Reviews (4)

Murach's Visual Basic 2005
I like the layout of this book.Each topic is explained in detail using paired pages with the first page of the pair containing the detail and the second page of the pair containing a summary of key points.There are also a number of benchmark projects that demonstrate the concepts that have been covered.I was particularly impressed with level of detail contained in the chapters on Database Programming and Object-Oriented programming.I would particularly recommend this book for beginning to intermediate level developers.I look forward to reading other books by this publisher.

Excellent Training and Reference Book!
This book should be required reading for any application developer using Visual Basic. The layout of syntax, guidelines, and examples on one page with explanations on a matching page provide an easy and quick reference to information. The "paired pages" format: How-to on the left page and examples on the right makes this a great reference book.
Practical Easy Format to Use
Murach's has developed a winning template for developing Training and Reference books, and Visual Basic 2005 is no exception. A great feature is the placement of diagrams and illustrations are always found on the page facing the illustration, making it easier to follow the instructions.
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Subjects:  1. Computer Books: Languages    2. Computers    3. Computers - Languages / Programming    4. Programming - General    5. Programming Languages - Visual BASIC    6. Basic, Visual Basic & QBasic   

Reviews (14)

Valuable, practical advice.
A more accurate title for this book would have been "Unit Testing and Refactoring is How To Work Effectively with Legacy Code"
Code without tests is legacy code.
This book is basically a comprehensive overview of how to get your legacy code into a proper test harness by breaking dependencies (given various limitations of legacy systems).I can't think of any better way to frighten your colleagues into beginning TDD than reading this book.Plain and simple...are you writing code without tests (i.e. are you writing legacy code)?If you've ever worked or expect to work with legacy systems (which should be a majority of us)...then you need this book!

In a class by itself
I've never read a technical book quite like this one. The author has distilled several years worth of experience into one highly cohesive and detailed book. Read more

Subjects:  1. Computer Bks - Languages / Programming    2. Computer Books: Languages    3. Computers    4. Computers - Languages / Programming    5. Programming - Software Development    6. Computer Programming    7. Computers / Programming / Software Development   

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Reviews (63)

read HF EJB ---- clear SCBD
U can rely on this book to clear the certificate exam.........

One of top two EJB books
I have recently passed the SCBCD exam, and in preparing for the exam I have read a few EJB books cover to cover. With no offense to others, I have found the following two books most useful:
Fun way to learn a very hard topic...
Fun way to learn a very hard topic...
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Subjects:  1. Certification    2. Certification Guides - General    3. Computer Books: Languages    4. Computers    5. Computers - Languages / Programming    6. Data processing    7. Electronic data processing personnel    8. Examinations    9. Java (Computer program language)    10. Programming Languages - Java    11. Study guides    12. Computers / Languages / Programming    13. Computers/Certification Guides - General    14. Systems analysis & design   

Reviews (5)

Ian Sommerville's Software Engineering
A great introductory book on software engineering. It gives you a holistic view of software engineering, but lacks in details. It won't teach you how to draw ER diagrams but it will tell you what they are.

Good introduction and explanation of software engineering
Overview of Software Engineering, with a brief explanation of software process and project management. It mainly covers the design issue and introduces the method of handling critical system.

Rather Cursory
Sommerville undoubtedly owns great knowledge over the topic. Unfortunately he has difficulties to write monolithicly. Most of the time he is beating around the bush. The examples he uses to explain the different topics are rather unusual and do not help to better understand what the techniques are all about.
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Subjects:  1. Computer Books: Languages    2. Computers    3. Computers - Languages / Programming    4. Engineering - Electrical & Electronic    5. Programming - Software Development    6. Software Engineering    7. Computers / Programming / Software Development   

Reviews (7)

