No cliffhangers. Epic action, drama, suspense, clean romance, and happy ever afters. Highly rated authors.PART ONE: Shadow PromiseCade Montgomery will always carry the guilt for the men who died on his watch, and he will stop at nothing to find the people responsible. When Piper Collins, his former foster sister and the woman who stole his heart more than ten years ago, resurfaces, things get complicated.Piper Collins left the FBI after her fiancé died three years ago, to find his killer. That search leads her to Atlanta and back to Cade, the man who broke her heart when he left and never returned. When Cade meets with two men who are working for a known drug lord at the bar where she’s working undercover, Piper is disappointed to find he turned to a life of crime instead of being the man of conviction she used to know. But things aren’t adding up, and Piper hopes that, with his help, her fiancé’s killer will be brought to justice.PART TWO: Shadow SecretCruz Ortiz is no longer the man he used to be. After being taken hostage and almost beaten to death by a Venezuelan drug lord, Cruz joins Shadow Force with a new face, a new identity, and a death certificate for his old self. When Shadow Force is tasked with sending someone in undercover, Cruz is the obvious choice.Lydia Ayala is content with her life as a nurse practitioner in the slums of Miami. Sure, her patients tend to be gang members and drug dealers, but she’s confident she’s making a difference in the world. When she’s kidnapped and forced into a marriage, she plans to find a way out of the death sentence. But Cruz Ortiz keeps a watchful eye on her, and her chances to make a break are growing smaller, while the wedding is drawing closer.PART THREE: Shadow FlightRyder Blake is grateful Shadow Force scooped him up before he died a slow death at his desk at the CIA headquarters. After running for his life during a long-term undercover op, Ryder is convinced he’s put his clandestine days behind him. But when a large shipment of drugs and guns goes missing and the Russian Mafia boss who tried to have him killed is implicated, Ryder agrees to take on his old persona and enter a string of underground fights. Only, Jolie Phillips, the office manager for Shadow Force and a woman determined to be an operative, is assigned to the case with him, and Ryder is not a happy camper.A new organization comes to light as Ryder and Jolie travel around the southeast. As they get closer to the answers, the danger escalates, and Ryder and Jolie are running for their lives.PART FOUR: Shadow RescueFormer army and explosives expert Oscar Cortada is rumored to have one or two screws loose due to his infatuation with making things go Boom! But when he and the team stumble upon a container of women, Oscar is tormented by his memories. Oscar volunteers for the job to help Shadow Force uncover the missing people.Ivy Bell never stopped loving her husband while she pursued a career in acting and modeling. Still, after eleven years apart, it seemed they would never find their way back to each other. But when a new role opens up in Atlanta and Ivy arrives on set, she realizes things aren’t what they seem.PART FIVE: Shadow RedemptionLevi Slater has fought crime since his time with the DEA, but never before has he encountered a more evil and sinister group than the Los Caballeros del Camino, The Knights of the Way.Dr. Drew Bellamy has one objective: keep her son safe. But when she’s taken from outside her home and given an ultimatum, she finds herself scrambling and forcing her way out of captivity. When she runs smack into Levi Slater in the woods outside the compound where she was held, she faces a decision—trust him with her and her son’s life or go it alone.

