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$23.00
1. SR Programming Language: Concurrency
 
$47.34
2. Instructor's Manual for Operating
$9.99
3. Excel 2000 Programming for Dummies
 
4. The SR Programming Language :
 
$38.35
5. SR (programming language)
 
6. Issues in distributed programming
 
7. Revised report on the SR programming
 
8. Report on SR programming language,
 
9. An overview of the SR language
 
10. SR: a language for distributed
11. Programming Microsoft® SQL Server®
12. Introduction to C Programming
13. Computer Programming 101: How
14. World of Warcraft Programming:
15. Coming to SAS from SPSS: A Programming
 
16. Genetic Programming : An Introduction
17. Masterminds of Programming
$13.35
18. Symbian OS Communications Programming
 
$17.38
19. Programming Language Choice: Practice
$1.99
20. Extreme Programming Perspectives

1. SR Programming Language: Concurrency Pract
by Andrews
Paperback: 344 Pages (1992-10-10)
list price: US$40.00 -- used & new: US$23.00
(price subject to change: see help)
Asin: 0805300880
Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars
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Editorial Review

Product Description
SR (Synchronizing Resources) is a powerful and flexible language for concurrent programming. With its explicit mechanisms and concurrency, communication, and synchronization, programmers can easily learn to write programs for both shared- and distributed-memory applications and machines.This book, written by the language designers, provides a complete introduction to SR and gives the reader the tools for learning about and experimenting with concurrency. Features *Provides an accessible, clear introduction to SR by the language designers. *Teaches practical techniques through numerous realistic examples of parallel and distributed programming problems. *Examines 'classic' concurrent programming problems as well as many important parallel and distributed programming problems. *Illustrates trade-offs between language mechanisms to help the reader understand and make optimum design decisions *Reinforces key points with numerous end-of-chapter exercises *Includes six appendices that summarize the language for quick reference, show how to develop and execute programs, and describe the implementation.The SR language implementation is available, free, from the SR Project, University of Arizona, at ftp://cs.arizona.edu/sr/. 0805300880B04062001 ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

5-0 out of 5 stars An excellent language guide
This book contains all you need to know about this concurrent programming language.It is a simple language, yet quite powerful.The examples given in the book start out nice and easy, but yet there are more complex ones as well that give a good idea on how to best use the language.

I would highly recommend this book, *especially* to those who are interested in concurrent programming in general.This book is a quasi *must* supplement to Andrew's "Concurrent Programming" book.

As I teach concurrent programming, I think that this book and the companion are the best for learning and practicing concurrent programming. ... Read more


2. Instructor's Manual for Operating Systems Programming: The SR Programming Language
by Stephen J. Hartley
 Paperback: 88 Pages (1995-07-13)
list price: US$46.50 -- used & new: US$47.34
(price subject to change: see help)
Asin: 0195095782
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Editorial Review

Product Description
Designed to give students experience writing programs in a concurrent programming language, this text shows how to use the SR language to write programs that use semaphores, monitors, message passing, remote procedure calls, and the rendezvous for an operating systems course. The language can also be used for parallel computing in a shared-memory multiprocessor or a distributed memory cluster environment.The pedagogical orientation of the text helps students understand concepts more clearly; it describes the SR language, presents some examples of SR programs, and provides some programming assignments in the form of open student laboratories. Since most concepts and terms are defined, it can be used as the sole text in an introductory concurrent programming course.A unique feature of the text is that it can also be used in conjunction with four of the standard operating systems texts on the market today. Its material is keyed to the following major textbooks:

(1) Deitel: An Introduction to Operating Systems, 2/E (Addison-Wesley)

(2) Silberschatz & Galvin: Operating Systems Concepts, 4/E (Addison-Wesley)

(3) Stallings: Computer Organization and Architecture, 3E(Prentice Hall), and(4) Tannenbaum: Modern Operating Systems (Prentice Hall).