THE BEST SQL ADMIN RESOURCE. PERIOD.
When I have a question about SQL Server this is the first book I turn to. It packs more into its 549 pages than books nearly twice its size, and it does this by focusing on what matters and by being clear and concise.
Careful
A pet peeve i have w/ Microsoft books is they just mirror the help files. This admin pocket guide is not much more than regurgitated help files. I was hoping for some useful examples, closer to real life problems & solutions. Not there. Plz use the help files in Books Online to look up topics THEN examine the same topic in this book at a local bookstore BEFORE buying it. (Based on good reviews, i bought this & the Administrator's Guide to SQL Server 2005 by Buck Woody)
THE ONE SQL SERVER BOOK EVERYONE SHOULD HAVE
I picked up Stanek's SQL Server 2005 Administrator's Pocket Consultant and Windows Server 2003 Inside Out at the same time, and have found them both to be excellent. If there's one SQL Server book every developer, programmer and administrator should have, it's this one--I haven't found a better one and I've read half a dozen so far. Stanek has a gift for getting to the point, explaining the most complex concepts in ways that are easy to understand. He seems to pack a 1,000 pages of info into 550 pages. SQL Server 2005 Administrator's Pocket Consultant has a strong focus on security, configuration, optimization, and troubleshooting. Throughout the book, there's excellent coverage of T-SQL and I prefer the way T-SQL is covered in context in this book to the way it's covered in the separate T-SQL book I bought (and no longer use). Beyond core database administration, which this book covers better than any other book, it also covers full-text search, indexes, integration services (creating packages), linked servers, distributed transactions, replication, publications, etc. The maintenance chapters are some of the strongest with complete coverage of profiling, monitoring, optimizing, backup, recovery, log shipping, database mirroring, automation, etc. Thank you Mr. Stanek for an excellent book. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Client/server computing    2. Computer Books: Languages    3. Computers    4. Computers - Communications / Networking    5. Computers - General Information    6. Database Management - SQL Server    7. General    8. Networking - General    9. Programming Languages - SQL    10. Relational databases    11. Sql (Programming Language)    12. Computers / General    13. Database software   

Reviews (11)

Closing the communication gap...
Facilitating communication among businesspeople and software developers in the preparation of acceptance tests is the mail goal of Fit, which also helps automate those tests. A tabular representation of tests provides the common language whose clarity and precision are key to improving communication between technical and non-technical people. As Dave Thomas says, Fit helps closing the "gap between the software that [is] written and the software the user [wants]".
Good, not exactly great.
The first 175 pages of the book seem devoted to convincing management that the tool is worth using. The next 75 or so pages give details on writing tests. There are about 45 pages of the programmer's perspective. The rest of the book mainly deals with extending the system in ways that most people won't bother with. Finally there is a very brief word on non-Java tests that simply says to refer to the web sites.
Better structured than the online docu
The book describes in detail how to use Fitnesse for the combination of requirements management and automated testing. Though this is interesting, the book does not offer more information than the online docu to fitnesse (though certainly in a better structured way, as the structure of the online docu is a nightmare).
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Subjects:  1. Computer Books: Languages    2. Computer Programs Testing    3. Computer software    4. Computers    5. Computers - Languages / Programming    6. Evaluation    7. Programming - Software Development    8. Programming Languages - General    9. Software Development    10. Software engineering    11. Computers / Programming / Software Development   

Editorial Review

If you don't have a lot of time, but still want to learn the latest inC++, you don't have to learn C first. You might learn more by digging intocurrent language features and classes from the very beginning. That's theapproach that's offered by Read more

Reviews (64)

Concise and refreshing
The signal to noise ratio of Accelerated C++ is much higher than that of other programming books.Other programming books waste time and bore with the basics of a language, while Accelerated C++ instills advanced, mature techniques from the start without being overbearing (the "Hello World" dissection particularly impresses). Accelerated C++ is smaller than Deitel & Deitel HTP, but I am confident it is more valuable for those seriously learning C++.

Best C++ tutorial?
This book could be the five-stars C++ tutorial if a "tour of C++" and "tour of the standard library"-like materials were added to this book right at the beginning. It seems to me that giving readers a whole picture of what techniques C++ could offer before diving into specific examples is one of the most efficient ways to learn computer languages. Therefore for people who have some programming experiences but new to C++, I suggest to buy Bjarne Stroustrup's C++ book (that is really a classic C++ book that you do not want to miss) and briefly read through first two chapters to get a feeling of C++ then start to work with this book.You will pick up your knowledge of C++ fast.

