Become an iPhone or iPad App Developer with This New Guide by Rory Lewis

The iPhone is one of the hottest gadgets in today’s market and much of its success has been fueled by the App Store, Apple’s online marketplace for iPhone Applications. Billions of apps have been downloaded since the launch of the App store. To show new developers how to cash in on this growing market, author and computer guru Rory Lewis created "iPhone and iPad Apps for Absolute Beginners, iOS 5 Edition" as a launch pad for beginners.

As a veteran programmer, Lewis uses plain English and practical examples in "iPhone and iPad Apps for Absolute Beginners, iOS 5 Edition" to ensure that all beginners will feel comfortable learning the ins and outs of app development.

"iPhone and iPad Apps for Absolute Beginners, iOS 5 Edition" provides simple, step-by-step instructions and easily understood examples for the novice developer. New developers will first learn how to set up their computers for iPhone and iPad development. Readers will then start the process by learning how to make small changes to existing applications to grow their knowledge. These beginning skills will form the basics of solid application development. With this hands-on guide, novice developers will be able to create their own simple apps and get them working immediately. Lewis also demonstrates how to create a personal style for each application so that it both looks good and users can easily navigate through it. Readers will also become familiar with how to use the iPhone touch screen and accelerometer. Best of all, they will receive shortcuts and cheat sheets to create apps the easy way.

Lewis’s advice is based on practical knowledge and hands-on experience. "iPhone and iPad Apps for Absolute Beginners, iOS 5 Edition" cuts through the fog of jargon and misinformation that surrounds iPhone and iPad application development. This innovative resource provides links to videos that will enable the reader to follow along with the author as though they were in their own private classroom.

There are plenty of books out there about application development but most of them have been created for readers who have had some previous computer programming skills. "iPhone and iPad Apps for Absolute Beginners, iOS 5 Edition" is the go-to guide for the novice developer. With Lewis’s step-by-step book, no prior knowledge is necessary to learn how to create a functional application that can one day be sold in the App Store.
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The Beginner's Guide to Joomla

In this 41 page guide you will be introduced to Joomla which enables you to build Web sites and powerful online applications. Many aspects, including its ease-of-use, extensibility, quick learning curve and templates, have made Joomla one of the most popular Web site software's available. Best of all, Joomla is an open source solution that is free to everyone. This guide is meant to serve as a guide to Joomla's basic features and help you install your first Joomla website.

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Simply Rails 2 - Free Preview

Want to learn all about Ruby on Rails 2.0, the web application framework that is inspiring developers around the world?

The second edition of this practical, hands on book will:

• show you how to install Ruby on Rails on Windows, Mac, or Linux
• walk you, step by step, through the development of a Web 2.0 social news application, just like digg.com
• show you how to test, debug, benchmark, and deploy your Rails application
• Unlike other Rails books, this book doesn't assume that you are an experienced web developer, or that you've used Ruby before. An entire chapter is devoted to learning Ruby in a fun way, using the interactive Ruby console, so you can follow along at home. You'll be an accomplished Ruby programmer in no time!

The example application that the book builds - a user-generated news web site - is built upon with each following chapter, and concepts such as sessions, cookies and basic AJAX usage are gradually introduced. Different aspects of Rails, such as user authentication, session cookies, and automated testing are explored with each feature that is added to the application.

The book finishes with chapters on debugging, benchmarking and deployment to a live web server.

By the end of the book, you'll have built a fully-featured Web 2.0 application and deployed it to the Web. And all code is up-to-date for Rails 2.0, so you can begin coding immediately with the latest version of Rails.

What Will You Learn?

This book will teach you how to:

• Program with confidence in the Ruby language.
• Build and deploy a complete Rails web application.
• Exploit the new features available in Rails 2.
• Use Rails' Ajax features to create slick interfaces.
• Reap the benefits of a best-practice MVC architecture.
• Work with databases easily using ActiveRecord.
• Implement RESTful development patterns and clean URLs.
• Create a user authentication system.
• Use object oriented concepts like inheritance and polymorphism.
• Build a comprehensive automated testing suite for your application.
• Add plugins to easily enhance your application's functionality.
• Use migrations to manage your database schema without data loss.
• Achieve maximum code reuse with filters and helper functions.
• Debug your application using the ruby_debug client.
• Analyze your application's performance using the Rails logging infrastructure.
• Benchmark your application to determine performance bottlenecks.

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The PHP Anthology: 101 Essential Tips, Tricks & Hacks - Free Preview

The PHP Anthology: 101 Essential Tips, Tricks & Hacks, 2nd Edition is a collection of powerful PHP 5 solutions to the most common programming problems.

