Rabu, 23 November 2011

5 new posts


5 new posts

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Learn cocos2d Game Development with iOS 5

Posted: 23 Nov 2011 10:27 AM PST

Learn cocos2d Game Development with iOS 5

Book Description

Create compelling 2D games with Learn cocos2d Game Development with iOS 5. This book shows you how to use the powerful cocos2d game engine to develop games for iPhone and iPad with tilemaps, virtual joypads, Game Center, and more.

It teaches you:

  • The process and best practices of mobile game development, including sprite batching, texture atlases, parallax scrolling, touch and accelerometer input.
  • How to enhance your games using the Box2D and Chipmunk physics engines and other cocos2d-related tools and libraries.
  • How to add UIKit views to cocos2d and how to add cocos2d to UIKit apps.
  • The ins and outs of the Kobold2D development environment for cocos2d and its preconfigured libraries, including cocos3d and Lua.

Best of all, Learn cocos2d Game Development with iOS 5 will have you making games right from the very start. It guides you step-by-step through the creation of sample games. These fun examples are modeled after popular App Store games and teach you key concepts of the cocos2d game engine and relevant tools like TexturePacker (texture atlas), PhysicsEditor (physics collision shapes), Particle Designer (particle effects), Glyph Designer (bitmap fonts), and others.

This book offers a rock-solid introduction to creating games made entirely with cocos2d and little or no iOS 5 SDK and OpenGL code. It also details alternative implementations, identifies the best free and commercial tools for cocos2d game development, features coverage of the author's improved cocos2d game engine (Kobold2D), and even helps you enhance your game's marketability on the App Store.

What you'll learn

  • The process and best practices of mobile game development, including sprite batching, texture atlases, parallax scrolling, touch and accelerometer input.
  • How to enhance your games using the Box2D and Chipmunk physics engines and other cocos2d-related tools and libraries.
  • How to add UIKit views to cocos2d and how to add cocos2d to UIKit apps.
  • The ins and outs of the Kobold2D development environment for cocos2d and its preconfigured libraries, including cocos3d and Lua.

Who this book is for
The book is aimed at beginning game developers looking for an easier and even more powerful way to create compelling 2D graphics using OpenGL and Objective-C. It is assumed that the reader will have some knowledge of object-oriented programming and the Apple and iPhone/iPad developer environment.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Getting Started
  3. Essentials
  4. Your First Game
  5. Game Building Blocks
  6. Sprites In-Depth
  7. Scrolling with Joy
  8. Shoot 'em Up
  9. Particle Effects
  10. Working with Tilemaps
  11. Isometric Tilemaps
  12. Physics Engines
  13. Pinball Game
  14. Game Center
  15. Best Tools for cocos2D Development
  16. Kobold2D Fundamentals
  17. Out of the Ordinary

Book Details

  • Paperback: 532 pages
  • Publisher: Apress (November 2011)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1430238135
  • ISBN-13: 978-1430238133
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Pro iOS Apps Performance Optimization

Posted: 23 Nov 2011 10:27 AM PST

Pro iOS Apps Performance Optimization

Book Description

Today’s iPhone and iPad apps developers are often running into the need to refine, improve and optimize their apps performances. As more complex apps can be created, it is even more important for developers to deal with this critical issue.

Pro iOS Apps Performance Tuning and Optimization covers many common but difficult problems when tuning and optimizing performance for iPhone and iPad apps and how to resolve these problems efficiently. This book gives you the following:

  • Basic knowledge on common problems in iPhone apps
  • Advanced knowledge over data structure, algorithms, multithreading, and network data in iPhone apps
  • Comparison with problems and solutions for Android and Windows Phone apps

After reading this must-have book, you’ll be ready to make the most of the processing power of the iPhone with your apps performance optimization know-how.

