5 comments about Sams Teach Yourself Perl in 21 Days (2nd Edition) (Sams Teach Yourself).

1. This book is not helpful for the newbies. Not only do some of the scripts not work, but the way Perl is explained in this book, it just doesn't make enough sense. I learned more from online tutorials that were perhaps 3 pages long than I learned in 15 pages of one chapter of this book. I usually pick things up quite easily, so it must be the book that is confusing.

   At least two of the script examples given in Chapters 1-8 had typos in them, and not enough explanation for someone that doesn't know much to figure out what. I am unfortunately going to have to give up on this book to learn Perl and turn to the internet... too bad I spent $35 for the book. I don't recommend this book to anyone except perhaps someone that already knows Perl.




2. If you want to start programming Perl in the shortest time possible, and have some programming background, you will benefit from reading Sam's Teach Yourself Perl in 24 Hours, which packs a lot of practical materials and emphasizes get-your-hands-dirty-immediately as well as uses a lot of code snippets to teach.
   
   This "in 21 days" book, on the other hand, is better if you have more time to learn Perl. Each lesson takes 1-2 hours, if you already have some programming background, and longer if you don't. This book treats Perl more systematically and in more details than the "24 hours" book. It explains a lot of concepts, including hashes and modules, more clearly than the "24 hours" book. I recommend you do 2 or 3 lessons each day, because Perl is such a compact yet complicated language, that it's best to force yourself to learn it quickly, rather than slowly, because slow learning will make you forget things. Be sure to study the examples in the book until you understand every line of code.



3. Teach Yourself Perl in 21 Days by Laura Lemay is sufficient for the beginner wanting to learn Perl, be it on Windows or a UNIX-based operating system. If Perl is your first programming language, then this book is a fairly good book to choose as a starting point. It teaches the basics of programming in Perl and moves quickly from that point onward.
   
   However, while this approach introduced me to the language I found my ability to pace through the book as I normally would with other programming languages hindered by the author's organization. Unexplained code is used in almost all of the examples before you get to its respective chapter. While this approach may work for some and give cause for thinking, it gave me an unnecessary headache.
   
   Don't get me wrong, it did teach me a good bit about Perl, it inspired me to install Debian Linux on my programming workstation, and left me to pursue Perl. Despite this, I turned to Learning Perl. I found Lemay's writing to be too verbose and the organization of the book a bit of a twister.
   
   Overall, it can be summed up by the following pros/cons:
   
   ~ Pros
   - Good introduction to Perl
   - Independent of Operating System (Great for Windows users ready to Learn Perl and perhaps Migrate to Linux for programming purposes)
   - Solid examples and references
   - Covers more advanced topics later on
   
   ~ Cons
   - Verbose
   - Awkward structure. Things such as loops are constantly used in beginning examples without much of an explanation. If you don't' have any experience with programming, it will give you a headache. The sections on these devices come much later, and have a strange introduction as well.
   - Frustrating at times when it shouldn't be (IE, having you use functions that you haven't learned, or haven't been mentioned, in an example for a particular chapter)
   
   Additionally, I'd recommend picking up Learning Perl or using it instead. I picked up Teach Yourself Perl in 21 Days, learned what I could, and then fell in love with Learning Perl's concise, straight to the point chapters and examples (albeit with a fair amount of humor). If you're a Linux/UNIX user, you'll probably find Learning Perl a better catch, but for me, Teach Yourself Perl in 21 Days was the stepping stone to Linux and Learning Perl. Overall, I'm satisfied with my purchase.



4. I bought this book after trying to learn Perl through another book (Perl for Bioinformatics). This book is definitely a better introduction to Perl than any other book I've seen. It is clear and concise enough and although it might be hard to finish it in 21 days, you can start coding your own scripts much before the end of the book. I am still on chapter 11 and I can program most of what I need with it (i.e parsers and simple bioinformatics applications). I recognize that there are a few typos on the book but if even Knuth's Art of Computer Programming have them why shouldn't Lemay's Teach Yourself Perl in 21 Days do the same?
   
