34% Off Discounts: Buy Cheap The LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT 2.0 Discovery Book: A Beginner's Guide to Building and Programming Robots Review

Are you looking to buy The LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT 2.0 Discovery Book: A Beginner's Guide to Building and Programming Robots? here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on The LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT 2.0 Discovery Book: A Beginner's Guide to Building and Programming Robots. check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Cheapest Deals

The LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT 2.0 Discovery Book: A Beginner's Guide to Building and Programming Robots Review

I (a hardware/software developer and radio ham for some 30 years) bought LEGO Mindstorms for my now eight-year-old son last Christmas. Being a LEGO nut since he was old enough not to swallow the pieces, he's had great fun with Mindstorms since then.
But after you've built the models detailed in the Mindstorms kit, where do you go next? The Mindstorms online help is pretty good, but tiresome to read on the screen, and not the best medium for a youngster. The Alpha Rex etc. are impressive but it's hard for a child to try to make his own models of a similar complexity on the basis of the models in the Mindstorms kit. There is a huge gap between copying ready-made models and learning to create real robots from scratch, and Laurens Valk's book fills that gap perfectly.
As "the missing manual", this book thoroughly explains the NXT hardware and NXT-G software, in enough technical detail to satisfy a seasoned programmer like me, but without overloading someone who is completely new to the technology. That is no mean feat!
The building instructions are of a similar quality to those provided in the all-too-slim Mindstorms manual, and my son was able to follow them and the programming instructions with only minimal guidance from me (usually because we hadn't yet read the accompanying text! :-)
Now, there are several ways to approach this book. To get started quickly, you or your child genius can simply follow the detailed building and programming instructions to create any of the eight robots detailed in the book. My son had almost no trouble doing this: in fact, he first went after the more complex models like the Strider featured on the cover, followed by the very impressive Chimney Climber. If, like us, you're new to the LEGO Technic and Mindstorms systems, you'll be surprised how they can be made to do such remarkable things.
The program instructions feature a simplified overview - essentially a flow diagram - that lets you follow the basic structure of the program and learn about loops, "if-then-else" blocks, etc. Your young robotics engineer can learn about the how-and-why of the programs, and gradually improvise to deepen his/her understanding of what the NXT controller is "thinking", and then devise clever ways to change it.
Then there are the challenges, or "discoveries" to use Laurens' word: 87 of them in all. Once we have settled down to reading the book together start-to-finish (give us a chance, we've only had this book for a week!), the discoveries will provide many new paths to explore and consolidate our understanding of robotic systems.
I would have expected to pay three times what Amazon is charging for this book, based on similar books aimed at software developers. At under $20, it is excellent value for money and an essential "NXT" step on any robot designer's path of discovery. Buy it!

The LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT 2.0 Discovery Book: A Beginner's Guide to Building and Programming Robots Overview

Discover the many features of the LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT 2.0 set. The LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT 2.0 Discovery Book is the complete,illustrated, beginner's guide to MINDSTORMS that you've been lookingfor.The crystal clear instructions in the Discovery Book will showyou how to harness the capabilities of the NXT 2.0 set to build andprogram your own robots. Author and robotics instructor Laurens Valkwalks you through the set, showing you how to use its various pieces,and how to use the NXT software to program robots. Interactive tutorials make it easy for you to reach an advanced level of programming as youlearn to build robots that move, monitor sensors, and use advancedprogramming techniques like data wires and variables. You'll build eight increasingly sophisticated robots like the Strider (a six-leggedwalking creature), the CCC (a climbing vehicle), the Hybrid Brick Sorter (a robot that sorts by color and size), and the Snatcher (an autonomous robotic arm). Numerous building and programming challenges throughoutencourage you to think creatively and to apply what you've learned asyou develop the skills essential to creating your own robots.Requirements: One LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT 2.0 set (#8547)Features
A complete introduction to LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT 2.0
Building and programming instructions for eight innovative robots
50 sample programs and 72 programming challenges (ranging from easyto hard) encourage you to explore newly learned programming techniques
15 building challenges expand on the robot designs and help youdevelop ideas for new robots
Who is this book for?This is a perfect introduction for those new to building and programming with the LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT 2.0 set. The book also includes intriguing robot designs and useful programming tips for more seasoned MINDSTORMSbuilders.-

