This is necessary because, in the words of Michael Polanyi, "we can know more than we can tell." Our design choices are not the result of an ineluctable chain of logic; they come from a deeper place, one which is visceral and inarticulate.Polanyi calls this "tacit knowledge", a thing which we only understand as part of something else. When we speak, we do not focus on making sounds, we focus on our words. We understand the muscular act of speech, but would struggle to explain it.To write software, we must learn where to draw boundaries. Good software is built through effective indirection. We seem to have decided that this skill can only be learned through practice; it cannot be taught, except by example. Our decisions may improve with time, but not our ability to explain them. It's true that the study of these questions cannot yield a closed-form solution for judging software design. We can make our software simple, but we cannot do the same to its problem domain, its users, or the physical world. Our tacit knowledge of this environment will always inform our designs.This doesn't mean that we can simply ignore our design process. Polanyi tells us that tacit knowledge only suffices until we fail, and the software industry is awash with failure. Our designs may never be provably correct, but we can give voice to the intuition that shaped them. Our process may always be visceral, but it doesn't have to be inarticulate.And so this book does not offer knowledge, it offers clarity. It is aimed at readers who know Clojure, but struggle to articulate the rationale of their designs to themselves and others. Readers who use other languages, but have a passing familiarity with Clojure, may also find this book useful.

    Are You Ready To Learn Python Easily? Learning Python Programming in 7 days is possible, although it might not look like it

    You'll work through the development of each project, implementing and running the applications while learning new features along the way.Web frameworks are playing a major role in the creation of today's most compelling web applications, because they automate many of the tedious tasks, allowing developers to instead focus on providing users with creative and powerful features. Python developers have been particularly fortunate in this area, having been able to take advantage of Django, a very popular open source web framework whose stated goal is to make it easier to build better web applications more quickly with less code.Practical Django Projects is the first book to introduce this popular framework by way of a series of realworld projects. What you'll learn Capitalize upon Django's welldefined framework architecture to build web applications faster than ever before Learn by doing by working through the creation of three realworld projects, including a content management system, blog, and social networking site Build userfriendly web sites with wellstructured URLs, session tracking, and syndication options Let Django handle tedious tasks such as database interaction while you focus on building compelling applications Who this book is forWeb developers seeking to use the powerful Django framework to build powerful web sites. "

    The Mikado Method is a process for surfacing the dependencies in a codebase, so that you can systematically eliminate technical debt and get things done.It gets its name from a simple game commonly known as "pick-up sticks." You start with a jumbled pile of sticks. The goal is to remove the Mikado, or Emperor, stick without disturbing the others. Players carefully remove sticks one at a time, leaving the rest of the heap intact, slowly exposing the Mikado. The game is a great metaphor for eliminating technical debt—carefully extracting each intertwined dependency until you're able to successfully resolve the central issue and move on.The Mikado Method is a book by the creators of this process. It describes a pragmatic, straightforward, and empirical method to plan and perform non-trivial technical improvements on an existing software system. The method has simple rules, but the applicability is vast. As you read, you'll practice a step-by-step system for identifying the scope and nature of your technical debt, mapping the key dependencies, and determining the safest way to approach the "Mikado"-your goal. A natural byproduct of this process is the Mikado Graph, a minimalistic, relevant, just-in-time roadmap and information radiator that reflects deep understanding of how your system works.