The relevant sections of these texts for the major concepts, such as semaphores and monitors, are indicated. The intended audience for this text is undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in concurrent programming and operating systems courses.It can also be used in a full-semester follow-on course to operating systems to provide more extensive programming experince.Prerequisites for students are knowledge of a high-level programming language such as C or Pascal, and operating systems concepts. ... Read more


3. Excel 2000 Programming for Dummies
by John Walkenbach, Allen L. Wyatt Sr.
Paperback: 408 Pages (1999-08-05)
list price: US$29.99 -- used & new: US$9.99
(price subject to change: see help)
Asin: 0764505661
Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars
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Editorial Review

Product Description
If you're ready to take the next step with Excel, then look no further. By using VBA (Visual Basic Application), you can discover a side of Microsoft Excel that most users never uncover. Excel 2000 Programming For Dummies introduces you to a wide array of new Excel options, including options for creating new worksheet functions; automating tasks and operations; creating new appearances, toolbars, and menus; and doing much more.

First, you get well-acquainted with the most important tools and operations for the Visual Basic Editor; then, you get a quick overview of the essential elements and concepts for programming with Excel. Discover techniques for handling errors and exterminating bugs, the basics of working with range objects and controlling program flow, and much more. With friendly advice on the easiest ways to develop custom dialog boxes (also known as UserForms) and create custom toolbars and menus, you'll soon be creating the interfaces that best suit your unique needs.

By the time you rip through Excel 2000 Programming For Dummies, you'll not only have maximized your macros, you'll have moved on to creating Excel applications with the best programmers on the block. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

4-0 out of 5 stars Great resource
This book has been a great help in making me very proficient in Excel 2000 VBA.This book has given me the knowledge to develop some very powerful tools which have helped me dramatically in my business.This book is well written and uses a logical process to describe VBA's features.

5-0 out of 5 stars Great tool for learning advanced features in Excel
This is a great book for learning the really fancy features of Microsoft Excel. Many other books are just a reference for this sort of material, or they barely touch on some of the programming features. This book goes intogreat detail about VBA (Visual Basic Editor), which is the reason I boughtthis book. From there it goes on to talk about how to customize yourspreadsheets with toolbars and menus. This is an excellent book on anyonewho wants to master Excel.

5-0 out of 5 stars Surprisingly good
I am using this book to teach advanced course in computer useage in a University Business department. It is very comprehensive, has good coverage and useful examples. Its best quality is in choosing: what to include andwhat to exclude. The most common mistake people make in writing such booksis to try to include everything. In this book you learn enough to dosomething useful and are able to figure out the rest for yourself. And thebest part: in not too many pages. To the autor: thank you.

ps. The onlydrawback is its name, does the "dummies" refer to the students orthe teacher? ... Read more


4. The SR Programming Language : Concurrency in Practice
by Gregory R. Andrews and Ronald A. Olson
 Paperback: Pages (1993)

Asin: B000K65ZD6
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5. SR (programming language)
 Paperback: 64 Pages (2010-10-01)
list price: US$40.00 -- used & new: US$38.35
(price subject to change: see help)
Asin: 6133203641
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Editorial Review

Product Description
High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! SR (short for Synchronizing Resources) is a programming language designed for concurrent programming. Resources encapsulate processes and the variables they share, and can be separately compiled. Operations provide the primary mechanism for process interaction. SR provides a novel integration of the mechanisms for invoking and servicing operations. Consequently, it supports local and remote procedure call, rendezvous, message passing, dynamic process creation, multicast, semaphores and shared memory. Version 2.2 has been ported to the Apollo, DECstation, Data General AViiON, HP 9000 Series 300, Multimax, NeXT, PA-RISC, RS/6000, Sequent Symmetry, SGI IRIS, Sun-3, Sun-4 and others. ... Read more


6. Issues in distributed programming languages: The evaluation of SR (Technical report. University of Arizona. Dept. of Computer Science)
by Ronald A Olsson
 Unknown Binding: 136 Pages (1986)

Asin: B00071E9AE
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7. Revised report on the SR programming language
by Gregory R Andrews
 Unknown Binding: 46 Pages (1987)

Asin: B00071T062
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8. Report on SR programming language, version 1.1
by Gregory R Andrews
 Unknown Binding: 50 Pages (1989)

Asin: B00071VZ6K
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9. An overview of the SR language and implementation (TR. University of Arizona. Department of Computer Science)
by Gregory R Andrews
 Unknown Binding: 37 Pages (1986)

