Computing Internet Books

I have thoroughly enjoyed what I have learnt so far. Good and easy to understand. However, very difficult to follow which of the downloadable exercise files is being used. Need to state the file name in the book. I am wasting time trying to find the correct file in order to follow the instructions.

This book helped tremendously during my early stages using PT, without a doubt I would recommend this book to someone who just started to incorporate Pivot Table into their work. One recommendation, It would be nice if a CD with all the work examples came with the book, unfortunately you have to download the example files from a website.

I count myself as a power Excel user and experienced Pivot Table wiz, I found this book to be very helpful, also good for novice

Simple, straight forward and clear writing make this book a very useful addition to any library. It explains clearly the concepts and more importantly how to apply them.

I have no previous experience of either Pivot Table or Office 2007. However, by following the instructions of this book and keep practicing, I don't feel pivot table is so difficult as I did before. Highly recommend this book.

I really hate this book, I thik it has the right Ideas, but the author use the wrong strategy to implement the ideas. This book has a lack of important information. so if you're looking to buy a security book, I'm sure you'll find something better than this.

This book gives good coverage of a broad range of topics. It gives technical details to various network threats, and countermeasures. The problem is the book is to short. It needs about 100 more pages with more detail on each topic.

How to design a application from a designers perspective. Cannot say I agree with everything, but the writers are probably right.

This follow up to About Face is a good overview of the critical concepts to improve software usability. Cooper and Reiman know their stuff. Reading this certainly provides you with the grounding you need to make good decisions. At a tactical level, the book could certainly do more to help with real-world examples.
For that, you may want to take a look instead at Jenifer Tidwell's Designing Interfaces : Patterns for Effective Interaction Design. Where About Face is strong on theory, Designing Interfaces is all about practical ideas, demonstrated through graphical examples.
If UI is an important part of your world, buy them both.

I think this guy has a book about how the inmates are running the asylum...well this book suffers from what happens when the subject matter experts (SME) are allowed to write books. BORING!!! SME's always seem to forget to include compelling examples. Yes there are little screen shots, but IMO in order for a book to be compelling that has to do with design...it needs to show LOTS of examples of good design. The bulk of the book should be about breaking down those designs. I need to hear why a specific design is effective. Take a hint from Steve Krugs book "Don't Make me Think". That book is extremely effective without inundating the reader with jargon. Lots of examples with meaningful visual breakdowns. Afterall...isnt UI design a VISUAL communication form?

I have 7 years experience and I wasn't able to get any value out of this book. Based on some of the reviews on this site I thought that the book would be worth buying but unless you are in school or right out of school then your $35 is better spent elsewhere.

I suggest that you put your $35 towards "The Usability Engineering Lifecycle" by Deborah J. Mayhew. Don't let the $64.95 price tag scare you away. This book is worth $100.

This book not only defines a "layman user" but also answers the question of how your application can educate a layman user step by step.

When I started studing PL/SQL...
I got recommanded this book.
Now I satisfied my choice because of contents of this book.
I recommand this book.

I "subscribe" to this author and publisher for texts on this topic. I like the writing style and layout of the book. There enough explanation to be thorough, and enough practical examples to be useful outside of pure theoretical discussion. Plus, there are plenty of references in the appendix, so those pages are essentially a "Nutshell."

However, I think I prefer the layout of the 9i edition. The flow was nicer: a structured outline, then some examples. In the 10g edition, the flow seems to have changed: a briefer description in paragraph form, then a lot more examples.

This is the best pl/sql book ever!! It's a complete reference for PL/SQL programation lenguaje, that covers from the basics topics like data types to advanced fueatures like inter-session comunication. Its includes hundreds of examples, online code and a complete reference for Oracle 10g packages and utilitys. This is the ultimate PL/SQL book.

Let me start by stating that I agree with Frank N. Loreti's review of this book, and one part in particular: this book was not written by educators. And I would like to add that they don't seem to be terribly good writers, either.