great tutorial
The authors make a point right off the bat that they are not going to attempt to teach you the ENTIRE LANGUAGE. Instead they focus on the most commonly used aspects (used in real life programming) and they get you started with those right away. A really great tutorial. Once you have done this, you can move on to the masterpiece by Bjarne Stroustrup ... Read more

Subjects:  1. C (Programming Language)    2. C++ (Computer program language    3. C++ (Computer program language)    4. Computer Books: General    5. Computers    6. Computers - Languages / Programming    7. Programming Languages - C++    8. C & Visual C    9. Computers / Programming Languages / C++   

Reviews (1)

Great Way to Get Started
An excellent introduction to Microsoft SQL Server for the beginner. It starts with the basic concepts of what a database is and how it is used. It covers installation of SQL Server 2005 exhaustivly. It then the best description I've seen on the management tools that come with the database.
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Subjects:  1. Computer Books: Languages    2. Computers    3. Computers - Data Base Management    4. Database Management - SQL Server    5. Programming Languages - SQL    6. Sql (Programming Language)    7. Computers / General    8. Database software    9. SQL   

Reviews (41)

Not as "Complete" as I hoped
I was really wanting something that would show a step by step guide to building a USB device (even if all it did was turn on and off an LED) but this book doesn't really show how to actually BUILD anything.It's more about the principles/standars for USB from both the hardware and software side, and some examples on how to connect to and use an HID USB device.

Excellent book
This book really explains USB in detail, and Jan Axelson seems to really know what he is talking about.I am impressed.

Decent, but not "Everything You Need"...
My use of the book was primarily as a second opinion, against which I could check my interpretations of the USBv2.0 specification.In a few instances, this was very useful (i.e., clarifying exactly what is meant by the terms transaction, packet, handshake, etc.).
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Subjects:  1. Computer Books: Languages    2. Computers    3. Computers - Languages / Programming    4. Programming - General    5. USB (Computer bus)    6. Computers / Programming / General   

Reviews (21)

Excellent
Very informative book -- over 1000 pages. Great book for beginners. I strongly recomand this book.

Lived up to its name
I've read a lot of reviews before buying a C++ book... this was one of the most highest rated and acclaimed. After a couple of weeks with the book I can say that it deserved every penny. It's clear, concise and with very good code examples. Already two friends of mine who skimmed through my copy decided to buy it!

Great book
I'v have some experience with C, C++, and C#(my favorite). I bought this book to build my knowlage of C++. I have learned alot from it. It can be read cover to cover and it makes a good reference also. Even though im mainly a C# programmer it helps to know C++. This book is pretty easy to read and the aurthor explains everything in plain english and has plenty of simple examples to complement what he is trying to teach you. Although I couldnt understand some things like explicit template specialization. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. C++ (Computer program language)    2. Computer Books: Languages    3. Computers    4. Computers - Languages / Programming    5. Programming Languages - C++    6. C & Visual C    7. Computers / Programming Languages / C++   

Reviews (40)

Confusing and difficult to understand for beginners in C++
I am a computer science major and after reading this book I was confused. Programming in C++ for the first time can lead to many errors for beginners and seeking help from this book is not the solution. I had to visit my professor everyday after class just to understand how to program in C++, which made this book useless. I read the book over and over, the more I read it the more confused I got. I have thought about giving up in pursuing my major after reading this book.Try to avoid teachers who uses this book, it is not for beginners.

OK, I guess
This book is OK, but it leaves a lot to be desired.For some reason the author has 2 different chapters on looping; it would make more sense to put them into one chapter ("while" loops in chapter 6 and "do while" and "for" loops in chapter 9...).Most of the examples used are convoluted or even as the author puts it "nonsensical."The author also has a tendency to ramble on.There is lots of additional text printed here.Chapters often span 50 pages, but maybe only 80% is really worth spending a lot of time on.Oh, this book also falls in the "expensive" catagory... $80+ for a paperback???