   Given what I said above, I must warn begginer programmers (like me) that Perl is not the best language for you to learn as your first one. It is a dirty scripting language which does the job and is most suitable for parsing files and formatting data but it has a lot of things which make it quite confusing initially (its context dependency for instance). If you want to learn something that will give a solid programming base you should start with something else (i.e. Java, Pascal, Ruby etc) which will probably be a little bit harder but will payoff later.



5. I find myself using this book as a refernce almost every day. It is well written and easy to follow. I highly recommend it.

5 comments about Unified Modeling Language User Guide, The (2nd Edition) (Addison-Wesley Object Technology Series).

1. Start reading Chapter 1 of this book for even just the first few pages, and for various topics, it will say to go to future Chapters. If you take a look at those future chapters, there will be notes on the side telling you to go back to Chapter 1 or to other chapters. You can run into infinite loops or dead ends not really picking up anything. It is possible to maybe find what you were looking for, or find that the explanation for it is just not sufficient.
   
   If I'm trying to look for a topic to remember, this book is not an easy read with the index either. If you look up some topics in the index and go to all the pages listed, it may not list all the important pages. Sometimes, when I had to look for information on something, say a "use case" for instance, then I'd look that topic up in the index. I'd go to all the different pages listed in the index and it might not be what I was looking for. Then I'd have to look at the side of the page of usually the lowest or 2nd lowest numbered page listed by the indexed topic, and go to the Chapter(s) listed. When I went to those chapter(s) I'd still have to scour the entire chapter(s) until I might find what I was looking for. An example was when I was trying to understand what one of the diagram types was, a "state diagram" I believe it was, as compared to say an "activity diagram." Sometimes I would find out that things just weren't worded well if in there at all, and I'd have to refer to another UML book.
   
   This book may have some good use, but I haven't found that yet. It's hard to read and hard to look things up, and hard to learn from if you don't already know much or anything that is for sure.



2. I picked up this book as a way to familiarize myself with the changes to UML in UML 2.0, which are extensive, as I found the OMG specification nearly impenetrable. I had liked the first edition, though I too felt Fowler's Distilled was a much better intro to give to students and engineers learning UML for the first time. This edition, though, does not meet expectations. The typos and bad references throughout are bad enough. Join that with a complete lack of real-world design examples, poor organization, and poor design. Why a chapter on State Machines and a separate chapter on State Diagrams that repeats a lot of the earlier chapter? The blue cross references make it clear that the book is spaghetti design at its worst. Check out the table of contents, you won't know where to look for your favorite diagrams; check out the index, and you won't be able to find the definition of the concept you just can't quite remember. The glossary is useful, as the UML 2.0 spec dispensed with a glossary, making it even more impenetrable. On the other hand, the authors make no attempt to call out the new UML 2.0 features, which would have made my day. What I find most unforgivable, though, is the authors' inability to present the new UML as it really is: the book is seriously misleading in many ways for learning UML 2.0. My biggest peeve is the way they treat the new and highly useful composite structure diagrams. In the list of diagrams, they don't even mention it, calling it by the name of a different diagram, the "Component Diagram", which they feel is the same thing. They then separate the discussion of composite classes and components, making it seem as though they're totally unrelated. They fail to mention quite a few of the new UML features (the X navigation adornments that make non-navigability explicit, for example, which is critical to code generation, or the fact that you can have multiple stereotypes associated with model elements. In their defense, the UML standard isn't very clear on these diagram types, but this is a practical tutorial that should take practice into account. There are constant references to the Reference Guide for more advanced features; these are mostly the UML 2.0 features that they didn't feel were important enough to include in the comprehensive tutorial. The appendix on UML notation simply ignores many UML 2.0 notations. I can't help but feel shortchanged.