Some examples from the first three chapters (plus one page of chapter 4) to illustrate my point:

On page 72, it reads: "Boolean variables, when combined with an IF-THEN block, do not need to be provided with a comparison value if only comparing to TRUE." First, Boolean variables aren't "combined" with an IF-THEN, they are *used* as part of the [Boolean] condition of the IF-THEN. And second, writing that they don't need to be provided is, educationally speaking, not very wise; it suggests that it's a specific feature of the language, a short cut if you will, when in fact it's a mere consequence of how the evaluation of Boolean expressions work.

On pages 108 and 109, I think it's a glaring omission that the writers don't mention whether the PL/SQL CASE statement uses 'fall-thru' or not. For several reasons, I don't expect this to be the case, but if it's not used, how is the 'CASE with different variables' treated? In other words, in the example at the bottom of page 109, is only Steve printed, or all names? Come to think of it: in the example before it, what happens if the conditions in the CASE overlap? (E.g., change the second WHEN-condition to
v_price BETWEEN 30 AND 50
What happens then if v_price equals 35? Will only the first WHEN-statement block be executed? Will both be executed? Will an exception be thrown? Less likely, but not impossible: maybe a compile-time error is given?) It's hard for me to understand how any decent programmer can overlook the fact that these 'details' need to be discussed.

On page 110, loops are discussed: "We cover three different types here: Simple loops. The most basic kind of loop, they include LOOP, END LOOP, and some method of EXIT." Since 'different types' of loops are discussed, the plurality in 'Simple loops' suggests that there are several types of simple loops --and it seems they are called the 'LOOP', and 'END LOOP'... or something. Of course, this is not the case: there's only one type of simple loop. It starts with the keyword LOOP which is followed by a statement block that may/should contain an EXIT statement, and it ends with the keywords END LOOP.

You don't have to be a professional writer to sense that you can't end a section with a couple of bullet points (just like, apparently and unfortunately, you can't end a chapter without a useless summary) so you'll need at least an extra line of text, but unfortunately the writers of this book don't have the finesse to cross that bridge unnoticed. For example, at the beginning of chapter 4 a list of topics for that chapter is given in bullet points, followed by the following recommendation:

"As these features are demonstrated, think about how they can be used to improve the functionality, performance and design of your applications."

It's suggestions like these that simply make my toes curl.

Add to all this the absence of a decent structure (the books keeps jumping from simple features to advanced features and back, fragmenting the explanation of both), and the authors should consider themselves lucky I'm still giving this book 3 stars...

This is book did help me learn PL/SQL; however, it did it in a very painful manner. The book could have easily been condensed to half the size and still convey the same information, only clearly and to the point. Many of the chapters have long coding examples that are followed by a line-by-obvious-line description about what is going on. It's tempting to skip the code explanations; however, there is the occasional hidden piece of useful information in them that forces you to sift through the junk. To make matters worse, much of the code is needlessly commented. You know what type of comments I'm talking about; there will be a comment that reads '-- declare a variable of type varchar' and then a declaration immediately afterward. Wow, thanks for doubling the code size and killing some more trees. Topping that off, in some of the examples, the comments don't actually match what the code is doing. Grrr.

I invested a lot of time in reading this book and after it was all said and done my feeling on it was, meh, I guess I learned something. The book is pretty good, it's just needlessly big, too big and time consuming for the value that it brings to your skill set.

I can see that a lot of work went into this book and it does a pretty good job of explaining Business Objects at a high level. This is a good book for you if you are tentative about working with computers and don't expect to do intermediate or advanced work with Business Objects.

The notion that this book is a 'reference' or can replace a manual is completely off base. This book is a 'primer' not a reference. Any topic that is easily addressable through discussing the GUI is handled, but only for obvious cases. The function reference is incomplete and poorly documented. Insightful examples that make you think, "Oh, that's how you do X (where X is anything nontrivial)" are not found in this book. The kind of situations you will likely encounter if you want to create reports for a real business, are not handled. In these cases you are left to your own devices.