Featuring best-practice code and a commonsense approach to development, this book includes coverage of:

• Manage errors gracefully.
• Build functional forms, tables, and SEO-friendly URLs.
• Reduce load time with client- and server-side caching.
• Produce and utilize web services with XML.
• Secure your site using access control systems.
• Easily work with files, emails, and images.
• And much more

The question and answer format will allow you to to quickly find and reference any of the 101 solutions, saving you hours of Internet research or painful trial & error. All solutions are fully explained and the ready-to-use code is available for download.

"A comprehensive collection of ready-to-use PHP solutions!"

• Over 100 easy-to understand PHP tips, tricks and hacks.
• Save hours of time with "copy and paste" ready code.
• All solutions are fully explained by five PHP gurus.
• Learn the very latest object oriented PHP techniques.
• And so much more...

Each chapter of this book is laid out in a problem-solution format. We'll start with a common PHP problem that you may face, and then provide a concise solution to that problem. In some cases, when the topic warrants it, we'll give you a brief discussion of the solution to provide context.

The chapters are grouped to cover the major areas of PHP. Inside, you'll find solutions to the most common challenges that PHP developers face.

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Installing and Configuring SharePoint 2010 - Free eBook

This guide gives you tips on what to avoid during the installation. Have you tried all online links and are still stuck with the SharePoint 2010 installation? Then you certainly need to download this guide. This step by step guide shows how to install SharePoint 2010 on a virtual machine. Each step shows a screenshot that will help users to better understand the step. Host computer used during the preparation of this guide was a Vista (32-bit) machine (IBM 64-bit). Guest machine used was VMware workstation 7.0.

The guide lists hardware and software requirements. It has up-to-date links to download pre-requisite software. Pre-requisite software has to be installed in a particular order. This is the most comprehensive compilation of SharePoint 2010 installation steps.

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Java Application Development on Linux - FREE eBook

Linux is the fastest-growing Java development platform because it saves money and time by serving as a platform for both development and deployment. But developers face significant platform-specific challenges when managing and deploying Java applications in a controlled production environment. Written for Java and Linux developers alike, Java Application Development on Linux is the hands-on guide to the full Java application development lifecycle on Linux.

Determined to spare other developers hours of trial and error, Albing and Schwarz demonstrate the platform, tools, and application development by showing realistic, easy-to-follow examples. After a simple command-line application introduces basic tools, this program leads readers through business-logic object analysis, database design, Java servlet UIs, Java Server Pages (JSP) UIs, Swing GUIs, and Standard Widget Toolkit (SWT) GUIs. Scaling up to the enterprise level provides the opportunity to use both the JBoss Application Server and the Apache Geronimo Application Servers, and Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB).

Readers learn how to:

• Use development tools available on Linux, such as the GNU Compiler for Java (gcj), Ant, the NetBeans IDE, IBM's Eclipse Java IDE, JUnit, and SunONE Studio
• Develop business logic layers using Java DataBase Connectivity (JDBC)
• Add a Web interface using servlets and JSPs
• Add a GUI using Sun's Abstract Window Toolkit (AWT) and IBM's SWT
• Deploy EJBs in Linux

The authors conclude by demonstrating how a hierarchy of budgets can be created, tracked, and shared with Concurrent Versions System (CVS). Java Application Development on Linux® can propel you from a standing start to the full-speed development and deployment of Java applications on Linux.

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AJAX: Creating Web Pages with Asynchronous JavaScript and XML - Free eBook

The Easy, Example-Based Guide to Ajax for Every Web Developer. Using Ajax, you can build Web applications with the sophistication and usability of traditional desktop applications and you can do it using standards and open source software. Now, for the first time, there's an easy, example-driven guide to Ajax for every Web and open source developer, regardless of experience.

Edmond Woychowsky begins with simple techniques involving only HTML and basic JavaScript. Then, one step at a time, he introduces techniques for building increasingly rich applications. Don't worry if you're not an expert on Ajax's underlying technologies; Woychowsky offers refreshers on them, from JavaScript to the XMLHttpRequest object. You'll also find multiple open source technologies and open standards throughout, ranging from Firefox to Ruby and MySQL.

You'll not only learn how to write "functional" code, but also master design patterns for writing rock solid, high-performance Ajax applications. You'll also learn how to use frameworks such as Ruby on Rails to get the job done fast.