Want to learn more information about The LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT 2.0 Discovery Book: A Beginner's Guide to Building and Programming Robots?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

16% Off Discounts: Buy Cheap Introduction to Java Programming, Comprehensive (8th Edition) Review

Are you looking to buy Introduction to Java Programming, Comprehensive (8th Edition)? here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Introduction to Java Programming, Comprehensive (8th Edition). check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Introduction to Java Programming, Comprehensive (8th Edition) Review

Try to learn Java from the tutorials available online, and you encounter breezy references to unfamiliar concepts and examples so complicated you can't tell the predefined Java classes from those the programmer has added. But if you make an investment and buy this book, a master teacher leads you by the hand.
The organization of the text seems odd at first. Why, for example, does Liang introduce a single GUI component, JOptionPane, at the beginning? It turns out he is showing you how to parse strings into other data types. Why does coverage of the String class intervene in the middle? It turns out to be a good example of an object, following up on the previous chapter. Every concept is presented in a logical progression.
Along the way, Liang makes excursions to topics like 2D arrays and Wrapper classes. I recently finished the brief version of this book and then needed to use a Swing feature, tables, which is covered only in the comprehensive version. So I had to rely on Sun's tutorial, which is excellent but assumes you know the basics. It gives no explanation of the object type used to hold a table's data -- but Liang's intro had prepared me to recognize and use a 2D array. My first attempt didn't work. Closer review showed that booleans and integers should be surrounded with extra code -- which, having read Liang, I knew were wrappers. That's when I decided to continue on to this comprehensive version. Liang is that good, you'll want all 1300 pages.
Throughout the book are beautifully designed examples, presenting exactly the code necessary to illustrate the target concepts and no more, and presented in full. If you're new to OOP and unsure where to place certain code, you can use Liang's examples as guides. Well thought-out reiview questions at the end of each chapter help consolidate what you've learned, and the exercises give you hands-on learning experience. These are particularly helpful in the early chapters -- and fun; no other entertainment could beat the exercises on loops. The solutions are provided online for half of them, and you pick up new points by noting how Liang's solution differs from yours.
The book's layout is a paragon of clarity, with green text used to set off literal values and code. There are handy topic descriptions in the generous margins, which makes it easy to find what you're looking for when you use the book for reference. The index is good. There are a few serious typos that can trip you up -- i.e., the order of addition and subtraction is backwards in exercise 4.25, computing pi -- but most of them are obvious (and, dear publisher, they ought to have been fixed by edition 8).
Supplemental materials are available online. The video notes are a bit of a snooze, but they may be valuable to those with a different learning style. They are walkthroughs of the examples in the text, presented in a calm, pleasant voice.
Pearson-Prentice Hall has, however, made two lamentable decisions. One is to offer no hardback edition -- this is a reference book that is destined for heavy use and doomed to cellotape repairs as a flimsy paperback. The other is to publish brief versus complete editions, when what is needed is two separate tomes for first half and second half.

Introduction to Java Programming, Comprehensive (8th Edition) Overview

Introduction to Java Programming, Comprehensive, 8e, features comprehensive coverage ideal for a one-, two-, or three-semester CS1 course sequence. Regardless of major, students will be able to grasp concepts of problem-solving and programming — thanks to Liang's fundamentals-first approach, students learn critical problem solving skills and core constructs before object-oriented programming. Liang's approach has been extended to application-rich programming examples, which go beyond the traditional math-based problems found in most texts. Students are introduced to topics like control statements, methods, and arrays before learning to create classes. Later chapters introduce advanced topics including graphical user interface, exception handling, I/O, and data structures. Small, simple examples demonstrate concepts and techniques while longer examples are presented in case studies with overall discussions and thorough line-by-line explanations. Increased data structures chapters make the Eighth Edition ideal for a full course on data structures.