If you are new to Business Objects and need a good understanding of what Business objects does and can do then this is an excellent book. Where I work we have purchased several copies of this book. Doesn't go into tremendous detail on how to do some of the more complicated concepts of Business Objects but is more than enough to get you started.

I've been implementing and supporting BO since version 4.0.3, so I've read a few BO manuals over the years. It's difficult to encompass all the functionality of BO XI R2 into a single manual without turning it into a multi-volume text. This is a very good reference covering the major ground work of the new BO version. I recommend it as the starting point for all old and new users of BO, especially given the fact that they've totally rewired our favourite BI tool. And didn't it need it!

It is a great book to give you an overview of the product from a user's perspective. Recommended for universe designers. Although it doesn't go in detail on best practices. This coupled with reading the business objects documentation online (which is REALLY good) shoulg get you pretty far.

I bought the book hoping to get a sound overview of BusinessObjects - what it is, how it works, and how to use it. Instead, I found a combination of marketing gibberish and user documentation that has been recycled and updated so many times that it no longer makes any sense.

This book might be useful for folks who already know some version of BusinessObjects and are looking for a refresher. But if you're trying to learn what BusinessObjects is all about, this book is a very expensive waste of money.

This is a great book..I'm not a guru in flash, but this title is great if you are looking for great tips for flash...full satisfing

Book review of Flash Hacks

Introduction:

Flash Hacks from O'Reilly is a great book that every Flash Designer or Developer should have in their library. The "get-to-the-point" style of the Hacks series is also very useful when you have a deadline fast approaching. There are 100 "hacks" in this book that, for the most part, are projects that can be used in your everyday Flash development.

First the bad news:

BWhile this book is full of great project that touch the surface of most problems, I found that the book could have used more in-depth examples. I also wanted a full chapter on Flash Components, which was not really covered at all. Flash is now the goto format for Rich Internet Applications because of the player market penetration, and with the need to regularly utilize components, it would have been nice to seem more information on the subject.

Now for the good news:

I choose this book mainly for the Sound and Browser Integration chapters, but I was pleasantly suprised to find more than a handful of topics that helped me develop better applications. I especially liked the chapter on Optimization along with the Color Effects chapter. Both of these chapters provided tid-bits of information that were directly related to a few projects I was working on.

Conclusion:

While there is room for improvement, I would highly recommend this book, or the next version that I assume will be coming out shortly. For the begining and intermediate Flash Developer, the hacks in this book will help you build better user experiences for your clients.




Book Rating: 8.5 / 10

This book is about coming up with new ideas for your Flash web designs, ActionScript, and Flash content. It is not just about showing you some interesting hacks, it is about showing you some of the nonobvious techniques and ideas that will make your Flash designs more original and your applications more effective.

If you want to get some quick ideas for new directions in your designs, the first four chapters look at the core techniques that affect the look and feel of a site, such as drawing, animation, and effects. Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, and Chapter 8 revolve around media and content, so visit them for inspiration and information pertaining to 3D, text, sound, or UI elements. Chapter 9, Chapter 10, Chapter 11, and Chapter 12 cover specialized topics such as browser integration, optimization, and security plus a healthy dose of ActionScript for good measure. You should peruse them for answers to question like, "How do I center the Flash Stage in the browser?" or "How can I prevent someone from stealing my design?"

Flash is a versatile authoring tool and consists of a number of separate areas that usually need to be combined to produce the finished effect or piece, so don't take the chapter titles and synopses as anything other than broad headings. For example, many chapters contain some element of animation, and most hacks contain ActionScript because it lets you do some really interesting things. The following is a brief description of the table of contents:

Chapter 1, Visual Effects
This chapter looks at ways you can make your graphic content more interesting by adding various effects and transitions.

Chapter 2, Color Effects
The savvy designer uses color in addition to animation. Color is often overlooked, but this chapter shows how color changes can transform the atmosphere of a piece or add video-like effects, such as fades and wipes.