• Learn how Ajax works, how it evolved, and what it's good for
• Understand the flow of processing in Ajax applications
• Build Ajax applications with XML and the XMLHttpRequest object
• Integrate back-end code, from PHP to C#Use XSLT and XPath, including XPath Axis
• Develop client-side Ajax libraries to support code reuse
• Streamline development with Ruby on Rails and the Ruby programming language

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PHP 5 Power Programming - Free eBook

In this book, PHP 5's co-creator and two leading PHP developers show you how to make the most of PHP 5's industrial-strength enhancements in any project--no matter how large or complex. Their unique insights and realistic examples illuminate PHP 5's new object model, powerful design patterns, improved XML Web services support, and much more. Whether you're creating web applications, extensions, packages, or shell scripts--or migrating PHP 4 code--here are high-powered solutions you won't find anywhere else.

Review PHP's syntax and master its object-oriented capabilities--from properties and methods to polymorphism, interfaces, and reflection.

• Master the four most important design patterns for PHP development
• Write powerful web applications: handle input, cookies, session extension, and more
• Integrate with MySQL, SQLite, and other database engines
• Provide efficient error handling that's transparent to your users
• Leverage PHP 5's improved XML support--including parsing, XSLT conversions, and more
• Build XML-based web services with XML-RPC and SOAP
• Make the most of PEAR: work with the repository, use key packages, and create your own
• Upgrade PHP 4 code to PHP 5--compatibility issues, techniques, and practical workarounds
• Improve script performance: tips and tools for PHP optimization
• Use PHP extensions to handle files/streams, regular expressions, dates/times, and graphics
• Create original extensions and shell scripts

If you're a software developer new to PHP, you'll leap quickly into PHP and its new object-oriented capabilities. If you're an experienced PHP programmer, you already recognize PHP's convenience and simplicity. Now, discover all of its extraordinary power!

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Programmers Heaven C# School Book - Free eBook

The Programmers Heaven C# School book covers the .NET framework and the C# language. Starting with the basics of the language, it goes on to cover object oriented programming techniques and a wide range of C# languages features including interfaces, exceptions and delegates. Later chapters cover practical topics including database access with ADO.NET, building Windows forms applications, multi-threading and asynchronous I/O. The final chapter covers new features in C# 2.0, including generics.

Chapters

• Introduction
• C# Language Fundamentals
• Classes and Objects
• Inheritance & Polymorphism
• Structures, Enumeration, Garbage Collection & Nested Classes
• Abstract Classes & Interfaces
• Arrays, Collections & String Manipulation
• Exception Handling
• Delegates & Events
• WinForms & Windows Applications
• More Windows Controls & Standard Dialog Boxes
• Data Access using ADO.Net
• Multithreading
• The File System & Streams
• New Features In C# 2.0

With this free eBook you will also receive the latest news about the computing industry, as well as featuring new files, links and articles delivered to your inbox courtesy of Programmers Heaven.

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An Introduction to Design Patterns in C++ with Qt 4 - Free eBook

Master C++ and design patterns together, using the world's leading open source framework for cross-platform development: Qt 4. An Introduction to Design Patterns in C++ with Qt 4 is a complete tutorial and reference that assumes no previous knowledge of C, C++, objects, or patterns. You'll walk through every core concept, one step at a time, learning through an extensive collection of Qt 4.1–tested examples and exercises.

By the time you're done, you'll be creating multithreaded GUI applications that access databases and manipulate XML files--applications that run on platforms including Windows, Linux, Unix, and Mac OS X. Best of all, you'll be writing code that's efficient, reusable, and elegant.

• Learn objects fast: classes, inheritance, polymorphism, and more
• Master powerful design patterns
• Discover efficient high-level programming techniques using libraries, generics, and containers
• Build graphical applications using Qt widgets, models, and views
• Learn advanced techniques ranging from multithreading to reflective programming
• Use Qt's built-in classes for accessing MySQL data
• Includes a complete C++ language reference

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20 Windows Phone 7 Game Development Resources

This articles is a round up of Windows Phone 7 game development tutorials, game source code, and books to help you get started in creating your own games for Windows Phone 7 devices.

Once you have mastered your Windows Phone game development skills, check out these Windows Phone Game development jobs.

Do you know of additional Windows Phone 7 Game tutorials or source code projects? Share them in the comment section.

Tutorials

Windows Phone 7 Jump Start: Building Games for the Windows Phone 7 Platform
Using Silverlight as a platform for game creation, Rob and Andy show you how to get a draw/update behavior into your Silverlight games and give you a fully worked game to chew on. They also illustrate how a Silverlight game can leverage the XNA libraries to add sound effects to a game.

Whack Something Game for Windows Phone 7
The game is pretty simple – boxes displaying an object appear on the screen for the user to “hit” and make disappear. This can be done with a minimum amount of code but we still cover the most important methods of a game program.

