Mac OS X Tiger Unleashed

Book Description

A best-seller that once showed you how to reign in a panther can now show you how to tame a Tiger. Mac OS X Tiger Unleashed is the most comprehensive guide to unlocking the full power of Mac OS X Tiger that you can find. Written by Unix/BSD experts and Mac users, John Ray and William C. Ray, you will go inside the Mac OS X Tiger operating system and the underlying BSD environment. In-depth background coverage and useful hands-on lessons will help you understand the changes with the new version and master the new features. Lessons include:

Working with files and applications
Running classic Mac OS applications
Native utilities and applications
Intalling third-party applications
Third-party BSD command-line applications
Configuring the system using BSD utilities
Remote administration
Serving a Windows network
Routine maintenance

Learn to deal with the most trouble-prone aspects of the Mac OS X Tiger user interface and how to exploit the new features to get the most out of your system with Mac OS X Tiger Unleashed.

Customer Reviews:

Review by Alaskan Apple Users Group member Ronald Schoedel.......2005-10-14

This is one hefty book, weighing in at over 1500 pages. Of small type. Did I mention the small type and 1500 pages? One can easily be overwhelmed by such a volume. I did not read it straight through. It is not the type of book you read, but rather the type of book you refer to when you have a specific question. It is an excellent reference book. It is not, however, something I would recommend to my mother or anyone else relatively new to Macs or scared of computers in general. Those types of audiences will get more out of a "Missing Manual" or "Dummies" book, and would likely find "Unleashed" way too in-depth.

If you are an intermediate Mac user, and would like to get more under the hood of your Mac, this is your book. In "Unleashed" you will learn about the BSD Unix subsystem, the CUPS printing services, network administration, setting up servers, shell scripting, database serving, and more. If this is not your idea of a good time on your Mac, the authors DO cover some more basic stuff like how to get more out of the basic Tiger workspace and the graphical programs used for the internet, calendars, viewing and editing documents, and such. They give such subject matter about 400 pages worth of space, and do a great job describing how to use these features of your Mac. But "Unleashed"'s true value is in the last 1100 pages, which deal with the rock-solid and very customizable UNIX subsystem that underlies the beauty of OS X Tiger.

If you have only ventured into the Terminal program a time or two, you can learn much from "Unleashed", and the examples are detailed enough to not be too scary. If you've never dabbled in the Terminal or you don't even know what the Terminal is, you may have little interest or use in some of the power user command-line programs discussed here. If you've never learned anything about UNIX up till now, but you are eager and earnestly interested, the book delivers on its promise of "knowledge, solutions, mastery." If you are a new Mac IT professional, either by design or by default (everyone turns to you for Mac help whether you want them to or not), "Unleashed" could be helpful to you, as well; but prepare to roll up your sleeves and get your hands a little dirty. You probably won't be copying pages for your friends who recently switched from Windows. On the other hand, if you find yourself being asked to set up a web server or a file server (FTP) for your office or school, you will find out how to do that in this manual.

In short: this is a book meant for serious students of Mac OS X Tiger. Casual computer users will find it too much. But I enjoyed it and look forward to referring to it for answers.

Pros: Loaded with Information! Great for intermediate Mac users or above!
Cons: Loaded with information! Likely too confusing for new Mac users. Get a "Dummies" or "Missing Manual" book instead.

A Helpful book.......2005-09-05

Like any good MAC enthusiast, as soon as a new operating system comes out, I get it. I know that there are always promises of more stability, faster running programs, etc. As a practical matter, I never notice the improvements, because my MAC always operates well. Of course, there are always the added benefits that any new software that comes out takes full advantage of the new and improved Operation System, and there is nothing like a smoking Photoshop experience.

That being said, I did notice a few differences with the new Tiger OS. Of course, there is now that cute little Dashboard that sits on my desktop. I can turn to it to find out where to get the lowest gas prices in my area (there are none) or to get my local weather forecast or get the lyrics to my favorite iTunes. But I know that there had to be so much more to Tiger, so for the first time, I decided to get a book to find out what else Tiger had to offer me. I picked Mac OS X Tiger Unleashed by John Ray and William C. Ray (ISBN 0-672-32746-5) and I'm glad I did. The book is divided into easily identifiable subject matters, so that whether you are a beginning Mac OS X user or an advanced user, you know where to go.

Mac OS X Tiger Unleashed starts by covering the most basic and useful applications and utilities that any Mac user will need to know. The writing style of John Ray and William C. Ray is easy to understand and comprehensive on each topic covered. Particularly useful for the beginner is the chapter dealing with accessing email. Chapter 3 walks you through importing mailboxes from any client and setting up your own preferences. Chapter 3 also walks you through the new and improved iChat. The authors have also taken the time to explain things which seem like they should be easy, but always leave the newbie scratching their head - things like the printer utility, managing fonts and setting up firewalls.

The last two thirds of the book are for the more intermediate and advanced users. The authors offer a comprehensive and easily understood introduction to the BSD Unix subsystem. I am not a longtime Unix user, so this introduction has been invaluable - they give a great deal of space to the basic Unix commands and then take you on from there, making the mastering of managing files and directories a snap. The authors then take you through more complex or advanced concepts, concepts which I am a little slower in learning.

Finally, Mac OS X Tiger Unleashed deals with server side and network administration. Particularly useful to me was the chapter dealing with creating an FTP server.

In all, I found this book to be highly comprehensive, extremely well organized and usually very easy to understand. Another great thing about this book, when you open it to any page, it stays open - very impressive given its 1500+ pages.

A good book, but it is heading south.......2005-08-22

I bought the first edition and thought it was one of the best computer books I had ever read. I bought the second edition to keep current. Not a lot was new, and the new stuff was loaded with typos, clear evidence that it was a rush job. I skipped the third edition. I had a look at the forth edition. The good news is it is smaller -- they have trimmed some bloat. Unix-wise, there are only a few major changes, but they are important, so I immediately looked to see if they had much coverage.

Their coverage of metadata (including the unix mdfind and other md-utilities -- the command-line counterparts of spotlight) was quite sparse.

Their coverage of Launchd, new to 10.4, was essentially absent.

I flipped to the end to see how they handled setting up postfix. This was a bit of a struggle for me but I finally got it working. Their coverage looked like it had been written prior to the release of 10.4. There is no mention of the postfix startup LaunchDaemon; instead the authors instruct you to create the "missing" StartupItem files.

My conclusion is that they were in such a hurry to release a book covering 10.4 that they didn't bother to get straight what is new and unique in 10.4.

If you need a good general introduction to MacOSX, about 2/3 of which focuses on the unix subsystem, this is a valuable book. If you want to buy the book to stay current with the developments in 10.4, having already mastered those topics, you will be frustrated. More up to date and accurate information is available for free on the internet.