    If you are serious about developing with the C# language, you need this book." -Bill Craun, Principal Consultant, Ambassador Solutions, Inc. "More Effective C# is an opportunity to work beside Bill Wagner. Bill leverages his knowledge of C# and distills his expertise down to some very real advice about programming and designing applications that every serious Visual C# user should know. More Effective C# is one of those rare books that doesn't just regurgitate syntax, but teaches you how to use the C# language." -Peter Ritchie, Microsoft MVP: Visual C# "More Effective C# is a great follow-up to Bill Wagner's previous book. The extensive C# 3.0 and LINQ coverage is extremely timely!" -Tomas Restrepo, Microsoft MVP: Visual C++, .NET, and Biztalk Server "As one of the current designers of C#, it is rare that I learn something new about the language by reading a book. More Effective C# is a notable exception. Gently blending concrete code and deep insights, Bill Wagner frequently makes me look at C# in a fresh light-one that really makes it shine. More Effective C# is at the surface a collection of very useful guidelines. Look again. As you read through it, you'll find that you acquire more than just the individual pieces of advice; gradually you'll pick up on an approach to programming in C# that is thoughtful, beautiful, and deeply pleasant. While you can make your way willy-nilly through the individual guidelines, I do recommend reading the whole book-or at least not skipping over the chapter introductions before you dive into specific nuggets of advice. There's perspective and insight to be found there that in itself can be an important guide and inspiration for your future adventures in C#." -Mads Torgersen, Program Manager, Visual C#, Microsoft "Bill Wagner has written an excellent book outlining the best practices for developers who work with the C# language. By authoring More Effective C#, he has again established himself as one of the most important voices in the C# community. Many of us already know how to use C#. What we need is advice on how to hone our skills so that we can become wiser programmers. There is no more sophisticated source of information on how to become a first-class C# developer than Bill Wagner's book. Bill is intelligent, thoughtful, experienced, and skillful. By applying the lessons from this book to your own code, you will find many ways to polish and improve the work that you produce." -Charlie Calvert, Community Program Manager, Visual C#, Microsoft In More Effective C#, Microsoft C# MVP and Regional Director Bill Wagner introduces fifty brand-new ways to write more efficient and more robust software. This all-new book follows the same format as Wagner's best-selling Effective C# (Addison-Wesley, 2005), providing clear, practical explanations, expert tips, and plenty of realistic code examples. Wagner shows how to make the most of powerful innovations built into Microsoft's new C# 3.0 and .NET Framework 3.5, as well as advanced C# language capabilities not covered in his previous book. Drawing on his unsurpassed C# experience, the author reveals new best practices for working with LINQ, generics, metaprogramming, and many other features. He also uncovers practices that compromise performance or reliability and shows exactly how to avoid them. More Effective C# shows how to Use generics to express your design intent more effectively Master advanced generics techniques, such as constraints, method constraints, and generic specialization Use the multithreaded techniques you'll need to work with the .NET framework every day Express modern design idioms using the rich palette of C# language features Successfully mix object oriented and functional programming constructs Create composable interfaces and avoid confusion in public interfaces Use extension methods to separate contracts from implementation Program successfully with C# closures and anonymous types Write more effective LINQ queries Make the most of LINQ Lazy Evaluation Queries and Lambda Expressions Distinguish and convert between delegates and expression trees Efficiently utilize nullable types and partial classes Use implicit properties for mutable, nonserializable data You're already a successful C# programmer-this book can help you become an outstanding one.

    Along with a clear introduction to asynchronous programming, you get an in-depth look at how the async feature works and why you might want to use it in your application.Written for experienced C# programmers—yet approachable for beginners—this book is packed with code examples that you can extend for your own projects.Write your own asynchronous code, and learn how async saves you from this messy choreDiscover new performance possibilities in ASP.NET web server codeExplore how async and WinRT work together in Windows 8 applicationsLearn the importance of the await keyword in async methodsUnderstand which .NET thread is running your code—and at what points in the programUse the Task-based Asynchronous Pattern (TAP) to write asynchronous APIs in .NETTake advantage of parallel computing in modern machinesMeasure async code performance by comparing it with alternatives

     Data Structures and Algorithms in Python is the first mainstream object-oriented book available for the Python data structures course. Designed to provide a comprehensive introduction to data structures and algorithms, including their design, analysis, and implementation, the text will maintain the same general structure as Data Structures and Algorithms in Java and Data Structures and Algorithms in C++.