Frogger game on Windows Phone 7 using XNA
In this blog post, we are going to see the classic Frogger game ported to Windows Phone 7. The game was created by Ionian University professor K. Anagnostou and his students (you can read more on prof. Anagnostou’s blog post here). He also gave me the kind permission to port his source code from PC to Windows Phone 7, and he also suggested that I could use an accelerometer to control the frog’s movement. Since I do not currently have a device, I decided to use the accelerometer and the corresponding library described in my previous blog post "Emulating accelerometer in Windows Phone 7".

Windows Phone 7 Game Development: Creating Tic-Tac-Toe with XNA
XNA is a high level game creation framework for Microsoft devices including Windows PCs, Xbox 360, and the brand new Windows Phone 7 operating system. In a previous tutorial, we covered the basics of the XNA framework including handling input and displaying sprites. In this article, you’ll learn how to combine those skills with a game idea of your own to create something fun to play and easy to pick up.

Invasion Game in XNA for Windows Phone 7
Invasion is a UFO-shooter game, originally designed by Mauricio Ritter. This article describes my port of the Invasion game for Windows (in C# and Managed-DirectX) to Windows Phone 7 (C# and XNA 4.0). The full source code is provided.

Building a Windows Phone 7 Puzzle Game
Get a head start with the new Windows Phone 7 developer tools. Learn how to create a Sokoban game in Silverlight for the WP7 platform.

Simple Puzzle Game for Windows Phone 7 using XNA
In this tutorial blog post we will discover how easy it is to implement a simple puzzle game in Windows Phone 7 using the XNA 4.0 platform. The game consists of a single image, split randomly in 15 tiles (each of them having the same dimensions). The player has to move the tiles one by one (using the “empty” tile), attempting to recreate the original image.

Bubble Breaker in Windows Phone 7 using XNA
Continuing my adventure in XNA after porting Arkanoid for Windows Phone 7, I’ve been busy during the last days in an attempt to re-create the famous Windows Mobile 6.x game called “Bubble Breaker” for Windows Phone 7. This is a great game to spend your time, and I find it highly addictive. I had two choices to implement it; either Silverlight or XNA. I chose XNA for this example, but I promise to also create a Silverlight version!

Source Code

Tetris7
This is a conversion of a Silverlight tetris-game (YYTetris) from YYGames. The user interface has been updated a bit and added a top score feature.

Memory Madness Lab
This lab is a full 2D touch-based memory game. Repeat the patterns of the blinking orbs before the buzzer sounds to make a new high score!

BeeHive
BeeHive for Windows Phone 7 is a port of the wildly unpopular game given in the examples at this training site for Microsoft Expression 3.

Marble Maze
The Marble Maze Lab is a complete 3D accelerometer-based game for Windows Phone 7. Move your marble through the maze as quick as possible, but beware of the pits that will force you to restart from your last checkpoint.

Catapult Wars
This lab is a full 2D gesture-based catapult battle game. Launch rocks to crush your opponent, but beware the changing wind! Two learning modules help you build the gameplay from scratch, then polish with animation, sounds, and menu screens, all in 90 minutes.


Books

Professional Windows Phone 7 Game Development: Creating Games using XNA Game Studio 4
Providing an overview of developing games for Windows Phone 7 while working within XNA Game Studio 4, this comprehensive resource covers such essential topics as device/emulator, development tools, device orientation, tilt and accelerometer sensors, multi-touch, working with Cloud and Web services, and more. Three complete games are included within the book plus hands-on explanations and clear example codes help you gain a deeper understanding of the Windows Phone 7 features so that you can start building a game right away.

Windows Phone 7 Game Development
Windows Phone 7 is a powerful mobile computing platform with huge potential for gaming. With "instant on" capabilities, the promise of gaming on the move is a reality with these devices. The platform is an ideal environment for .NET developers looking to create fun, sophisticated games. Windows Phone 7 Game Development gives you everything you need to maximize your creativity and produce fantastic mobile games. With a gaming device always in your pocket, as a phone always is, this is too good an opportunity to miss!

Sams Teach Yourself Windows Phone 7 Game Programming in 24 Hours
Now, there's a practical, hands-on guide to mastering game development for Windows Phone 7 with Visual C# 2010 and XNA Game Studio 4.0. One step at a time, this book teaches all facets of mobile game development, from design through publishing via Microsoft's Marketplace. Top game development author Jonathan S. Harbour starts with the absolute basics, making Windows Phone game development accessible even to programmers who've never written a game before. Then, one step at a time, he shows how to use Microsoft's free XNA toolset to design and construct high-performance, highly-playable games for the newest Windows Phone 7 devices. Friendly, accessible, and conversational, this book delivers a practical grounding in Windows Phone 7 game development without ever becoming overwhelming or intimidating. Each lesson builds on everything that's come before, helping readers learn core techniques from the ground up. Readers learn key concepts, syntax, and techniques through short, practical examples that reflect the realities of modern mobile game development.

