They think that UI design is like graphic design--the mysterious process by which creative, latte-drinking, all-black-wearing people produce cool-looking, artistic pieces. Most programmers see themselves as analytic, logical thinkers instead--strong at reasoning, weak on artistic judgment, and incapable of doing UI design.In this brilliantly readable book, author Joel Spolsky proposes simple, logical rules that can be applied without any artistic talent to improve any user interface, from traditional GUI applications to websites to consumer electronics. Spolsky's primary axiom, the importance of bringing the program model in line with the user model, is both rational and simple.In a fun and entertaining way, Spolky makesuser interfacedesign easy for programmers to grasp. After reading User Interface Design for Programmers, you'll know how to design interfaces with the user in mind. You'll learn the important principles that underlie all good UI design, and you'll learn how to perform usability testing that works."

    In this new edition, the authors explain how SQL Server 2008 R2 provides a collection of powerful new tools that extend the power of its BI toolset to Excel and SharePoint users and they show how to use SQL Server to build a successful data warehouse that supports the business intelligence requirements that are common to most organizations. Covering the complete suite of data warehousing and BI tools that are part of SQL Server 2008 R2, as well as Microsoft Office, the authors walk you through a full project lifecycle, including design, development, deployment and maintenance.Features more than 50 percent new and revised material that covers the rich new feature set of the SQL Server 2008 R2 release, as well as the Office 2010 release Includes brand new content that focuses on PowerPivot for Excel and SharePoint, Master Data Services, and discusses updated capabilities of SQL Server Analysis, Integration, and Reporting Services Shares detailed case examples that clearly illustrate how to best apply the techniques described in the book The accompanying Web site contains all code samples as well as the sample database used throughout the case studies The Microsoft Data Warehouse Toolkit, Second Edition provides you with the knowledge of how and when to use BI tools such as Analysis Services and Integration Services to accomplish your most essential data warehousing tasks.

    It runs on PCs rather than servers and is ideal for small- to mid-sized businesses and households. But Access is still intimidating to learn. It doesn't help that each new version crammed in yet another set of features; so many, in fact, that even the pros don't know where to find them all. Access 2007 breaks this pattern with some of the most dramatic changes users have seen since Office 95. Most obvious is the thoroughly redesigned user interface, with its tabbed toolbar (or "Ribbon") that makes features easy to locate and use. The features list also includes several long-awaited changes. One thing that hasn't improved is Microsoft's documentation. To learn the ins and outs of all the features in Access 2007, Microsoft merely offers online help.Access 2007: The Missing Manual was written from the ground up for this redesigned application. You will learn how to design complete databases, maintain them, search for valuable nuggets of information, and build attractive forms for quick-and-easy data entry. You'll even delve into the black art of Access programming (including macros and Visual Basic), and pick up valuable tricks and techniques to automate common tasks -- even if you've never touched a line of code before. You will also learn all about the new prebuilt databases you can customize to fit your needs, and how the new complex data feature will simplify your life. With plenty of downloadable examples, this objective and witty book will turn an Access neophyte into a true master.

    Borne from a contract developer's pet project, these days you'll find PHP powering many of the world's largest web sites, including Yahoo!, Digg, EA Games, and Lycos.PHP Objects, Patterns, and Practice, Second Edition shows you how to meld the power of PHP with the sound enterprise development techniques embraced by professional programmers. Going well beyond the basics of objectoriented development, you'll learn about advanced topics such as working with static methods and properties, abstract classes, interfaces, design patterns, exception handling, and more. You'll also be exposed to key tools such as PEAR, CVS, Phing, and phpDocumentor. What you'll learn Write solid, maintainable code by embracing objectoriented techniques and design patterns Create detailed, versatile documentation using the powerful phpDocumentor automated documentation system Gain new flexibility during the development process by managing your code within a CVS repository and using the Phing build system Capitalize upon the quality code of others by using the PEAR package management solution Who this book is forPHP developers seeking to embrace sound development techniques such as objectorientation, design patterns, testing, and documentation. "

    However, it is an extremely powerful and versatile programming language in its own right. It focuses on simplicity and offers a fully object-oriented environment."Beginning Ruby" is a thoroughly contemporary guide for every type of reader who wants to learn Ruby, from novice programmers to web developers to Ruby newcomers. It starts by explaining the principles behind object-oriented programming and within a few chapters builds toward creating a genuine Ruby application.The book then explains key Ruby principles, such as classes and objects, projects, modules, and libraries, and other aspects of Ruby such as database access. In addition, Ruby on Rails is covered in depth, and the books appendixes provide essential reference information as well as a primer for experienced programmers. What you'll learn Understand the basics of Ruby and object-oriented building blocks. Work with Ruby libraries, gems, and documentation. Work with files and databases. Write and deploy Ruby applications. Explore Ruby web frameworks and aspects of network programming with Ruby. Develop desktop and GUI applications with Ruby. Who this book is forBeginning programmers, programmers new to Ruby, and web developers interested in knowing the foundations of the language. "