Asin: B00070Y90K
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10. SR: a language for distributed programming
by Gregory R Andrews
 Unknown Binding: 30 Pages (1981)

Asin: B00071WACI
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11. Programming Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008
by Leonard Lobel, Andrew J. Brust, Stephen Forte
Kindle Edition: 976 Pages (2009-11-30)
list price: US$47.99
Asin: B0043M4ZJS
Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars
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Editorial Review

Product Description
Extend your programming skills with a comprehensive study of the key features of SQL Server 2008. Delve into the new core capabilities, get practical guidance from expert developers, and put their code samples to work. This is a must-read for Microsoft .NET and SQL Server developers who work with data access—at the database, business logic, or presentation levels.Discover how to:Query complex data with powerful Transact-SQL enhancementsUse new, non-relational features: hierarchical tables, native file streaming, and geospatial capabilitiesExploit XML inside the database to design XML-aware applicationsConsume and deliver your data using Microsoft LINQ, Entity Framework, and data bindingImplement database-level encryption and server auditingBuild and maintain data warehousesUse Microsoft Excel to build front ends for OLAP cubes, and MDX to query themIntegrate data mining into applications quickly and effectivelyGet code samples on the Web. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

5-0 out of 5 stars MyReview - Programming MSSQL 2K8
Programming Microsoft SQL Server 2008 (PRO-Developer)

I've been working with 2008 for 2 years now and with 2005/2000/7.0/6.5 since '98. This book has really become my right hand man with quick, easy to understand reference on the new capabilities of Sql Server 2008. I find it a great, fast to access source of information for a broad range of MSSQL concepts including; CLR, Replication, BI, Linq, New Syntax, deprecation warnings.. the list goes on. The book gives enough insite to a programmer to get him started with all the above. It does not delve into great depth on any of these ideas giving the developer a chance to utilize his/her own intelligence and pursue their own path of specific interest. It does, however, provide a great launching pad on all these ideas. Personally, I would have liked to have seen more on Performance Tuning and using the Service Broker. Reality is though, this IS one book. These days there's enough going on inside Sql Server to fill a library!! This book is a fantastic single point of reference for getting one's self started in 'most' of the concepts involved in a package that's quickly becoming an SOA/Enterprise platform of choice.

2-0 out of 5 stars A mush mash of development
What would you like to do with SQL server, programming wise as the title suggests ? - Database development for applications or Business Intelligence (reporting, analytics)? This book covers both aspects and does not give sufficient depth to do any sort of reasonable programming in either environment. "Smart Business Intelligence Solutions" ISBN-10: 0735625808 is a good book on Reporting, Analytics and ETL using integration services. For application development, I have not found a single source yet. I recommend: Apress T-Sql recipes and MSPress SQL Server Internals; also MSpress T-SQL fundamentals for beginners.

5-0 out of 5 stars Programming Microsoft Server 2008 (PRO-Developer)
It is one of the best books I have on this new Server software.
I fully recommend it to anyone needing an update on their SQL Server skills.

5-0 out of 5 stars Comprehensive, well-written, practical
Very useful, usable information about new features for developers in SQL Server 2008.Highly recommended.

5-0 out of 5 stars .NET Developers need to know more about SQL Server
And this book is the book to teach them.Leonard, Andrew, and Stephen know their stuff. After one read I've already gotten tips to help me with work on SQL I'm doing right now, and I think it will be an even better reference.Nice job guys. ... Read more


12. Introduction to C Programming with a little OpenGL Graphics for fun
by Robert P. Cook
Kindle Edition: Pages (2008-08-19)
list price: US$9.99
Asin: B001EJNQ2U
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Editorial Review

Product Description
Hard core C programming textbook based on almost fifty years of software development experience. Includes over fifty sample programs.Linux is discussed in some detail since UNIX and C were co-developed.However, the examples are configured to run on Apple OS/X and Windows as well.

1/09 Added a C++ chapter.
If you already purchased, you can download an updated copy for nothing. ... Read more


13. Computer Programming 101: How To Learn Computer Programming Made Simple & Easy!
by Randall Magwood
Kindle Edition: Pages (2009-06-16)
list price: US$4.95
Asin: B002DMLB88
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Editorial Review

Product Description
The benefits of learning to program the computer are many. In this book, “Computer Programming 101: How To Learn Computer Programming Made Simple & Easy!”, you will learn what computer programming is, and how it can improve your life on many levels.