Good for a Windows/Linux convert.......2005-08-13

An "ultimate reference" type of bible for an operating system must be one of the most difficult books to get "right" simply because the volume of potential topics and details to cover is enormous and yet the skill level and knowledge of the reader varies significantly. From the perspective of a long time Windows and Linux user who's about to make the switch for personal (geek) use, I was delighted to realize that the Ray brothers have done a pretty good job at hitting my sweet spot.

This 1400-page tome is split to seven parts and nearly 30 chapters. The first chapters introduce the desktop and some of the basic applications and utilities like the Safari web browser, Mail, iChat, the Spotlight search utility, and so forth. Very basic stuff, explained quite nicely with a couple of screenshots here and there. For me, these introductory chapters had a pretty good match for my preferred verbosity level, although I did tend to start skipping pages with a superficial glance on parts I would probably not be using all that much. The first part ends with a chapter dedicated to the new Automator utility for scripting OS X applications with the AppleScript language. I did feel like I would need some kind of a command reference in addition to the chapter, but it does a good job in getting past the steepest part of the learning curve.

The second part talks about hardware. Starting from how to calibrate your display, the authors describe how to configure your accessories like keyboards, mice, Bluetooth devices, digital cameras, and such--as well as some less ubiquitous devices such as redundant disk arrays. It's mostly screenshots after screenshots and very understandable. I'm tempted to believe my mother could manage with these instructions. The chapter on printer setup is a lot less graphical (which isn't a surprise, really) as it talks about the various print settings and the CUPS printing system in detail, using the web interface for configuring printers. Networking, a topic near and dear to any geek, is also covered in the second part. Again, the authors have provided plenty of screenshots as everything is configured through wizards. I would've preferred more focus on networking, such as on the low-level tools available for determining what's wrong when "the Internet is broken", as well as a bit more instructions on how to configure the built-in firewall. The part finishes with a brief chapter on user management and basic security features like the FileVault.

Speaking of low-level tools, part IV is completely dedicated to all the UNIX (BSD) stuff. File permissions, moving in the file system, inspecting running processes, and so forth. These chapters are written for someone not familiar with the UNIX shell and file system but there are some utilities that I at least wasn't aware of, such as the pushd and popd commands, for example. For a UNIX-newbie, these chapters are probably an excellent introduction. An especially useful piece is the introduction to text editors vi, emacs, and nano--I could imagine a reader unfamiliar with UNIX being a bit lost trying to figure out how to edit a file from the terminal. This part also talks about dealing with printers using command-line tools such as lpr and lpadmin. All in all, the whole of part IV is excellent material if you're new to the UNIX command-line or feel like getting some brushup before getting down to business. One specific aspect that surprised me (positively) was that the authors included material on installing software from the command-line all the way from downloading packages with lynx to building from source using configure and make, not to mention installing and using fink--an apt-get/yum/up2date look-a-like package manager for OS X. I also feel I should mention that the authors have really provided more help than just "first type ./configure, then make, and then make install"--they actually tackle common issues like installation locations. Having said that, I did find it odd that the authors would describe the use of GDB (debugger) in this context...

Part 5 continues the UNIX theme by diving deeper into shell scripting, starting and stopping services manually and upon startup, locating configuration files, and so on. This is all good stuff and well explained (although I'm sure my mother wouldn't quite grok xinetd services without some more help). To finish part V, the X Window System (including the use of remote X11 sessions) is mentioned in passing as well as the Perl and Python scripting languages. A bit odd choices, perhaps. I would've probably left these out in favor of less weight.

Part 6, taking up a hefty 350 pages, is dedicated to configuring a MySQL database server, an Apache web server, an FTP server, a mail server, setting up remote access, and interoperating with Windows file shares using Samba as well as mounting and sharing NFS shares on Tiger itself. The remote access part shows not only how to use familiar tools like ssh, scp, and telnet, but also how to manage public and private keys for certificate based authentication. These topics are covered very nicely as basic tutorials with everything included that's necessary to get started although a lot of space is used for superficially mentioning, for example, how to compile some exotic Apache module. Again, something I would've personally preferred left out completely--just like the whole chapter on programming web applications with Perl and PHP. On the positive side, the chapter showing how to set up the open source Darwin Streaming Server is definitely of assistance when you're in need of streaming QuickTime movies from your OS X powered web server. Similarly, I was delighted to see instructions for configuring SpamAssassin along with the mail server.

The final part starts off by introducing a couple of essential networking diagnostics tools such as traceroute, ping, and lookup. From there, the discussion moves to network security, firewalls, intrusion detection, and some routines with which to avoid the worst case scenario of someone taking over your machine. One essential routine is, of course, regular backups and the authors show a couple of different ways of taking backups of your data.

I haven't yet mentioned one of the most important things SAMS has done right with this book--the binding. You can actually lay the book down next to your keyboard without losing the page every 15 seconds (with the rather obvious exception of the 25 or so first and last openings of the book). Well done indeed. I am definitely happy with this book as my guide to the world of OS X. There's the necessary visual quickstart stuff for getting going with the OS X user interface, and there's the nitty gritty low-level stuff for the inner geek. The only reason why I considered not giving it a full rating is because I felt there was too much "extra" that doesn't really belong into a book about an operating system.

No CD No Buy.......2005-08-11

I bought the Panther edition of this book, and found it contained a great deal of useful information. However, I felt it did not serve well for a reference material for two reasons...

1. This book is huge. It needs to be perfect bound or made into two separate volumes.

2. Though the index is quite extensive, there is no way to adequately search the book for troubleshooting Mac OSX.

Both points would be obviated by the inclusion of a CD containing an ebook, preferably as a PDF. I reported this to the publisher, but apparently they disagree since this version does not include a disc. For this reason, I have decided not to purchase this book until future editions include this. I'm writing this here in hopes that the publisher will read this, and act accordingly.

Average customer rating:

A very enjoyable sci-fi futuristic romance
Unputdownable!
Unputdownable!
I have to describe this book as AWESOME!
Light and Enjoyable.....................

Unleashed (Futuristic Romance)
C. J. Barry
Manufacturer: Love Spell
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0505525739

Book Description

It's New Year's Eve on a planet called Earth, and all computer programmer Lacey Garrett wants is to design her software in peace.

It's just another day in interstellar space, and all fugitive Zain Masters wants is to map the stars in peace.

Unfortunately, they are about to become the only thing standing between a ruthless villain and mass pandemonium on a galactic level. Can two outsiders learn to trust each other before the most powerful force in the galaxy is UNLEASHED?