    

    Ambushed and left for dead, he has even more cause to be grateful when the bridge-builder saves his life. Shay’s savior turns out to be a mysterious young woman with extraordinary skills. More importantly, she’s a strong ally when he and a few other men are forced to defend themselves and their ranches against a power hungry rich man. Marvin Hammel seems determined to own everything in their small valley, his intention to gobble up not only their homes and their livelihoods, but the water that flows through the land. January Schutt just wants to be left alone to hide her scars. She’s rebuilt the bridge that crosses the river onto her property, and lives like a hermit in a rundown old barn. All that changes when she takes in a wounded Shay Billings. Now she’s placed in the middle of a war over water rights. But has she picked the winning side?

    It is important that these implementations are the same throughout the Web, otherwise it becomes a messy proprietary place, and lacks consistency. These standards also allow content to be more compatible with multiple different viewing devices, such as screen readers for people with vision impairments, cell phones, PDFs, etc. HTML, XML, and CSS are all such technologies.This book is your essential guide to understanding the advantages you can bring to your web pages by implementing web standards and precisely how to apply them.Web standards such as XHTML and CSS are now fairly well-known technologies, and they will likely be familiar to you, the web designerindeed, they are all around you on the Web. However, within web standards still lies a challengewhile the browser's support for web standards is steadily increasing, many web developers and designers have yet to discover the real benefits of web standards and respect the need to adhere to them. The real art is in truly understanding the benefits and implementing the standards efficiently.As a simple example of its power, you can use CSS to lay out your pages instead of nesting tables. This can make file sizes smaller, allowing pages to load faster, ultimately increasing accessibility for all browsers, devices, and web users. Use XHTML elements correctly so that your markup is compact and more easily understood. Use CSS to style different elements of a web page. Lay out pages easily and effectively. Compare multiple methods of achieving the same results to make better design choices. Learn about advanced web design techniques and their important caveats.Web Standards Solutions is broken down into 16 short chapters, each covering the theory and practice of different web standards concept and showing multiple solutions to given problems for easy learning. You'll learn about multi-column layouts, using image replacement techniques to your best advantage, making the best use of tables and lists, and many more. This highly modular approach allows you to rapidly digest, understand, and utilize the essentials of web standards."

    But the principles and practices of software architecting–what the authors call the “science of hard decisions”–have been evolving for cloud, mobile, and other shifts. Now fully revised and updated, this book shares the knowledge and real-world perspectives that enable you to design for success–and deliver more successful solutions. In this fully updated Second Edition, you will: Learn how only a deep understanding of domain can lead to appropriate architecture Examine domain-driven design in both theory and implementation Shift your approach to code first, model later–including multilayer architecture Capture the benefits of prioritizing software maintainability See how readability, testability, and extensibility lead to code quality Take a user experience (UX) first approach, rather than designing for data Review patterns for organizing business logic Use event sourcing and CQRS together to model complex business domains more effectively Delve inside the persistence layer, including patterns and implementation.

    J. Hank Rainwater introduces new and not-so-new managers to concepts that will encourage them and help them become a strong leaders for their teams. You�ll learn about the varieties of programmer personality traits and be able match personnel to projects for maximum productivity. You�ll also learn how to manage your strengths and weaknesses as you improve your leadership skills, which will result in dramatic improvements to your team�s success. In this �how-to� manual that�s both practical and thought- provoking, you�ll find several chapters devoted to administrative aspects of your job, such as managing meetings, hiring and firing, and principles of organizing your job for success. Rainwater also describes task management software he built that you can use to organize project assignments. (The source code for this software is available for download once you own the book.) The chapter on technical leadership, which highlights the importance of architecture, design, and code reviews, not only illustrates practical applications of leadership, but also digs deep into concrete methods you must employ. Rainwater shows why things can go wrong for a leader and how to correct career-derailing problems as they arise. One chapter is devoted to the working relationship that you as a manager have with your boss, and it guides you into the best way to respond to the pressures of software project deadlines. Numerous other topics are discussed that are a necessity for anyone seeking to manage the �peopleware� aspects of software development. "Herding Cats: A Primer for Programmers Who Lead Programmers" is the definitive guide to the challenges and obstacles facing anyone who manages programmers. Author Information Hank Rainwater leads programmers who build software for the insurance industry at Risk Sciences Group in Atlanta, Georgia. His career in science and engineering has spanned over three decades and has included writing Fortran programs on punch cards; teaching college mathematics; conducting research in radio astronomy, missile guidance systems, and remote sensing technologies; and managing the building of embedded digital control systems. As a software professional, Hank has served as a consultant, mentor, and teacher of programming languages and has led development teams in several industries.