    

    

    And yet, here Brian Riordan was doing exactly that. So begins this prequel to the Exit Unicorns series, as we join the Riordan boys in the rough and tumble world of Belfast, Northern Ireland, during a summer of change and promise. Casey Riordan is on the cusp on manhood, and is learning just how high the price of that transition can be. Tagging along on this adventure is his brother, Pat, who is both shadow and conscience to Casey. Their father, Brian, is simply trying to keep his sons safe—a tall order in the gritty streets of this particular city. Bare Knuckle spans the events of one summer, giving a glimpse into the lives of the Riordans—the boys as they embark on the path to the men they are destined to be, and their father as he guides them along the way. The road is not smooth and contains hard lessons, both those of betrayal and treachery, all stemming from the events of one warm July night, when the match of hatred is set to the fuel of violence. After that night, life as they know it spirals out of control for the Riordans, until one man is forced to rejoin a world he thought he’d left behind forever, to ensure the safety of those he loves.

    Master the fundamentals of C++ and object-oriented programming Understand how C++11 features help you write compact and efficient code using concepts such as lambda expressions, move constructors, and assignment operators Learn the Standard Template Library, including containers and algorithms used in most real-world C++ applications Test your knowledge and expertise using exercises at the end of every lesson Learn on your own time, at your own pace: No previous programming experience required Learn C++11, object-oriented programming, and analysis Write fast and powerful C++ programs, compile the source code with a gcc compiler, and create executable files Use the Standard Template Library's (STL) algorithms and containers to write feature-rich yet stable C++ applications Develop sophisticated programming techniques using lambda expressions, smart pointers, and move constructors Learn to expand your program's power with inheritance and polymorphism Master the features of C++ by learning from programming experts Learn C++11 features that allow you to program compact and high-performance C++ applications TABLE OF CONTENTSPART I: THE BASICS LESSON 1: Getting Started with C++11 LESSON 2: The Anatomy of a C++ Program LESSON 3: Using Variables, Declaring Constants LESSON 4: Managing Arrays and Strings LESSON 5: Working with Expressions, Statements, and Operators LESSON 6: Controlling Program Flow LESSON 7: Organizing Code with Functions LESSON 8: Pointers and References Explained PART II: FUNDAMENTALS OF OBJECT-ORIENTED C++ PROGRAMMING LESSON 9: Classes and Objects LESSON 10: Implementing Inheritance LESSON 11: Polymorphism LESSON 12: Operator Types and Operator Overloading LESSON 13: Casting Operators LESSON 14: An Introduction to Macros and Templates PART III: LEARNING THE STANDARD TEMPLATE LIBRARY (STL) LESSON 15: An Introduction to the Standard Template LibraryLESSON 16: The STL String ClassLESSON 17: STL Dynamic Array ClassesLESSON 18: STL list and forward_listLESSON 19: STL Set ClassesLESSON 20: STL Map ClassesPART IV: MORE STL LESSON 21: Understanding Function ObjectsLESSON 22: C++11 Lambda ExpressionsLESSON 23: STL AlgorithmsLESSON 24: Adaptive Containers: Stack and QueueLESSON 25: Working with Bit Flags Using STLPART V: ADVANCED C++ CONCEPTS LESSON 26: Understanding Smart PointersLESSON 27: Using Streams for Input and OutputLESSON 28: Exception HandlingLESSON 29: Going Forward APPENDIXES A: Working with Numbers: Binary and Hexadecimal B: C++ Keywords C: Operator Precedence D: Answers E: ASCII Codes

    You can use it to write traditional, imperative, object-oriented code. But you can also leverage its higher level of abstraction to take full advantage of modern, multicore systems. Programming Scala will show you how to use this powerful functional programming language to create highly scalable, highly concurrent applications on the Java Platform. The increasing popularity and availability of multicore processors is creating a whole new set of challenges--although you can enjoy true concurrency, you're now faced with higher contention and synchronization issues. Deploying an existing application on a multicore processor may bring out previously hidden concurrency issues. Java's multi-threading facility by itself isn't enough---it's a very low level abstraction. Instead, you need a paradigm that provides a higher level of abstraction to deal with concurrency. It's time to embrace Functional Programming. Scala is a hybrid Object-Oriented/Functional Programming language on the JVM. Using Scala, you can create traditional imperative programs, intermix them with Java code, and at the same time take advantage of higher levels of abstraction. You can use features that lead to concise, highly expressive code that remove the pain of dealing with concurrency.Programming Scala will show you the fundamentals of functional programming using Scala. Very quickly, you'll learn how this statically typed language can give you dynamic capabilities to create concise, scalable, highly capable concurrent code. Pragmatic programmers always use the right tool for the job. For concurrent programming on the Java VM, Scala is the tool, and Programming Scala by award-winning author Venkat Subramaniam is your guide.