Want to learn more information about Introduction to Java Programming, Comprehensive (8th Edition)?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

45% Off Discounts: Buy Cheap JavaScript: The Definitive Guide: Activate Your Web Pages (Definitive Guides) Review

Are you looking to buy JavaScript: The Definitive Guide: Activate Your Web Pages (Definitive Guides)? here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on JavaScript: The Definitive Guide: Activate Your Web Pages (Definitive Guides). check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

JavaScript: The Definitive Guide: Activate Your Web Pages (Definitive Guides) Review

Readers should note that most of the reviews of this book refer to older editions which are -- due to the rapid evolution of javascript -- completely different books. I've spent a considerable amount of time the last few months reading the 6th edition of this book and have a number of complaints. But first, the kudos: this book is more comprehensive than any other javascript reference.
Complaints:
- the text is frequently non-linear in the sense that author will talk about undefined feature X, stating that feature X will be explained a couple of chapters later. Sometimes this is a good way to gradually introduce concepts, but it's used too much here. Some critics of this book have suggested you need to know javascript before reading this book, this might be why.
- Almost every concept is followed with the caveat "but this feature doesn't work in Internet Explorer prior to version Z. For that you have to use this entirely different function f". This makes the text unnecessarily confusing. How about talking about *standard* ECMAscript and relegating the caveats to end of chapter notes, perhaps adding a superscript to alert the reader about version incompatibilities?
- The examples are poor -- most show how to re-implement javascript 5 functions in javascript 3, or how to get a standard function to work in Internet Explorer 8. Who cares? This is why we have jQuery and Dojo -- in order not to worry about stuff like this. A few examples like this would provide welcome insight into dealing with compatibility issues, but in this case my eyes started to glaze over after a few hundred pages.
Case study: Chapter 17, "Handling Events". After reading much of this chapter I realized I didn't know anything about how to use events in actual, practical code. I went back to re-read the chapter, which starts on p. 445. The first example "snippet" doesn't occur until p. 457 and the first real example is on p. 466, demonstrating a "whenReady" function which shows you how "you can improve the startup time of your web applications if you trigger your scripts on events other than 'load'." Somewhat interesting, but is this really the best first example on event processing? The next example illustrates dragging an object, and is already quite complex and hard to follow.
The beginning of Ch. 17 tells us "An event object is an object that is associated with a particular event and contains details
about that event. Event objects are passed as an argument to the event handler function (except in IE8 and before where they are sometimes only available through the global variable event). All event objects have a type property that specifies the event type and
a target property that specifies the event target. (In IE8 and before, use srcElement instead of target.) Each event type defines a set of properties for its associated event." OK, how about an EXAMPLE illustrating how this works in real code? It's nearly impossible to get much out of this comment (and certainly impossible to retain anything) without an example. Only someone who already knows this stuff will follow that effectively, and if you already know the material, why read this chapter?
Additionally, some standard methods appear not to be documented in the client-side reference. Unfortunately I can't recall which ones at the moment; just remember looking for them and not finding them.
The "camel" book "Programming Perl" by Wall, Christiansen, and Orwant continues to be the gold standard for programming books by almost any measure, despite the fact that the current edition (3rd) is now terribly out of date. This book is readable, starts out with a good overview and then gradually dips the reader into the complexities of the language, included good examples, and frankly is an extremely enjoyable read. By comparison, this book meets none of these metrics. As a side note, O'Reilly (also the publisher of Programming Perl) used to be the dominant technical book publisher by huge margins, but in the past few years has begun to fall behind newer, more nimble competitors like Packt and Manning, who offer steep discounts on ebook editions and who appear to be taking greater care to maintain content quality. The affect is that at one time I would have simply assumed that the O'Reilly title was the highest quality text on any particular issue and now I'm finding this is not the case more often than not.
I must also add that I'm a fairly experienced programmer with some prior javascript experience; hence presumably a member of the target audience for this book. Whatever it's shortcomings and merits, and as other reviewers have pointed out, this book is COMPLETELY inappropriate for novice programmers and beginners. Stay far away, newbies, lest you burn in the pit of doom.

