The Second Machine Age: Work, Progress, and Prosperity in a Time of Brilliant Technologies


Erik Brynjolfsson - 2014
    Digital technologies—with hardware, software, and networks at their core—will in the near future diagnose diseases more accurately than doctors can, apply enormous data sets to transform retailing, and accomplish many tasks once considered uniquely human.In The Second Machine Age MIT’s Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee—two thinkers at the forefront of their field—reveal the forces driving the reinvention of our lives and our economy. As the full impact of digital technologies is felt, we will realize immense bounty in the form of dazzling personal technology, advanced infrastructure, and near-boundless access to the cultural items that enrich our lives.Amid this bounty will also be wrenching change. Professions of all kinds—from lawyers to truck drivers—will be forever upended. Companies will be forced to transform or die. Recent economic indicators reflect this shift: fewer people are working, and wages are falling even as productivity and profits soar.Drawing on years of research and up-to-the-minute trends, Brynjolfsson and McAfee identify the best strategies for survival and offer a new path to prosperity. These include revamping education so that it prepares people for the next economy instead of the last one, designing new collaborations that pair brute processing power with human ingenuity, and embracing policies that make sense in a radically transformed landscape.A fundamentally optimistic book, The Second Machine Age alters how we think about issues of technological, societal, and economic progress.

Python for Finance: Analyze Big Financial Data


Yves Hilpisch - 2012
    This hands-on guide helps both developers and quantitative analysts get started with Python, and guides you through the most important aspects of using Python for quantitative finance.Using practical examples through the book, author Yves Hilpisch also shows you how to develop a full-fledged framework for Monte Carlo simulation-based derivatives and risk analytics, based on a large, realistic case study. Much of the book uses interactive IPython Notebooks, with topics that include:Fundamentals: Python data structures, NumPy array handling, time series analysis with pandas, visualization with matplotlib, high performance I/O operations with PyTables, date/time information handling, and selected best practicesFinancial topics: mathematical techniques with NumPy, SciPy and SymPy such as regression and optimization; stochastics for Monte Carlo simulation, Value-at-Risk, and Credit-Value-at-Risk calculations; statistics for normality tests, mean-variance portfolio optimization, principal component analysis (PCA), and Bayesian regressionSpecial topics: performance Python for financial algorithms, such as vectorization and parallelization, integrating Python with Excel, and building financial applications based on Web technologies

The D Programming Language


Andrei Alexandrescu - 2010
    I'm sure you'll find the read rewarding." --From the Foreword by Scott Meyers D is a programming language built to help programmers address the challenges of modern software development. It does so by fostering modules interconnected through precise interfaces, a federation of tightly integrated programming paradigms, language-enforced thread isolation, modular type safety, an efficient memory model, and more. The D Programming Language is an authoritative and comprehensive introduction to D. Reflecting the author's signature style, the writing is casual and conversational, but never at the expense of focus and pre-cision. It covers all aspects of the language (such as expressions, statements, types, functions, contracts, and modules), but it is much more than an enumeration of features. Inside the book you will find In-depth explanations, with idiomatic examples, for all language features How feature groups support major programming paradigms Rationale and best-use advice for each major feature Discussion of cross-cutting issues, such as error handling, contract programming, and concurrency Tables, figures, and "cheat sheets" that serve as a handy quick reference for day-to-day problem solving with D Written for the working programmer, The D Programming Language not only introduces the D language--it presents a compendium of good practices and idioms to help both your coding with D and your coding in general.

AI Superpowers: China, Silicon Valley, and the New World Order


Kai-Fu Lee - 2018
    Kai-Fu Lee—one of the world’s most respected experts on AI and China—reveals that China has suddenly caught up to the US at an astonishingly rapid and unexpected pace.In AI Superpowers, Kai-Fu Lee argues powerfully that because of these unprecedented developments in AI, dramatic changes will be happening much sooner than many of us expected. Indeed, as the US-Sino AI competition begins to heat up, Lee urges the US and China to both accept and to embrace the great responsibilities that come with significant technological power.Most experts already say that AI will have a devastating impact on blue-collar jobs. But Lee predicts that Chinese and American AI will have a strong impact on white-collar jobs as well. Is universal basic income the solution? In Lee’s opinion, probably not.  But he provides a clear description of which jobs will be affected and how soon, which jobs can be enhanced with AI, and most importantly, how we can provide solutions to some of the most profound changes in human history that are coming soon.