    Through concrete examples and jargon-free explanations, this book teaches you how to apply functional programming to real-life development tasks. The book includes insightful comparisons to object-oriented or imperative programming, which will allow you to ease into functional design. Moreover, you'll learn a repertoire of techniques including function chaining and pipelining, recursion, currying, binding, functional composition, lazy evaluation, fluent error handling, memoization, and much more. By the end of the book, you'll think about application design in a fresh new way.About the technologyAs web developers build increasingly complex applications in JavaScript, the code base for these projects can become exponentially larger and harder to maintain. The result? Application performance suffers, and readability and extensibility are severely compromised. For applications like these, Functional Programming provides a saner approach, allowing you to write elegant, readable code that raises the level of abstraction while being less prone to errors. Although not a "pure" functional language, JavaScript's native functional capabilities unlock access to proven functional programming techniques and practices.What's insideFoundations of functional programming and designExplore JavaScript's functional programming capabilities and the functional library ecosystemCreate more reliable code by embracing immutabilityLearn to write code that's easier to reason aboutSeparate core logic from program structure to write extensible codeAdopt a new approach to error handling and testingApply functional programming to solve real-world problemsAbout the readerReaders need to be comfortable with JavaScript programming and object-oriented design. No previous experience with functional programming is required.About the authorLuis Atencio is a Staff Software Engineer for Citrix Systems in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. He develops and architects applications leveraging Java, PHP, and JavaScript platforms. Luis is very involved in the community and has presented at local meet-ups. He blogs about software engineering at luisatencio.net and writes articles for PHP magazines and DZone. Follow Luis on twitter at @luijar.

    And this book will teach you all you need to know to be immediately productive with MySQL. By working through 30 highly focused hands-on lessons, your MySQL Crash Course will be both easier and more effective than you'd have thought possible. Learn how to: Retrieve and sort data Filter data using comparisons, regular expressions, full text search, and much more Join relational data Create and alter tables Insert, update, and delete data Leverage the power of stored procedures and triggers Use views and Cursors Manage transactional processing Create user accounts and manage security via access control Ben Forta is Macromedia's Senior Technical Evangelist, and has almost 20 years of experience in the computer industry in product development, support, training, and product marketing. Ben is the author of the best-selling Sams Teach Yourself SQL in 10 Minutes (now in its third edition, and translated into over a dozen languages), ColdFusion Web Application Construction Kit, and Advanced ColdFusion Development (both published by Que Publishing), Sams Teach Yourself Regular Expressions in 10 Minutes, as well as books on SQL, Flash, JSP, HomeSite, WAP, Windows 2000, and other subjects.

     Rails(TM) AntiPatterns identifies these widespread Rails code and design problems, explains why they're bad and why they happen--and shows exactly what to do instead.The book is organized into concise, modular chapters--each outlines a single common AntiPattern and offers detailed, cookbook-style code solutions that were previously difficult or impossible to find. Leading Rails developers Chad Pytel and Tammer Saleh also offer specific guidance for refactoring existing bad code or design to reflect sound object-oriented principles and established Rails best practices. With their help, developers, architects, and testers can dramatically improve new and existing applications, avoid future problems, and establish superior Rails coding standards throughout their organizations.This book will help you understand, avoid, and solve problems withModel layer code, from general object-oriented programming violations to complex SQL and excessive redundancy Domain modeling, including schema and database issues such as normalization and serialization View layer tools and conventions Controller-layer code, including RESTful code Service-related APIs, including timeouts, exceptions, backgrounding, and response codes Third-party code, including plug-ins and gems Testing, from test suites to test-driven development processes Scaling and deployment Database issues, including migrations and validations System design for "graceful degradation" in the real world

    You'll read about humans who are invisible to computers, how a default password once caused a zombie apocalypse and why airlines sometimes give away free tickets. This is also a book on how to prevent, avoid and reduce the impact of such problems. Our lives are increasingly tracked, monitored and categorised by software, driving a flood of information into the vast sea of big data. In this brave new world, humans can't cope with information overload. Governments and companies alike rely on computers to automatically detect fraud, predict behaviour and enforce laws. Inflexible automatons, barely smarter than a fridge, now make life-changing decisions. Clever marketing tricks us into believing that phones, TV sets and even cars are somehow smart. Yet all those computer systems were created by people - people who are well-meaning but fallible and biased, clever but forgetful, and who have grand plans but are pressed for time. Digitising a piece of work doesn't mean there will be no mistakes, but instead guarantees that when mistakes happen, they'll run at a massive scale. The next time you bang your head against a digital wall, the stories in this book will help you understand better what's going on and show you where to look for problems. If nothing else, when it seems as if you're under a black-magic spell, these stories will at least allow you to see the lighter side of the binary chaos. For people involved in software delivery, this book will help you find more empathy for people suffering from our mistakes, and discover heuristics to use during analysis, development or testing to make your software less error prone. <