Customer Reviews:

A very enjoyable sci-fi futuristic romance.......2005-07-23

I just recently discovered C.J. Barry, and this is the second book I have read by this author. I read and enjoyed "Unearthed", and liked it well enough to try another.
Unleashed has our Earthwoman heroine, Lacey Garrett, transported without her permission to another world, were Zain Masters has summoned her for assistance to break free of a mysterious force that caused his ship to crash on an unknown planet.
Smart, independent heroine combined with sexy, alpha, but not too alpha hero make for a great combination. Barry's futuristic world is interesting and believable with great supporting characters, humor and action, this book makes for a great summer read. This is not a heavy, dark toned story but a light romp with well developed characters who you root for from beginning to end. I enjoyed this book and will definately read more of CJ Barry's books.

Unputdownable!.......2005-06-23

When Lacey read a post on one of the "geek" boards asking for help identifying some images, Lacey answers. Her good deed did not go unpunished. Lacey finds herself and Oliver transported to another planet.

Zain Masters is a former advance scout for InterGlax. (Think space law enforcement.) He has been on InterGlax's Wanted List for about ten years now for the death of his partner. Zain and his sentient ship, Reene, were simply exploring a planet when they came upon a camouflaged section and found themselves being shot out of the sky. From the looks of nearby debris, it is obvious that someone is hiding something worth killing over. Reene needs repairs fast. His energy cells are failing. But even if Reene gets patched up they cannot leave without turning off the weapons that shot them down. In a nearby dome, Zain finds odd images and needs help figuring them out. Help came from a "juvenile planet" (one who still believes it is alone in the universe). He did not expect the female he beamed aboard to be so lovely or have a cat in her arms. He also did not expect for Reene to lose more power and be unable to send her home. They team up in hopes of figuring out the images and getting off the planet. But it turns out the dome is only the tip of the iceberg, literally.

Things go from bad, to worse, to impossible. It is up to a man, a woman, a cat, a small brain ship, a few lasers, and a crustacean (yes, you read that right) to take down the biggest and deadliest corporation in the galaxy.

***** When author C. J. Barry sets out to give readers an action packed romance, she does not hold back any punches! Just like her other space adventure novel, titled "Unmasked", I began reading and could not stop until the last page had been turned. Barry is causing me to lose too many hours of sleep. I may need to take some time off work just to catch up on my bed rest. UNPUTDOWNABLE! *****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

Unputdownable!.......2005-06-23

Lacey Garrett is a computer programmer. Her fiancé steals her program wipes out her savings, and then runs off with everything. Lacey ends up picking up Oliver, the cat he abandoned, and moving to a secluded area. She only wants to be left alone so she can try to salvage the one client she has left.

When Lacey read a post on one of the "geek" boards asking for help identifying some images, Lacey answers. Her good deed did not go unpunished. Lacey finds herself and Oliver transported to another planet.

Zain Masters is a former advance scout for InterGlax. (Think space law enforcement.) He has been on InterGlax's Wanted List for about ten years now for the death of his partner. Zain and his sentient ship, Reene, were simply exploring a planet when they came upon a camouflaged section and found themselves being shot out of the sky. From the looks of nearby debris, it is obvious that someone is hiding something worth killing over. Reene needs repairs fast. His energy cells are failing. But even if Reene gets patched up they cannot leave without turning off the weapons that shot them down. In a nearby dome, Zain finds odd images and needs help figuring them out. Help came from a "juvenile planet" (one who still believes it is alone in the universe). He did not expect the female he beamed aboard to be so lovely or have a cat in her arms. He also did not expect for Reene to lose more power and be unable to send her home. They team up in hopes of figuring out the images and getting off the planet. But it turns out the dome is only the tip of the iceberg, literally.

Things go from bad, to worse, to impossible. It is up to a man, a woman, a cat, a small brain ship, a few lasers, and a crustacean (yes, you read that right) to take down the biggest and deadliest corporation in the galaxy.

***** When author C. J. Barry sets out to give readers an action packed romance, she does not hold back any punches! Just like her other space adventure novel, titled "Unmasked", I began reading and could not stop until the last page had been turned. Barry is causing me to lose too many hours of sleep. I may need to take some time off work just to catch up on my bed rest. UNPUTDOWNABLE! *****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

I have to describe this book as AWESOME!.......2004-09-22

I have to describe this book as AWESOME!

Lacey Garrett has answered an email requesting help from "zainman" only to find herself in the strangest dream she's ever concocted. Only, it's not a dream.

Zain Masters, an intergalactic planet cartographer had his ship shot down while trying to check the planets surface, and is now stuck under a force field. He needs help translating pictures and text to hopefully turn off the lasers and force field, Zain has beamed Lacey into his life-threatening predicament.

Stuck in an unknown environment, Lacey rises to the challenges threatening her life in the form of "Bobzillas" - Godzilla like creatures that look remarkably like her ex-fiancee Bob. But what Lacey fights the most is the woman within. After all, how can she fight the attraction that has been UNLEASHED for an alien?

Ms Barry has a phenomenal ability weave a paranormal action packed romance that spans the universe. I am blown away with her creativity. I was amazed at how the story plot sucked me in as a reader and yet the bulk of UNLEASHED revolved around only Zain, his sentient space ship Reene, Lacey and her cat Oliver. The "UN" series has me hooked, and with the introduction of Zains' sister, I'm hoping for another story.

As for our heroine, Lacey has had several rude awakenings in the last couple years of her life. And while she was already very likeable, it was amazing to watch her bloom with Zains love. Her fuzzy bedroom slippers cracked me up - what a mortifying way to get kidnapped by an alien!

Zain, a man of mystery from UNEARTHED and UNCHAINED, finally has his story told. Used to working by himself, he has an ego (that gets him nowhere), but at the same time, has the ability to recognize he needs help. The help he gets is from a human, who seems worldly but has normal fears that he takes the time to help Lacey through. It melted my heart and I wasn't disappointed at all!

While the Bobzilla initially instilled fear in me, the way Lacey used them turned them into a major source of belly laughs. I don't think I will ever think of Godzilla the same thanks to Ms Barry!

So, if you haven't read a book by Ms Barry yet, I highly recommend picking up this story. Lacey falls into the category of a kick-butt and rescue her man heroine! (Note: This is part of a series. Yes, you can read it alone without any confusion. But, in the first two novels, he is single...)

Light and Enjoyable............................2004-07-14

After reading Susan Grant's Contact I became interested in these futuristic romances, and Unleashed didn't let me down. I eagerly jumped into this book and didn't emerge until I was finished. From Zain Masters to Lacy Garrett these two were made for each other. I also enjoyed Reene and Oliver and Torrie,Zain's sister. Even the aliens were enjoyable especially Bobzilla and finelly Po. I highly recommend this book and will be awaiting for Unmasked the book coming out in May/2005. I even pre-ordered Unraveled. I think that Barry will have a promising career writing these books if she can keep up the spirit. Gives a new meaning To I'm in love with a man from the stars and boy what a hunk.............