Learning XNA 4.0
Want to develop games for Xbox 360 and Windows Phone 7? This hands-on book will get you started with Microsoft's XNA 4.0 development framework right away -- even if you have no experience developing games. Although XNA includes several key concepts that can be difficult for beginning web developers to grasp, Learning XNA 4.0 shortens the learning curve by walking you through the framework in a clear and understandable step-by-step format.

XNA Game Studio 4.0 Programming
Get Started Fast with XNA Game Studio 4.0–and Build Great Games for Both Windows® Phone 7 and Xbox 360. This is the industry’s best reference and tutorial for all aspects of XNA Game Studio 4.0 programming on all supported platforms, from Xbox 360 to Windows Phone 7 and Windows PCs. The only game development book authored by Microsoft XNA development team members, it offers deep insider insights you won’t get anywhere else–including thorough coverage of new Windows Phone APIs for mobile game development.

Beginning Windows Phone 7 Development
Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 handsets have injected a new vibrancy into the smartphone marketplace and provided bold new opportunities for the Microsoft development community. Now in its second edition, Beginning Windows Phone 7 Development has been written to help you identify those opportunities and to learn the skills you’ll need to harness them. It covers the very latest developments in the field, including the extended APIs offered in Microsoft’s automatic platform update, so you'll have timely, accurate information at your fingertips. Beginning Windows Phone 7 Development, Second Edition starts with the basics, walking you through the process of downloading and setting up the right development tools, including Visual Studio, Expression Blend, Silverlight SDK, and Windows Phone SDK. It then takes you step-by-step though the development process as you build and deploy a working application, complete with a sophisticated user interface. Finally, you'll receive step-by-step instructions on selling your applications through the Windows Phone Marketplace.

Microsoft XNA Game Studio 4.0: Learn Programming Now!
Now you can build your own games for your Xbox 360, Windows Phone 7, or Windows-based PC—as you learn the underlying concepts for computer programming. Use this hands-on guide to dive straight into your first project—adding new tools and tricks to your arsenal as you go. No experience required!
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Objective-C Programming: The Big Nerd Ranch Guide Now Available

Objective-C Programming:The Big Nerd Ranch Guide is now available at national book retailers and in iBook and Kindle versions. Written by best-selling author Aaron Hillegass, the reader-friendly book features short chapters and an engaging style that helps readers understand not just how to do it, but why to do it - encouraging them to think critically.

“It’s been an exciting, if not exhausting, time at Big Nerd Ranch,” said Hillegass, who founded the training and consulting company 10 years ago. “In the past few months we’ve expanded our line of Big Nerd Ranch Guides, opened our international office in Amsterdam and launched aggressive plans to grow our U.S. presence with offices in Birmingham and Washington D.C.”

“This latest addition to our library of Big Nerd Ranch Guides is one I am especially proud of,” added Hillegass. “I used all my teaching experience to create an Objective-C Programming guide that started at the beginning and was so simple that a beginner of any age could understand it. There is a lot of wisdom with very little fluff.”

Objective-C Programming is the third Big Nerd Ranch Guide published recently, joining the second edition of iOS Programming and Advanced Mac OS X Programming, all of which have been released to great reviews.

The guide is based on Big Nerd Ranch’s legendary Objective-C Bootcamp. Learn more about it at bignerdranch.com.

Big Nerd Ranch applies a monastic retreat approach to technical training to immerse students in intense week-long classes at their Ranch locations in Atlanta, GA; Frankfurt, Germany; and Driebergen, Netherlands. Their classes are also available as private Corporate Training sessions. Thousands of students have achieved Nerdvana by learning from the best teachers and technical minds in the business.

In addition to the best technical training available, Big Nerd Ranch offers consulting services that focus on innovative and flexible solutions for corporate clients.

For more information, visit bignerdranch.com, follow us on Twitter: @bignerdranch or join us on Facebook under “Big Nerd Ranch.” Sign up for the Big Nerd Ranch quarterly newsletter at bignerdranch.com for a free copy of Xcode 4 shortcuts.