A Good Introduction to C++
This book is a good introduction to C++.
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Subjects:  1. C++ (Computer program language    2. C++ (Computer program language)    3. Computer Books: General    4. Computer Science    5. Computers    6. Computers - Languages / Programming    7. Programming Languages - C++    8. C & Visual C   

Reviews (29)

Outstanding Book for Those Wishing to Work With ASP.NET and C#
I have been a professional web developer for the past 8 years working for a boutique web development shop.While we have done a decent bit of classic ASP over the years, prior to 2006 we have not jumped aggressively on the .NET bandwagon.The advent of ASP.NET 2.0 and the growing din of client requests has changed that and we are now focusing on .NET development.
A Behemoth
This book is choc-full of useful material on ASP.net. A monster
Probably my last Apress Book
I've just about had it with Apress books such as this one.The text shows the code for the various examples, but often the code is just a snippet, or it's incomplete, or it has errors.And you don't find this out unless you download the book's code from Apress.com.If you're like me and like to work the examples out on your own as you read, the whole process becomes very aggravating.I think I'll switch back to books from O'Reilly.With O'Reilly books, the authors present a complete, working version of the code on the page. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. C# (Computer program language)    2. Computer Books: Languages    3. Computers    4. Computers - Languages / Programming    5. Design    6. Internet - Web Site Design    7. Microsoft.NET    8. Programming - General    9. Programming Languages - C#    10. Programming Languages - General    11. Web sites    12. C & Visual C    13. Computers / Programming Languages / General   

Reviews (11)

The Pragmatic RUP Introduction
There is plenty of theory written about RUP, but how it should be applied to your role or your project is often misunderstood.
You need this book if you're doing RUP
This book does a great job of showing steps of practical application of the RUP.The book may seem repetitive on a few points, but I feel the points bear repeating.This book has been invaluable in helping cut through the misinformation thrown around by some who have gotten the executive summary of RUP and know just enough to be dangerous. I recently completed a seven-part online course on the RUP that was based on this book.The book did a far better job of making the RUP understandable.

The best way to understand RUP
I teach RUP classes in Brazil and the most difficult thing for the students is to understand the core practices of RUP(what I like to call Agile RUP) without getting swallowed by all the details of the hundreds activities, artifacts, roles, guidelines, etc.
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Subjects:  1. Computer Books: General    2. Computer software    3. Computers    4. Computers - Languages / Programming    5. Development    6. Programming - Object Oriented Programming    7. Programming - Software Development    8. Software Development    9. Software Engineering    10. Computers / Programming / Object Oriented    11. Object-oriented programming (OOP)   

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Reviews (29)

The new way to develop J2EE enterprise applications.
The latest and greatest about designing and building J2EE based enterprise applications is all within this book. The Spring Framework is a perfect compliment to strong object oriented design principles and techniques that should be leveraged for any J2EE solution. This book discusses both the strengths and weaknesses to the old EJB framework and talks about why Spring Framework is a good alternative.

Excellent intro and tutorial
This book covers most of the major topics in Spring. I used it to get started with Spring and to teach others. I like the comparisons they draw between Spring and J2EE. The book does a great job of introducing IoC an then moves into more complex/interesting topics.
Sloppy by and large
Some chapters (the basic Spring) are ok (even good.) Many advanced topics are covered in a sloppy manner. Further the editing is generally bad. I must say that I have read a finely edited book by Manning, namely Hibernate In Action. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Application software    2. Computer Books: Languages    3. Computers    4. Computers - Languages / Programming    5. Development    6. Java (Computer program language)    7. Programming - General    8. Programming Languages - Java    9. Computers / Languages / Programming    10. Computers / Programming Languages / Java    11. Java & variants   

Reviews (1)

Solid foundations for C# 2005 programming
Using this book, with the MS Visual Studio .NET 2005 version, the MS Visual C# 2005 version, and the MS SQL Server 2005 version, one can learn a lot with the new platform. The codings are very much the same as the 2003 version.It is not too difficult for any one who has done C, C++, Java, or Visual BASIC programming.The exercises are very good and have been tested in corporate training sites.I am currently using an older version of this book, for a training class with 14 electrical engineers. Four people are using this book. They are happy with the book, exercises and the software.They are working on their final projects now.
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Subjects:  1. C# (Computer program language)    2. Computer Books: Languages    3. Computers    4. Computers - Languages / Programming    5. Programming Languages - C#    6. C & Visual C    7. Computers / Programming Languages / C#   

Reviews (7)

Excellent walk throughs
If you learn better through the combination of conceptual overview and detailed walk throughs you'll love Brian Larson's approach.
Great overview
I would agree with the other statements about this book covering many aspects of BI.Unlike other books that focus primarily on Analysis Services, this book covers everything from data source integration to custom reporting.I was even a bit surprised to see a section on artificial intelligence as it applies to data mining.Just as the others mentiond, if it covered every aspect of each of the pieces of BI, the book would be too big.I would have liked to see more focus on the key elements to BI rather than briefly touching them as it does everything else.