Average customer rating:

Good Introduction to C#
Great Book
My C# Bible
Excellent
Good Introductory Book

C# Unleashed
Joe Mayo
Manufacturer: Sams
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 067232122X

Book Description

Part I provides the most basic elements of C# language syntax.

Part II covers object and component programming in C#.

Part III introduces several of the class libraries available to C#.

Part IV gives those advanced topics for extreme performance and enterprise programming projects.

Part V goes into depth on the C# environment. Included are garbage collection and the effects on a program., cross-language development, the common language runtime, versioning and assemblies, and providing security for your programs.

Part VI is the Appendix. It has supplementary material on compiling programs, an overview of .NET Class Library components, and some other resources that may be of interest.

Download Description

Part I provides the most basic elements of C# language syntax. Part II covers object and component programming in C#. Part III introduces several of the class libraries available to C#. Part IV gives those advanced topics for extreme performance and enterprise programming projects. Part V goes into depth on the C# environment. Included are garbage collection and the effects on a program., cross-language development, the common language runtime, versioning and assemblies, and providing security for your programs. Part VI is the Appendix. It has supplementary material on compiling programs, an overview of .NET Class Library components, and some other resources that may be of interest.

Customer Reviews:

Good Introduction to C#.......2007-05-09

This book presents a good introduction to C#. After reading this book I have the good understanding of C# and ready to move on to advanced books.

Great Book.......2007-03-02

This Book does what it says it will ;)
It definately helped me!!

My C# Bible.......2005-11-11

I came from a shallow programming background of VB.Net and C++, and this book was excellent for the transition. This book is great reference material for the language and the .net framework in general. Almost every aspect of C# is covered in this book, which makes this book is a must have for any person programming in C#. It is wonderful to have a book to be able to turn to instead of searching the internet.

Excellent.......2005-08-26

This is a excelent book, my husband and enjoy it. We find this a little deeper that the usual C# books. I will recommended to you.

Good Introductory Book.......2005-08-01

This is a good introductory book on C#. The author covers most of the topics by code which I like. The book is focussed on the C# language itself without much coverage on other .NET topics ( ADO.NET,ASP.NET,Remoting) rightly so. In short a good starter book on C#

Average customer rating:

Unhelpful
Not bad
Yet another sloppily-edited, hastily-published book
well integrated language

Microsoft Visual C# .NET 2003 Unleashed
Kevin Hoffman , and Lonny Kruger
Manufacturer: Sams
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0672326760

Book Description

Microsoft Visual C# .NET 2003 Unleashed is a comprehensive reference and learning guide for the .NET Framework, using C# as the instructional language. You will be exposed to everything from low-level information on the Garbage Collector to advanced concepts like creating applications that use Enterprise Services, creating Web Services and even advanced Windows GUI. This book will become your definitive source of information on C# programming and the .NET framework. The book's lay-flat design makes it an ideal desk reference and the online searching and indexing through Safari make it the perfect tool for finding information quickly. Microsoft Visual C# .NET 2003 Unleashed will show you all the ways you can unleash your C# programming skills.

Download Description

Customer Reviews:

Unhelpful.......2006-06-30

I bought this book because I wanted somebody to better explain some of the hard topics in C# instead of just re-typing what I already have in the MSDN files that came with my copy of Visual Studio DOT NET. I thought this book would clarify all my questions about Delegates and Events for example but it did not.
After getting frustrated with the book, I turned to the Web to find help about Delegates and Events and I found some very good articles. This made me think I could have saved a few dollars and headaches by using the Internet. I found that they start talking about some important topic and then they say "Well if you really want to know the complete story please buy another book that talks more about it..." And they haven't even given you at least a basic working example!!!.
I am sure this book has its pearls here and there but so far I haven't spotted any!!!

Not bad.......2006-02-25

As has been said before, could use another edit, but its pretty thorough.

Yet another sloppily-edited, hastily-published book.......2005-11-08

I understand how much work goes into huge, comprehensive books like these, and I appreciate how hard the authors must work to meet deadlines. But there is simply no excuse for the sloppiness and inaccuracies that most of these books carry. This one is no different.

The book isn't all bad. Some topics are covered fairly well. And admittedly, C# is a huge topic. But too many chapters are vague and leap across broad topics too quickly. Some simple topics are belabored unnecessarily; meanwhile, whole large topics (like calling constructors in superclasses) aren't discussed, but they pop up in code examples. (Maybe the topic is discussed later in the book and I haven't gotten there yet, but the fact remains that code examples show it before any explanation.)

Someone new to C# is bound to be thrown for a loop by this kind of thing. I guess I've been around the block enough times that I figured out what was going on, but I can remember when this sort of thing would have puzzled and frustrated me for hours or even days.

Then we get to the chapter on multithreading. There's an example on aborting a thread that's comically wrong. The thread isn't aborted! It's still running in the background. A quick check of the task manager proves this. But the authors didn't bother to make that check. So they're leading their readers down the garden path to destruction.

And here's a solid-gold gem from the same chapter:

"AutoResetEvent reets the signaled state of the event to unsignaled when another waiting thread is released. In contrast, ManualResetEvent does exactly what its name implies: It waits until the event is manually reset before changing the signaled state to unsignaled." There's not a word of explanation about what "signaled state" means. You can read this over and over, and it won't make any more sense (unless you already know what it means). As such, it's worse than useless. All a reader can do is skip over it, and hope that the subsequent text and examples will make it clear. Someone should have circled that sentence with an angry red pen and drawn a huge, accusing question mark next to it.

Also in this chapter, the code example shows code calling the Sleep method in an instance of Thread, but that's impossible and won't compile. The method is static. It has to be called from Thread, not an instance of Thread. The author clearly did not even bother to compile his own code. To the woodshed, immediately.

There are sections later on concerning events and delegates that are nearly as bad as the chapter on multithreading. It's enough to make me wonder if the authors really understood these topics.

Finally, there's a chapter on XML that leaves me puzzled. Not because it fails to cover the subject adequately (it does fail to do so), but because it falls so miserably short that it makes me wonder why the authors decided to cover it at all. I remember when I was struggling with XML, XSLT and XSD (along with XPath) all at the same time. Even huge, detailed books on each of these topics couldn't answer all of my questions. The single skinny-Minnie chapter on ALL of these topics will only frustrate and tantalize those who don't already know an awful lot about XML. The cleverest writer on Earth couldn't have done an adequate job in a single chapter. And putting in a note telling readers that they'll need to investigate the topics more on their own is no excuse, if you ask me. If you can't do justice to a topic, then cut it, and expand your coverage on something else. Using XML in .NET, regardless of the language, is a subject that requires at least a single whole book to cover.