3. Book is complete waste of money. Find more prevalent information online. Not really a required book. Not used at all.



4. I don't know what people who would review this book well are thinking. These authors may be good at creating the UML, but terrible at explaining it. The sentences are packed with words they haven't explained - or uncommon uses of words that really have no meaning, unless you are already a UML expert. I can't imagine a more poorly written text.



5. When I am using tools supported UML, I often search key concept with this book. Because this book is an user guide.
   I made some sequence charts, so I use some functions of UML.
   I can not understand which architecture is good or not.
   I think there are little idea about that.

5 comments about Programming & Customizing PICmicro Microcontrollers.

1. Lots of basic information as well as advanced techniques. If you are just getting into PIC's, this is a great text to start with. If you are already PIC fluent, it makes a great desk reference. The free PCB is a bonus!



2. This book is by far the most confusing, rambling, badly-written, and unedited programming manual I have ever seen. The information is just thrown together haphazardly and without logic. The author jumps randomly between subjects and there are no readable threads. Finding anything in this book is impossible. I took forty minutes trying to find out how to declare a variable, and finally threw the book in the trash. Don't waste money on it, period!



3. I bought this book without hesitation because I'd had contact with the author in the past, had other books by him, etc.,, The book depends on the CD, but the CD is not there, and can't even be downloaded as far as I can tell.
   
   Myke says he's proud that they've included the PCB - why? Does anybody really want to gather up the parts to build this thing? The parts kits is not that great a deal either, if you can find it. Give me the **** CD which I need, not some stupid PCB I don't need - I can easily come up with a programmer, but I have no way to create the CD! In all the years I have been buying technical books, this is the stupidest move I've ever seen.
   
   This book is a complete waste of money. Run away and boycott the publisher until they correct this rip-off.
   
   From Myke Predko's web site:
   (so where is it?)
   
   "The CD-ROM that comes with this book is designed to be an integral part of the book. In the introduction I suggest that the reader load the CD-ROM into their computer before starting to read through the text as there is some unique information as well as code that is not present in the book due to space concerns. Along with the source (and executable) code for all the applications presented in the book, the CD-ROM also contains:
   
   * HTML Interface to the contents of the CD-ROM including a page for each experiment and application
   * HTML "appendices" for code "snippets" along with 16 Bit arithmetic and interfacing code examples and macros that can be "cut and "pasted" into your own applications.
   * Two pdf appendices, "Introduction to Electronics" and "Introduction to Programming" for new developers
   * Microchip MPLAB version 5.11, UMPS demonstration version 1.76 and gpsim/gpasm to give people different options in developing their own PICmicro MCU applications
   * pdf data sheets for all the PICmicro MCU parts used in the book
   
   The two pdf appendices, "Introduction to Electronics" and "Introduction to Programming" were written to help someone new to microcontrollers gain the background necessary to understand the concepts presented in the book. These appendices (which total over 250 pages) are virtually a stand-alone book on their own and provide reference information that experienced developers will probably find useful. "Introduction to Electronics" starts with basic electrical theory and explain the concepts behind digital logic, Analog to Digital Conversion, low-current power supplies, prototyping and basic test equipment. "Introduction to Programming" explains basic programming concepts and goes on to discuss structured programming and provides references to the "BASIC" (including PICmicro MCU varients) and "C" languages. "



4. Ordered this with two other books, and i never recieved. Tracking info just says i should have recieved 2 weeks ago. How do you call Amazon???



5. I purchase the book intending to learn how to program a micro controller and the massive amount of information that don't tell you anything is amazing at the en you will not learn how to program.

5 comments about Linux Cookbook.

1. I wanted to become more experienced with UNIX so I had the Ubuntu distribution installed in my computer. I spent six months having a hard time getting simple things done until I came accross this book.
   
   It is organized in such a way that it is easy to get to do what you want/need and, what's better, the explanations provided give you insights on how UNIX works. After a while, you will find yourself doing new stuff on your own.
   
   If you want to get into UNIX but knows little about it my advice for you is: get this book and jump into LINUX - it is worth it!