Here’s a little of what you’ll learn inside of “Computer Programming 101: How To Learn Computer Programming Made Simple & Easy!”:

- What computer programming is and why you should care about it.

- Where to find software lessons for beginners.

- What a computer programmer does.

- Definitions of the most popular computer languages.

- How to find a great job in computer programming.

- The future job market of the computer programmer.

- You will learn where to go to get software that will teach you to master the programs on your computer in record time.

- You will also learn where to go if you prefer to attend a class, and where you will find some of these courses free of charge.

- And more
... Read more


14. World of Warcraft Programming: A Guide and Reference for Creating WoW Addons
by James Whitehead II, Rick Roe
Kindle Edition: 750 Pages (2010-02-08)
list price: US$39.99
Asin: B0011UCOHK
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Editorial Review

Product Description

The #1 bestselling programming book is back with updated and expanded coverage of the newest release of WoW!

World of Warcraft (WoW) is currently the world's largest massively multiplayer online role-playing game. The newest release, "Wrath of the Lich King," has created a demand for updated information on writing addons. This eagerly anticipated edition answers that request and is an essential reference for creating WoW addons.

Written by a duo of authors who have each contributed a number of successful WoW addons, the book offers an overview of Lua and XML (the programming languages used to write addons) and includes coverage of specific pitfalls and common programming mistakes-and how to avoid them. Valuable examples show you detailed aspects of writing addons for WoW and demonstrate how to implement addon concepts such as variables, slash commands, secure templates, and more.

  • World of Warcraft insiders share their techniques for writing addons for both the latest version of WoW as well as the new Wrath of the Lich King expansion set
  • Guides you through the specific nuances of the WoW API with the use of detailed examples
  • Discusses ways to distribute and host your WoW addons so others can download and use them
  • Explains how to respond to events, create frames, and use the WoW API to interact with the game

You'll be well on your way tocreating exciting WoW addons with this comprehensive reference by your side. ... Read more


15. Coming to SAS from SPSS: A Programming Approach
by Lora D. Delwiche, Susan J. Slaughter
Kindle Edition: Pages (2009-02-19)
list price: US$4.95
Asin: B001TH8XAM
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Editorial Review

Product Description
Programmers who want to move from SPSS to SAS now have a great resource to help them make that transition. Written by the authors of The Little SAS Book: A Primer, Coming to SAS from SPSS: A Programming Approach focuses on topics of special interest to SPSS programmers. The authors discuss differences in terminology, show how to move SPSS data files into SAS, and then give examples illustrating reports and analyses of likely interest to SPSS users. After reading Coming to SAS from SPSS, users will wish they had made the change sooner! ... Read more


16. Genetic Programming : An Introduction : On the Automatic Evolution of Computer Programs and Its Applications
by Wolfgang Banzhaf, Peter Nordin, Robert E. Keller, Frank D. Francone
 Kindle Edition: 450 Pages (1997-11-30)
list price: US$97.95
Asin: B002ACPAI8
Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars
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Editorial Review

Product Description
Since the early 1990s, genetic programming (GP)-a discipline whose goal is to enable the automatic generation of computer programs-has emerged as one of the most promising paradigms for fast, productive software development. GP combines biological metaphors gleaned from Darwin's theory of evolution with computer-science approaches drawn from the field of machine learning to create programs that are capable of adapting or recreating themselves for open-ended tasks.

This unique introduction to GP provides a detailed overview of the subject and its antecedents, with extensive references to the published and online literature.In addition to explaining the fundamental theory and important algorithms, the text includes practical discussions covering a wealth of potential applications and real-world implementation techniques.Software professionals needing to understand and apply GP concepts will find this book an invaluable practical and theoretical guide.Amazon.com Review
Imagine a world in which computers program other computersbased on strategies borrowed from biology and natural selection.Genetic Programming: An Introduction explores fascinatingpossibilities like these in a thriving area of computer-scienceresearch. This research-quality book is for anyone who wants to seewhat genetic programming is and what it can offer the future ofcomputing.

