Addison-Wesley

Closed Loop Lifecycle Planning; a complete guide to managing your PC fleet.

In the business for several decades and acknowledged as an expert in the field, Michelson (Hewlett Packard) presents closed loop lifecycle planning, a methodology he has developed to deal with the business, political, economic, and technical considerations of acquiring, installing, supporting, and updating computer hardware. He offers guidance for all aspects of this complex endeavor, discussing the practicalities of continuous process improvement and strategies for cost savings. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Continuous integration; improving software quality and reducing risk.

Continuous integration has been described as "a software practice where members of a team integrate their work frequently" and "each integration is verified by an automated build (including test) to detect integration errors as quickly as possible." The authors (of Stelligent Incorporated, a software consulting company, and AutomateIT, a service branch of 5AM Solutions) of this guide give instruction on how to automate software integration processes so that they run every time the software under development is changed. Following a discussion of the basic principles and practices of continuous integration, they offer chapters on continuous database integration, testing, inspection, deployment, and feedback. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Developing applications with Windows Workflow Foundation. (DVD-ROM included)

In this book/DVD-ROM package, Noyes, a software architect, offers an introduction to the Windows Workflow Foundation. The DVD-ROM contains a set of 20 self-paced, self-contained video lessons, some as short as 15 minutes, others longer, covering topics such as workflow concepts, integration, persistence, Web services, and transactions. Each lesson starts with learning objectives, then transitions to a screen capture of the author's workstation, leading readers through steps required to perform and understand the objectives. The DVD-ROM also contains code samples used in the lessons. The book contains outlines of the lessons, with code. The lessons are geared toward experienced .NET developers and architects who are new to the Windows Workflow Foundation. The hybrid package design features a box that opens like a book, with the DVD-ROM enclosed in a hard-plastic case inside the box, and the slim paperbound manual glued to the inside of the box cover. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Domain-specific development with Visual Studio DSL tools.

Cook, a software architect at Microsoft and one of the main designers of the Microsoft DSL Tools, offers a software developer's and architect's guide to using the tools included in the Software Development Kit for Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 for creating domain specific languages (DSLs). He explains how to create and use DSLs, how to tune them to specific needs, and how to employ them within the context of a project. The first and last chapters of the book discuss general issues of DSLs and their design, and the bulk of the book focuses on building DSLs and code generators using the DSL Tools. Screenshots are included on almost every page. The book will also be of value to readers who are interested in the broader general topic of DSLs, or who wish to compare and contrast different approaches to model-driven development. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Eclipse Web tools platform; developing Java Web applications.

Part of the Eclipse open-source software framework, the Web Tools Platform (WTP) provides a range of tools and APIs designed to simplify the development of Web Services. Written by the project's founders, this guide for Java Web application developers offers detailed descriptions of the tools in version WTP 1.5. It also includes some material aimed at Eclipse plug-in developers who wish to extend WTP. Complete source code examples are available at a companion website. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Essential SharePoint 2007; delivering high-impact collaboration solutions.

This guide focuses on using Microsoft Office SharePoint 2007 to improve collaboration and decision-making, streamline processes, and solve real-world business problems. It walks readers through planning and architecting successful SharePoint solutions around the needs of a particular business, then addresses the operational support and end-user functionality needed to make SharePoint 2007 work, with special attention given to the organizational and political issues inherent in projects. The audience for the book includes project managers, consultants, and business analysts, as well as developers. Jamison participated in the developer advisory council that helped design new features for SharePoint 2007. Cardarelli is founder and managing partner of a services provider that helps companies use Microsoft technologies. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Essential Windows presentation foundation.

Assuming familiarity with .NET, this reference explains how an application is built in Windows presentation foundation (WPF), and describes its control library, layout panels, display graphics, and typography. Later chapters tour data binding and templates, actions, events, commands, triggers, and styles. Code examples are provided in C#. The author served as an architect on Microsoft's WPF team. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Extended STL; v.1: Collections and iterators. (CD-ROM included)

Go beyond the C++ standard and extend the Standard Template Library (STL) into APIs and non-standard collections. Consultant Wilson takes the time to explain the principles of UNIX programming and to inform readers about what makes for successful C++ software libraries, and gives those whose skills are at a basic level presentation conversions. He then describes STLs and what happens to them in the real world, element reference categories, the curious "untemporary" reference, the DRY SPOT principle, contract programming (including enforcement types and mechanisms, constraints, shims, partial structural performance, mutability and resource source, template tools, inferred interface adaptation, and essential components. He then goes through collections such as the glob and opendir/readdir API, enumerating processes and modules, the Fibonacci sequence, container families, environmental maps, the Z-plane, and string tokenization, finishing up with the various forms of iterators. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Object-oriented analysis and design with applications, 3d ed.

Editor Booch (UML founder) and contributors outline object-oriented methods using the Unified Modeling Language 2.0. Problems encountered by system and software developers are enumerated, including concepts, notation, and applications; the book is also appropriate for students and program managers. This edition incorporates an introduction to UML 2.0, a focus on modeling aspects (with five chapters on specific phases of the development lifecycle), new treatment of system architecture using object-oriented analysis and design and UML, an appendix on object-oriented programming languages, and other information. Most of the coding discussions have been removed. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

OpenGL superbible; comprehensive tutorial and reference, 4th ed.