    

    Most developers have a limited understanding of compositional techniques. It's time for that to change.In "Composing Software", Eric Elliott shares the fundamentals of composition, including both function composition and object composition, and explores them in the context of JavaScript. The book covers the foundations of both functional programming and object oriented programming to help the reader better understand how to build and structure complex applications using simple building blocks.You'll learn: • Functional programming • Object composition • How to work with composite data structures • Closures • Higher order functions • Functors (e.g., array.map) • Monads (e.g., promises) • Transducers • LensesAll of this in the context of JavaScript, the most used programming language in the world. But the learning doesn't stop at JavaScript. You'll be able to apply these lessons to any language. This book is about the timeless principles of software composition and its lessons will outlast the hot languages and frameworks of today. Unlike most programming books, this one may still be relevant 20 years from now.This book began life as a popular blog post series that attracted hundreds of thousands of readers and influenced the way software is built at many high growth tech startups and fortune 500 companies.

    The biggest change comes in the growing prominence and acceptance of Agile Programming. Software Testing—A Craftsman’s Approach, Third Edition extends the combination of theory and practicality of the first two editions to include agile programming development and discusses the serious effect this emerging area is having on software testing. Extend your Knowledge of Emerging Technologies The third edition of the widely adopted text and reference book is comprised of six parts. It begins by providing the mathematical background in discrete mathematics and linear graph theory that is used in subsequent sections. The book continues to describe specification-based (functional) and code-based (structural) test development techniques, while extending this theoretical approach to less understood levels of integration and system testing. The author further develops this discussion to include object-oriented software. A completely new section relates all of the previously discussed concepts to the agile software development movement and highlights issues such as how agile and XP development environments are radically changing the role of software testers by making testing integral at every phase of the development process. Thoroughly revised and updated, Software Testing—A Craftsman’s Approach , Third Edition is sure to become a standard reference for those who need to stay up-to-date on the most recent technologies in software testing. Carrying on the tradition of previous editions, it will continue to serve as a valuable reference for software testers, developers, and engineers. Table Of Contents: PART I: A MATHEMATICAL CONTEXT A Perspective on Testing Basic Definitions Test Cases Insights from a Venn Diagram Identifying Test Cases Error and Fault Taxonomies Levels of Testing Examples Generalized Pseud

    Just ask them; they'll be happy to tell you.But every girl knows that there can only be one "best."Can Sasha keep the girls from turning the arena into a war zone and still snag a spot on the coveted Youth Equestrian National Team?

     On the eve of the biggest meeting of her career, corporate lawyer Lucy Smith has been saddled with her precocious nephew, courtesy of her flaky sister’s unexpected vacation. Determined to stick to her plans, Lucy brings Nathan with her to the bank to close the deal. Instead, some nut-job robber forces her to point a gun at a cop, telling her to pull the trigger or watch Nathan die. Detective Constable Grady Harrison manages to escape with only a flesh wound. And wearing only his boxers. But he can’t seem to convince Lucy that his gut instinct—the same instinct he’s ignored since it led to disaster in Afghanistan—warns him she wasn’t just a random hostage, but a target. When Lucy’s car blows up, she’s forced to admit she needs Grady’s help, which melts her carefully ordered world into a chaotic pool of desire. But as threats pile up and Grady’s grip on his heart slips, the only thing standing between them and death is the last thing he trusts: his intuition.

    Falling for the nanny is so cliche.But I did.And now the nanny has kidnapped my daughter.My military training should have prepared me.But the past is a biatch.One with green eyes and curves so delicious I would sell my soul to possess her.The battle lines have been drawn.My lover is now my enemy.No good options and only 30 days to save what’s mine.Don’t cry little darlin.Daddy’s coming for you.