JavaScript: The Definitive Guide: Activate Your Web Pages (Definitive Guides) Overview

Since 1996, JavaScript: The Definitive Guide has been the bible for JavaScript programmers—a programmer's guide and comprehensive reference to the core language and to the client-side JavaScript APIs defined by web browsers.

The 6th edition covers HTML5 and ECMAScript 5. Many chapters have been completely rewritten to bring them in line with today's best web development practices. New chapters in this edition document jQuery and server side JavaScript. It's recommended for experienced programmers who want to learn the programming language of the Web, and for current JavaScript programmers who want to master it.

"A must-have reference for expert JavaScript programmers...well-organized and detailed." --Brendan Eich, creator of JavaScript, CTO of Mozilla

"I made a career of what I learned from JavaScript: The Definitive Guide." -- Andrew Hedges, Tapulous


Want to learn more information about JavaScript: The Definitive Guide: Activate Your Web Pages (Definitive Guides)?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

36% Off Discounts: Purchase Cheap Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software Review

Are you looking to buy Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software? here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software. check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software Review

This book really changed my way of thinking about object-oriented design. The idea is that when designing a new class hierarchy, though implementation details may differ, you often find yourself using the same kinds of solutions over and over again. Rather than approaching each design task out of context as an individual, isolated problem, the strategy is to study the task and identify the underlying design pattern most likely to be applicable, and follow the class structure outlined by that pattern. It's a "cookbook" school of design that works amazingly well.
There are other advantages to this book. It isolates 23 of the most common patterns and presents them in detail. You wouldn't think that 23 patterns would be enough, but once you become adept at recognizing patterns, you'll find that a large fraction of the patterns you use in practice are among these 23. For each pattern, the book carefully presents the intent of the pattern, a motivating example, consequences of using that pattern, implementation considerations and pitfalls, sample code (C++ or Smalltalk), known uses of that pattern in real-world applications, and a list of related patterns.
Upon first reading, you will start to recognize these patterns in the frameworks you see. Upon second reading, you'll begin to see how these patterns can help you in your own designs, and may also start to see new patterns not listed in the book. Once you become familiar with the pattern concept, you will be able to originate your own patterns, which will serve you well in the future. One of the most valuable contributions of this book is that it is designed not merely to help you identify patterns, but to give you a sense of which patterns are appropriate in which contexts.
I think this book is particularly valuable to many C++ and Java programmers, because of the dynamic and flexible design philosophy it follows. (Its two fundamental principles of reusable OO design are: "Program to an interface, not an implementation" and "Favor object composition over class inheritance".) I've found that many C++ books unfortunately tend to emphasize a rather static and inflexible design philosophy. Many C++ programmers do not realize how the language and the books they've studied from have been limiting their thinking until they have been exposed to ideas from other lanugages. The authors of this book have obviously been influenced by other languages as well, especially Smalltalk, and have brought many of its best lessons to C++ design. Most Java books seem to take after the C++ books, even though Java is a more dynamic language. This book may help Java programmers take full advantage of the extra power offered by their language, if they look deeply enough into some of the lesser-known features its runtime system affords.
Last, but not least, this book is valuable because it names the patterns it uses, and so gives programmers a common vocabulary to describe design concepts, rather than particular implementations. You'll find yourself saying things like, "That would be a good use for a Decorator", or "Should we use a Facade or a Mediator in this case?" I encourage readers of this book to use this vocabulary with other programmers.
In summary, this is one of the few books that I think belongs on every programmer's "must-have" list. Not to overuse a cliche, but like object-oriented design itself, the pattern concept is one of those rare paradigm-shifts in computer programming. It is equally valuable to expert professional and novice student alike. The book has a home page at http://st-www.cs.uiuc.edu/users/patterns/DPBook/DPBook.html

Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software Overview

Want to learn more information about Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

36% Off Discounts: Best Price Effective Java (2nd Edition) Review

Are you looking to buy Effective Java (2nd Edition)? here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Effective Java (2nd Edition). check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Great Deals

Effective Java (2nd Edition) Review

Please see my review of the first edition for my general response. My opinion hasn't changed with the second, so I'll focus on what's new in this review.
The second edition was well worth the wait. The number of items are beefed up to 78 from 57. The chapter "Substitutes for C Constructs" is gone, but replaced by more contemporary material on "Generics" and "Enums and Annotations." Some first edition items have been amended to address features new to Java since the first edition was released. Some new items also address concurrency, favoring it over traditional Java threads. As expected, the cases for each item are methodically and persuaisvely made. If you are particularly interested in concurrency, also consider Java Concurrency in Practice.
The item discussions use boldface liberally to highlight key points, sometimes calling attention to arguments in the first edition that have been updated. If you're skimming -- the author in fact doesn't encourage cover-to-cover reading -- these highlights are useful attractors to important material you might otherwise gloss.
It's often helpful to have practices or insights you've earned on your own backed up by a reputable authority. Effective Java certainly helps with that. More importantly, the arguments that support his items are clear, easy to read, and compelling. Anyone proficient with Java would have to go a long way to find fault with them. In fact, it took considerable investigation to determine that one item from the first edition -- "Provide a readResolve method when necessary" -- was not the best advice for some cases. Bloch addresses that issue head-on in this edition, and provides its replacement ("For instance control, prefer enum types to readResolve").
As with the first edition, this one is a necessity for any serious Java developer.

Effective Java (2nd Edition) Overview

Want to learn more information about Effective Java (2nd Edition)?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

47% Off Discounts: Buy Cheap Head First Design Patterns Review

Are you looking to buy Head First Design Patterns? here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Head First Design Patterns. check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Great Deals

Head First Design Patterns Review

At first I didn't understand how they would apply the Head First formula to design patterns. I'd read two head first before this one and I was impressed with those so I took a look and now, not only is it clear how they approached the topic, it's also clear to me that this is the best way to learn design patterns.
The Gang of Four book laid out the basics. Here is the pattern, here are some examples. The head first book goes a lot further. They show you good and bad examples of the pattern. They give solid reasoning behind the pattern. It's great.
There are times when I would look at a piece of code and have the author explain to me that it was based on one of the GoF patterns. I would come away thinking, if that's the pattern, then that pattern sucks. It's clear that patterns can be misapplied. So understanding the the how design patterns are applied, and how they are commonly applied wrongly, or to an extreme, is just as important as understanding the basic mechanics of the pattern itself.
The example code is in Java, but I think this is an ideal book for anyone passionate about patterns.

