Computing Internet Books

If you have a current installation of Eclipse and you are using JPA (ex: Hibernate), don't even think about using the book's update site. It will totally hose up your entire Eclipse installation and you are looking at a complete re-installation.

It's a shame, because otherwise the book seems to be very helpful. Rumor is that they are planning an update sometime late 2008, but none of the bookstores have a publication date on it yet.

I purchased 8 copies and distributed them to our team. Several team members went through each chapter, building the sample application on top of the Eclipse RCP. Each of us, whether or not we built the application, have learned a great deal about using Eclipse. I highly recommend this book to any software team that is starting a new product or that is in the throes of refactoring / recasting an old one. The book will jump-start your Eclipse experience.

I couldn't do my RCP application without this book. its example application goes growing showing everything we need to learn to make an RCP application.

I stumbled into Eclipse when researching OSGI as a framework for a system I was designing. I was not looking forward to the drudgery and complexity of building all the required infrastructure over OSGI to build an actual product - what a wonderful discovery to see this gleaming system with smoothly integrated parts ready to do my bidding!
The authors make the apt analogy of launching a payload into space - so much of the work goes into the launch vehicle and ground control,etc, whereas to the payload designer the only interesting work is at the very tip of the rocket. As software developers we love generating the cool idea (the payload) and are not so excited about the other 90% which makes the real product - complex UI workflows, help, update, packaging, etc. Eclipse provides all the mechanisms and plenty of automated assistance for putting together your total system.
Perhaps you will find some disparities between the book and your downloaded version of Eclipse (I haven't yet) but this is not Visual Basic, this is a relatively deep but elegantly designed system which does require a certain level of understanding before you really get cooking with it, but this book does an excellent job with that. Once you get going, it's like having a team of 10 great programmers at your command.

This book is a very detailed and at the same time hands on treatement of what the RCP paradigm is all about. It begins with how to create using Eclipse a very functional and easy to do Chat application. As it is this
application shows the most generic and neccessary aspects of how to start an RCP application all the way to branding and packaging within it's first serveral chapters. Its' full of suggestions and tips of why you're doing various things to what not to do and why.

This book is for anyone from someone just wanting to know how it's done up to a professional Eclipse developer level. The chapters are nice and short which helps when you want to read it between work and home.

It does read as though there was thorough thought and planning from a number of sources in the layout and planning of this book.

it also will satisfy anyone wanting to know the deeper meanings of why they had to do what they did in the first several chapters further on into this material.

To me the total material ranges from easy-do-it-yourself application build kit material to A-1 college material that could be used in a semester course of RCP and eclipse.

It also offers at the end several references to things like the OSGI model that eclipse is modeled on now as well as other interesting items you never knew but form the basis of this wonderful platform called eclipse.

Once you read this book and look at the references of what people have done with Eclipse (specifcally RCP) from Nasa to the banking industry,
you'll realize that Eclipse RCP is to Windows, Solaris, HP-UX, AIX, Linux and MacOSX as VisualStudio is to .NET

This is excellent book for beginner. Author has been very good while explaining concept of RTOS. Author has clearly explained what you can write in C and what you have to write in assembly. I ll recommend this book for anybody who is interested in basics of RTOS.

This book explains working details of an example RTOS kernel along with concepts behind its design. This book's language is simple and flows like a novel. I finished this book in a week and after reading this book I am in a comfortable position to imagine how a typical RTOS kernel work. I liked this book and advise to buy if anybody want to learn internal details of a typical RTOS kernel.

This book is excellent source for understanding how hackers operate and how to protect your network from them. However, I would like to see an update.

This one cover almost every general aspect of IT security. Nice.

The book is clearly thought as a companion to prepare for CEH cert. test.
Limited scope of topics, adequate level of detail, many real world logs are examined/explained.
TCP protocol knowledge is necessary and Unix-like also strongly suggested.
References to tools, vulnerabilities and OS releases obviously are useful but become quickly obsolete.

Hackers Beware: The Ultimate Guide to Network Security by Eric Cole is a great book.

I have seen Eric at over 6 SANS conferences. He is no-hype, all help.

This book is a great security resrource.

very good book, but the material covered is dated for the price. Not one mention of windows 2003 OR XP. The material covered is at least 3 years old. i was told this was THE book to read, but after reading through, a little dissappointed.