This text begins by situating genetic programming interms of the history of computing and machine learning. Early sectionsshow the links between Darwinism, molecular biology, and geneticprogramming. (Genetic programming uses the strategy of naturalselection by solving a problem in successive iterations, whichproduces the "fittest" solution, much like new speciesevolve in the natural world.)

The authors present a lot ofmolecular-biology background since it is central to thegenetic-programming project. (There are interesting parallelshere. Just as our DNA contains inert information, programs developedusing genetic algorithms usually contain many "extra"instructions, too--which often leads to bloated, though effective,code in the final product.) Even though this is extremely technicalmaterial, the authors do manage to engage the reader in theimaginative leap from Darwin and DNA to computers and the world ofgenetic programming.

Later chapters define what genetic programmingis and what strategies it uses to let computers programthemselves. The authors also examine the state of the art of geneticprogramming and define what problems need to be solved before it canbe widely adopted. The amount of research in this section will mostlybenefit specialists in the genetic-programming field.

A laterchapter on applications that use genetic programming offers dozens ofpapers, with applications of this approach from a wide variety offields, including biology, industry, and computers (and someimpressive technologies such as robotics and data mining). Though theauthors exaggerate somewhat on how "real world" theseapplications are, it's clear that genetic programming will continue toimprove and find its way into more areas of computing--with even moreproductive results. Though coding by humans is safe for theforeseeable future, genetic programming offers an appealingalternative to some kinds of problems. --Richard V. Dragan ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

1-0 out of 5 stars Almost a popularization.
I have no idea how this is marketed as a college level text on the subject.It is just a 'high level' text suitable for non programmers interested in learning some of the terminology regarding Genetic Programming, with little or no practical information.This book was published in 1998, there are many free texts with far more practical information.I bought A Field Guide to Genetic Programming, which is also available as a free pdf, with this book, and the Field Guide is a far far better book on all counts.

5-0 out of 5 stars Fantastic introduction
It's rare to find an advanced computer science textbook that's both so engaging and so informative.I've only read the first seven chapters so far, but when I sat down to write my first genetic algorithm (for real research use), the book had already prepared me well.

It's hard to imagine a better introductory textbook for this topic.

3-0 out of 5 stars Good as an overall, not for the details
This book is good for getting a general view of genetic programming. Nevertheless, I think it neglects many details. For example, it is very hard to from the book how a simple selection strategy (tournament selection) works in practice.

I do not think this book is useful for someone intending to code a genetic programming algorithm.

5-0 out of 5 stars terrific textbook
I skimmed the Koza books (GP: I & II) and this one at the store. Using the layout, chapter names, and the introductory chapters as my guide, I decided to buy this book to introduce me to the current state of the art in GP. The strengths of this book are its textbook format and the informal exercises that are presented for the reader at the end of every chapter. There is also a great deal of compilation from other relevant gp works presented in a localized, intra-chapter basis. The book is thus highly digestable to a newcomer, and is a far less time-consuming way to learn about GP than through the "expert" papers on the web. Having now almost finished the book, I feel that I am ready and able to author and apply GP techniques in a wide variety of applications and languages, having spent less than 20 hours in study time. A terrific achievement by Banzhaf and company, highly recommended.

5-0 out of 5 stars Excellent, comprehensive and easy to read.
We all know that kind of books where the author likes to show how much he knows making things intentionally complex....well...this is the opposite side of the spectrum.
The book is very complete and detailed yet easy to read, even after a day of work.
The first part of the book contains introductory information on background areas like probability, biology and computer science as a general discipline.
Getting into the topic, it clarifies some of the differences between evolutionary systems and genetic algorithms and shows how all this contributes to the theory of genetic programming and the evolution of computer programs.
It explains how things are done with different types of individuals (tree, linear, graph, etc) and gives valuable insight about the implementation process.
Although you may need other sources for formal treatment of some topics, this book is a very good acquisition. ... Read more


17. Masterminds of Programming
by Chromatic, Federico Biancuzzi
Kindle Edition: 496 Pages (2009-03-21)
list price: US$23.99
Asin: B0043D2EEU
Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars
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Editorial Review