Source: PRWeb
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The LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT 2.0 Discovery Book - New from No Starch Press

The LEGO® MINDSTORMS® NXT 2.0 set brings robot building to a wide range of hobbyists. But the NXT kit doesn't come with a how-to guide and it only includes building instructions for four robots. Users new to building complex LEGO models or lacking experience with the NXT programming language need guidance to help them reach the next level. The LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT 2.0 Discovery Book is the introductory book that they've been waiting for.

In The LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT 2.0 Discovery Book (No Starch Press, May 2010, 320 pp., $29.95, ISBN 9781593272111), readers learn how to harness the capabilities of the NXT 2.0 set to build and program their own robots. Author Laurens Valk begins by walking readers through the set, describing the pieces and explaining how to get started with the software used to program NXT robots. Once readers understand the basics of the NXT programming language, the book's tutorials show them how to build robots that move, monitor sensors, and use advanced programming techniques like data wires and variables. With crystal clear, step-by-step instructions, readers will find it easy to create working robots in no time. The LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT 2.0 Discovery Book features:

• A complete introduction to LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT 2.0


• Building and programming instructions for eight innovative robots, including a robotic defense system, a six-legged walker, and an autonomous robotic arm


• 50 sample programs and 72 programming challenges (ranging from easy to hard) that encourage readers to explore newly learned programming skills


• 15 building challenges that expand on the robot designs to help readers develop ideas for new robots


• All of the robots in the book require just one NXT 2.0 set to build; there are no extra pieces required.

"The NXT set can be complicated. Sure, you can build some sort of robot, but can you actually make it do anything interesting?" said No Starch Press founder Bill Pollock. "This is the introductory MINDSTORMS 2.0 book that everyone needs; the one book that will make sure that that pricey MINDSTORMS kit won't end up gathering dust in a shoebox somewhere." Read More >>

Inside Microsoft SQL Server 2005: The Storage Engine - Free Preview

Understanding the internals of storage in SQL Server helps database developers and administrators to better create, maintain, and mine information from enterprise data. This practical, hands-on book focuses on the SQL Server 2005 Storage Engine and delves deep into the structures used for storing data, including files, tables, indexes, and data types. Topics also include security details, with coverage of the new SQL Server 2005 security model, and data protection through the backup and restore algorithms. With pragmatic advice, best practices, extensive code samples, and table examples, developers and database administrators will find the guidance they need to better understand how to build powerful, efficient databases.

Inside Microsoft SQL Server 2005: The Storage Engine is available at Amazon.com.


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Programming Microsoft ADO.NET 2.0 Core Reference - Free Preview

Build your expertise as you move beyond the basics—and delve into the essential topics of programming with ADO.NET 2.0. This comprehensive reference offers expert guidance, hands-on instruction, and code samples in Microsoft Visual C#® and Visual Basic® to help advance your mastery of developing database applications for Microsoft Windows and the Web.

Programming Microsoft ADO.NET 2.0 Core Reference is available at Amazon.com.

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BlackBerry Development Fundamentals Book Review

BlackBerry Development Fundamentals is Addison Wesley's first book on BlackBerry development. With so few BlackBerry development books available, I was excited when this book arrived. Unfortunately, this excitement was short lived.

One of the problems with this book is the content. In this book you will find that some topics such as networking/data transfer (Chapters 2 - 7) are overly covered, while writing a Java application is barely covered (Chapter 11). There needs to be balance and it wasn't in this book.

A large amount of the book (Chapters 2 through 7) are spent discussing the mechanisms used to send data between BlackBerry and your server. These chapters provide very detailed information on this topic including pushing data to your blackberry. Although this is very through, it leaves very little room for other topics in the book.

Chapters 8 through 10 cover writing web browser based applications. Most of Chapters 8 and 9 discuss the limitations and problems with the BlackBerry web browser. This information is valuable, but the tone made me wonder why I would want to write a web application for BlackBerry. Chapter 10 covers testing your web application using the BlackBerry web browser emulator. Unfortunately, most of this chapter is spent on setting up Visual Studio plugin and Eclipse plugin for testing your web application.

Chapter 11 covers developing a BlackBerry application. Most of this chapter covers the specific BlackBerry APIs. Unfortunately, this is the only chapter where there is any coding going on and it is very limited.

Chapter 12 through 15 discuss the ways to develop BlackBerry Java applications. Chapter 13 covers setting up and using the BlackBerry Java Development Environment (JDE). Chapter 14 covers setting up and using the BlackBerry JDE Plugin for Eclipse. Chapter 15 covers using the various tools and simulators.

Chapter 16 covers how to deploy your application and Chapter 17 finishes things off with miscellaneous topics.