Architecting for Scale: High Availability for Your Growing Applications


Lee Atchison - 2016
    As traffic volume and data demands increase, these applications become more complicated and brittle, exposing risks and compromising availability. This practical guide shows IT, devops, and system reliability managers how to prevent an application from becoming slow, inconsistent, or downright unavailable as it grows.Scaling isn't just about handling more users; it's also about managing risk and ensuring availability. Author Lee Atchison provides basic techniques for building applications that can handle huge quantities of traffic, data, and demand without affecting the quality your customers expect.In five parts, this book explores:Availability: learn techniques for building highly available applications, and for tracking and improving availability going forwardRisk management: identify, mitigate, and manage risks in your application, test your recovery/disaster plans, and build out systems that contain fewer risksServices and microservices: understand the value of services for building complicated applications that need to operate at higher scaleScaling applications: assign services to specific teams, label the criticalness of each service, and devise failure scenarios and recovery plansCloud services: understand the structure of cloud-based services, resource allocation, and service distribution

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for Business: A No-Nonsense Guide to Data Driven Technologies


Steven Finlay - 2021
    They are being applied across many industries to increase profits, reduce costs, save lives and improve customer experiences. Consequently, organizations that understand these tools and know how to use them are benefiting at the expense of their rivals.Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for Business cuts through the hype and technical jargon that is often associated with these subjects. It delivers a simple and concise introduction for managers and business people. The focus is on practical application and how to work with technical specialists (data scientists) to maximize the benefits of these technologies.This revised and fully updated edition contains several new sections and chapters, covering a broader set of topics than before, but retains the no-nonsense style of the original.Steven Finlay is a data scientist and author with more than 20 years’ experience of developing practical, business focused, analytical solutions. He holds a PhD in management science and is an honorary research fellow at Lancaster University in the UK.

Eloquent JavaScript: A Modern Introduction to Programming


Marijn Haverbeke - 2010
    I loved the tutorial-style game-like program development. This book rekindled my earliest joys of programming. Plus, JavaScript!" —Brendan Eich, creator of JavaScriptJavaScript is the language of the Web, and it's at the heart of every modern website from the lowliest personal blog to the mighty Google Apps. Though it's simple for beginners to pick up and play with, JavaScript is not a toy—it's a flexible and complex language, capable of much more than the showy tricks most programmers use it for.Eloquent JavaScript goes beyond the cut-and-paste scripts of the recipe books and teaches you to write code that's elegant and effective. You'll start with the basics of programming, and learn to use variables, control structures, functions, and data structures. Then you'll dive into the real JavaScript artistry: higher-order functions, closures, and object-oriented programming.Along the way you'll learn to:Master basic programming techniques and best practices Harness the power of functional and object-oriented programming Use regular expressions to quickly parse and manipulate strings Gracefully deal with errors and browser incompatibilities Handle browser events and alter the DOM structure Most importantly, Eloquent JavaScript will teach you to express yourself in code with precision and beauty. After all, great programming is an art, not a science—so why settle for a killer app when you can create a masterpiece?

Ctrl+Shift+Enter Mastering Excel Array Formulas: Do the Impossible with Excel Formulas Thanks to Array Formula Magic


Mike Girvin - 2013
    Beginning with an introduction to array formulas, this manual examines topics such as how they differ from ordinary formulas, the benefits and drawbacks of their use, functions that can and cannot handle array calculations, and array constants and functions. Among the practical applications surveyed include how to extract data from tables and unique lists, how to get results that match any criteria, and how to utilize various methods for unique counts. This book contains 529 screen shots.

Java 2: The Complete Reference


Herbert Schildt - 2000
    This book is the most complete and up-to-date resource on Java from programming guru, Herb Schildt -- a must-have desk reference for every Java programmer.

The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood


James Gleick - 2011
    The story of information begins in a time profoundly unlike our own, when every thought and utterance vanishes as soon as it is born. From the invention of scripts and alphabets to the long-misunderstood talking drums of Africa, Gleick tells the story of information technologies that changed the very nature of human consciousness. He provides portraits of the key figures contributing to the inexorable development of our modern understanding of information: Charles Babbage, the idiosyncratic inventor of the first great mechanical computer; Ada Byron, the brilliant and doomed daughter of the poet, who became the first true programmer; pivotal figures like Samuel Morse and Alan Turing; and Claude Shannon, the creator of information theory itself. And then the information age arrives. Citizens of this world become experts willy-nilly: aficionados of bits and bytes. And we sometimes feel we are drowning, swept by a deluge of signs and signals, news and images, blogs and tweets. The Information is the story of how we got here and where we are heading.