Head First Design Patterns Overview

You're not alone. At any given moment, somewhere in the world someone struggles with the same software design problems you have. You know you don't want to reinvent the wheel (or worse, a flat tire), so you look to Design Patterns--the lessons learned by those who've faced the same problems. With Design Patterns, you get to take advantage of the best practices and experience of others, so that you can spend your time on...something else. Something more challenging. Something more complex. Something more fun. You want to learn about the patterns that matter--why to use them, when to use them, how to use them (and when NOT to use them). But you don't just want to see how patterns look in a book, you want to know how they look "in the wild". In their native environment. In other words, in real world applications. You also want to learn how patterns are used in the Java API, and how to exploit Java's built-in pattern support in your own code. You want to learn the real OO design principles and why everything your boss told you about inheritance might be wrong (and what to do instead).You want to learn how those principles will help the next time you're up a creek without a design pattern. Most importantly, you want to learn the "secret language" of Design Patterns so that you can hold your own with your co-worker (and impress cocktail party guests) when he casually mentions his stunningly clever use of Command, Facade, Proxy, and Factory in between sips of a martini. You'll easily counter with your deep understanding of why Singleton isn't as simple as it sounds, how the Factory is so often misunderstood, or on the real relationship between Decorator, Facade and Adapter. With Head First Design Patterns, you'll avoid the embarrassment of thinking Decorator is something from the "Trading Spaces" show. Best of all, in a way that won't put you to sleep!We think your time is too important (and too short) to spend it struggling with academic texts. If you've read a Head First book, you know what to expect--a visually rich format designed for the way your brain works. Using the latest research in neurobiology, cognitive science, and learning theory, Head First Design Patterns will load patterns into your brain in a way that sticks. In a way that lets you put them to work immediately. In a way that makes you better at solving software design problems, and better at speaking the language of patterns with others on your team.


Want to learn more information about Head First Design Patterns?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

45% Off Discounts: Buy Cheap Head First Java, 2nd Edition Review

Are you looking to buy Head First Java, 2nd Edition? here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Head First Java, 2nd Edition. check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Lowest Price Offers

Head First Java, 2nd Edition Review

When I first saw "Head First Java", it reminds me of the colorful "conversational English" books I had when I started to learn English years ago. The casual, humorous books have turned out effective for English language learning. Is that style good for the Java language learners as well? Is this type of books for beginners only?
With those questions in mind, I started to read "Head First Java". Since I consider myself a Java expert (I wrote a Java book myself, after all), I decided that I would NOT read the book from cover to cover. Instead, I would randomly flip through the book for the humorous stories and photos. I figured that if I cannot learn much new about Java from a "beginner" book, I can at least have some fun.
Geez, I was wrong. I was ADDICTED to the book's short stories, annotated code snippets, mock interviews, puzzle games and brain exercises. They are not only entertaining but also informative. It may be a beginner's book but the stuff they cover are definitely deep enough for expert readers as well (e.g. multiple inheritance, polymorphism, inner classes, threads, RMI, ... just to name a few). The best of all is that I can actually remember the things I learned from the book because I associate them with the stories and pictures. I guess it has something to do with the fact that both sides of my brain are active when reading this book: The right side is for the stories and the left side is for the technical and logic stuff.
There are other great Java books (e.g. "Thinking in Java" by Bruce Eckel) in the market. But they are all very serious and require the readers to spend hours to read entire chapters. The great thing about "Head First Java" is that the bite-size code snippets and stories allow me to learn something about Java in my 5-10 minutes spare time, one piece a time.
The overall writing style is casual and enlightened. The presentation style (fonts and placements of graphical elements) fits the content very well. The book covers a wide variety of Java topics including: basic code structure and language syntax, OOP concepts, math and numbers, exception handling, the Swing GUI library, serialization, network, and distributed computing.
Of course, the casual style is not for everyone. I know people who love the re-assuring feeling from "serious" books. But I can re-assure you that Kathy and Bert are authoritative figures in the Java training community. The content is absolutely first class. I highly recommend "Head First Java" for both Java beginners and expert readers.

Head First Java, 2nd Edition Overview

Want to learn more information about Head First Java, 2nd Edition?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

34% Off Discounts: Buy Cheap C Programming Language (2nd Edition) Review

Are you looking to buy C Programming Language (2nd Edition)? here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on C Programming Language (2nd Edition). check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Great Deals