This book is both a reference to the entire OpenGL API and a tutorial on using the API to create 3D visualizations, games, and other graphics. Starting with basic 3D terminology and concepts, the book covers basic primitive assembly, transformations, lighting, texturing, and the OpenGL Shading Language. The tutorial is accessible to both beginning programmers and to experienced programmers who are new to OpenGL. For this fourth edition, the reference material has been reorganized, with an appendix containing the complete OpenGL API reference for the GL function. The Mac OS X and Linux chapters have been rewritten, and there are new chapters on the latest OpenGL ES specification, and on advanced OpenGL buffer usage. This edition also features a color section of images demonstrating results of various techniques. Wright is a multimedia simulation software developer. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

The practice of system and network administration, 2d ed.

Rather than supplying a set of narrow how-to solutions to particular problems, the goal of this guide is to provide novice and experienced system administrators with a framework for thinking about system administration problems regardless of operating system, brand of computer, or type of environment. Limoncelli, a system and network administrator at Google, introduces foundations of IT infrastructure, then covers change processes, provision of seven basic services, and management practices. Chapters are divided into sections on the basics and "the icing," cool tricks to wow customers and managers. Examples are mainly from medium or large sites, and are usually generic; where they are operating-system specific, it is usually UNIX or Windows. This second edition reflects changes in the field since the first edition was published in 2000, and includes new chapters on documentation, data storage, and web services. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

RailsSpace; building a social networking Website with Ruby on Rails.

Ruby on Rails is a development framework alternative to PHP, ASP, and J2EE. This tutorial walks readers through the development of a social networking web site, RailsSpace, aimed at the Rails community itself. Step-by-step instructions detail steps for creating features that support user registration, email, blogs, and a friendship request system. In the process, readers will learn how Rails helps control code complexity with the model-view-controller architecture, abstraction layers, and code refactoring. A companion web site provides source code, a blog with follow-up articles, narrated screencasts, and a working version of RailsSpace, the book's social networking web site project. While no knowledge of the Ruby programming language or the Rails framework is necessary, readers should be familiar with at least one programming language, and an understanding of object-oriented programming is helpful. Hartl is a programmer. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Secure programming with static analysis. (CD-ROM included)

When programmers, or more properly their code, face the big ugly world out there, both must be prepared to deflect digital bullets. Consultants and practitioners Chess and West support using the technique of static analysis, which will uncover errors of omission and commission that could let a monster into the works. Focusing on the 70 or so most common security defects, they delineate the real software security problems out there and introduce static analysis, including its use as part of the code review process. They describe static analysis internals and then turn to pervasive problems, such as input, buffer overflow, errors and exceptions and examine feature, including web applications, XML and web services, business and personal privacy and secrets and privileged programs. They also supply nearly 20 extended exercises for C and Java with answers. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

SQL for MySQL developers; a comprehensive tutorial and reference.

Combining a comprehensive tutorial with a reference is a very good idea in the case of this software, which combines a SQL dialect with significant power. SQL master van der Lans works from the ground up so users can be more efficient from the start, and uses case studies and examples throughout to bring reality into the mix. He introduces the product with a case study database as he instructs on installation and theory, moving to querying and updating data, using SELECT statements with table expressions and subqueries (with encyclopedic coverage of the relevant statements and clauses), loading and unloading data, updating tables, creating database objects by with tables and integrity constraints, creating character sets and collations, changing and dropping tables, using indexes, setting up databases and applying security measures. He handles procedural database objects such as stored procedures and functions, triggers and events and concludes with tips on programming with SQL, including creating transactions and multi-user events. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Succeeding with SOA; realizing business value through total architecture.

Business managers and IT architects applying total architecture concepts for project management will find in this book advice on correctly implementing service-oriented architectures (SOA) to effectively integrate information systems and business process in multi-system projects. Strategies for SOA project leadership are outlined, and emphasis is placed on avoiding pitfalls and choosing an effective team. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

User interface design for mere mortals.

In this introductory textbook, technical writer and editor Butow describes a software-independent approach to designing user-friendly interfaces for desktop and web applications. Particular attention is paid to understanding the psychology of users and anticipating their actions. Usability test design is covered in the final chapter. The text is based on an online course taught by the author at California State U., Sacramento. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Visual Studio team system; better software development for agile teams.

Based on Beck's Extreme programming explained, this guide illustrates the application of agile software development practices to a five-developer team using Microsoft's Visual Studio 2005 team system. The authors explain version control, test-driven development, agile modeling, the framework for integrated testing, story cards for estimating team work, installation programs for deployment, the distributed system designer, the report designer, and lean thinking. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

XUnit test patterns; refactoring test code.

In this guide to creating automated tests using xUnit, Meszaros, a consultant in agile development, describes 68 patterns for making automated tests easier to write, understand, and maintain. The first part of the book is a detailed tutorial on test automation, covering everything from test strategy to test coding. The second part, a catalog of 18 frequently encountered "test smells," provides trouble- shooting guidelines for determining the root of problems and applying the best patterns. The third part of the book gives detailed descriptions of each pattern, including refactoring instructions illustrated with code samples in multiple programming languages. Material is also applicable to next-generation behavior-driven development frameworks such as RSpec and JBehave. The book will be used by developers, managers, and testers working with any agile or conventional development process. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)