Chapter 3, Drawing and Masking
Combining Flash's graphic animation facilities with ActionScript increases your creative horizons considerably. This chapter shows graphic effects created at both authoring time and runtime. Masking, which underlies many of the graphics tricks and techniques, is also discussed.

Chapter 4, Animation
The hacks in this chapter offer content creation shortcuts for manually drawn animation, plus ways to optimize animation created under ActionScript control.

Chapter 5, 3D and Physics
Flash Player is somewhat underpowered in terms of computational and animation speed. Therefore, processor-intensive applications, such as 3D, are problematic in Flash. Flash doesn't include any native 3D ActionScript commands or 3D hardware support, unlike Macromedia Director which supports the Shockwave 3D format. This chapter provides a number of hacks that bypass Flash's performance limitations to add physics simulations and 3D effects to your repertoire.

Chapter 6, Text
This chapter covers ways to store, display, and manipulate text, as well as create animated text effects.

Chapter 7, Sound
Without sound, your carefully crafted content will feel flat and uninspired. The main thrust of this chapter is to show hacks that allow you to create sounds for Flash without having to go to a usually very costly off-the-shelf sound source CD-ROM and without having to nurture any music talent. This chapter also looks at a number of issues that can stop Flash sound from working as advertised and which have put off many Flash sound experimenters in the past. A secondary aim is to present a few sound-related hacks that are not normally attempted. These techniques are hacks because they are sound applications that are not mainstream, such as Flash-based spoken word input and output.

Chapter 8, User Interface Elements
This chapter covers hacks related to user interface issues, such as buttons, scrollbars, and mouse input. However, this book is not about interface design but about stretching Flash in ways Macromedia might not have foreseen or intended. Therefore, the hacks in this chapter cover several nonobvious uses of UI elements within Flash. Some of them overcome apparent limitations in the UI facilities provided by Flash. But the first hack shows that UIs are not just for the end user, sometimes they can make development easier, too.

Chapter 9, Performance and Optimization
This chapter includes hacks to keep your filesizes small and your applications speedy. Flash's animation engine isn't the fastest one around because the Flash Player is optimized for a small download size, not for performance. Also, it is designed with web use in mind; therefore, it is optimized for small, low-bandwidth files rather than large, complex animation. In order to maintain its small footprint and ensure maximum compatibility, the Flash Player does not support hardware acceleration. Therefore, performance issues are often paramount for the Flash designer.

Chapter 10, ActionScript
Although almost every hack in the book includes some ActionScript, this chapter covers ways to get the most out of ActionScript, including undocumented features. ActionScript adds true power to Flash. Without ActionScript, Flash can create only linear animation. With a little ActionScript, you can create basic navigation via clickable buttons and hotspots. Learning more advanced ActionScript techniques gives you access to features such as creating a local shared object also known as a "Flash cookie". Without ActionScript, you cannot create Flash sites that communicate with the browser, exchange data with server-side applications, or download MP3 files.

Chapter 11, Browser Integration
This chapter looks at ways of maximizing browser compatibility so you can maximize the audience and enhance their enjoyment of your content. Ironically, part of the world's love-hate relationship with Flash is based on misconceptions. Many web developers and users don't realize the extent to which Flash works with browsers. In this chapter, we'll see how to integrate Flash with standard browser conventions, such as the Back button, which is highlighted in Hack #94, and search engines like Google.

Chapter 12, Security
This chapter provides a few ways to protect your content and designs, despite the vulnerability of the SWF format.

There are 100 total hacks, with an accompanying thermometer. The "temperature" indicates novice, intermediate, or expert hack.

Title: Flash Hacks - 100 Industrial-Strength Tips & Tools
Author: Sham Bhangal
Publisher: O"Reilly
ISBN: 0-596-00645-4
Pages: 452 pages
Reviewer: Philip High
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

When I encountered the first versions of Flash my impression was of an unnecessarily complex animation program with an obscure interface and REALLY WEIRD drawing tools. I've wanted to say that in public for years and now that I've gotten it off my chest I feel much better, thank you.