Buy this book! It is well explained, easy and fun to work with it. In one word it is wonderful.

My daughter Myriam recommended to me, I recommend it to you!
Gloria Orjuela

I just finished reading "A Kid's Guide to Creating Web Pages" by Benjamin and Peter Selfridge and I highly recommend it for the following reasons:

1. It is written in crystal clear and friendly language.

2. You will be able to create a web page easily and successfully.

3. You will understand what you did to create the web page (in other words, the authors try to explain what each step accomplishes).

4. The guide is just the right length (not a 1,000 page computer language text) and is laid out in a pleasant fashion with lots of examples and explanations.

5. Once you create a simple web page, the authors gently introduce many other exciting things you can do to enhance your design.

6. This book accomplishes what it promises and in addition it wets your appetite for more!

7. This is a perfect beginners guide for young and old (the prose is not infantilizing or obnoxious)

Buy it and try the examples when you have time and when you do not have a lot of distractions or interruptions--the more success you have the first time out, the more you will want to keep trying.

At some point in his career, almost every artist must come face to face with the decion to either create his own website or to have someone else do it for him.

Okay, but when the website is fianlly finished and published to the world wide web...THEN WHAT?! An artist can have the best looking and well-designed site, but the question is: HOW will people find it amongst the millions and millions of other websites that are out there?

Well, this book answers that question and then zeros in on what steps the artist must take to insure that his site WILL be found in cyberspace. Some of the ideas are just plain commonsense, while others are the kind that make you ask yourself: "Now why didn't I think of that?"

The fact is, there's already a mind-boggling amount of competition out there on the web, and every artist who is serious about "getting noticed" needs to be able make his website stand out from the rest--and this is a book that will help the artist to do just that.

For years I have been searching for step by step instructions on how to becoming a successful promoter of my own work, and now I am glad to say I have finally found it!

So for the artist who wants to get his website get noticed and stand out from all the competition out there, this very reasonably priced book is certainly worth every cent you invest in it!

I am a part time artist and my 'day job' is running a women's clothing boutique. I was given a copy of this book and I was really happy to find that there's a lot of information I can use for BOTH my businesses. It's gotten me really motivated to put more energy into promoting my website(s) for both my art and my clothing business, and *maybe* take the big leap and start selling my artwork on the web. I learned a LOT from reading this book.

Caveat: I'm one of the two authors of C# 2008 For Dummies (I did all of the 2005 and 2008 update work).

I invite reviews of C# 2008 For Dummies, regardless of your level of experience or background. For myself, I find reader reviews very helpful in deciding whether to buy a book.

C# 2008 For Dummies is aimed at beginning programmers, but it probably sells more copies to more experienced programmers, many of them looking to pick up a new language or break into .NET programming.

Beginners will find very simple, easy-to-follow examples, with chapters building up to more sophisticated techniques. Additionally, my Web site for the book includes many supplementary articles on topics I lacked room to cover in the pages. The site also includes all of the example code for the book (well over 100 small programs that focus on one thing at a time), 7 extra bonus chapters, and other resources.

More experienced hands will find pretty complete coverage of the C# language. Note that the emphasis is on the language, not on its many, many applications, such as Web programming, database programming, and so on. I discuss language features (some of which are very cool) in a context that is uncluttered with advanced features. (You can find more advanced features and techniques and applications such as Web coding in books from Wiley (the For Dummies folks) and other publishers as well as Web sites that offer many examples, articles, and lots of code. Try C# Station, C# Help, Code Project, CodeGuru.net, and more--Google for C#.)

New in the 2008 edition are old features not previously included, such as delegates, events, and collections. Also brand new features: Language Integrated Query (LINQ), lambda expressions, the var keyword, extension methods, array and collection initializers, anonymous classes, query syntax. Many topics have been extended or elaborated--the book is about 25% longer than the 2005 edition.

So please consider buying C# 2008 For Dummies if you're in one of its demographic categories. I don't think you'll regret it. And don't forget to check out the Web site at csharp102.info--it may help you decide whether to buy the book. And you can always contact me by email at sphars1@yahoo.com if you have questions, find errors, and so on.

I hope you enjoy reading C# 2008 For Dummies as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Best,
Chuck Sphar

The book provides a gentle introduction to C#, in line with the other texts of this series. The pace of reading is mild, giving plenty of time to assimilate each new aspect of C#.