What you'll learn

  • Benchmark your apps using emulators and real device tests
  • Increase and optimize UITableView performance in your iOS apps
  • Increase your app performance using image and data caching techniques
  • Tune your apps using algorithms and data structures
  • Improve your parallel data access using multithreading techniques
  • Optimize memory usage for increased battery life and better apps performance
  • Use native C code to address memory leaks or EXEC_BAD_ACCESS

Who this book is for
iOS app developers who have basic knowledge of how to write apps and want to extend their knowledge and skills to write better or optimally-performing apps.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction to iOS App Performance
  2. Benchmark Your Apps: Using Simulators, Emulators and Real Device Tests
  3. Increase and Optimize UITableView Performance
  4. Increase App Performance Using Image and Data Caching Techniques
  5. Tune Your Apps Using Algorithms and Data Structures
  6. Improve Parallel Data Access using Multithreading Techniques
  7. Optimize Memory Usage for Increased Battery Life and Better Performance
  8. Integrate Multithreading and Efficient Memory Usage for Multitasking Apps Performance
  9. Use Native C Code to Address Memory Leaks or EXEC_BAD_ACCESS
  10. Comparisons with Android and WinPhone Performance Problems

Book Details

  • Paperback: 284 pages
  • Publisher: Apress (November 2011)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1430237171
  • ISBN-13: 978-1430237174
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Programming Reactive Extensions and LINQ

Posted: 23 Nov 2011 10:23 AM PST

Programming Reactive Extensions and LINQ

Book Description

Pro Reactive Extensions and LINQ is a deep dive into the next important technology for .NET developers: Reactive Extensions. This in-depth tutorial goes beyond what is available anywhere else to teach how to write WPF, Silverlight, and Windows Phone applications using the Reactive Extensions (Rx) to handle events and asynchronous method calls.

Reactive programming allows you to turn those aspects of your code that are currently imperative into something much more event-driven and flexible. For this reason, it's sometimes referred to as LINQ for Events.

Reactive programming hinges on the concept of the observable collection, as opposed to the simple enumerable collection with which we're all familiar. For example, to extract data from a collection and add it to a list box, you would traditionally iterate through the list box, extracting each object in turn. This approach works fine, but it requires significant knowledge about the data you're working with, which can be limiting. In Rx programming, you’re instead informed about each object in turn and then free to react to each notification however you like, which affords much greater flexibility.

This book shows you how reactive programming can be applied to a range of situations—from WPF applications to Windows Phone apps—to improve coding efficiency and boost performance.

What you'll learn

  • How to create, debug and manage reactive extensions in many situations
  • The observer pattern and how it can be applied to your projects
  • How to avoid spaghetti code by using Rx to manage your asynchronous methods
  • How to use SelectMany to explore the heart of the Reactive Extensions
  • How to come to grips with the reactive user interface framework for building both small and large applications

Who this book is for
This book will be most beneficial to existing .NET developers with a grounding in WPF, Silverlight and C#, who want to take their skills further using the powerful reactive programming approach.

Table of Contents

  1. Welcome to LINQ and RX
  2. Core LINQ
  3. Core Rx
  4. Practical Rx
  5. Inside Rx and LINQ
  6. LINQ to SQL
  7. Rx and Javascript
  8. Reactive UI: Rx and MVVM
  9. Testing Rx

Book Details

  • Paperback: 184 pages
  • Publisher: Apress (October 2011)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1430237473
  • ISBN-13: 978-1430237471
Note: There is a file embedded within this post, please visit this post to download the file.

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Practical Arduino Engineering

Posted: 23 Nov 2011 10:23 AM PST

Practical Arduino Engineering

Book Description

Arduino boards have impressed both hackers and professional engineers. Whether you’re a hobbyist or a professional, it isn’t just a breadboard and a hazy idea that keeps you going. It’s essential to institute a proper design, device instrumentation and, indeed, test your project thoroughly before committing to a particular prototype.

Practical Arduino Engineering begins by outlining the engineering process, from the basic requirements and preliminary design to prototyping and testing. Each and every chapter exemplifies this process and demonstrates how you can profit from the implementation solid engineering principles—regardless of whether you just play in your basement or you want to publicize and sell your devices.