Product Description
Masterminds of Programming features exclusive interviews with the creators of several historic and highly influential programming languages. In this unique collection, you'll learn about the processes that led to specific design decisions, including the goals they had in mind, the trade-offs they had to make, and how their experiences have left an impact on programming today. Masterminds of Programming includes individual interviews with:Adin D. Falkoff: APLThomas E. Kurtz: BASICCharles H. Moore: FORTHRobin Milner: MLDonald D. Chamberlin: SQLAlfred Aho, Peter Weinberger, and Brian Kernighan: AWKCharles Geschke and John Warnock: PostScriptBjarne Stroustrup: C++Bertrand Meyer: EiffelBrad Cox and Tom Love: Objective-CLarry Wall: PerlSimon Peyton Jones, Paul Hudak, Philip Wadler, and John Hughes: HaskellGuido van Rossum: PythonLuiz Henrique de Figueiredo and Roberto Ierusalimschy: LuaJames Gosling: JavaGrady Booch, Ivar Jacobson, and James Rumbaugh: UMLAnders Hejlsberg: Delphi inventor and lead developer of C#If you're interested in the people whose vision and hard work helped shape the computer industry, you'll find Masterminds of Programming fascinating. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

4-0 out of 5 stars A fun read
I've finished Don Chamberlin (SQL), and am reading Tom Love (Objective-C).
Don Chamberlin was funny:

- Question:Why did you become interested in the query languages?
Don: I have always been interested in languages.
- Question:Do you speak other languages (beyond English)?
Don: No, I don't speak any other human language, but I like to read and write, and I find languages a fascinating subject

Tom Love's interview seems to be more informative.
...

3-0 out of 5 stars Where's Wirth?
I've read the table of contents, and am part way through the book, but I can't see how a book of interviews with designers of influential programming languages can be considered complete without interviewing Niklaus Wirth. Pascal, Modula-2, and to a lesser extent, Oberon, have all greatly influenced the design of most (not all) of the programming languages discussed in this book.

3-0 out of 5 stars Unengaging
This is, as its subtitle says, a set of interviews with creators of programming languages. The interviews assume familiarity with the languages being discussed, which means that few people will find the book fascinating from cover to cover. Like many programmers, I first learned Basic, then C/C++, then Java and a smattering of other, hipper procedural languages (Python, Ruby), with a dollop of SQL on the side. So while I'm interested in functional languages like ML and Haskell, I often had no idea what the interviewees were talking about. Concrete examples would have been enormously helpful.

For a book about programming languages, there's astonishingly little source code. Someone who never learned Basic could read the whole chapter on it without having any idea how pleasingly simple its syntax is. The lack of code makes this book mainly useful as a supplemental text to other books on programming languages.

There are also some glaring omissions: Ruby, one of the hottest languages of recent years, is nowhere to be found. Nor is JavaScript, a language found on every modern web page. I would also have liked to see Erlang and Scala represented.

5-0 out of 5 stars It's nice to get into the heads of programming languages designers
It's really enlightening to get into the heads of programming languages designers and understand some of the ideas behind the way each of them designed the language, the problems they were trying to solve and how they solved them.

I find that very interesting and mind opening and I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in computer sciences as well as any programmer who aspires to be better.

4-0 out of 5 stars Packed with thoughtful, geeky quotes and insights
Masterminds of Programming: Conversations with the Creators of Major Programming Languages (Theory in Practice (O'Reilly)) by Federico Bioancuzzi and Shane Warden and published by O'Reilly and Associates is a large (480 pages), dense book packed full of exposition about language design, software engineering practices, software development lifecycle methodologies, Computer Science curricula, and unique insights into computer and computation history.

The format of the book is straightforward. Each chapter is dedicated to a programming language and contains a series of questions by the authors and responses from designers and creators of the language being highlighted.

I expected the chapters on languages I was familiar with to be the most interesting and those I was not familiar with to be the least interesting but my experience was the opposite. Chapters highlighting languages that I have had no exposure to such as Forth, APL, ML, and Lua were full of intriguing information, especially languages that were designed in the 1960s or 1950s. It's fascinating learning about how these languages came to be given the relatively restrictive hardware they were developed with.