Along the way, you learn the essentials of object oriented programming. Using a language that is fully OO, unlike C++, and like java.

Perhaps there could have been [more] problems provided, to give the reader a challenge, and to really help her learn this stuff.

I bought this book hoping to learn from scratch - as one would assume you can normally do from a "For Dummies" book. I own 12 "For Dummies" books on various subjects, but this has by far been the most scattered in flow and difficult to process.
While the book exhausts you with lengthy dissertations on all of the possible variable types before you even get to write anything useful, it then completely leaves out the really useful information and techniques like how to write a program that can save text output into a separate file. There is no CD included, leaving you to have to go to the author's website and download all of the support files you'll need to cover your topics of interest. While I did find a "bonus" chapter on the author's website that covered creating programs that read from and write to text files, the code he published with it had errors and would not compile.
Finally, I say there is no "mid ground" because it seems he can only take you along at either 5mph or 200mph - there isn't much in-between. There is a lot of "we'll cover that later" (my quotes) but it doesn't get covered in time to help you understand what he's discussing just a few pages later.
BIG disappointment. I'm now looking for another tutorial source on C#.

I've read the 2005 version and this 2008 version and all I can say is these guys know their stuff. I've read many books on C# and this is the best book I've read. By programmers for programmers. Outstanding examples and explanations.

If you authors are reading this, please write more books. I'd like to request a dedicated book on OOP concepts and class design using C#.

Keep up the Great work!!!

The book presents security overview mostly in Cisco Networking Environment and is very well written without any serious flaws. I found just one minor, which might be considered as a technical reviewer's overlook (page 151, example 8-10). Also SNMP explanation in final chapter is quite formal and limited just to specifying a number of router configuration commands syntax. Authors don't tell anything about security issues associated with SNMP v1/v2 and how SNMP v3 addresses these. And SNMP case study does not shed a light on it as well. That is the reason I have reduced my rating of the book by one star. But the book is really well done and I even did read all the Appendix pages, which is a bit unusual with me.

Excellant book for and new comer to this complexed field in Network Security. For me thought having a few certs (CCNA, CCDA, CCSA, JNCIA, CWSP, CWNA) the book is too entry level. The parts in encryption/VPN just didn't teach me anything I didn't know before opening this book.

BUT please buy this book if you are a new comer to this field. I promise; you will learn alot from this text.

I picked up a copy of "Network Security Fundamentals" (ISBN 1587051672) by Gert De Laet and Gert Schauwers to add to my CCIE Security reading list. Network Security Fundamentals more or less picks up with Tom Thomas's "Network Security First-Step" (ISBN 1587200996). Whereas the Thomas book serves as an excellent introduction to securing your network, "Network Security Fundamentals" is an intermediate level network security book. It delves it more details not only network design essentials, but many other security topics such as Router Security, Firewalls, Intrusion Detection, VPNs, Remote Access, and Wireless.

I found the detailed coverage on Cryptography as well as securing Web Servers especially helpful and insightful. The book includes many device configuration examples, show commands, and debug outputs. I highly recommend this book to any Network Admin interested in securing his/her network as well as any potential CCIE Security candidates out there!

Mark Reyero
CCIE 12932

Ciscopress have released yet another jem of a book, really great read and easy to understand, the two authors known in the introduction as the Two Gert's do a splendid job of describing all the major security concerns you should be fully aware of, this book is highly recommnded and is authored by some very experienced engineers at Cisco -- you will not be dissappointed

Henry
Sydney Australia

First of all, let me state that this review is primarily in context of Cisco's 642-552 exam, since as of this writing, this is really the only book on their Recommended Reading for this particular exam. There are no Exam Certification series from Cisco for this specific exam, which is the foundation of their CCSP and Security Specialization certifications.

What is good about this title is coverage of security policy, vpn's, ids, firewalls, wireless, and PKI. Good introduction, and decent configuration examples. Certainly enough to get even a neophyte up and running.

So what is this title missing?

#1 SDM [Security Device Manager] configuration examples & exercises. Chances are if you're a newbie, you're going to be much more comfortable using the Browser-based GUI rather than the IOS Command Line. Additionally ALL the simulations for the 552 exam are based around SDM configuration. I would recommend you download SDM documentation from Cisco's website if you're planning on taking the 642-552 exam.