    You'll learn how to: - Plan, organize, and maintain your stylesheets more effectively- Apply the secrets of liquid, elastic, and hybrid layouts- Create flickr-style image maps, remote rollovers, and other advanced CSS features- Lay out forms using pure CSS- Recognize common browser bugs, and how to fix themWhile CSS is a relatively simple technology to learn, it is a difficult one to master. When you first start developing sites using CSS, you will come across all kinds of infuriating browser bugs and inconsistencies. It sometimes feels like there are a million and one different techniques to master, spread across a bewildering array of websites. The range of possibilities seems endless and makes for a steep and daunting learning curve. By bringing all of the latest tips, tricks, and techniques together in one handy reference, this book demystifies the secrets of CSS and makes the journey to CSS mastery as simple and painless as possible. While most books concentrate on basic skills, this one is different, assuming that you already know the basics and why you should be using CSS in your work, and concentrating mainly on advanced techniques. It begins with a brief recap of CSS fundamentals such as the importance of meaningful markup, how to structure and maintain your code, and how the CSS layout model really works. With the basics out of the way, each subsequent chapter details a particular aspect of CSS-based design. Through a series of easy-to-follow tutorials, you will learn practical CSS techniques you can immediately start using in your daily work. Browser inconsistencies are the thorn in most CSS developers' sides, so we have dedicated two whole chapters to CSS hacks, filters, and bug fixing, as well as looking at image replacement; professional link, form, and list styling; pure CSS layouts; and much more. All of these techniques are then put into practice in two beautifully designed case studies, written by two of the world's best CSS designers, Simon Collison and Cameron Moll. Summary of Contents: - Chapter 1: Setting the Foundations- Chapter 2: Visual Formatting Model Recap- Chapter 3: Background Images and Image Replacement- Chapter 4: Styling Links- Chapter 5: Styling Lists and Creating Nav Bars- Chapter 6: Styling Forms and Data Tables- Chapter 7: Layout- Chapter 8: Hacks and Filters- Chapter 9: Bugs and Bug Fixing- Case Study 1: More Than Doodles- Case Study 2: Tuscany Luxury Resorts

    It presents a learning journey, not definitive guidance. It describes the experiences of a development team with no prior CQRS proficiency in building, deploying (to Windows Azure), and maintaining a sample real-world, complex, enterprise system to showcase various CQRS and ES concepts, challenges, and techniques.The development team did not work in isolation; we actively sought input from industry experts and from a wide group of advisors to ensure that the guidance is both detailed and practical.The CQRS pattern and event sourcing are not mere simplistic solutions to the problems associated with large-scale, distributed systems. By providing you with both a working application and written guidance, we expect you’ll be well prepared to embark on your own CQRS journey.

    

    This is a book for web designers. Specifically, this book is intended for standards-aware designers who are comfortable using CSS and XHTML. If that sounds like you, read on... This book is made up of equal parts code and concepts. Don't be frightened by the code: I know it might look intimidating at first, but once you've grasped the concepts behind the code, you'll find yourself reading and writing in a new language. Learning a programming language might seem like a scary prospect, but it needn't be. DOM Scripting might appear to be more verbose than, say, CSS, but once you've got the hang of the syntax, you'll find yo- self armed with a powerful web development tool. In any case, the code is there simply to illustrate the concepts. I'll let you in on a secret: nobody memorizes all the syntax and keywords that are part and parcel of any programming language. That's what reference books are for. This isn't a reference book. I'm going to cover the bare minimum of syntax required to get up and running with JavaScript. I'm really going to focus on the ideas behind DOM Scripting. A lot of these ideas might already be familiar to you: graceful degradation, progressive enhancement, and user-centered design are important concepts in any aspect of front-end web development.

    Building on their experience as professional systems analysts and award-winning teachers, authors Dennis, Wixom, and Roth capture the experience of developing and analyzing systems in a way that students can understand and apply.With Systems Analysis and Design, 4th edition , students will leave the course with experience that is a rich foundation for further work as a systems analyst.