Engineering a Compiler


Keith D. Cooper - 2003
    No longer is execution speed the sole criterion for judging compiled code. Today, code might be judged on how small it is, how much power it consumes, how well it compresses, or how many page faults it generates. In this evolving environment, the task of building a successful compiler relies upon the compiler writer's ability to balance and blend algorithms, engineering insights, and careful planning. Today's compiler writer must choose a path through a design space that is filled with diverse alternatives, each with distinct costs, advantages, and complexities.Engineering a Compiler explores this design space by presenting some of the ways these problems have been solved, and the constraints that made each of those solutions attractive. By understanding the parameters of the problem and their impact on compiler design, the authors hope to convey both the depth of the problems and the breadth of possible solutions. Their goal is to cover a broad enough selection of material to show readers that real tradeoffs exist, and that the impact of those choices can be both subtle and far-reaching.Authors Keith Cooper and Linda Torczon convey both the art and the science of compiler construction and show best practice algorithms for the major passes of a compiler. Their text re-balances the curriculum for an introductory course in compiler construction to reflect the issues that arise in current practice.

Quantum Computing Since Democritus


Scott Aaronson - 2013
    Full of insights, arguments and philosophical perspectives, the book covers an amazing array of topics. Beginning in antiquity with Democritus, it progresses through logic and set theory, computability and complexity theory, quantum computing, cryptography, the information content of quantum states and the interpretation of quantum mechanics. There are also extended discussions about time travel, Newcomb's Paradox, the anthropic principle and the views of Roger Penrose. Aaronson's informal style makes this fascinating book accessible to readers with scientific backgrounds, as well as students and researchers working in physics, computer science, mathematics and philosophy.

Programming in C


Stephen G. Kochan - 2004
    Stephen Kochan's "Programming in C" is thorough with easy-to-follow instructions that are sure to benefit beginning programmers. This book provides readers with practical examples of how the C programming language can be used with small, fast programs, similar to the programming used by large game developers such as Nintendo. If you want a one-stop-source for C programming, this book is it.The book is appropriate for all introductory-to-intermediate courses on programming in the C language, including courses covering C programming for games and small-device platforms. "Programming in C, Third Edition" is a thoroughly revised and updated edition of Steven Kochan's classic C programming tutorial: a book that has helped thousands of students master C over the past twenty years. This edition fully reflects the latest C standard and contains current source code. It has been crafted to help students master C regardless of the platform they intend to use or the applications they intend to create -- including small-device and gaming applications, where C's elegance and speed make it especially valuable.Kochan begins with the fundamentals, then covers every facet of C language programming: variables, data types, arithmetic expressions, program looping, making decisions, arrays, functions, structures, character strings, pointers, operations on bits, the preprocessors, I/O, and more. Coverage also includes chapters on working with larger programs; debugging programs; and the fundamentals of object-oriented programming. Appendices include a complete language summary, an introduction to the Standard C Library, coverage of compiling and running programs using gcc, common programming mistakes, and more.

MySQL Cookbook


Paul DuBois - 2002
    Designed as a handy resource when you need quick solutions or techniques, the book offers dozens of short, focused pieces of code and hundreds of worked-out examples for programmers of all levels who don't have the time (or expertise) to solve MySQL problems from scratch.The new edition covers MySQL 5.0 and its powerful new features, as well as the older but still widespread MySQL 4.1. One major emphasis of this book is how to use SQL to formulate queries for particular kinds of questions, using the mysql client program included in MySQL distributions. The other major emphasis is how to write programs that interact with the MySQL server through an API. You'll find plenty of examples using several language APIs in multiple scenarios and situations, including the use of Ruby to retrieve and format data. There are also many new examples for using Perl, PHP, Python, and Java as well.Other recipes in the book teach you to:Access data from multiple tables at the same time Use SQL to select, sort, and summarize rows Find matches or mismatches between rows in two tables Determine intervals between dates or times, including age calculations Store images into MySQL and retrieve them for display in web pages Get LOAD DATA to read your data files properly or find which values in the file are invalid Use strict mode to prevent entry of bad data into your database Copy a table or a database to another server Generate sequence numbers to use as unique row identifiers Create database events that execute according to a schedule And a lot moreMySQL Cookbook doesn't attempt to develop full-fledged, complex applications. Instead, it's intended to assist you in developing applications yourself by helping you get past problems that have you stumped.