2. ... which comes in real handy considering how often I reference it.
   
   Chapter 10 (Patching, Customizing, and Upgrading Kernels) and Chapter 12 (Managing the Bootloader and Multi-Booting) helped me recompile my kernel for the first time. Not only are the instructions clear, but the author also made sure to explain each step so I knew why I was typing a certain command. There's even a section on how to create an initrd image for SCSI drive users, which I had a hard time finding on the web.
   
   This book does an excellent job covering all the basics, and it's worth spending the time to read it from beginning to end. I certainly see myself getting a lot of mileage from it.



3. A well-organised and clearly written collection of useful commands and solutions to help one along with the often exasperating arcana of Linux. Covers all flavours and is a 'must have' book.



4. Because this is a "cookbook," it gives you recipies -- step-by-step instructions for performing specific tasks.
   
   This makes Linux Cookbook EXTREMELY useful when it has a recipie you need, and it often gives you a good starting point when you need to do something that isn't specifically covered.
   
   For example, let's say you need to setup a mail server, which you've never done before. As long as you're willing to use the mail tools she describes (which are perfectly good tools), then this book is the fastest way to get the job done. She also shows you how to make sure the server will be secure.
   
   I'm glad I have this book on my shelf, I recommend it, and I refer to it whenever I need to do something new in Linux. The problem is, you can't have a step-by-step recipie for everything. When this book hits the mark, it's the best book you can have, but you cannot rely on this as your only Linux book.



5. Excellent Linux book! Gives step by step answers to common Linux problems in a "Problem - solution" style way. I'm a tad disappointed in the SAMBA section, but that really is a topic deserving of a book of its own.

5 comments about Java Network Programming, Third Edition.

1. If you're doing anything with Java and Network I/O programming, the topic will most likely be covered in this book. The author does a great job describing not only how Java handles network programming, but the concepts and details of network programming in general. The book takes the core java.net classes and describes each method, what it does, how to use it, what to watch for, code examples, etc - it takes the API Javadoc and expands upon it.
   
   It's a great Java Network API reference book.



2. This book is certainly a good reference book for me when I need to know about network programming using Java. As you all know, Java Network Programming is a vast subject, on which a single book can make no justice of. But Elliotte has tried and he is successful with this book.
   
   I liked his treatment of Multicasting, NIO, Threads and reaped a lot of benefit reading these chapters. I particularly liked his treatment of NIOs.
   
   Elliotte is an educator and his books on XML have been fantastic. As a teacher, I am sure he knows how to write books.
   
   This book caters to beginners and intermediate programmers who want a good reference book on Java N/W programming. The expert programmers can always read the Javadocs on the Sun website and other generic network books.
   
   Anil Saldhana,
   Chicago Java Users Group.



3. I bought it to prepare my class
   
   It was a good reference to me



4. This book begins with three chapters that outline how networks and network programs work. Chapter 1 is a gentle introduction to network programming in Java and explores some of the unique programs that become feasible when networking is combined with Java. Chapters 2 and 3 explain in detail what a programmer needs to know about how the Internet and the Web work. Chapter 2 describes the protocols that underlie the Internet, such as TCP/IP and UDP/IP. Chapter 3 describes the standards that underlie the Web, such as HTTP, HTML, and REST.
   
   The next two chapters discuss two parts of Java programming that are critical to almost all network programs but are often misunderstood and misused - I/O and threading. Chapter 4 explores Java's classic I/O models which, despite the new I/O APIs, are still the preferred means of handling I/O in most client applications. Understanding how Java handles I/O in the general case is a prerequisite for understanding the special case of how Java handles network I/O. Chapter 5, explores multithreading and synchronization, with a special emphasis on how they can be used for asynchronous I/O and network servers. Chapter 6 shows how Java programs interact with the domain name system through the InetAddress class, the one class that's needed by essentially all network programs.
   
