these projects in a blog). Could also cut the rants about how outdated command line applications are, and I don't think the Swing-based file browser application that's built up throughout the book adds much. On the other hand I'd rather have more on performance considerations and error handling strategies!

2 comments about Client-Side Reporting with Visual Studio in C#.

1. I like this book very much. The author explains the client-side reporting with Visual studio in C# in detail, especially step by step. The topics cover windows form, web form, windows service and web service, which are useful for developers to write the report easily.
   
   Although this book says it covers version VS 2005 and VS 2008, I really hope the author can update this book using VS 2008 version and add some new features such as LINQ to generate the client-side reports easily. I will recommend this book to everyone.



2. I received this book today and have already completed four chapters. It is an easy read and generally thought out. The only complaint so far is the author's over use of the word "Please"! Please see Figure n.n Please give an application name... Enough!
   
   Did the publisher review this book before it went to press? How annoying!
   
   Day two:
   
   In addition, the author writes in broken English: "You should also keep in mind that there is more then one way of getting a report done."
   
   If I had a nickel for every grammatical error I could buy the book which is a shame since the book really is helpful.
   
   This book is rated for intermediate - advanced user but over and over there are instructions for creating a project, creating a dataset, etc.

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

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



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



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



4. With any book about programming most are looking for tip or ideas on how to "get it done". One book can not to it all. But to learn the User Interface of RB and advance to writing good code this book offers a good start. It will be very useful even with the present 2008 release. I liked the book.



5. REALbasic is in that funny space of being a mature and respected product but without a huge developer ecosystem around it. The comparative dearth of books is indicative of this.
   
   So to subtitle a book "from novice to professional" is nothing short of misleading if you are execting it to cover anything beyond novice level.
   
   Ok, some might argue that readers will be more than novices when they finish this book - that's a question of definition.
   
   What is indisputable is that this book will not take you to "professional" level. I am a "professional" Rails coder and have worked in software development for over twenty years (fwiw). A recent project has required me to get to know REALbasic - and this book will not answer most of my (relatively simple) questions about real world application development with this product.
   
   Be warned.
   
   :)