Save a tree
OK -- it's not terrible, but it reminds me of many books that start with "this is a field, this is a record, this is a table." It started fine - I learned the difference between star and snowflake schema, the benefits of a data mart, and the key feature of SQL 2005 Analysis Services that addresses the latency between OLTP and OLAP (it's a feature called Universal Data Model (UDM). All cool. The trouble begins in the subsequent chapters with the cutesy MaximumMinimum company and the painstaking, step-by-step "now you do it" approach. Which means you can only make use of the info if you're sitting in front of a computer. Not my cuppa. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business intelligence    2. Client/server computing    3. Computer Books: Languages    4. Computers    5. Computers - Languages / Programming    6. Programming Languages - SQL    7. Computers / Programming Languages / SQL    8. Database software    9. SQL   

Reviews (5)

Valuable Tool
Visuals:
A top-notch title, but /please/ give us more testing recipes!
I am a novice Rails programmer, that much is certain. As a result, I'm quite happy to have Chad Fowler's "Rails Recipes" by my side. I have been part of the beta program for this book, so I've been reading it in parts for the past few months. It has been impressive, to say the least. As an author of my own "recipes" book, I am interested to see other authors' version of the recipe format, just in case I am able to incorporate something they do into a future book of my own. While Rails Recipes hasn't taught me much about writing a recipes book, it has taught me an awful lot of great things about Rails.
A real page turner
Receipt books are a different breed. By their nature they are difficult to just sit down a read and as such I find them sort of tough to review. Some years back I got into baking bread. All my receipts came out of James Beard's "Beard on Bread". I love the book, but I must say there are many parts of the book I have never looked at and others with lots of flour between the pages. The nature of a receipt book is you need to make something, you look it up, make what you need, and put the book away. Not this book.
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Subjects:  1. Computer - Internet    2. Computer Books: Languages    3. Computers    4. Computers - Languages / Programming    5. Internet - Application Development    6. Internet - World Wide Web    7. Object-oriented programming (Computer science)    8. Programming - General    9. Programming Languages - CGI, Javascript, Perl, VBScript    10. Ruby (Computer program language)    11. Computer / Internet    12. Computers / Internet / Application Development    13. Computers / Programming Languages / CGI, JavaScript, Perl, VBScript    14. Internet languages    15. Object-oriented programming (Computer science    16. Programming languages    17. Ruby, Rails, Java, J2EE, web, internet, framework   

Subjects:  1. Certification Guides - General    2. Computer Books: Languages    3. Computers    4. Computers - General Information    5. Database Management - General    6. General    7. Programming - Software Development    8. Relational Databases    9. Software Design    10. Computers / General    11. Computing and Information Technology    12. Microsoft Windows   

Reviews (1)

Excellent Study Guide and Reference
I used 'Als Planning, Implementing, and Maintaining a Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Active Directory Infrastructure' for my test and scored high. It was a tough test but this guide does a great job of telling you what you need to know. Most importantly it covers the topics in a VERY clear and concise manner. The labs are also very well done and helpful. The separate lab/text is a great format I hope to see for all future exam books.
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Subjects:  1. Certification    2. Certification Guides - General    3. Computer Books: Languages    4. Computers    5. Computers - General Information    6. Data Processing - General    7. Electronic Data Processing    8. Electronic data processing per    9. Electronic data processing personnel    10. Examinations    11. Microcomputer Operating Environments    12. Microsoft software    13. Operating Systems - General    14. Operating Systems - Windows    15. Study guides    16. Computer Communications & Networking    17. Microsoft Windows   

Subjects:  1. Computer Books: Languages    2. Computers    3. Computers - Languages / Programming    4. Programming Languages - SQL    5. Computers / Programming Languages / SQL    6. Databases & software