   Chapter 7 explores Java's URL class, which enables you to connect to and download files and documents from a network server without concerning yourself with the details of the server's protocol. It lets you connect to an FTP server using the same code you use to talk to an HTTP server or to read a file on the local hard disk. Chapter 8 introduces some little known classes for parsing and rendering HTML documents that make this task easy.
   
   Chapters 9 through 11 discuss Java's low-level socket classes for network access. Chapter 9 introduces the Java sockets API and the Socket class in particular. It shows how to write network clients that interact with TCP servers of all kinds including whois and HTTP. Chapter 10 shows how to use the ServerSocket class to write servers for these and other protocols in Java. Chapter 11 shows how to protect your client server communications using the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and the Java Secure Sockets Extension (JSSE).
   
   Chapter 12 covers the I/O APIs that were introduced in Java 1.4. These APIs were specifically designed for network servers. They enable a program to figure out whether a connection is ready before it tries to read from or write to the socket. This allows a single thread to manage many different connections simultaneously, thereby placing much less load on the virtual machine. These APIs primarily provide huge performance boosts for high volume servers. Chapter 13 introduces the User Datagram Protocol (UDP) and the associated DatagramPacket and DatagramSocket classes, and Chapter 14 shows how to use UDP to communicate with multiple hosts simultaneously.
   
   Chapters 15 through 17 look more deeply at the infrastructure supporting the URL class. These chapters introduce protocol and content handlers, concepts unique to Java that make it possible to write dynamically extensible software that automatically understands new protocols and media types. Chapter 15 describes the class that serves as the engine for the URL class of Chapter 7. It shows how to take advantage of this class through its public API. Chapter 16 also focuses on the URLConnection class, but from a different direction; it shows how to subclass this class to create handlers for new protocols and URLs. Finally, Chapter 17 explores Java's mechanism for supporting new media types.
   
   Chapter 18 introduces RMI, which enables distributed Java applications to run across multiple heterogeneous systems simultaneously, while communicating with straightforward method calls just like a nondistributed program. Chapter 19 discusses JavaMail, which is an alternative to low-level sockets for talking to SMTP, POP, IMAP, and other email servers.
   
   This book assumes you are an experienced Java programmer. Thus, you should be comfortable with basic AWT and Swing programming, since some of the code examples use these APIs. It is assumed that you know the basics of computer networking - how to use the Internet, what a URL is, how to FTP files, and write simple HTML. However, it assumes no prior experience with network programming. I found the book to be complete and in-depth. The code examples are plentiful, non-trivial, and well commented. I would recommend it not only as a tutorial in Java network programming but as a reference for someone who already knows the subject.



5. I've noticed that most reviews (both positive and negative) are a bit out-dated, referring to older editions. This review is about the latest (third) edition, which is also somewhat outdated (2004).
   
   My biggest complaint is that the book is basically a glorified API with some very boring examples. Each chapter explains the methods and constructors of a certain class then throws them together in a sample program.
   
   In my opinion, the book should have included more ideas and concepts and logic used in networking. It doesn't really discuss how networking relates to most of the things any given programmer would like to do. The book's cover and description leads you to believe otherwise, to believe it's more than a strict reference. Unfortunately, it isn't.
   
   Another complaint is that the book is a terribly dry read and almost completely devoid of illustrations. This makes things terribly confusing when discussing things that might be new to you such as sockets.
   
   It's not a bad book overall, it's just bad at some things. Admittedly, a great desk reference, and no one can deny that the API docs can be cryptic at times.
   
   Bottom Line:
   Good reference, mediocre instruction. Nice to have but might not be enough.

5 comments about Crystal Reports: A Beginner's Guide.

1. Crystal Reports: A Beginner's Guide covers everything and more that I wanted to learn about Crystal Reports. The information is easy to digest and there are regular 1-Minute checks along the way. Hands-on experience, in the form of Projects, are dispersed through each chapter (the completed projects can be downloaded from the web). Answers to the Mastery Checks, at the end of every chapter, are given in the Appendix.