#2 There is inadequate coverage of common Layer 2 attacks, and the defense mechanisms to subvert them. For example, no explanation or examples are given on configuring Port Security which protects against MAC Spoofing, MAC Flooding, ARP Spoofing, and flooding the CAM table. And that is BASIC SWITCH SECURITY that is relatively easy to implement. Furthermore, there should also be discussions of IP Source Guard, VLAN Hopping, and Dynamic ARP Inspection. I HIGHLY recommend you search on Cisco's site about these features & configuring them.

#3 CBAC explanation is fairly unclear. Students will be confused by the fact that they named the ip inspect rules as "BLOCK" and "ALLOW" and associate each one w/ a traffic direction [ingress/egress respectively], when really these names do not accurately describe the behavior of CBAC

#4 Pg 174 "A software based firewall is only as secure as the operating system it relies on...Appliance based firewalls, such as NetScreen or PIX, do not have that vulnerability" ARE YOU KIDDING ME? IOS is still SOFTWARE. All...ALL...software can be exploited. See Hacking Cisco. Certainly it is harder, yes, but it is STILL susceptible application-layer attacks and buffer overflows.

I have to say I'm really impressed with this book. I used a Sybex manual (ISBN 978-0-4700-4830-6 - superb) to pass the A+ test, but am reading this one for a college course. The writing style is effortless and fun to read. One thing I really like is the historical/conceptual section of each chapter--random facts make more sense and are easier to remember when put into context. The authors also did a superb job of explaining the Northbridge, Southbridge, address bus, etc. Examples such as the 'man in a black box' really help visualize what's going on.

Another nice touch is the keywords at the end of the chapter, which have the page number where it's discussed. When you flip to the page, the keyword is even highlighted. Very nice and quick!

I like this book so much that I'm gonna check out other titles in the Mike Meyers' series.

As a side note, though, I looked at a M. M. Passport A+ book a while back and wasn't as impressed. It was too condensed--more like trying to digest an outline.

I bought this book which is awesome, I discovered that XAMWARE has a some free flash cards for this test, which is nice. The book is the great so far. I'll be writing the exam next week.

I buy this book and was one of the two sources I use it to pass the network + test. The other source was COMPTIA Network+ 2006 In Depth (the kit). I read the book and take the exams from the cd on the kit and I pass the exam at first try. But be carefull, I only pass the exam with 30 point over the limit.

First off I will say that I passed the Network+ with a 825 on the first try.
However, I don't give this book much credit. I do credit the Sybex 4th addition network+ study guide. I found it Ironic that the Author Bill Ferguson referred to the Sybex guide so many times when his books content was so full of errors and inconsistency's when compared to the Sybex study guide. It really made me wonder if he had actually read the Sybex study guide. In addition to mistakes the other reviewers have listed, the most astonishing mistakes I found where on pages, 13,14 and 15. This is where he lists the specs on various types of media. For instance he lists maximum segment distance for 10baseFL and 100basefx at 20K where the full study guide from Sybex lists the distance as 2K. I know that 2K is the correct answer (at least for the exam) because I had several questions regarding the specs of fiber. According to my exam report I missed zero questions in the first domain which covers network Media. Also on Page 22 He has a drawing labeled as STP, when it is actually a piece of coax or fiber.
To be quiet honest, after reading the first chapter I put this book down and went back the the study guide. I didn't want to spend my last few days of test prep reading inaccurate material.
On the positive side, this book does have a couple hundred extra test questions that you can use to prep for the test.
My advice is get a full study guide from Sybex, Exam-cram or whatever press you like and read it from front to back. Then go back and re-read each chapter again, this time taking notes. After that go through all the flash cards for a couple of days. After you feel pretty good start taking the practice tests. You can usually find some good practice questions on line. Comptia even offers some free questions.

Not a bad book but a little boring. Good resource if you don't have time to study, but it is boring so you have to effort to read it.

I recently took the exam and was shocked how different the exam questions and topics were vs. what's printed in this book. This book is easy to read and you do learn a lot ..but just don't let it be the only book you use to prep for the exam. I don't think any of the sample test questions from the CD (included with the book) were even close to the exam questions. Despite all the negatives, I ended up passing the exam but I'm giving the credit to my own luck and experience instead of this book.

This book is easy to read and well laid-out. I took the practice exams on the CD and downloaded the free Cramsession study guide. I higly recommend this book.