Other languages highlighted in the book include:

* Python
* Perl
* Java
* C++
* C#
* Objective-C
* UML
* AWK
* Postscript
* Eifel
* Haskel
* BASIC

The book is just overflowing with powerful quotes that carry substantial meaning to developers, language designers, and managers. Here are a few that stood out to me.

"Whenever I hear people boasting of millions of lines of code, I know they have grieviously midunderstood their problem. There are no contemporary problems requiring millions of lines of code. Instead, there are careless programmers, bad managers, or impossible requirements for compatibility." --Chuck Moore in the Forth chapter

"As processors continue to get faster and memory capacities rise, it's easier to do quick experiments and even write production code in interpreted languages (like AWK) that would not have been feasible a few decades ago. All of this is a great win.

"At the same time, the ready availability of resources often leads to very bloated designs and implementations, systems that could be faster and easier to use if a bit more restraint had gone into their design. Modern operating systems certainly have this problem; it seems to take longer and longer for my machines to boot, even though, thanks to Moore's Law, they are noticeably faster than the previous ones. All that software is slowing me down." --Brian Kernighan in the AWK chapter.

"Software engineering is in many ways a very pathetic field, because so much of it is anecdotal and based on people's judgements or even people's aesthetic judgements." -- Peter Weinberger in the AWK chapter

"The software business is one of the few places we teach people to write before we teach them to read. That's really a mistake." -- Tom Love in the Objective-C chapter

"What do you think the chances are that Microsoft applications get slower and slower because they haven't managed memory properly? Have you ever met a three-year-old Microsoft operating system that you wanted to use? I actually operate with a laptop that has a Microsoft-free zone. It's amazing how much more productive I am than other people sitting in the same room with Microsoft computers. My computer is on, and I've done my work, and I've closed it down before they've gotten to their first Excel spreadsheet." -- Tom Love in the Objective-C chapter.

"If you study gold or lead from day to day, you can measure the properties and employ scientific methods to study them. With software, there is none of that." -- Brad Cox in the Objective-C chapter.

"C# basically took everything, although they oddly decided to take away the security and reliability stuff by adding all these sorts of unsafe pointers, which strikes me at grotesquely stupid, but people have used most of the features of Java somewhere." -- James Gosling in the Java chapter responding to the question related to C# being inspired by Java.

"I think architecture is very important, but I am cautious about labeling individuals as architects, for many reasons. Many times I have seen companies with a team of architects that they send to other organizations to work on projects. That may be fine if they work inside a particular project, but companies such as big banks usually have a group of enterprise architects that sit and draw representations of the architecture. Then they throw this over the wall to the developers. The developers just ask themselves: `What is this? It's useless.' In many companies, enterprise architects sit in an ivory tower without doing anything useful." -- Ivar Jacobson in the UML chapter

"Developing software is not rocket science. Look at the 5-10 million people who call themselves software developers. Very few of them really do anything creative of fundamentally new. Unfortunately, the outside world thinks that programmers are creative and brilliant people, and that's far from reality." -- Ivar Jacobson in the UML chapter.

"I rarely have met a programmer who understands the principles of computational complexity and puts them into practice. Instead they fuss with all kinds of pointless suboptimizations that are `pennywise and pound foolish... I think the most important skill in computing (as in physics and other creative fields) is the ability for abstraction." --James Rumbaugh in the UML chapter.

"I have found over my career, whether it be researchers or engineers, that in addition to the sort of intellectual skills that they manifest, if they are people who finish what they set out to do, they tend to be much more productive and have a much larger impact." -- Charles Geschke in the UML chapter.

These quotes are just scratching the surface.

Many of the interviews discuss history of computer science and computation theory. For example, Charles Geschke and John Warnock gave answers in the Postscript chapter detailing how Xerox PARC came into existence out of ARPA's emphasis on digital communications which was the result of thinking within the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations.

Because of the simple, straightforward format of this book, there is definitely room for improvement. For example, readers unfamiliar with certain languages would find it immensely useful to see examples of the language in use. One thought is that each chapter could start with a code excerpt showing how a programmer might use the highlighted language to solve a generic problem. Readers could then see, in code, how each language differs in their approach to the same problem.