   My only complaint about the book is that, I feel, there is not enough hands-on experience because the projects are too simple. There are plenty of projects, but most of them are simply a number of steps and very little critical thinking. After reading Crystal Reports: A Beginner's Guide, my knowledge of Crystal Reports has vastly increased though I still have little experience with actually creating reports.




2. This book needs some serious editing
   Right now I'm on Chapter 4 and so far this book is terrible in regards to the Projects. The project instructions don't correspond with the results intended and shown. For example, the instructions say open the Customer by Country report, but then it says 'your report should look like this' and shows you an entirely different report! And sometimes the report you worked on doesn't even work for the task you're trying to learn. The author must have had his friends write the other customer reviews. Don't buy this book! It's just unfortunate though that there aren't many choices.



3. It is a beginners book as the title says, but there is a pittfal, the author should consider for future books.
   Not every chapter has a step-by-step tutrial. The user have to download the samples and use them to be able to follow the author, which defeats the purpose of learning by doing.
   Chapters 4 & 5 make are mutually exlusive, since chp 5 requires reports from chp 4, that was not a step-by-step tutorial.
   Either make it a step-by-step or don't. Just be consistent.



4. I'm afraid I have to agree with the review from "A reader from Cupertino, CA" - I, too, am on Chapter 4 and am frustrated beyond belief because my reports look very little like the examples in the book so far. In the case of the second tutorial in chapter 4, again the other reviewer is correct - it's not even the same report!

   I bought "A Beginner's Guide to JavaScript" by the same company and was thrilled with it. It was clear, concise and had a "mini-project" at the end of each chapter for the reader to complete to ensure mastery of the concept being taught. I was expecting the same thing with this book, and am sorely disappointed. The explaination of each topic is general at best, incorrect at worst, the tutorials are simplistic and don't include half the information being covered in each chapter, if indeed a tutorial exists at all.

   I need to get up to speed on Crystal Reports in a fairly short period of time, and be able to generate some fairly sophisticated reports. This book is becoming a hindrance to that goal.




5. I am coming from a VBA background learning about this new software. This book is a great resource tool for making such a transition. Mr. McAmis stepped me through the learning process in a clear and concise manner. The information was learned in progressive manner, in that, the further through the book I read, the more complex issues were handled. At the end each chapter the author challenged me with key questions to help me remember the most important issues.

2 comments about The Practical Guide to Defect Prevention (Best Practices).

1. This is the first review I have performed and here it goes... I work in software development and have for the last 11 years. As a Quality Assurance Professional, I think "The Practical Guide to Defect Prevention" should be on everyone's book shelf. Everyone in the industry or those contemplating a start-up in the industry should read this book to get an understanding of what quality means and how to achieve it. This is a fun book filled with real world experiences and enough technical knowledge to implement the many quality systems and is most beneficial read from end to end, but is also designed to be a reference. "The Practical Guide to Defect Prevention" does a great job of giving a strong foundation for those wanting to develop quality in their processes.
   Who can really benefit from this book?
   * The executive wanting to know what it takes to have a successful software business
   * The manager wanting to know how to improve the product
   * The product designer who wants to provide enhancements to existing features and determine what features to add
   * The developer wanting to gauge the effectiveness of the implementation
   * The tester that wants to catch all of the errors
   Sure, we could talk about all the content and implementation issues, including; Root Cause Analysis, Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA), Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) or Failure Modeling, but my favorite aspect of this book is the real world examples and pitfalls described.
   Many great related quotes are included to illustrate some aspect of the material to be presented. My favorite was in chapter 12, "Adapting Processes" where there was a quote from Mark Twain "A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way". This quote illustrates the reason you need to read this book and keep it on your bookshelf.
   Arne
   The Practical Guide to Defect Prevention (Best Practices)



