Now that ActionScript is reengineered from top to bottom as a true object-oriented programming (OOP) language, reusable design patterns are an ideal way to solve common problems in Flash and Flex applications. If you're an experienced Flash or Flex developer ready to tackle sophisticated programming techniques with ActionScript 3.0, this hands-on introduction to design patterns is the book you need.

ActionScript 3.0 Design Patterns takes you step by step through the process, first by explaining how design patterns provide a clear road map for structuring code that actually makes OOP languages easier to learn and use. You then learn about various types of design patterns and construct small abstract examples before trying your hand at building full-fledged working applications outlined in the book. Topics in ActionScript 3.0 Design Patterns include:

• Key features of ActionScript 3.0 and why it became an OOP language
• OOP characteristics, such as classes, abstraction, inheritance, and polymorphism
• The benefits of using design patterns
• Creational patterns, including Factory and Singleton patterns
• Structural patterns, including Decorator, Adapter, and Composite patterns
• Behavioral patterns, including Command, Observer, Strategy, and State patterns
• Multiple design patterns, including Model-View-Controller and Symmetric Proxy designs

(more…)

IT service management (ITSM) is the group of processes and functions that oil the wheels of the IT machine. Without ITSM, every IT project and system would deteriorate over time until failure. ITIL is the recognized best-practice standard for ITSM, and has been around since the late 1980s, with ITIL version 3 published just recently. However, many of todays IT problems have been around for just as long - so in order to manage IT effectively, organizations must go beyond the ITIL framework.

Rob Addy provides IT service managers and professionals with practical guidance on delivering and managing IT services in an effective and efficient manner by extending the ITIL approach to deliver proactive and pragmatic IT service management. His book is a candid look at the relative merits of currently accepted wisdom regarding the provision of IT services, using the principles of the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) guidance series. It describes IT service management processes related to service delivery and service support (as well as other non-ITIL areas), their objectives, shortcomings, and how these issues can be addressed in real-life situations. In addition, it delivers a workable definition of what exactly an IT service is and how it can be defined and used in practice. Overall, he gives an unbiased view of the discipline, its objectives, major processes, and their benefits and shortcomings.

Managing and mitigating IT risk is critical to the survival of every business. Success is an optional extra! Proactive IT service management can be thought of as risk management for IT: Can you afford to ignore it?

(more…)

The Object Primer is a straightforward, easy-to-understand introduction to agile software development (ASD) using object-oriented (OO) and relational database technologies. It covers the fundamental concepts of ASD and OO and describes how to take an agile approach to requirements, analysis, and design techniques applying the techniques of the unified modeling language (UML) 2 as well as other leading-edge techniques, including agile model–driven development (AMDD) and test-driven development (TDD) approaches.

During the 1990s OO superceded the structured paradigm as the primary technology paradigm for software development. Now during the 2000s ASD is superceding traditional, prescriptive approaches to software development. While OO and ASD are often used to develop complex systems, learning them does not need to be complicated. This book is different from many other introductory books about these topics—it is written from the point of view of a real-world developer, someone who has lived through the difficulty of learning these concepts.

This book is aimed at two primary audiences—existing developers and university/college students who want to gain the fundamental skills required to succeed on modern software development projects. Throughout this book I use the term "developer" broadly: a developer is anyone involved in the development of a software application. This includes programmers, analysts, designers, business stakeholders, database administrators, support engineers, and so on. While many people would not include business stakeholders in this, my experience is that active business stakeholder involvement is often the key determinant to the success of a software project. Business stakeholders can actively participate in requirements engineering, analysis, and sometimes, in design—it is clear to me that they should be considered developers. Call me a radical.

In this book, you will find a survey of the latest software development techniques and a wealth of knowledge to get you started on the road to agile. Those new to this community will find an overview of the critical areas of the agile software movement. This book will help you become more productive. The agile principles inside will change the way that you view software development and, ultimately, the way you build software.

(more…)

This book is designed to teach you the fundamentals of object-oriented programming. You can use this book if you have a basic knowledge of Visual Basic 6, Visual Basic .NET, Visual C#, or another Windows programming language.

Embark upon object-oriented programming in the .NET era with this straightforward, accessible guide. Progress at your own pace from the basics through advanced OOP concepts with the help of clear instructions, candid reference notes and design tips, and engaging programming examples. Learn how to take full advantage of the objects provided by Visual Basic .NET and Visual C#—or how to create and implement your own objects. In less time than you thought possible, you’ll absorb object-oriented design concepts and terminology and understand how to construct elegant object-oriented programs with two of the most powerful development languages.