C Programming Language (2nd Edition) Review

This book (widely known as K&R, after the authors' initials) has for over twenty years been the best way to learn C. When I got this book in 1980, I had access to a Unix system and worked through much of the tutorial material in it. On the way I learnt a great deal, not just about C, but about good programming style, code reuse, the value of clear comments--in short, I was introduced to the skill set of an experienced computer professional.
The book was a trendsetter in several ways. For example, the very first exercise given is to print "hello, world"; this is now seen as the first exercise in innumerable other, more recent books, many of which may not realize that they are borrowing from K&R. The rest of chapter 1 (there's a chapter 0, an introduction; another geek-cool change which has been widely copied) is a tutorial that takes you through assignment statements, data types, if/else, for, while, printf, function definitions, arrays, and variable scoping, in less than 30 pages. If you work your way through the embedded exercises you'll have written utilities to strip tabs, reverse input by lines, strip trailing whitespace from input, and several others. This is much more challenging than most tutorials, but the effect on the student is that you feel you are being treated as an equal. The book doesn't talk down to you; it gives you accurate and concise answers. It's written for programmers, in other words.
The next few chapters go back over the elements of C in more detail, and should also be treated as a tutorial. Going through this material religiously will be far more valuable than any college class could possibly be.
There is a reference section at the back, which is good to have. But the real value of this book is in the tutorial approach: it is a rare pleasure in the computing field to find a book that is simultaneously clear, stimulating and informative.

C Programming Language (2nd Edition) Overview

Want to learn more information about C Programming Language (2nd Edition)?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

45% Off Discounts: Special Prices for Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML Review

Are you looking to buy Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML? here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML. check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Cheapest Deals

Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML Review

The "Head First" series by O'Reilly does it again. This book manages to take the conceptually easy yet complicated task of learning HTML, XHTML, and CSS and breaks it down so that anyone can figure out what is going on and what needs to be done in web page design using these technologies. Plus, if you learned HTML several years ago and you would like to update your skills to current technology, this is a great choice for a textbook.
The book starts out with the basics of HTML -text, webpage form via HTML, putting your webpage on the Internet and linking to other web resources, and adding images and thumbnails. Next the author tackles XHTML, starting by answering the questions What is XHTML? and Why would I want to use XHTML? The author composes three simple steps to take you from strict HTML to XHTML:
1. Change your DOCTYPE to XHTML 1.0 Strict.
2. Add the xmins, lang, and xml:lang attributes to your element.
3. All empty tags should end in "/>" not ">".
Next, CSS is introduced, along with the properties that can be controlled via CSS. When you read the CSS chapters you'll find yourself asking "Why don't other books just SAY this plainly like THIS book does?". Eventually, the author has you doing advanced layout and control using all the tools available to you without you ever noticing that you've been "studying". The book concludes with lessons on interactivity and tables. I think it is most interesting that the author saves the subject of tables for the end of the book versus other texts that usually introduce them early on. This is because the author is using the more advanced lessons on CSS to help make the subject of tabular data less confusing. The book's final chapter is entitled "The Top Ten Topics We Didn't Cover", thus acknowledging that this is not an advanced book on webpage design. Each chapter has a "There Are No Dumb Questions" section that answers common questions that may be a source of confusion to the reader.
Since this book is designed to be a textbook and not a reference, you might find it handy to have a copy of O'Reilly's "HTML & XHTML: The Definitive Guide" as a reference since it lists virtually all of the HTML tags and their properties.

Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML Overview

Tired of reading HTML books that only make sense after you're an expert? Then it's about time you picked up Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML and really learned HTML. You want to learn HTML so you can finally create those web pages you've always wanted, so you can communicate more effectively with friends, family, fans, and fanatic customers. You also want to do it right so you can actually maintain and expand your Web pages over time, and so your web pages work in all the browsers and mobile devices out there. Oh, and if you've never heard of CSS, that's okay--we won't tell anyone you're still partying like it's 1999--but if you're going to create Web pages in the 21st century then you'll want to know and understand CSS.
Learn the real secrets of creating Web pages, and why everything your boss told you about HTML tables is probably wrong (and what to do instead). Most importantly, hold your own with your co-worker (and impress cocktail party guests) when he casually mentions how his HTML is now strict, and his CSS is in an external style sheet.

With Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML, you'll avoid the embarrassment of thinking web-safe colors still matter, and the foolishness of slipping a font tag into your pages. Best of all, you'll learn HTML and CSS in a way that won't put you to sleep. If you've read a Head First book, you know what to expect: a visually-rich format designed for the way your brain works. Using the latest research in neurobiology, cognitive science, and learning theory, this book will load HTML, CSS, and XHTMLinto your brain in a way that sticks.

So what are you waiting for? Leave those other dusty books behind and come join us in Webville. Your tour is about to begin.



Praise"Elegant design is at the core of every chapter here, each concept conveyed with equal doses of pragmatism and wit." --Ken Goldstein, Executive Vice President, Disney Online

"This book is a thoroughly modern introduction to forward-looking practices in web page markup and presentation." --Danny Goodman, author of Dynamic HTML: The Definitive Guide

"What used to be a long trial and error learning process has now been reduced neatly into an engaging paperback." --Mike Davidson, CEO, Newsvine, Inc.

"I love Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML--it teaches you everything you need to learn in a 'fun coated' format!" --Sally Applin, UI Designer and Artist

"I haven't had as much fun reading a book (other than Harry Potter) in years. And your book finally helped me break out of my hapless so-last-century way of creating web pages." --Professor David M. Arnow, Department of Computer and Information Science, Brooklyn College

"If you've ever had a family member who wanted you to design a website for them, buy them Head First HTML with CSS and XHTML. If you've ever asked a family member to design you a web site, buy this book. If you've ever bought an HTML book and ended up using it to level your desk, or for kindling on a cold winter day, buy this book. This is the book you've been waiting for. This is the learning system you've been waiting for." --Warren Kelly, Blogcritics.org


Want to learn more information about Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

30% Off Discounts: Buy Cheap Introduction to Algorithms Review

Are you looking to buy Introduction to Algorithms? here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Introduction to Algorithms. check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Cheapest Deals

Introduction to Algorithms Review

First of all, this is the quintessential book on algorithms. If you want to learn, this is the book to get. The information in the book is awesome and it can make an excellent reference.
Students will need a very strong mathematical background and a strong arm to even think about picking up this book because the it is heavy (both physically and metaphorically). Mastery of discrete math is a must, graph theory, programming, and, combinatorics will also help.
With that said, this book falls short in one MAJOR area, explanations. Too often explanations are left out and left as exercises and there are no solutions to the exercises! Or details are replaced by ambiguous statements such as of "cleary, this works", or "it is easy to see that this ...". I get the concept of learning by doing, really I do, but there should be some kind of solutions so the student can CHECK his/her understanding of the material and sometimes the exercises are not about advanced aspects of a concept, sometimes it is the core material. Even if the solution manual only contained a simple answer without the work. Not only would it help tremendously but the purpose of doing the exercises would be preserved; that is the student getting his/her "hands dirty" and working out a problem.
For the love everything good and pure in this universe, I really wish writers of mathematical books would stop using statements like "clearly this works" or "it is easy to see", "it is obvious" etc. While that may be true for you and your brilliant circle of colleagues, everything is not always clear and obvious to your readers. Save all of that ambiguity for your research paper.

A great book should deliver in two areas; it should challenge and it should inform. The challenge is there, no doubt. However in some ways it fails to inform the reader. The authors should really think about releasing a students solution manual to help students learn better. I take away two stars for the reasons stated about.

Introduction to Algorithms Overview

"Introduction to Algorithms, the 'bible' of the field, is acomprehensive textbook covering the full spectrum of modern algorithms: from thefastest algorithms and data structures to polynomial-time algorithms for seeminglyintractable problems, from classical algorithms in graph theory to specialalgorithms for string matching, computational geometry, and number theory. Therevised third edition notably adds a chapter on van Emde Boas trees, one of the mostuseful data structures, and on multithreaded algorithms, a topic of increasingimportance."--Daniel Spielman, Department of Computer Science, YaleUniversity (Daniel Spielman )

Want to learn more information about Introduction to Algorithms?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...