A note on the edition. I got the electronic download edition. Amazon listed it as a "PDF." After I got it, it turned out that it was an e-book, which is a type of PDF. I had to get a very recent edition of Adobe Reader, and the book is registered only to me. That's annoying but not too bad. I don't blame them for not wanting the book to be pirated. But what really irritates me is that I can't print any of the book (were they worried that I'd print a copy, then make photocopies?), and I can't even copy and past short snippets. I paid a pretty hefty price for this book. In my opinion, that clearly gives me the right to print out chapters, or the whole thing, if I choose. Being locked out of printing ensures that I will never again pay nearly full price for the digital edition of a book from Amazon. I've been cheated, and I don't like being cheated.

I guess I'll have to fall back on the MSDN for my tutorial. Somebody, please...kill me.

well integrated language.......2005-08-04

It is no accident that the authors start off the book with a chapter on Visual Studio. A persistent theme in the book is how it is more than just about C# as a language. The authors suggest [strongly] that a key advantage about the language is its extensive integration with .NET and the ease of coding. For the latter, the book gives a brief tour of Visual Studio highlights. Like the ability to bookmark places in source code files, and a "Back" button. Very much following a well-proven and popular browser usage. Plus Visual Studio shows C# files in a tree format, which permits an easier overview of a large source file.

Part 2 of the book deals with the C# syntax. Comprehensive. If you have programmed another object oriented language, then you should not have any problems here.

But later sections in the book may actually be more interesting and useful to you, once you've mastered the syntax. Several chapters show how to use C# with ASP.NET. To easily write more powerful dynamic web pages. Quite aside from C#, you also get a quick, effective education in ASP.NET. With an editing environment where you can drag and drop components from a toolbox onto the web page that you are making. Intuitive, with less chance of error; which enhances your productivity.

The most advanced section is perhaps that about Web Services. In the computing industry, this topic is still somewhat inchoate, but much has been done to flesh out SOAP, WSDL. Including notably WS-Security. The book demonstrates how to construct a Web Service. Some of you may be interested in the Microsoft-specific Web Services Enhancements, version 2. It offers interesting utilities that may be of merit for a specific Web Service that you want to build. These tend to be along the lines of improved security. [Though it is unclear the extent to which the industry is using WSE.]

Force Unleashed Campaign Guide (Star Wars Roleplaying Game Supplement)

Average customer rating:

Force Unleashed Campaign Guide (Star Wars Roleplaying Game Supplement)
Sterling Hershey , Owen K.C. Stephens , and Rodney Thompson
Manufacturer: Wizards of the Coast
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0786947438
Release Date: 2008-03-18

Book Description

Unleash the Force and fight the Empire.

The Emperor has swept away the last vestiges of the Old Republic. Darth Vader and his dark apprentice hunt down the surviving Jedi one by one, but a few escape capture and find refuge on backwater worlds. Fewer still reach deep into the Force, unleashing powers beyond their wildest imaginings. Meanwhile, other brave heroes rise to oppose the tyranny of the Empire, heralding the birth of the Rebellion.

This campaign guide draws its inspiration from The Force Unleashed, a revolutionary new video game from Lucasfilm, Ltd. It presents a complete campaign setting during the period between Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and Episode IV: A New Hope. The guide offers exciting new character options and Force powers for players as well as adventure content, campaign seeds, and ready-to-play adversaries for Gamemasters.

This supplement is designed for use with the Star Wars Roleplaying Game Saga Edition core rulebook.

Mac OS X Panther Unleashed, Third Edition

Average customer rating:

for a digital lifestyle
Finally an 'Unleashed' that means it -
A Very Excellent Book!

Mac OS X Panther Unleashed, Third Edition
John Ray , and William C Ray
Manufacturer: Sams
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0672326043

Amazon.com

With the release of Mac OS X, a fundamental shift has taken place in Macintosh operating systems. The shift is called Darwin, and it's a complete Unix environment underlying the ever-friendly Mac graphical user interface. This latest edition of Mac OS X Panther Unleashed is one of the few Mac OS books that understands the significance of Darwin and takes time to explain to readers--whom, mostly, are presumed to be unfamiliar with using Unix but reasonably competent with the Mac GUI--how to get the most out of it. The message is clear: Even if you're reluctant to commit to Linux or Free BSD, this book can help you use Unix as it exists in Mac OS X.

There's coverage of the graphical applications, as well as the Unix-style command line of Darwin, and you could do a lot worse than to rely on John and William Ray for guidance in getting the most from the iLife applications. Still, the main attraction of this book--the reason it's worth its cover price--is its introduction to Unix as implemented in Mac OS X. Trust this volume to hoist you up the steep Unix learning curve, then watch your overall productivity with your Mac soar. --David Wall

Topics covered: How to use Mac OS X, with emphasis on the Unix underpinnings of that operating system. Coverage fits someone who knows the Mac graphical user interface pretty well, but needs help with Unix.

Book Description

Often hailed as one of the most thorough, well-written books on the subject, Mac OS X Panther Unleashed is all you will ever need in order to learn the Mac OS X operating system and the BSD Unix underlying system. The new Mac OS X has added performance and interface enhancements, which further extends the capabilities of the underlying subsystem. Unleashed teaches you how to get the most out of your operating system by focusing on the subsystem. It will also show you how to deal with the most trouble-prone aspects of the user interface. Whether you're new to Mac OS X or you're a skilled user, as long as you're familiar with the basics of the Mac OS drag and drop and menu functions, Unleashed will be able to show you how to get the most out of your Mac operating system!

Download Description

Customer Reviews:

for a digital lifestyle.......2004-12-22

I have reviewed other books on Apple's Mac OS X Panther. Most notably by O'Reilly. They have been well done. But usually crafted with an eye towards brevity. For a possibly impatient reader. But this book may be unsurpassed in its comprehensiveness. It shows that while the Mac has a lovely and very intuitive UI, there is a vast amount under the bonnet that you can also access

Most readers may be attracted to Part 2 - Media Tools. They describe how to best use the Mac for audio and video, plus photography and image editing. Packages like iMovie, iPhoto, iDVD, iTunes and QuickTime. These form the basis for a digital lifestyle, that tracks the huge rise in digital cameras, camera phones, iPods and other consumer electronics. Apple has done an excellent job with these software packages and the book gives them full attention.

Other parts of the book deal with important topics like the sysadmin details of what is a fully fledged unix box. (You knew that about the Mac, didn't you?) Yet these are specialised topics that only a few of you will really be concerned with.

Finally an 'Unleashed' that means it -.......2004-02-24

This books dives into Mac OS X (Jaguar) with style and grace. The authors make a great
writing team; they balance between graphical and Terminal (Command-line) usage
quite well. The organization is such that any intro user will find a simple and clear
introduction to the new face of Mac OS and the blend of Administrative duties (thanks
to the underlying BSD Unix the administrative coverage is also splendid).
The index is well wrote, with categories where they should be found!