(more…)

This book will show you how to think about similarities in your application logic and how to design and create objects that maximize the benefit and power of .NET. Packed with examples that will guide you through every step, Object-Oriented Programming with Visual Basic .NET is for those with some programming experience.

This book is not a reference. That needs to be said right off the bat. It was written to be read cover to cover; it tells a story. It's an interwoven tale about object-oriented programming in the .NET world: building objects, moving them, and using them around the world. This is not just a how-to book; it's a why-to and a when-to book as well.

At times, this book is ideal for beginners. At other times, it is for intermediate programmers. And sometimes, it is for advanced coders. Regardless of your skills, this book assumes three things: the .NET Framework is installed on a machine and under your control, you have access to a web server, and, when you get curious, you know how to look up whatever interests you in the documentation. .NET is massive. However, I wasn't able to cover every subject; I wanted the book to be manageable for the readers, fun, and informative.

(more…)

Create strange lands filled with mysterious objects (cows frozen in blocks of ice, chirping penguins, golden globes with wavering eyes) and throw away your keyboard and mouse, to go exploring armed only with a gamepad, power glove, or just your bare hands…

Java gaming expert Andrew Davison will show you how to develop and program 3D games in Java™ technology on a PC, with an emphasis on the construction of 3D landscapes. It's assumed you have a reasonable knowledge of Java - the sort of thing picked up in a first Java course at school.
Topics are split into three sections: Java 3D™ API, non-standard input devices for game playing, and JOGL. Java 3D is a high-level 3D graphics API, and JOGL is a lower-level Java wrapper around the popular OpenGL graphics API. You'll look at three non-standard input devices: the webcam, the game pad, and the P5 data glove.
Along the way, you'll utilize several other games-related libraries including: JInput, JOAL, JMF, and Odejava. Learn all the latest Java SE 6 features relevant to gaming, including: splash screens, JavaScript™ scripting as well as the desktop and system tray interfaces. Unique coverage of Java game development using both the Java 3D API and Java for OpenGL, as well as invaluable experience from a recognized Java gaming guru, will provide you with a distinct advantage after reading this book.

(more…)

- Eight minibooks comprising nearly 900 pages give developers the tips and techniques they need to get up and running on the new J2SE 6 (Java Standard Edition 6) and JDK 6 (Java Development Kit 6).

- This friendly, all-inclusive reference delivers the lowdown on Java language and syntax fundamentals as well as Java server-side programming, with explanations, reference information, and how-to instructions for both beginning and intermediate-to-advanced programmers.

- Minibooks cover Java basics; programming basics; strings, arrays, and collections; programming techniques; Swing; Web programming; files and databases; and fun and games.

(more…)

Practical guide presents a broad survey of LAMP technologies, and shows how these solutions can be implemented efficiently and securely while improving reliability and dramatically cutting costs. Provides the most useful, practical information on a broad range of open source technologies. Softcover.

(more…)

Subclassing & Hooking with Visual Basic offers developers a unique way to customize Windows behavior. Windows is a message-based system. Every action you request creates one or more messages to carry out the action. These messages are passed between objects and carry with them information that gives the recipient more detail on how to interpret and act upon the message. With Subclassing and the Windows hooking mechanism ("hooks"), you can manipulate, modify, or even discard messages bound for other objects within the operating system, in the process changing the way the system behaves.

This book is geared towards the Visual Basic developer who wants a better understanding of subclassing and hooking as well as how to incorporate these techniques into their projects. You need not be an advanced Visual Basic developer to learn how to effectively use subclassing and hooking. Although, many of the Win32 API function will need to be utilized in order to write subclassing and hooking applications and, therefore, a good knowledge of the Win32 API functions and how they are used within Visual Basic is necessary.

In understanding subclassing and hooks, you must delve deep into the internals of the Window’s operating system. This deeper understanding of Windows allows you not only to gain an understanding of subclassing and hooking, but also to learn more about the messaging system, which is the heart of the Windows operating system. The beginning of this book lays a solid foundation that will bring the beginning or intermediate developer up to speed on these topics.

(more…)

If you’re going to reengineer your entire organization around ad hoc, short-term projects, you’d better have people who know how to run projects well. And when, according to Standish Group, only 28 percent of IT projects meet “basic” standards of success, we’ve clearly got a long way to go.

Smart big companies are building project management offices (often, leveraging resources they first organized for Y2K). Smart people are learning project management on their own, without being asked. Smart people in a hurry are doing it with Project Management JumpStart.

(more…)