By looking at the chapter descriptions listed above you can probably see the next major problem: organization. The organization of the content of the book is terrible. Why would you put the chapters about setting up and using the development tools after the one and only chapter where you write code? This book had 6 editors and it came out horribly organized.

If there was anything valuable to get out of this book, it would be the networking/data transfer information covered in Chapters 2 - 7. Unfortunately, this wouldn't be enough to make me want to buy this book.

BlackBerry Development Fundamentals is available at Amazon.com.

Update: John Wargo, the author of this book, has posted his response to this review below.
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Tackling the iPhone Development Learning Curve

The iPhone is an ever-expanding frontier. Since the first release of the iPhone Software Development Kit (SDK) in March 2008, Apple has actively improved it and added new functionality. Apress has just released "More iPhone 3 Development: Tackling iPhone SDK 3," their latest book digging deeper into Apple’s SDK. Authors Dave Mark and Jeff LaMarche cover topics like Core Data, peer-to-peer networking using GameKit and network streams, working with data from the web, MapKit, in-application e-mail, concurrent programming, and debugging applications.

For all iPhone app developers who need to continue building their programming skills, understanding Core Data is a great place to start. Here is a brief introduction to Core Data straight from "More iPhone 3 Development: Tackling iPhone SDK 3":

Core Data 101
Core Data is Apple’s framework and set of tools for persisting an application’s data to the iPhone’s file system automatically. Using Core Data helps iPhone developers develop apps more quickly and receive better performance than with traditional persistence mechanisms. Core Data can seem like magic at first. Objects are simply dealt with as objects, and seem to know how to save themselves into the database or file system. Developers won’t create SQL strings or make file management calls—ever. Core Data insulates the developer from some complex and difficult programming tasks. By using Core Data, iPhone app developers can develop applications with complex data models much, much faster than using straight SQLite, object archiving, or flat files.

Like most complex technologies, Core Data has its own terminology that can be a bit intimidating to newcomers. Here is a breakdown of Core Data’s five key concepts:
1) Persistent store
2) Data model
3) Persistent store coordinator
4) Managed object and managed object context
5) Fetch request

About "More iPhone 3 Development: Tackling iPhone SDK 3"
For all iPhone app developers looking to write a professional iPhone app, Apress’s "More iPhone 3 Development: Tackling iPhone SDK 3" is the place to start. Bestselling authors Dave Mark and Jeff LaMarche carefully step through each of the Core Data concepts and demonstrate techniques and tips specifically for writing larger applications—offering a breadth of coverage that cannot be found anywhere else.

The Core Data coverage alone is worth the price of admission, but there’s much more. This book covers a variety of networking mechanisms, from GameKit’s relatively simple BlueTooth peer-to-peer model, to the addition of Bonjour discovery and network streams, through the complexity of accessing files via the web. Dave and Jeff also cover concurrent programming and some advanced techniques for debugging applications. All the concepts and APIs are clearly presented with code snippets that can be customized and used in an iPhone developer’s own apps. For more information about "More iPhone 3 Development: Tackling iPhone SDK 3," visit http://www.apress.com/book/view/143022505x.

About the Authors
Dave Mark is a long-time Mac developer and author and has written a number of books on Macintosh development, including "Learn C on the Macintosh," "The Macintosh Programming Primer" series, and "Ultimate Mac Programming." His blog can be found at www.davemark.com.

Jeff LaMarche is a long-time Mac developer and Apple iPhone developer. He has over 20 years of programming experience and has written on Cocoa and Objective-C for "MacTech" magazine, as well as articles for Apple’s Developer Technical Services website. He has experience working in Enterprise software, both as a developer for PeopleSoft starting in the late 1990s, and later as an independent consultant.

About Apress
Apress, Inc., part of Springer Science+Business Media, is a technical publisher devoted to meeting the needs of IT professionals, software developers, and programmers, with more than 700 books in print and a continually expanding portfolio of publications. Apress offers a complete package of books on developing for the iPhone and Mac OS X. For developers who want to code games, create compelling user interfaces, or better get a handle on just what makes an app cool, Apress has books to suit. For more information about Apress, visit www.apress.com.

Source: PRWeb
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Free Mobile-Format Ebooks from Manning Publications

Starting today, when customers buy selected print books or ebooks from Manning Publications, they will also be able to download free ebook versions formatted for the Amazon Kindle, Apple iPhone, and Sony Reader.