Programming Concurrency on the JVM


Venkat Subramaniam - 2011
    Speedy and affordable multicore hardware is driving the demand for high-performing applications, and you can leverage the Java platform to bring these applications to life. Concurrency on the Java platform has evolved, from the synchronization model of JDK to software transactional memory (STM) and actor-based concurrency. This book is the first to show you all these concurrency styles so you can compare and choose what works best for your applications. You'll learn the benefits of each of these models, when and how to use them, and what their limitations are. Through hands-on exercises, you'll learn how to avoid shared mutable state and how to write good, elegant, explicit synchronization-free programs so you can create easy and safe concurrent applications. The techniques you learn in this book will take you from dreading concurrency to mastering and enjoying it. Best of all, you can work with Java or a JVM language of your choice - Clojure, JRuby, Groovy, or Scala - to reap the growing power of multicore hardware. If you are a Java programmer, you'd need JDK 1.5 or later and the Akka 1.0 library. In addition, if you program in Scala, Clojure, Groovy or JRuby you'd need the latest version of your preferred language. Groovy programmers will also need GPars.

Clojure Programming


Chas Emerick - 2011
    This book helps you learn the fundamentals of Clojure with examples relating it to the languages you know already, in the domains and topics you work with every day. See how this JVM language can help eliminate unnecessary complexity from your programming practice and open up new options for solving the most challenging problems. Clojure Programming demonstrates the language's flexibility by showing how it can be used for common tasks like web programming and working with databases, up through more demanding applications that require safe, effective concurrency and parallelism, data and statistical analysis, and more. This in-depth look helps tie together the full Clojure development experience, from how to organize your project and an introduction to Clojure build tooling, to a tutorial on how to make the most of Clojure’s REPL during development, and how to deploy your finished application in a cloud environment.Learn how to use Clojure without losing your investment in the Java platform Understand the advantages of Clojure as an efficient Lisp for the JVM See how Clojure is used today in several practical domains Discover how Clojure eliminates the need for many verbose and complicated design patterns Deploy large web applications across tens or hundreds of cloud nodes with Clojure

Learning the bash Shell


Cameron Newham - 1995
    This book will teach you how to use bash's advanced command-line features, such as command history, command-line editing, and command completion.This book also introduces shell programming,a skill no UNIX or Linus user should be without. The book demonstrates what you can do with bash's programming features. You'll learn about flow control, signal handling, and command-line processing and I/O. There is also a chapter on debugging your bash programs.Finally, Learning the bash Shell, Third Edition, shows you how to acquire, install, configure, and customize bash, and gives advice to system administrators managing bash for their user communities.This Third Edition covers all of the features of bash Version 3.0, while still applying to Versions 1.x and 2.x. It includes a debugger for the bash shell, both as an extended example and as a useful piece of working code. Since shell scripts are a significant part of many software projects, the book also discusses how to write maintainable shell scripts. And, of course, it discusses the many features that have been introduced to bash over the years: one-dimensional arrays, parameter expansion, pattern-matching operations, new commands, and security improvements.Unfailingly practical and packed with examples and questions for future study, Learning the bash Shell Third Edition is a valuable asset for Linux and other UNIX users.--back cover

Problem Solving with Algorithms and Data Structures Using Python


Bradley N. Miller - 2005
    It is also about Python. However, there is much more. The study of algorithms and data structures is central to understanding what computer science is all about. Learning computer science is not unlike learning any other type of difficult subject matter. The only way to be successful is through deliberate and incremental exposure to the fundamental ideas. A beginning computer scientist needs practice so that there is a thorough understanding before continuing on to the more complex parts of the curriculum. In addition, a beginner needs to be given the opportunity to be successful and gain confidence. This textbook is designed to serve as a text for a first course on data structures and algorithms, typically taught as the second course in the computer science curriculum. Even though the second course is considered more advanced than the first course, this book assumes you are beginners at this level. You may still be struggling with some of the basic ideas and skills from a first computer science course and yet be ready to further explore the discipline and continue to practice problem solving. We cover abstract data types and data structures, writing algorithms, and solving problems. We look at a number of data structures and solve classic problems that arise. The tools and techniques that you learn here will be applied over and over as you continue your study of computer science.

The Joy of Clojure


Michael Fogus - 2010
    It combines the nice features of a scripting language with the powerful features of a production environment—features like persistent data structures and clean multithreading that you'll need for industrial-strength application development.The Joy of Clojure goes beyond just syntax to show you how to write fluent and idiomatic Clojure code. You'll learn a functional approach to programming and will master Lisp techniques that make Clojure so elegant and efficient. The book gives you easy access to hard soft ware areas like concurrency, interoperability, and performance. And it shows you how great it can be to think about problems the Clojure way. Purchase of the print book comes with an offer of a free PDF, ePub, and Kindle eBook from Manning. Also available is all code from the book. What's InsideThe what and why of ClojureHow to work with macrosHow to do elegant application designFunctional programming idiomsWritten for programmers coming to Clojure from another programming background—no prior experience with Clojure or Lisp is required.

Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution


Steven Levy - 1984
    That was before one pioneering work documented the underground computer revolution that was about to change our world forever. With groundbreaking profiles of Bill Gates, Steve Wozniak, MIT's Tech Model Railroad Club, and more, Steven Levy's Hackers brilliantly captured a seminal moment when the risk-takers and explorers were poised to conquer twentieth-century America's last great frontier. And in the Internet age, the hacker ethic-first espoused here-is alive and well.

Learning SQL


Alan Beaulieu - 2005
    If you're working with a relational database--whether you're writing applications, performing administrative tasks, or generating reports--you need to know how to interact with your data. Even if you are using a tool that generates SQL for you, such as a reporting tool, there may still be cases where you need to bypass the automatic generation feature and write your own SQL statements.To help you attain this fundamental SQL knowledge, look to "Learning SQL," an introductory guide to SQL, designed primarily for developers just cutting their teeth on the language."Learning SQL" moves you quickly through the basics and then on to some of the more commonly used advanced features. Among the topics discussed: The history of the computerized databaseSQL Data Statements--those used to create, manipulate, and retrieve data stored in your database; example statements include select, update, insert, and deleteSQL Schema Statements--those used to create database objects, such as tables, indexes, and constraintsHow data sets can interact with queriesThe importance of subqueriesData conversion and manipulation via SQL's built-in functionsHow conditional logic can be used in Data StatementsBest of all, "Learning SQL" talks to you in a real-world manner, discussing various platform differences that you're likely to encounter and offering a series of chapter exercises that walk you through the learning process. Whenever possible, the book sticks to the features included in the ANSI SQL standards. This means you'll be able to apply what you learn to any of several different databases; the book covers MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server, and Oracle Database, but the features and syntax should apply just as well (perhaps with some tweaking) to IBM DB2, Sybase Adaptive Server, and PostgreSQL.Put the power and flexibility of SQL to work. With "Learning SQL" you can master this important skill and know that the SQL statements you write are indeed correct.

The Art of Unit Testing: With Examples in .NET


Roy Osherove - 2009
    It guides you step by step from simple tests to tests that are maintainable, readable, and trustworthy. It covers advanced subjects like mocks, stubs, and frameworks such as Typemock Isolator and Rhino Mocks. And you'll learn about advanced test patterns and organization, working with legacy code and even untestable code. The book discusses tools you need when testing databases and other technologies. It's written for .NET developers but others will also benefit from this book.Purchase of the print book comes with an offer of a free PDF, ePub, and Kindle eBook from Manning. Also available is all code from the book.Table of ContentsThe basics of unit testingA first unit testUsing stubs to break dependenciesInteraction testing using mock objectsIsolation (mock object) frameworksTest hierarchies and organizationThe pillars of good testsIntegrating unit testing into the organizationWorking with legacy code

Machine Learning for Hackers


Drew Conway - 2012
    Authors Drew Conway and John Myles White help you understand machine learning and statistics tools through a series of hands-on case studies, instead of a traditional math-heavy presentation.Each chapter focuses on a specific problem in machine learning, such as classification, prediction, optimization, and recommendation. Using the R programming language, you'll learn how to analyze sample datasets and write simple machine learning algorithms. "Machine Learning for Hackers" is ideal for programmers from any background, including business, government, and academic research.Develop a naive Bayesian classifier to determine if an email is spam, based only on its textUse linear regression to predict the number of page views for the top 1,000 websitesLearn optimization techniques by attempting to break a simple letter cipherCompare and contrast U.S. Senators statistically, based on their voting recordsBuild a "whom to follow" recommendation system from Twitter data

Beginning Python: From Novice to Professional


Magnus Lie Hetland - 2005
    Based on "Practical Python," this newly-revised book is both an introduction and practical reference for a swath of Python-related programming topics, including addressing language internals, database integration, network programming, and web services. Advanced topics, such as extending Python and packaging/distributing Python applications, are also covered.Ten different projects illustrate the concepts introduced in the book. You will learn how to create a P2P file-sharing application and a web-based bulletin board, and how to remotely edit web-based documents and create games. Author Magnus Lie Hetland is an authority on Python and previously authored "Practical Python." He also authored the popular online guide, Instant Python Hacking, on which both books are based.

The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses


Jesse Schell - 2008
    The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses shows that the same basic principles of psychology that work for board games, card games and athletic games also are the keys to making top-quality video games. Good game design happens when you view your game from many different perspectives, or lenses. While touring through the unusual territory that is game design, this book gives the reader one hundred of these lenses—one hundred sets of insightful questions to ask yourself that will help make your game better. These lenses are gathered from fields as diverse as psychology, architecture, music, visual design, film, software engineering, theme park design, mathematics, writing, puzzle design, and anthropology. Anyone who reads this book will be inspired to become a better game designer—and will understand how to do it.