Each chapter is preceded by one paragraph description of the language which may contain brief history of the language's history. This could definitely be expanded upon. This book is big already and I don't think O'Reilly's goal is to make it a computer language text book, but it would be useful if each chapter started with 2-4 pages of introductory abstract about the language.

The authors have placed biographical information about each of the contributing interviewees in a Contributors appendix near the end of the book, but it would be more helpful to the reader if this information appeared at the beginning of each chapter instead.

Masterminds of Programming is available at a suggested price of $39.99. I rate it at four and a half stars.
... Read more


18. Symbian OS Communications Programming (Symbian Press)
by Michael J. Jipping
Paperback: 418 Pages (2002-08-09)
list price: US$75.00 -- used & new: US$13.35
(price subject to change: see help)
Asin: 0470844302
Average Customer Review: 1.5 out of 5 stars
Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan
Editorial Review

Product Description
Communication lies at the heart of Symbian OS and the devices that use it. Symbian OS has a powerful and flexible communications architecture that addresses current state-of-the-art as well as future functionality. This rich environment gives developers access to important technologies such as wireless Bluetooth networks, TCP/IP networking, infrared data transport, email and SMS messaging, and WAP content.

Symbian OS Communications Programming is a guide to the Symbian OS communications architecture. It provides developers with authoritative and practical information on the communications models and programming interfaces that are used by Symbian OS, along with illustrative and timely examples.

SOCP covers all transport technologies supported by Symbian OS v6.1 including:serial and infrared communication, TCP/IP network support, Bluetooth, and telephony. Examples show how to take advantage of each technology.

SOCP also provides coverage of content technologies, such as HTML and WAP, and includes an explanation of the Symbian OS messaging architecture. Examples demonstrate the sending and receiving of email and SMS messages and to show the client/server interaction involved in pushing and pulling content to and from servers.

Advanced topic coverage includes the use of the Symbian OS communications database and a review of supported and future synchronization technologies such as SyncML.

This guide is designed for developers who have experience of programming in C++ and are interested in taking advantage of the communications possibilities of Symbian OS. No prior experience with communications programming is assumed.

Source code for all examples available for download from accompanying website. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

1-0 out of 5 stars Almost useless
Considering how features of a phone can vary from model to model or production run to production this book really doesn't address how manufacturers implement comms on a phone. Maybe Bluetooth basics is decent, but the rest? You're better off at forum.nokia.com or www.newlc.com forums to get things working. I really never found anything in this book that helped me. For instance, IrDA programming. The whole section is IrDA basics, I don't want the basics! I want to know the silly stuff Symbian does.......

2-0 out of 5 stars Don't bother if Windows is a client
This book may be of value if you are trying to get two Symbian devices to communicate.But if you need to communidate with another OS, it is sorely lacking.

The book leaves out very critical info on using RNetDatabase in order to be discovered.It also glosses over actual data exchange not realizing that RecvOneOrMore() is not supported on some devices.

As bad as the Symbian SDK documentation is, this book does nothing to add to it.

Don't waste your money. ... Read more


19. Programming Language Choice: Practice and Experience
 Paperback: 384 Pages (1996-06)
list price: US$44.95 -- used & new: US$17.38
(price subject to change: see help)
Asin: 1850321868
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Editorial Review

Product Description
When faced with a particular task, how does one choose the most suitable programming language? This reader identifies the criteria and techniques for judging suitability of languages not on theoretical grounds but by looking at the pragmatic reasons for a particular language choice. With descriptions of industrial and academic experience of the use of established languages like FORTRAN-90, Ada, C and C++ and new languages like CooL and Omega, this book should be os use to anyone interested in comparative programming languages and the impact that the choice of language has in practice. ... Read more


20. Extreme Programming Perspectives
by Michele Marchesi, Giancarlo Succi, Don Wells, Laurie Williams, James Donovan Wells
Paperback: 400 Pages (2002-08-26)
list price: US$49.99 -- used & new: US$1.99
(price subject to change: see help)
Asin: 0201770059
Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan
Editorial Review

Product Description
Presents 47 articles that represent the insights and practical wisdom of the leaders of the XP community. Offer experience-based techniques for implementing XP effectively and provides successful transitioning strategies. Softcover. ... Read more


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