Manning expects to have mobile ebook versions of more than a dozen titles released by the end of the year, starting with these popular titles:

• "ASP.NET MVC in Action" by Jeffrey Palermo, Ben Scheirman, and Jimmy Bogard


• "Grails in Action" by Glen Smith and Peter Ledbrook


• "iPhone in Action" by Christopher Allen and Shannon Appelcline


• "Unlocking Android" by W. Frank Ableson, Charlie Collins, and Robi Sen


• "jQuery in Action" by Bear Bibeault and Yehuda Katz


• "The Well-Grounded Rubyist" by David A. Black

Standard ebook formats, like PDF, aren’t designed for the small screens of portable devices. The new formats, called epub and mobi, were created with the Kindle, iPhone, and Sony Reader in mind: Pages have been resized and images optimized to be displayed on a small screen.

Manning readers are already writing (and tweeting) to say they love the new formats.

"iPhone in Action looks great in Stanza and it's great to be able to read this book easily on the morning train."
"Mobi version of ASP.NET MVC in Action is great on the Kindle2."

"Thanks for getting those out! That should make reading on the iPhone a MUCH better experience."

"This weekend, I received a link to download ASP.NET MVC in Action on my Kindle and was blown away. This goes above and beyond my expectations."

This isn't the first time Manning has given customers something for nothing: "We offer free ebooks to our print book customers, regardless of where they buy their book," says Manning’s Publisher Marjan Bace. "It's the same with these new formats—everyone who already purchased and registered one of these books will get a free download link from us. No one is left out."

As more titles become available, details will appear at manning.com/catalog/mobile/ and on each book's individual web page at manning.com.

Manning Publications publishes high quality books for computer professionals, and is known for innovations including selling ebooks as unprotected PDFs, and electronically releasing chapters in development, within its Early Access program.
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Android Wireless Application Development Book Review

Android Wireless Application Development is Addison Wesley's first Android development book. Android Wireless Application Development provides an introductory look at developing for Android devices. This book does assume that you have a basic knowledge of Java.

Android has many topics and features to cover. This attempts to cover all areas, but can only cover a few areas in depth.

This book does a very good job of explaining Activities and Intents which are the core of Android development. In chapter 2, you will find a thorough explanation of Activities and Intents that is very easy to understand.

Chapter 3 provides a good coverage application resources that include strings, arrays of strings, colors, dimensions, drawables, bitmap graphics, animation sequences, menus, xml, raw files, layouts, styles, and themes. You will also find details on internationalization and using different resource for different device configurations. The chapter also includes great information on working with Nine-Patch Stretchable Graphics which allow for a single image to be used no matter what the screen resolution is.

This book does cover all of the Android controls, but not in-depth. You will find adequate information on most controls. The ListActivity, Gallery control, and ImageSwitcher are barely covered and really need examples.

The Android Multimedia APIs are well covered. The author does a very good job of showing how to use these APIs to capture pictures, audio, and video as well as audio and video playback.

The author has attempted cover all areas of Android development. Below are more topics covered in this book:

• Using Preferences


• Reading and writing files


• Using SQLite Database


• Using network APIs


• Using location based services including GPS, geocoding, and the map view control


• Using the Telephony API including making calls and sending SMS


• OpenGL ES


• Using device sensors including accelerometer, light, magnetic field, orientation, and temperature


• Working with WiFi


• Monitoring the battery


• Using notifications including status bar, vibrating the phone, blinking the lights, and making noise


• Selling your applicaiton

Summary
The author's writing style is easy to read and keeps you interested in the book. The examples are easy to follow. The book is just under 500 pages, but it reads very quickly. Android Wireless Application Development is a good book for anyone that is familiar with Java, but is new to Android development.

Android Wireless Application Development is available at Amazon.com.
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Gray Hat Python - Free Preview

Python is fast becoming the programming language of choice for hackers, reverse engineers, and software testers because it's easy to write quickly, and it has the low-level support and libraries that make hackers happy. But until now, there has been no real manual on how to use Python for a variety of hacking tasks. You had to dig through forum posts and man pages, endlessly tweaking your own code to get everything working. Not anymore.

"Gray Hat Python" explains the concepts behind hacking tools and techniques like debuggers, trojans, fuzzers, and emulators. But author Justin Seitz goes beyond theory, showing you how to harness existing Python-based security tools - and how to build your own when the pre-built ones won't cut it.

You'll learn how to: Automate tedious reversing and security tasks Design and program your own debugger Learn how to fuzz Windows drivers and create powerful fuzzers from scratch Have fun with code and library injection, soft and hard hooking techniques, and other software trickery Sniff secure traffic out of an encrypted web browser session Use PyDBG, Immunity Debugger, Sulley, IDAPython, PyEMU, and more

The world's best hackers are using Python to do their handiwork. Shouldn't you?

Gray Hat Python is available at Amazon.com.

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