At 1580++ pages, this book is work the price listed, and then some. Trust that it is a proficient
stand-out technical reference for the bookshelf of any
administrator bridging the silent gaps between Mac and Unix; yet applicable to any
interested home user wishing to denounce the old threats and vulnerabilities that
abound in Winblows.

In short, tons of information, from a to itunes to zcat. A great reference AND introductory text. This review
surely doesn't suffice how informative the book is.
If you were looking for a one stop introduction to and admin guide for Mac OS X Jaguar;
This book does what it sets out to do!

One caveat, if you are strictly looking for a GUI reference; preview this book carefully somewhere else.

As an aside, this text reassures that SAMS Publishing has
truly come of age with the Unleashed series. "Kudos" to the authors as well-

hope this helped-

A Very Excellent Book!.......2004-02-10

This has to be the be all and end all for every book on Mac OS X. It has good coverage of the Mac and the iLife apps, but it stops short of Garageband - which was released early in 2004. The first 500 pages cover the GUI aspect of OS X, but I don't buy it for this. It is the next 1100 pages that cover the UNIX aspects and web technologies such as SQL and PHP, if you want to get into these things, but don't know much about UNIX, this book does a good job of hand holding you through the basic concepts. It's enough to wet your appetite, and if you want to get to know more, about PHP (for example) then you can get a book dedicated on just PHP (but a dedicated book on PHP won't tell you how to set up PHP on OS X - that's why you need this book).

Amazon.com

Weighing in at over 1,100 pages, Borland C++Builder Unleashed delivers a thorough guide to using Inprise Corp's C++Builder 4, a powerful RAD-style C++ compiler. Intermediate to advanced C++ developers facing real-world problems in database, Web, and enterprise development will find this book a valuable resource for extending the application of C++Builder 4.

The authors give real-world advice for building reusable components while examining the Visual Component Library (VCL) standard for shared components used by both C++Builder and Delphi. This includes the creation of "property editors" for better design-time functionality.

Several chapters look at important advanced C++ and Windows programming topics, like C++ templates and Win32 multithreading. The excellent coverage of C++ templates soundly addresses STL containers as well as using templates with pointers for better memory management. Writing Windows NT services and exploiting the powers of the VCL "rich text edit" follows the discussion of templates.

The book provides a rich analysis of database programming using the C++Builder suite of tools such as the Database Desktop, as well as the fundamentals of relational databases. In a couple of standout sections, the authors present two versions of a working contact management database, one using a flat file model and the other following the relational model.

After touching upon topics such as COM and OLE Automation with C++Builder, the authors move on to working with the Internet using built-in controls (including the WinInet support and FTP). Later chapters cover DCOM and CORBA for distributed computing.

C++Builder and Inprise Corp's MIDAS architecture offer excellent ease of use for working with remote servers, and this book illuminates the key operations required for serious enterprise development using these tools. Final chapters concentrate on graphics programming with the VCL graphics classes and Microsoft DirectX, adding multimedia and gaming to the list of topics found in the text.

In all, Borland C++Builder 4 Unleashed makes a convincing case for trying out C++Builder. The authors mix expert commentary with practical sample code resulting in a book that will easily deepen your knowledge of C++Builder. --Richard Dragan

Book Description

This revised and improved edition builds on the success of Charlie Calvert's C++Builder 3 Unleashed by focusing on the more advanced features of C++Builder to address the growing needs of this enterprise-level market. Its intent is to increase coverage of higher-end, enterprise level topics that are desired by users of the Inprise tools. New and expanded coverage of topics include : - CORBA - Delphi, Java, and C++Builder integration - COM/DCOM - Graphics - WebBroker components - Automation and COM Automation - Advanced Database Programming - MIDAS - NT Services

Customer Reviews:

Just a copy of "Delphi 4 Unleashed", too bad!.......2001-02-11

If not the difference between Object Pascal and C++, this book is the same as "Delphi4 Unleashed", a must for Delphi programmers. So, this book seems at most a translation version of Delphi4 Unleashed, by just translating the sample code from OP to C++. If you've already owned the Delphi one, don't buy this one! Anyway, the content is peerless as it's nearlly the same as that of exellent book "Delphi4 Unleashed".

A detailed book for Borland Builder 4.......2000-07-09

This book goes into great detail in how to use Borland Builder 4. There is plenty of program code to use and study from. But it contains some errors in program code. Some of the step-by-instructions are missing or incorrect. The sections on Visual Components and Window Controls go into great detail about these are, but do not give any practical instructions/examples about how to use them in a program.

If you need a good introduction on how to use the various Visual Components and Window Controls, I would recommend getting your hand on Borland C++ Builder 3 for Dummies by Jason Vokes. It give simple instructions/examples on how to forms, form properties, labels, editboxes, listboxes, comboboxes, drawing pen/brush, and etc.

Not a place to start off.......2000-06-24

Many people need a place to start learning the VCL. I recommend they look elsewhere.

The author did not intend to walk hand-in-hand with the VCL newbie, portraying the glories of the VCL as he advances in the book. For this type of book - i recommed the "in 21 days" series.

The book focuses on giving you WORKING KNOWLEDGE in quite a few areas : Component creation, threads, templates, services and (much) more. The book does not dive deep into any of these subject, and the chapters hardly relate. When you have grasped how to use the VCL, you sometimes need a guide to the other, non basic, stuff CBuilder can offer. This is where this book shines. It gives you great insight on many intermediate - advanced subjects, and really gets you WORKING. It doesnt explain anything under the hood. You just say "hey, i need to write an NT service", open up chapter 5, and write one. The same for creating components, threads and what not.

Don't expect any support!.......2000-05-20

I purchased this book four weeks ago and in chapter 2 I tried to run the code. It would not run. So I posted in the Borland Non-Technical news group and was told that there are problems with several items in this book, including chapter 2. Kent told me he was really busy and would get back to me. I also wrote Kent personally and after 4 weeks I re-sent the original email. Today I got an angry email back from him stating that he is working 80 hour weeks and he did not appreciate me asking if he was too busy to support his product. No answer to the original problem. Just an angry email.

I also wrote several emails to the publisher asking about the problem code throughout the book and they continued to point me to their web site which ONLY has a chapter 24 zip file. I gave up with them. They must be too busy too to help a customer the right way.

As far as the book goes... it's OK. Expect typos and code that won't work. The book is written well and his mood must have been a whole lot better than it was when he answered my email.

C++ BUILDER 4 UNLEASHED.......2000-01-24

I need to programing using VCL with Threads of WINDOWS API, like as... CreateThread(...,...,... ..) USING SERIAL PORT, like as... CreateFile(...,....,... ..) If is possible using PARALLEL PORT formerly in c++ 3.0 for DOS inport or outport. Why is more dificult to programing this in VCL or environment windows that DOS?. I think this things must be more easy for user.