Yet, Macromedia must have been onto something, since the program has obviously matured into an indispensable tool for creators of dynamic, interactive, multimedia content for the web and beyond. But, as you might expect, the complexity has only multiplied. This book dives right into the issue by forgoing lengthy tutorials and focusing directly on getting results and solving specific problems - 100 of them to be exact. Once inside it is caution-to-the-wind since the only guide lines are "what if" and "whatever works." That's why they're called hacks, after all. It's an approach that works for me, since I'm really just an overgrown novice that has used the program for several years but infrequently. When I do use it I just want to get the job done and don't have the luxury (or patience, maybe?) to search the documentation, learn a comprehensive set of new skills, then figure out how they apply to my current need. And I don't think I'm alone here.

Although the book, like Flash itself, is not for the unmotivated, there really is something here for everyone from beginner to veteran. If you are tempted by the promise of shiny new tricks and sweet insider workarounds then you can eagerly and easily search these pages for tasty snacks to digest now and save the heavier helpings for later. The preface offers a useful starting point with a concise overview and clear explanations of the conventions used to organize and demonstrate the text.

The book covers a wide range of topics. Twelve chapters are each devoted to specific issues such as Visual Effects, Drawing and Masking, 3D and Physics, Sound, ActionScript, etc., and each contains several related tips. The individual "hacks", although usable by themselves, often relate to material in other examples, and are clearly and conveniently cross-referenced in the text. Many of the longer examples can be downloaded from the books web page [...]

And, as promised, the tips are pretty nifty. Some are showy, like #33 - Particle Effects. And some are sneaky, like #20 - Use Complex Shapes as Masks (by using a hairline split, invisible to the eye but recognized by the processor, to open enclosed areas.) But even the coolest tricks would be useless if you couldn't understand the instructions. Fortunately that isn't an issue here. The text is easy to read and well organized with clear examples and illustrations. I especially appreciated the tons of URLs to websites with further examples of great Flash work. Another nice feature is how other programs such as Photoshop, Fireworks, and Poser can be used in conjunction with Flash.

This title is one of a series of "Hacks" books by O'Reilly, a list of which can be found [...] Billed as "a community for developers and power users of all stripes" I went there anyway and felt only slightly over my head. But it looks like the real deal for the power hungry. I `m a long-time fan of the seriously usable content and simple direct presentation style of O"Reilly technical reference manuals. This book ventures into more creative realms than their usual titles but stays true to form.

Title: Flash Hacks - 100 Industrial-Strength Tips & Tools
Author: Sham Bhangal
Publisher: O"Reilly
ISBN: 0-596-00645-4
Pages: 452 pages
Reviewer: Philip High
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

When I encountered the first versions of Flash my impression was of an unnecessarily complex animation program with an obscure interface and REALLY WEIRD drawing tools. I've wanted to say that in public for years and now that I've gotten it off my chest I feel much better, thank you.

Yet, Macromedia must have been onto something, since the program has obviously matured into an indispensable tool for creators of dynamic, interactive, multimedia content for the web and beyond. But, as you might expect, the complexity has only multiplied. This book dives right into the issue by forgoing lengthy tutorials and focusing directly on getting results and solving specific problems - 100 of them to be exact. Once inside it is caution-to-the-wind since the only guide lines are "what if" and "whatever works." That's why they're called hacks, after all. It's an approach that works for me, since I'm really just an overgrown novice that has used the program for several years but infrequently. When I do use it I just want to get the job done and don't have the luxury (or patience, maybe?) to search the documentation, learn a comprehensive set of new skills, then figure out how they apply to my current need. And I don't think I'm alone here.

