Useful Books and Software

In Essential Windows Presentation Foundation, former WPF architect Chris Anderson systematically introduces this breakthrough platform, focusing on the concepts and techniques working developers need in order to build robust applications for real users. Drawing on his unique experience as an architect on the team, Anderson thoroughly illuminates the crucial new concepts underlying WPF and reveals how its APIs work together to offer developers unprecedented value.

Through working sample code, you-ll discover how WPF draws on the Web-s simple models for markup and deployment, common frame for applications, and rich server connectivity, and on Windows- rich client model, simple programming model, strong control over look-and-feel, and rich networking. Topics explored in depth include

• WPF components and architecture
• Key WPF design decisions-and why they matter
• XAML markup language
• Controls
• Layouts
• Visuals and media, including 2D, 3D, video, and animation
• Data integration
• Actions
• Styles
• WPF Base Services

Essential Windows Presentation Foundation is the definitive, authoritative, code-centric WPF reference: everything Windows developers need to create a whole new generation of rich, graphical applications.

New Price: $28.34 / Used Price: n.a.

If you¿re an online business, instead of paying for an ad, like a banner, you pay for the result – the sale. This is called affiliate marketing. Pay for Performance will show anyone conducting business online, how to plan, implement, and manage a successful affiliate marketing program. The reader will find valuable Web resources such as tracking software and contract templates with the guidance of this book. There will also be direction for the reader to focus the content and develop the right affiliate model for the type of business. It will also provide case studies of successful programs as well as failures and scams to demonstrate and teach the lessons of building a successful program.

New Price: $14.08 / Used Price: $10.45

New Price: $13.99 / Used Price: $0.66

New Price: $4.14 / Used Price: $1.52

• Modeling data with the ActiveRecord library
• Setting up views with ActionView and RHTML templates
• Building your application's logic into ActionController
• Testing and debugging your Rails application
• Building responsive web applications using JavaScript and Ajax
• Ensuring that your application is security and performs well
• Deploying your application with Mongrel and Apache
• Using Capistrano to automate deployment
• Using the many Rails plugins
• Working with graphics

New Price: $11.60 / Used Price: $1.09

Ajax turns static web pages into interactive applications. Now you can deploy rich-client applications to clients without sacrificing the easy deployment of web applications. But to many folks, Ajax seems difficult. That's why we produced this book. As a Pragmatic guide, it strips away the mystery and shows you the easy way to make Ajax work for you.

We cover the the basics of DHTML, JavaScript, and the infamous XmlHttpRequest call. You'll see how to add Ajax to existing programs, and design new applications to exploit the power of Web 2.0. Learn the three layers of Ajax framework, and when (and how) to use each. See how to create rich clients, use visual effects, add client-side validation, and handle forms. Write applications that degrade gracefully if clients don't support JavaScript. And see how to integrate your Ajaxified clients into Java, .NET, and Ruby on Rails server frameworks.

With Pragmatic Ajax, you'll:

• Understand the breadth of the Ajax/Web 2.0 landscape, and go-indepth on how Ajax works
• Learn how JavaScript works with your server-side framework
• See how to easily apply Ajax techniques to an existing application--and when not to
• Know what's coming by looking at new features and frameworks currently in active development.

Writing dynamic applications isn't that hard. Folks are awed by Google Maps, but it isn't rocket science (apart from the satellite pictures). As a special bonus, see how to implement your own Google Maps-like application using DHTML.

New Price: $15.13 / Used Price: $5.13

This book is a quick read, partly due to its bulleted format. Frequent topic headings and accompanying blurbs in the margin for each make it easy for even hurried readers to pick up the key concepts quickly. However, the author doesn't cut any corners in describing the basic nature of XML and its associated standards and tools. The first part of the book is devoted to this high-level tutorial and includes useful diagrams and code examples that nonprogrammers can easily understand.

The most instructive part of the book comes in the second half. Here, the author illustrates some of the ways XML can be useful in the real world and does a great job of demonstrating the wide-reaching applications of XML. Five example applications for enterprises and five more for vendors are presented in miniature case studies. Here the reader will see how XML can be used for workflow, data integration, distributed protocols, knowledge management, and more. --Stephen W. Plain

Topics covered: XML standards background, Document Type Definitions, schemas, XLink, XSL, XSLT, development tools, associated standard status, XML application examples.

Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional
Author: Kevin Dick
Release Date: 2002-08-28
ISBN/EAN: 0201770067 / 9780201770063

New Price: $29.95 / Used Price: $8.82

As a thorough tutorial to XSL, this text stands out, with its patient authorial style and the consistent use of an online TV guide for a case study used to illustrate key concepts. The advantage to this approach is the consistency of the material. Early sections look at the underpinnings of XML itself before delving into the basics of transforming XML data (for a TV schedule) into (X)HTML using today's tools, including MSXML, Saxon, and Xalan.

The author's expertise is continually on display throughout this text as she adds new functions and flexibility to XSL operations, including searching and sorting abilities. This book convincingly demonstrates that XSL is a "real" programming language, with support for variables and even simulating changing variables through recursion. Chances are you may not need every technique presented here, but the range of options covered remains impressive and helps make this a book you can return to more than once as you extend your knowledge of XSL over time.

Later sections range further afield, with material on extensions to "standard" XSL (like extension functions and attributes that let you do more), as well as other options for processing XML (like Schematron, for example). Two standards get their due late in the book--the Resource Definition Framework Site Summary (RSS), for describing content channels, and graphics defined with the Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) standard. Handy reference sections for XSL keywords and XPath round out this admirably rich text.

For anyone new to XSL, this title will serve in providing the basics, with its patient presentation style and truly clear examples. For those who want to do even more, this book is surprisingly deep for a beginner's text. In all, it provides a wealth of options for XSL and related standards that will definitely meet the needs of a variety of readers seeking to get acquainted with today's important XSL standards and tools. --Richard Dragan

Publisher: Peer Information Inc.
Author: Jeni Tennison
Release Date: 2002-05-01
ISBN/EAN: 1861005946 / 9781861005946

New Price: $30.00 / Used Price: $26.99

New Price: $11.99 / Used Price: $11.99

Written by Schuyler Erle and Rich Gibson, authors of the popular Mapping Hacks, Google Maps Hacks shares dozens of tricks for combining the capabilities of Google Maps with your own datasets. Such diverse information as apartment listings, crime reporting or flight routes can be integrated with Google's satellite imagery in creative ways, to yield new and useful applications.

The authors begin with a complete introduction to the "standard" features of Google Maps. The adventure continues with 60 useful and interesting mapping projects that demonstrate ways developers have added their own features to the maps. After that's given you ideas of your own, you learn to apply the techniques and tools to add your own data to customize and manipulate Google Maps. Even Google seems to be tacitly blessing what might be seen as unauthorized use, but maybe they just know a good thing when they see one.

With the tricks and techniques you'll learn from Google Maps Hacks, you'll be able to adapt Google's satellite map feature to create interactive maps for personal and commercial applications for businesses ranging from real estate to package delivery to home services, transportation and more. Includes a foreword by Google Maps tech leads, Jens and Lars Rasmussen.

New Price: $14.22 / Used Price: $5.94