    Although many developers feel that XP is rooted in commonsense, its vastly different approach can bring challenges, frustrations, and constant demands on your patience.Unless you've got unlimited time (and who does these days?), you can't always stop to thumb through hundreds of pages to find the piece of information you need. The Extreme Programming Pocket Guide is the answer. Concise and easy to use, this handy pocket guide to XP is a must-have quick reference for anyone implementing a test-driven development environment.The Extreme Programming Pocket Guide covers XP assumptions, principles, events, artifacts, roles, and resources, and more. It concisely explains the relationships between the XP practices. If you want to adopt XP in stages, the Extreme Programming Pocket Guide will help you choose what to apply and when. You'll be surprised at how much practical information is crammed into this slim volume.O'Reilly's Pocket Guides have become a favorite among developers everywhere. By providing a wealth of important details in a concise, well-organized format, these handy books deliver just what you need to complete the task at hand. When you've reached a sticking point in your work and need to get to a solution quickly, the new Extreme Programming Pocket Guide is the book you'll want to have beside your keyboard.

    Now, two Trolltech insiders have written a start-to-finish guide to getting outstanding results with the latest version of Qt: Qt 4.3.Packed with realistic examples and in-depth advice, this is the book Trolltech uses to teach Qt to its own new hires. Extensively revised and expanded, it reveals today's best Qt programming patterns for everything from implementing model/view architecture to using Qt 4.3's improved graphics support. You'll find proven solutions for virtually every GUI development task, as well as sophisticated techniques for providing database access, integrating XML, using subclassing, composition, and more. Whether you're new to Qt or upgrading from an older version, this book can help you accomplish everything that Qt 4.3 makes possible.Completely updated throughout, with significant new coverage of databases, XML, and Qtopia embedded programming Covers all Qt 4.2/4.3 changes, including Windows Vista support, native CSS support for widget styling, and SVG file generation Contains separate 2D and 3D chapters, coverage of Qt 4.3's new graphics view classes, and an introduction to QPainter's OpenGL back-end Includes new chapters on look-and-feel customization and application scripting Illustrates Qt 4's model/view architecture, plugin support, layout management, event processing, container classes, and much more Presents advanced techniques covered in no other book--from creating plugins to interfacing with native APIs Includes a new appendix on Qt Jambi, the new Java version of Qt

    This book examines the legacy of this world-changing weapon, from its creation as means of fighting the Nazis to its ubiquity today in every kind of conflict, from civil wars in Africa to gang wars in L.A. This is not a 'gun book' per se but a look at how this weapon has changed the world.

    In a 1995 interview, the late Steve Jobs claimed that the secret to his and Apple’s success was talent. “We’ve gone to exceptional lengths to hire the best people,” he said, believing that the talented resource was twenty-five times more valuable than an average alternative. For Microsoft founder Bill Gates, the multiple was even higher:A great lathe operator commands several times the wage of an average lathe operator, but a great writer of software code is worth 10,000 times the price of an average software writer.While the actual number might be up for debate, the importance of technical talent is not. The most successful companies today are those that understand the strategic role that developers will play in their success or failure. Not just successful technology companies – virtually every company today needs a developer strategy. There’s a reason that ESPN and Sears have rolled out API programs, that companies are being bought not for their products but their people. The reason is that developers are the most valuable resource in business.How did we get here? How did developers become the most important constituency in business seemingly overnight? The New Kingmakers explores the rise of the developer class, its implications and provides suggestions for navigating the new developer-centric landscape.