2. "The Practical Guide to Defect Prevention" was written for software developers and testers, but many techniques presented can be applied to improve quality in other products as well. I'm in the midst of a career change into software development after 2 decades of working with office automation hardware, and have referred to this book during a current project, as well as passed along suggestions straight from this book to former colleagues in a much different career field. When I saw the title of this book, I was afraid I'd be reading advice that wasn't much more than common sense, or a rehash of material learned in programming or intro software testing. Wrong! Realizing how naïve I was, I picked up 2 other texts in the field of defect prevention and root cause analysis. I found this book to be more readable. The clear taxonomy, the complete explanations of various methods (with multiple examples and references) and the humor (!) held my interest enough to where I learned and understood the techniques presented, as well as broadened my understanding of what quality software development really entails.
   
   As a previous reviewer pointed out, this book is useful to everyone from the tester who wants to catch errors, through the executive wanting a successful business. And, I suppose this sounds like I'm laying it on with a trowel, but I have to say it: Although I'm a voracious reader, I keep only a few dozen books on my shelves at home; this is one of them, and I suspect that I'll continue referring to it for quite some time. Thanks to the authors Ross, Marc, Bob, Dan, David, Lori, and Josh for taking the time and putting forth such a great effort!

4 comments about Expert .NET 2.0 IL Assembler.

1. This is an excellent treatment of the MSIL topic at just the right level if you're in need of nitty gritty details for debugging, disassembling, or generating IL code. Coverage of the PE format for managed executables is the best I've seen. The text is well-written, the examples are clear and concise, and the diagrams are very helpful. The book can be used as both a tutorial and a reference: the appendices include an ILAsm grammar reference, a metadata tables reference, and an IL instruction set reference. The book is also available electronically to owners of the physical book.



2. I needed a good "go-to" reference which would aid me in quickly gaining knowledge so I could understand disassembled PE files related to a "small" project I had already invested 40 man-hours. There are references you can find on the web, however, this book will save you time looking for them. It consolidates all information you need to quickly get up to speed if you have not been doing assembler code projects for a while. The author's writing style reflects his extensive knowledge and "comfortableness" in discussing it. He includes invaluable references to tools one can use related to the subject he is discussing. The Appendixes contain excellent information that is quickly accessible simply flipping through the pages. I am not a compiler writer by trade, but I had a good laugh related to the author's comments in Chapter 19's Summary (on page 408). You'll just have to purchase the book to find out! I look forward to investing more time in reading this book in detail. If you have to spend money on a tool, this book is money well spent.



3. Wonderful experience writing an IL code generator. Project went quickly, easily, with high quality result. Thanks to Microsoft's .Net and IL ecosystem, and three books; Expert .Net IL Assembler (Serge Lidin), Common Language Infrastructure Annotated Standard (James S. Miller), ECMA-335 CLI Standard (downloadable from ECMA).



4. This book is best ever! You can learn IL, but you can undarstand MSIL, how aplications are build.

3 comments about Mastering Microsoft Office 2003 for Business Professionals.

1. Finally a book that explains the objective and not just what the software is capable of doing!

   I would highly recommend this book to any person using Office 2003 in a business environment. Gini Courter and Annette Marquis had anticipated my questions and not only provided highly informative answers but extremely useful tips and advice. Additionally, the examples will assist readers from an entry level to expert.

   My bookshelf is crammed with reference guides for application software. Recently I have purchased a number of titles written by Courter and Marquis as I find their writing style so easy to read and interpret. Once again I have not been disappointed with this title.




2. This book is a great resource for both people who have used other Office versions and for those who are beginners. The explanations are great and the pictures really help you understand what is going on. My copy of this book has been borrowed numerous times by others in my office. They love the book just as much as I do.



3. I've only just begun reading this book, but have learned something on each and every page. I bought it at the suggestion of a colleague who attends seminars given by the authors. She raves about their knowledge and ability to easily give instructions on using software applications as they "write the manuals", and I can confirm that they "know their stuff."

No comments about Pro Silverlight 2 in C# 2008 (Windows.Net).