97 Things Every Programmer Should Know: Collective Wisdom from the Experts


Kevlin Henney - 2010
    With the 97 short and extremely useful tips for programmers in this book, you'll expand your skills by adopting new approaches to old problems, learning appropriate best practices, and honing your craft through sound advice.With contributions from some of the most experienced and respected practitioners in the industry--including Michael Feathers, Pete Goodliffe, Diomidis Spinellis, Cay Horstmann, Verity Stob, and many more--this book contains practical knowledge and principles that you can apply to all kinds of projects.A few of the 97 things you should know:"Code in the Language of the Domain" by Dan North"Write Tests for People" by Gerard Meszaros"Convenience Is Not an -ility" by Gregor Hohpe"Know Your IDE" by Heinz Kabutz"A Message to the Future" by Linda Rising"The Boy Scout Rule" by Robert C. Martin (Uncle Bob)"Beware the Share" by Udi Dahan

In the Plex: How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our Lives


Steven Levy - 2011
    How has Google done it? Veteran technology reporter Steven Levy was granted unprecedented access to the company, and in this revelatory book he takes readers inside Google headquarters—the Googleplex—to show how Google works.While they were still students at Stanford, Google cofounders Larry Page and Sergey Brin revolutionized Internet search. They followed this brilliant innovation with another, as two of Google’s earliest employees found a way to do what no one else had: make billions of dollars from Internet advertising. With this cash cow, Google was able to expand dramatically and take on other transformative projects: more efficient data centers, open-source cell phones, free Internet video (YouTube), cloud computing, digitizing books, and much more.The key to Google’s success in all these businesses, Levy reveals, is its engineering mind-set and adoption of such Internet values as speed, openness, experimentation, and risk taking. After its unapologetically elitist approach to hiring, Google pampers its engineers—free food and dry cleaning, on-site doctors and masseuses—and gives them all the resources they need to succeed. Even today, with a workforce of more than 23,000, Larry Page signs off on every hire.But has Google lost its innovative edge? With its newest initiative, social networking, Google is chasing a successful competitor for the first time. Some employees are leaving the company for smaller, nimbler start-ups. Can the company that famously decided not to be evil still compete?No other book has ever turned Google inside out as Levy does with In the Plex.

Frontend Architecture for Design Systems: A Modern Blueprint for Scalable and Sustainable Websites


Micah Godbolt - 2015
    This practical book takes experienced web developers through the new discipline of frontend architecture, including the latest tools, standards, and best practices that have elevated frontend web development to an entirely new level.Using real-world examples, case studies, and practical tips and tricks throughout, author Micah Godbolt introduces you to the four pillars of frontend architecture. He also provides compelling arguments for developers who want to embrace the mantle of frontend architect and fight to make it a first-class citizen in their next project.The four pillars include:Code: how to approach the HTML, CSS, and JavaScript of a design systemProcess: tools and processes for creating an efficient and error-proof workflowTesting: creating a stable foundation on which to build your siteDocumentation: tools for writing documentation while the work is in progress

Programming with Java: A Primer


E. Balagurusamy - 2006
    The language concepts are aptly explained in simple and easy-to-understand style, supported with examples, illustrations and programming and debugging exercises.

Growing Object-Oriented Software, Guided by Tests


Steve Freeman - 2009
    This one's a keeper." --Robert C. Martin "If you want to be an expert in the state of the art in TDD, you need to understand the ideas in this book."--Michael Feathers Test-Driven Development (TDD) is now an established technique for delivering better software faster. TDD is based on a simple idea: Write tests for your code before you write the code itself. However, this simple idea takes skill and judgment to do well. Now there's a practical guide to TDD that takes you beyond the basic concepts. Drawing on a decade of experience building real-world systems, two TDD pioneers show how to let tests guide your development and "grow" software that is coherent, reliable, and maintainable. Steve Freeman and Nat Pryce describe the processes they use, the design principles they strive to achieve, and some of the tools that help them get the job done. Through an extended worked example, you'll learn how TDD works at multiple levels, using tests to drive the features and the object-oriented structure of the code, and using Mock Objects to discover and then describe relationships between objects. Along the way, the book systematically addresses challenges that development teams encounter with TDD--from integrating TDD into your processes to testing your most difficult features. Coverage includes - Implementing TDD effectively: getting started, and maintaining your momentum throughout the project - Creating cleaner, more expressive, more sustainable code - Using tests to stay relentlessly focused on sustaining quality - Understanding how TDD, Mock Objects, and Object-Oriented Design come together in the context of a real software development project - Using Mock Objects to guide object-oriented designs - Succeeding where TDD is difficult: managing complex test data, and testing persistence and concurrency