    It is the only book that gives a full introduction to programming in MATLAB combined with an explanation of MATLAB's powerful functions. The book differs from other texts in that it teaches programming concepts and the use of the built-in functions in MATLAB simultaneously. It presents programming concepts and MATLAB built-in functions side-by-side, giving students the ability to program efficiently and exploit the power of MATLAB to solve problems. The systematic, step-by-step approach, building on concepts throughout the book, facilitates easier learning.Starting with basic programming concepts, such as variables, assignments, input/output, selection, and loop statements, problems are introduced and solved throughout the book. The book is organized into two parts. Part I covers the programming constructs and demonstrates programming versus efficient use of built-in functions to solve problems. Part II describes the applications, including plotting, image processing, and mathematics, needed in basic problem solving. The chapters feature sections called Quick Question! as well as practice problems designed to test knowledge about the material covered. Problems are solved using both The Programming Concept and The Efficient Method, which facilitates understanding the efficient ways of using MATLAB, and also the programming concepts used in these efficient functions and operators. There are also sections on 'common pitfalls' and 'programming guidelines' that direct students towards best practice.This book is ideal for engineers learning to program and model in MATLAB, as well as undergraduates in engineering and science taking a course on MATLAB.

    Max explains to you why programmers suck, and how to suck less as a programmer. There's just too much complex stuff in the world. Complex stuff can't be used, and it breaks too easily. Complexity is stupid. Simplicity is smart.Understanding Software covers many areas of programming, from how to write simple code to profound insights into programming, and then how to suck less at what you do! You'll discover the problems with software complexity, the root of its causes, and how to use simplicity to create great software. You'll examine debugging like you've never done before, and how to get a handle on being happy while working in teams.Max brings a selection of carefully crafted essays, thoughts, and advice about working and succeeding in the software industry, from his legendary blog Code Simplicity. Max has crafted forty-three essays which have the power to help you avoid complexity and embrace simplicity, so you can be a happier and more successful developer.Max's technical knowledge, insight, and kindness, has earned him code guru status, and his ideas will inspire you and help refresh your approach to the challenges of being a developer. What you will learn See how to bring simplicity and success to your programming world Clues to complexity - and how to build excellent software Simplicity and software design Principles for programmers The secrets of rockstar programmers Max's views and interpretation of the Software industry Why Programmers suck and how to suck less as a programmer Software design in two sentences What is a bug? Go deep into debugging About the Author Max Kanat-Alexander is the Technical Lead for Code Health at Google, where he does various work that helps other software engineers be more productive, including writing developer tools, creating educational programs, guiding refactoring efforts, and more.His roles at Google have included Tech Lead for YouTube on the Xbox, work on the Java JDK, JVM, and other aspects of Java for Google, and Technical Lead for Engineering Practices for YouTube, where he's supported developers across all of YouTube in best practices and engineering productivity. Max is a former Chief Architect of the Bugzilla Project, where he was one of the two main developers of the well-known Bugzilla Bug-Tracking System, used by thousands of organizations worldwide. Max also writes the legendary programming industry blog, Code Simplicity, where he challenges Complexity and embraces Simplicity for the programming industry.Max has been involved for several years at Google with enabling developers to work more effectively and helping shape engineering practice, and in this highly readable collection of essays you can share the best of his experience. Table of Contents Part One: Principles for Programmers Part Two: Software Complexity and its Causes Part Three: Simplicity and Software Design Part Four: Debugging Part Five:

    This update to the bestselling first edition dives in to cover the exciting new features of the latest release of the Android mobile platform.Providing in-depth coverage of how to build mobile applications using the next major release of the Android SDK, this invaluable resource takes a hands-on approach to discussing Android with a series of projects, each of which introduces a new feature and highlights techniques and best practices to get the most out of Android.The Android SDK is a powerful, flexible, open source platform for mobile devices Shares helpful techniques and best practices to maximize the capabilities of Android Explains the possibilities of Android through the use of a series of detailed projects Demonstrates how to create real-world mobile applications for Android phones Includes coverage of the latest version of Android Providing concise and compelling examples, Professional Android Application Development is an updated guide aimed at helping you create mobile applications for mobile devices running the latest version of Android.