Although the book, like Flash itself, is not for the unmotivated, there really is something here for everyone from beginner to veteran. If you are tempted by the promise of shiny new tricks and sweet insider workarounds then you can eagerly and easily search these pages for tasty snacks to digest now and save the heavier helpings for later. The preface offers a useful starting point with a concise overview and clear explanations of the conventions used to organize and demonstrate the text.

The book covers a wide range of topics. Twelve chapters are each devoted to specific issues such as Visual Effects, Drawing and Masking, 3D and Physics, Sound, ActionScript, etc., and each contains several related tips. The individual "hacks", although usable by themselves, often relate to material in other examples, and are clearly and conveniently cross-referenced in the text. Many of the longer examples can be downloaded from the books web page http://examples.oreilly.com/flashhks.

And, as promised, the tips are pretty nifty. Some are showy, like #33 - Particle Effects. And some are sneaky, like #20 - Use Complex Shapes as Masks (by using a hairline split, invisible to the eye but recognized by the processor, to open enclosed areas.) But even the coolest tricks would be useless if you couldn't understand the instructions. Fortunately that isn't an issue here. The text is easy to read and well organized with clear examples and illustrations. I especially appreciated the tons of URLs to websites with further examples of great Flash work. Another nice feature is how other programs such as Photoshop, Fireworks, and Poser can be used in conjunction with Flash.

This title is one of a series of "Hacks" books by O'Reilly, a list of which can be found at http://hacks.oreilly.com. Billed as "a community for developers and power users of all stripes" I went there anyway and felt only slightly over my head. But it looks like the real deal for the power hungry. I `m a long-time fan of the seriously usable content and simple direct presentation style of O"Reilly technical reference manuals. This book ventures into more creative realms than their usual titles but stays true to form.

Truly for dummies, but not for users. I am very disappointed in this, and sorry I purchased it.

Although Macs for Dummies isn't extremely helpful, learning Leopard for Dummies is extremely helpful both as a read cover to cover and a reference.

I've owned a PC for years and wanted to know what people were doing on their Macs. This book was recomended to answer all my questions.

easy to read and understand. Its like your sitting right next to a REAL person teaching you about MAC use. However, it would be good if there was more info on the "tricks" of for instance transfering data from your PC or transfering songs from a ipod (that was pc formatted) into your mac. Then again, that could be a whole new book. This is the nuts and bolts of operating a mac. Pretty good and served its purpose anyway.

An excellent book for the beginner in the use of Macs. Language is clear and avoids the use of computer jargon. Not too detailed so as to lose the beginner in the intricacies of computer operation.

Any familiar with prior versions of Check Point's firewall program and newcomers to CheckPoint alike will find CONFIGURING CHECK POINT NGX VPN-1/FIREWALL-1 an important overview of all the new features in NGX. From working with the SmartView Tracker tool and understanding how a Check Point VPN-1 Pro Gateway administrator evolves to work into network security to handling authentication and integrity issues globally, everything from building the platform to licensing is covered in detail. An excellent survey of all the enhanced features and changes.

'Configuring Check Point NGX VPN-1/Firewall-1' by Robert Stephens is another good book by Syngress for IT Professionals. Syngress has really focussed on IT setup and configuration for it's latest releases of books and they have done a solid job. Packing over 600 pages of material into this guide, if you use Checkpoint at your job, you would be wise to pick up a copy of this book for your desk at work.

***** RECOMMENDED

Are you getting ready to take your Check Point certification exam? If you are, then this book is for you! Authors Robert Stephens, Barry Stiefel, Stephen Watkins, Simon Desmeules and Eli Faskha, have done an outstanding job of writing a book that is the perfect reference for anyone migrating from earlier versions of Check Point's flagship firewall/VPN product; as well as, those deploying VPN-1/FireWall-1 for the first time.