Mfc Programming With Visual C++ 6 Unleashed

Average customer rating:

Beginners Beware!
So close yet so far
Another disgruntled Canadian
no details, no examples, no tutorials
A terrible book

Mfc Programming With Visual C++ 6 Unleashed
David White , Kenn Scribner , and Eugene Olafsen
Manufacturer: Sams
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Visual C++ 6 Unleashed

ASIN: 0672315572

Book Description

Using MFC 6 Unleashed, the reader will learn to apply the Microsoft Foundation Classes (MFC) to resolve a number of common and not-so-common programming issues. The design of the book makes it easy for readers to quickly find the topics they are interested in, and its advanced level coverage provides for a complete understanding of MFC. Within each topic, readers will be provided with detailed background information, including class hierarchies, as well as example code that can be applied to their own applications. Topic coverage will include, but is not limited to: Part I: MFC Architecture; Part II: Dialogs, Messages, and controls/notifications; Part III: Documents, Views, and Applications; Part IV: MFC and COM Programming; Part V: MFC Database Programming; Part VI: MFC Utility Classes; Part VII: MFC and the Web; Part VIII: MFC and Graphics Programming; Part IX: Advanced MFC (Tips and Tricks).

Customer Reviews:

Beginners Beware!.......2003-06-26

If you are new to MFC, like I was, stay away from this book. It is completely useless for a beginner since I doesnt really cover the basics. Reading it will just confuse you. A few of the chapters can be helpful once you become an expert, but it's not worth the money.

So close yet so far.......2002-04-29

I couldn't wait to get this book because it covered quite a bit.
The selling points for me were the chapters on Multimedia (including OpenGL, and DirectX) with MFC, and Scripting an MFC Application. The OpenGL chapter was effective because it worked and I saw all the steps. I never tried the DirectX because reading it seemed like it took for ever to get down to the point. To me, good programming books take a code first, explain later approach (as long as they remember to explain) or an explain as you code approach, but never explain everything then code.

As it turns out, this book touches on quite a bit of key topics in MFC programming. However, some times it doesnt take you to the point of having practical knowledge. For example, the section on building an ActiveX control with MFC never explains how to implement the events your control will fire -- a point that I was most interested in. Perhaps the gravest shortcoming was the sections on Active Documents. Another key feature of MFC programming (very interesting) that didn't get proper treatment. Maybe it's just me, but even though it gave a brief explaination of the many different parts that go into Active Documents, it didn't put it all together in an eye opening way. To it's credit, the book does provide an example of building an Active Document server, and it reveals something very important -- there is little difference from the programmers perspective in handling applications with and without active document support. The only problem I have with the example is that it doesn't point out where a whole bunch of the pieces it just talked about (i.e., COleDocIPFrameWnd, COleServerItem, etc.) fit in, nor how we should use them.

This book has potential, but it wastes a bunch of space by having definitions of documented functions, and MFC source code, and function prototypes in it.

I'd save my 50 bucks for something else if you're thinking of getting this book.

Another disgruntled Canadian.......2001-12-21

I wish I'd read these reviews before buying this book! It is dreadful, I've tried 3 times to get something out of it and each time just shake my head in disbelief and walk away from it. Chapter 1 just throws a whole bunch of stuff at you, seems to me that unless you already know it you aren't going to be able to follow it. Very usefull. Chapter 2 starts off like a tutorial - you think you are about to create a simple dialog application. Suddenly it leaves you hanging, shows you a picture of the finished dialog, goes on to describe all possible controls that you might want to add to the dialog, but not how to add them! So I went to the source code on the accompanying CD - source for this chapter won't compile as it references files that are not there. Within the chapter 2 directory is an OpenGL program that isn't mentioned in the text at all. I'm interested in OpenGL so compiled it. It works, but what is it supposed to do? Where is the data for it?

I've been programming in the scientif and engineering fields for 15 years. I consider myself pretty intelligent and a whiz programmer. I found this book completely useless. If I hadn't damaged the cover I'be demanding my money back.

I think someone just wanted to make some money with a catchy title and a lot of unrelated articles written by different people. I feel ripped off.

no details, no examples, no tutorials.......2001-11-29

This book doesn't go into any detail at all and offers no examples of the subject they are talking about. Can be used as a reference only. Sure it covers everything that exists in MFC World, but it covers it all so briefly and in such little detail that it's not much use. Other than giving me a very heavy, blunt object to beat burglars to death with I can't see it being of much value.

A terrible book.......2001-11-26

They should have named this "1300 pages of (...) Unleashed". There are very few sections in this book that give even a basic example of how to create or implement the things you are reading about. It seems like they cut and pasted hundreds of small articles together and called it a book. There is no flow to the book, making it impossible to read. Half of this book is just a bunch of useless definitions. I bought this because it claims to cover an impressive number of topics, but that coverage is some of the worst I've ever seen. A complete waste of money.

Charlie Calvert's Borland C++Builder Unleashed

Average customer rating:

Not too shabby!
A gripping book
Good for database programming, but good for little else
Tried 2 show how philosophical Charlie is, ! how to use BCB
Find the LEASH

Charlie Calvert's Borland C++Builder Unleashed
Charles Calvert
Manufacturer: Sams
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0672310228

Customer Reviews:

Not too shabby!.......2003-11-03

I am a computer professional who was being left behind by all the new technology that I was not getting a chance to work with. I needed to upgrade my skills. My company happened to have a Developer version of C++ builder 4 sitting around (I am primarily a C/C++ programmer) and decided to go for this for no other reason as I could get it for nothing! I was also writing some VB code at the time

I surfed the Net for some good doco on the language and I found this book (the full text in the form of a free eBook).

OH JOY!

I love this book. It certainly doesn't tell you everything. But with the richness of a language like C++, the merging of the Object pascal visual components library (VCL) and all the other stuff you need to know these days how can any ONE book possibly do that.

What it does do however is to concentrate on the new aspects of Borland's C++ language which are introduced with C++ Builder (namely the VCL and the associated components). Just what you need if you are already familiar with the older libraries and do not want yet another book that describes libraries that are in every other reference book. Ad infinitum!

I have thumbed through several C++ Builder books in bookstores that simply regurgitate the same old material. One in particular had just a few pages on the VCL. A waste of my hard earned money!

What does this book have that the others don't?: Well besides detailed overview's, explanation's, information, examples and some great trivia (some don't like this 'property' of the author, but personally I find it refreshing ... and often enlightening). HE CONCENTRATES ON THE "VCL". Yay team!

Look to put it bluntly! The man - Charlie - and the language is my dupli-hero! (I have to roll them up into a big ball of enlightenment which is greater than the sum of its parts). With their help I was able to build a plethora (...What is a plethora Jose?...) of useful utilities at work, that actually improved our efficiency and allowed me to go home at a reasonable hour.