Arduino is a brilliant prototyping platform that allows users to test and iterate design ideas. Imitation by other Arduino makers, hackers and engineers often proves your design’s popularity. Practical Arduino Engineering will teach you to follow the engineering process carefully; over time, you will be able to review and improve this process, and even extend its scope.

Practical Arduino Engineering is not purely theoretical. In addition, you’ll learn the process of hardware engineering as applicable to Arduino projects, and the importance of the process in each and every project presented in this book.

To set the stage, Practical Arduino Engineering begins by reviewing the Arduino software landscape, then shows how to set up an Arduino project for testing. Even if you already know your compiler toolchain and the basics of Arduino programming, this refresher course can help fill in the gaps and explain why your compiler may spit out certain error messages.

Practical Arduino Engineering then gradually builds up the engineering process, from single devices like LCDs, potentiometers and GPS modules, to the integration of several modules into larger projects, such as a wireless temperature measurement system, and ultimately an entire robot.

The engineering projects become progressively more challenging throughout the first 4 engineering chapters. Next, you’ll proceed with simple steps towards the first intelligent part of a robot: the object detector. You’ll find yourself teaching your robot how to avoid very hot objects or insurmountable obstacles. The basic design requirements for a complete robot and, indeed, the detailed design and prototyping for robots can be extremely tricky, which is why engineering discipline is invaluable.

Practical Arduino Engineering then enters the world of domestic engineering by introducing home alarm systems—not quite as simple as they seem. A solid, robust system can only be built by following the engineering process detailed in previous chapters, and this section reinforces that process.

You’ll then take a step further in your Arduino engineering process: instrumentation and control, and some error messaging using GSM. Control is introduced via the Xbox controller, a very powerful piece of technology able to play a considerable role in robotics projects. Having already learned to control motion and to sense and avoid objects, you’ll learn how to debug your Arduino projects of varying complexities via the hardware instrumentation software LabVIEW.

To complete the journey into Practical Arduino Engineering, you’ll discover how to use a special Arduino board to rely on Bluetooth Mate Silver for control of domestic and mobile Arduino projects. Using Bluetooth Mate Silver, you’ll learn to implement basic engineering design with almost any Arduino project, and be able to justify, build, debug, and extend Arduino-based designs using a solid engineering approach.

What you'll learn

  • Practical engineering principles: from collecting requirements onwards
  • To instrument Arduino hardware for debugging
  • To build stationary Arduino home projects with varying degrees of complexity
  • To construct Arduino-based robots and vary your design until an optimal solution is reached
  • To add instrumentation software to the hardware design process
  • How to move from being a good hacker to being a solid engineer

Who this book is for
This book is geared toward engineers and makers used to a rigorous approach to hardware hacking, Arduino hackers aiming to get to the next level, and Arduino hackers interested in instrumenting their projects using Arduino and other software.

Table of Contents

  1. The Process of Arduino Engineering
  2. An Arduino Software Review
  3. Controlling Robot Motion with a Potentiometer
  4. Adding an LCD to the Robot
  5. Engineering a GPS Module for the Robot
  6. Home Engineering I: Temperature Sensors
  7. Object Detection for the Robot
  8. Home Engineering II: Alarm System Using Arduino
  9. Integrating GSM Technology with the Robot
  10. Xbox Controller and the LabVIEW Process
  11. Controlling Your Robot: Bluetooth Arduino

Book Details

  • Paperback: 328 pages
  • Publisher: Apress (November 2011)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1430238852
  • ISBN-13: 978-1430238850
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Venture Capitalists at Work: How VCs Identify and Build Billion-Dollar Successes

Posted: 23 Nov 2011 10:23 AM PST

Venture Capitalists at Work: How VCs Identify and Build Billion Dollar Successes

Book Description

Venture Capitalists at Work: How VCs Identify and Build Billion-Dollar Successes offers unparalleled insights into the funding and management of companies like YouTube, Zappos, Twitter, Starent, Facebook, and Groupon. The venture capitalists profiled—among the best in the business— also reveal how they identify promising markets, products, and entrepreneurs.