Stephens, Stiefel, Watkins, Desmeules and Faskha, begin by discussing the various methods that are deployed among different firewall vendors and open source solutions. Then, the authors discuss the significant changes between NG AI and NGX and partitions these changes into eight major categories. They continue with a review of what must be done prior to the actual installation and configuration of a Check Point environment. Next, the authors guide you through the necessary steps to perform the NGX upgrade. Then they take you on a tour of the interface used to configure your NGX installation: the SmartDashboard. They also discuss the need for tracking and walk you through a few configuration examples. Then, they discuss both basic and advanced concepts for network security and reveal how Check Point's technologies supply relief for current threats. The authors continue by showing you how to enable or disable Network Address Translation for a single host, for a range of addresses, or for an entire network. Next, they address the best way to authenticate users so they can access privileged resources. Then, the authors show you how Check Point FireWall-1 can integrate with third-party products. They continue by focusing on configuring site-to-site VPNs and the different design considerations that are involved. Next, the authors discuss the increasing number of employees that are either working comfortably at home or just simply away from the office, who need corporate access as if working locally. Then, they examine the functionality of SmartUpdate as a SmartConsole client in your Check Point environment. They also take you on a tour of SecurePlatform with the different operating system capabilities and the Check Point supported add-ons to SPLAT. Next, the authors demonstrate how to set up SmartView Monitor in a way that will allow you to view all your security components that your SmartCenter manages. Finally, the authors show, first the reason why VoIP should be secured and, second, how it is done.

The goal of this most excellent book is to cover all of NGX's dramatic changes and new, enhanced features. More importantly, you will learn how to secure the integrality of your network's data, communications, and applications from a multitude of blended threats.

This book is written by many respected authors and security professionals. Among them there is Barry J. Stiefel, the man who founded the first Check Point User Group (www.cpug.org).

I'm a Check Point Certified Instructor (CCSI) and can assure this book covers a lot of topics included in official Check Point VPN-1 NGX coursewares.

On Chapter 13 about Check Point VPN clients solutions it includes a Integrity technology discussion, acquired from ZoneLabs and to be merged with SecureClient.

On Chapter 14 it also includes a lot of details from the official Check Point SecurePlatform courseware.

The last chapter, Chapter 16 about VoIP, is even better than on the official course manual.

The book misses more details on some covered product features, coverage of some excluded features, OPSEC 3rd party interoperability examples, architectural problems discussion (like logging strategy, rulebase optimization, etc.), but it's a good book.

I strongly recommend it to anyone didn't take the course and want to have a wide coverage of many VPN-1 NGX features.
Who already attended the official course won't find here anything new.

Providing you with exactly what you need to get started with building a ray tracer. Complete with sample source code, and a working program that you can use to build on, you don't have to spend hours figuring out where to begin or how to implement what you've just learned. All of the features of a ray tracer, from beginner to advanced, are covered in a way that any college level student could pick up with ease.

This book is a great resource for anyone looking to learn about ray tracing. It succeeds in breaking a complex topic down into understandable chunks that anyone with basic C++ programming skills can work from. It's also a very interesting read. I strongly recommend it to anyone with an interest in this area.

College-level collections strong in engineering and electronics will appreciate this step-by-step description of writing a ray tracer from scratch. Chapters survey the ray-tracing concept, describing the images, sample code, and even linking to a website which contains the samples. Exercises support theory and hands-on application by instructing on adding features to a ray tracer. Any college-level collection strong in advanced information technology needs this.

The ultimate in detailed graphics is perhaps a ray tracing approach, since this derives from the actual physics of how light propagates through a three dimensional region, and interacts with objects in that region. Suffern takes an ab initio approach. Starting with elementary 3d vector analysis and then introducing the idea of rays. It turns out that you need to know very little physics to proceed into the book. Nothing at the level Maxwell's Equations, which is what actually describes light propagation to a physicist.

In programming terms (since you are probably a programmer), the book's approach is a factorisation of ray tracing into the portions needed for graphics generation.

The text is also well suited for a undergrad course. The chapters have many exercises; accompanied by a detailed website for the book. There are also many colour images that stand well next to the descriptions of the algorithms.