I am so grateful for a really useful text that I have decided to purchase a real copy of this book (as opposed to the free ebook that I was using as a reference) as homage to the man. This book is my Bible!

Note 1: His subsequent work covering C++ Builder 3 Unleashed is also a rip snorter (that's Aussie for 'excellent'). Again, this does NOT retrace all the stuff from his previous book, but takes us even deeper.

Note 2: To all you VB programmer's out there ... C++ builder is Visual basic with GRUNT. No. Sorry. I mean MEGA GRUNT!

Gotta go now. See what's in his "C++ Builder 4 Unleashed"!

Thanks Charlie. Hope to thank you personally soon!

A gripping book.......1998-12-07

Just a word about a review that I read here. Database programming is *VERY* important nowadays. Almost any real world program use databases. So this topics had to be covered in such a book (Unleashed). This book is very well written. It's not only a tutorial but Charlie is a passionated defender of C++ Builder. Maybe the source code listings are a bit boring but all in all this the best books to learn C++ Builder.

Good for database programming, but good for little else.......1998-10-06

This book covered a great deal on database programming, but very little on anything else. This was a dissapointment for me, since the title of the book was "C++ Builder Unleashed" and not "C++ Builder Database Programming Unleashed".

It was also a nice reference on Creating Components and bypassing VCL Events and dealing directly with the Win32 API, although it didn't quite cover well on why you would want to do so.

I bought this book because I was interested in some of the intermediate and advanced concepts that were not covered in Teach Yourself Borland C++ in 21 Days. I came back dissapointed, not any better off than when I started.

Tried 2 show how philosophical Charlie is, ! how to use BCB.......1998-07-18

Charlie covered a lot of interesting topics. However, there are too much preaching about his programming philosophy and not enough explanation on each topic. Many of the examples contradict his programming style.

Find the LEASH.......1998-05-18

I expected more from this books after going through its contents. The database sections is invaluable for DB beginners, but the basics as far as ANSISTRING, STRINGLISTS, and/or integrating C++ Builder, C++, and real-world solutions to application development never rears its head. This book is not consistent and is choppy in its presentation. Overall, it is good for the advanced Visual C++ programmer as an intro to C++ builder.

Average customer rating:

Does not meet the bar
Specific Examples of this Bookýs Failings
Waste of money.
Who is afraid of C++
Fantastic Author

C++ Unleashed
Jesse Liberty , and Vishwajit Aklecha
Manufacturer: Sams
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Book Description

Jesse Liberty's C++ Unleashed presents focused explanations of the core features and complexities of C++. The text covers advanced object-oriented analysis and design strategies and implementation issues associated with memory management, STL container classes, iterators, and algorithms. Manipulate data using dynamic data structures and recursion, efficient sorting algorithms, and advanced hashing and parsing techniques.

Customer Reviews:

Does not meet the bar.......2002-10-11

I like Jesse Liberty but this book is not too good. It tries to cover too much so it doesn't cover any of the topics well.

In fairness to the authors they stated this in the book but what good does that do when you buy the book online? For an "Unleashed" book, this book just does not meet the bar. Having said that, I should mention that the book covers some nice topics and has some really useful information.

If you want a collection of white papers, this book is for you.If you want a comprehensive coverage of the c++ langauge, look elsewhere.

Specific Examples of this Bookýs Failings.......2001-03-15

As a text on C++ this is inadequate, but then its title doesn't claim to be about C++ per se. It does introduce recursion, hashing and parsing, encryption, memory management, relational databases, search algorithms, COM and other interesting topics. The problem with just introducing so many topics is that each deserves far more discussion so the reader has more than surface knowledge. Scant introductions are rarely professionally useful and these often make scant use of the C++ language. Most (such as the quicksort example) could be written in C with little change.

C++ topics such as STL (Standard Template Library), namespaces, exceptions, inheritance and polymorphism, abstract classes and others are covered in the first part of the book, but again not in depth. To make matters worse, there are bad code examples and outright errors.

Example of a bad code example: Chapter 3 shows how classes can be used to implement a linked list capability. This could have been a good example, but it is badly done by defining four (!) classes to created a linked list. The four classes are an abstract Node class with derived classes InternalNode, TailNode and LinkedList. What should be a simple example makes C++ seem confusing save to someone already familiar with C++ who doesn't need this example.

Example of an outright error: Chapter 2 discusses how to map 1:1 associations between two kinds of data into C++ classes. The example assumes every person is reading one book and no two people read the same book, hence a 1:1 mapping between people and books. Ok so far. The book presents two C++ classes, Book and Person, EACH CONTAINING AN INSTANCE OF THE OTHER. Not a pointer but an actual instance. This is illegal. Just to make sure I wasn't missing something I copied the samples from the accompanying CD-ROM and tried compiling using MS Visual Studio 6. Here is my program:

#include "Book.h"

#include "Person.h"

int main() { return 0; }

The compiler of course rejected this.

Experts want in-depth coverage while beginners need good exposition. This book provides neither. I suspect those writing good reviews think they are getting substance when they are not.

Waste of money........2001-02-03

This book has a few good reviews - I don't really see why.

The coverage of the book is wide, so understandably, none of the topics attempt to go into any depth. Unfortunately, this means that nothing is really explained thoroughly enough. As a matter of fact, of all the many topics this book deals with, it does not really go much further than introducing them - which meant that after I had finished reading this book, I had not really learnt anything useful at all.

The author is EXTREMELY biased in this text. He repeatedly promotes Microsoft products throughout the book. I didn't buy this book to read about how cool Windows is or how much better Internet Explorer is than any other program on the planet. In fact, the author insists that if you don't have a compiler, go and buy one from microsoft. And if you intend on running the free cd which comes with the book on anything other than Windows (such as a UNIX based operating system) then forget it. There is no installation support anyway.

Not that there is anything worth troubling yourself over on the cd anyway. I tried to install it but all it did was install some links to some web sites! I don't see what the point of the cd is.

I hope that the author sees this review and makes some significant changes if he ever comes out with a second edition. I was very disappointed.

At the moment I'm desperately trying to sell it, but no one wishes to buy it from me.

For those of you who want to get your hands on a good C++ book, try looking online for a free one, like "Thinking in C++". Don't waste your money on "C++ Unleashed" whatever you do.

Who is afraid of C++.......2000-10-01

I bougth this book because I read the great reviews and I have to say I am not dissappointed.If you have read a C++ primer and you are looking to become a superstar,this is the book for you.From this book you can move on to great things(this book is not for beginners)

I only started serious C++ last year and now I wonder what I was afraid of.Teach yourself C++ in 24hrs( by the same author) is great for beginners.

Muyiwa muyiwa@agusto.com

Fantastic Author.......2000-04-13

Liberty is a very knowledgeable author. It is a great book, contains many great examples. I am a student and it was a very easy reading.

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