Author Tarang Shah, a venture capital professional himself, interviews rising VC stars, Internet and software investment pioneers, and venture investment thought leaders. You'll learn firsthand what criteria venture capitalists use to make investments, how they structure deals, the many ways they help the companies they fund, avoidable mistakes they see all too often, the role of luck in a success, and why so many startups fail.

Venture Capitalists at Work also contains interviews with those on the receiving end of venture money—entrepreneurs in high-profile startups that went on to achieve great success. Whether you're an entrepreneur, an aspiring VC, an M&A professional, or an ambitious student, the knowledge you will gain from Venture Capitalists at Work could provide a significant shortcut to success.

What you'll learn

  • How venture capitalists identify promising markets, entrepreneurs, and companies
  • What venture capitalists are looking for in entrepreneurs and business plans
  • How to build an "A" team and a culture of success
  • Successful relationship dynamics between entrepreneur and investors
  • When to slow down, ramp up, and scale companies
  • Knowing when to sell a business, keep growing, or shut it down
  • Why startups fail
  • Common entrepreneurial mistakes you can avoid

Who this book is for
This book is a must-read for entrepreneurs and venture capital/private equity investors. It’s also for venture capitalists and entrepreneurs in emerging markets who want to apply to homegrown ventures the Silicon Valley model of building billion-dollar startups. Corporate executives focused on innovation or mergers and acquisitions will find the book’s insights priceless. Finally, business students and aspiring entrepreneurs will find this book a great reference guide and how-to manual for starting companies, building new products and services, and helping move the 21st century economy forward.

Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Roelof Botha, Sequoia Capital
Chapter 2: Mike Maples, FLOODGATE Fund
Chapter 3: George Zachary, Charles River Ventures
Chapter 4: Sean Dalton, Highland Capital Partners
Chapter 5: Alex Mehr, Zoosk
Chapter 6: Howard Morgan, First Round Capital and Idealab
Chapter 7: Tim Draper, DFJ
Chapter 8: Osman Rashid, Chegg
Chapter 9: Harry Weller, NEA
Chapter 10: David Cowan, Bessemer Venture Partners
Chapter 11: Michael Birch, Bebo and Birthday Alarm
Chapter 12: Mitchell Kertzman, Hummer Winblad Venture Partners
Chapter 13: Scott Sandell, NEA
Chapter 14: Gus Tai, Trinity Ventures
Chapter 15: Steven Dietz, GRP Partners
Chapter 16: Paul Scanlan, MobiTV
Chapter 17: Ann Winblad, Hummer Winblad Venture Partners
Chapter 18: Jim Goetz, Sequoia Capital
Chapter 19: Roger Lee, Battery Ventures
Chapter 20: Ken Howery, Founders Fund
Chapter 21: Alfred Lin, Sequoia Capital and Zappos
Chapter 22: Kevin Hartz, Xoom and Eventbrite
Chapter 23: Eric Hippeau, Lerer Ventures and SoftBank Capital
Chapter 24: David Lee, SV Angels
Chapter 25: Ted Alexander, Mission Ventures
Chapter 26: Robert Kibble, Mission Ventures
Chapter 27: Rajiv Laroia, Flarion
Chapter 28: Jim Boettcher and Kevin McQuillan, Focus Ventures
Chapter 29: Mike Hodges, ATA Ventures
Chapter 30: Alan Patricof, Greycroft Partners
Chapter 31: Ben Elowitz, Blue Nile and Wet Paint
Chapter 32: Vish Mishra, Clearstone Venture Partners
Chapter 33: Richard Wong, Accel Partners
Chapter 34: Randy Komisar, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers
Chapter 35: Peter Wagner, Accel Partners

Book Details

  • Paperback: 500 pages
  • Publisher: Apress (November 2011)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1430238372
  • ISBN-13: 978-1430238379
Note: There is a file embedded within this post, please visit this post to download the file.


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