Archive for Books
October 17, 2008 at 1:00 am · Filed under Books - written by Elliot Gibson
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Clean Code - Written by Robert C. Martin
Description
Even bad code can function. But if code isn’t clean, it can bring a development organization to its knees. Every year, countless hours and significant resources are lost because of poorly written code. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Software expert Robert C. Martin presents Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship. Martin has teamed up with his colleagues from Object Mentor to distill their best agile practice of cleaning code “on the fly” into a book that will instill within you the values of a software craftsman and make you a better programmer—but only if you work at it. What kind of work will you be doing? You’ll be reading code—lots of code. And you will be challenged to think about what’s right about that code, and what’s wrong with it. More importantly, you will be challenged to reassess your professional values and your commitment to your craft.
When you do code maintenance, you can really “love” or “hate” a person that you do not even know just by the code he or she has written. Messy code almost always goes hand in hand with lower productivity, lower motivation, and a higher number of bugs. In the first chapter, Robert C. Martin presents in a very instructive way, the opinion from very well-known personalities about what “clean code” is, and also suggests we apply the Boy Scout Rule (Leave the campground cleaner that you found it) to our code. The following chapters present practical advice about how to do this cleaning (or even better, how to avoid the mess in the first place).
The suggestions made in the book may sound very familiar to any experienced programmer but they are presented with such a level of detail and with very good examples that it is almost impossible not to learn valuable things chapter by chapter. All the examples are in Java, but the concepts that they explain can be applied, in most of the cases, to other languages.
This book is mainly for programmers wanting to expand their current coding knowledge. That said, I would also recommend it for a first time programmer as it can help you understand how to have cleaner code to start with! Clean Code can also be purchased as an ebook which probably appeals to more than the paperback version.
October 16, 2008 at 1:00 am · Filed under Books, Online - written by Roshan Jonnalagadda
I found this great site that gives away free books. As we are reviewing some books this week, i thought this might be useful for our readers.
FreeComputerBooks.com consists of a huge collection of Free online Computer, Programming, Mathematics, Engineering, and Technical Books, Lecture Notes and Tutorials. It is very well categorized by topics, with 12 top level categories, and over 150 sub-categories. It has both pattern and keywords search engines for you to find the titles quickly. The keywors search engine is powered by Google.
Homepage | Computer Languages | Web Designing and Programming | Databases
Please do share your thougts and opinion on this website!
October 15, 2008 at 1:00 am · Filed under Books, Microsoft - written by Elliot Gibson
Windows Vista: The Missing Manuel - Written by David Pogue
Description
Windows Vista is Microsoft’s most important software release in more than a decade. It offers users an abundance of new and upgraded features that were more than five years in the making: a gorgeous, glass-like visual overhaul; superior searching and organization tools; a multimedia and collaboration suite; and above all, a massive, top-to-bottom security-shield overhaul. There’s scarcely a single feature of the older versions of Windows that hasn’t been tweaked, overhauled, or replaced entirely.
I just thought this book would be useful for some people and it is quite popular from what I have heard. Also David Pogue is probably one of the best authors for this kind of book. With Microsoft’s newest operating system, Windows Vista, the lack of it coming with a manual has made an oppourtunity for others to fill the gap. This wonderful guide to Windows Vista can easily serve as the manual that should have came with Vista. The guide is filled with hundreds of screen shots and a large number of step-by-step instructions for using almost all Vista’s features. The guide has been organized into eight parts, they include:
- The Vista Desktop
- Vista’s Software
- Vista Online
- Pictures & Movies
- Hardware & Peripherals
- Media Center
- PC Health
- The Vista Network
Some notable points in this missing manual are that the author also discusses the options of either upgrading from XP to Vista compared to the clean installation of Vista. And whether or not you should buy a new PC that handle vista or use an existing one. This manual also contains comments on all of the five versions of Windows Vista.
Pogue is great at providing an expert user’s perspective on working with the operating system efficiently. The Manual is written so that one almost feels that one is getting a one-on-one, hands-on lesson, in using Windows Vista. There is good reason that Pogue has been described as one of the “world’s best explainers.”
This is most likely the best guide out there for the average vista user wanting to know more about the operating system or for someone that just wants to learn how to use it on a day to day basis. David Pogue mentions all the important tips and tricks that one needs to know to enjoy the experience that is Vista.
Buy the Book | Book Website
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