Wouldn’t you like to automate the tedious daily tasks of system administration? Automating UNIX and Linux Administration will show you how, by exploring existing tools and offering real-world examples. Parts of the book are Linux-specific, but most of it applies to a UNIX system, including multiple variants of UNIX. Author Kirk Bauer briefly overviews tools and technologies—and assumes preliminary knowledge about editing a configuration file or mounting a file system.

The techniques, methods, and tools in this book will help you manage a single system—but will prove especially powerful across multiple systems. No matter if the systems are desktops, servers, or Beowulf clusters—all of them will benefit from this automation. And managing five to five thousand systems will become a simpler task!

Welcome to Ubuntu 7.10 Linux Unleashed! This book covers the free Linux distribution named Ubuntu and includes a fully functional and complete operating system produced by the Ubuntu Community, sponsored by Canonical Software.

Ubuntu directly descends from one of the oldest and most revered Linux distributions ever: Debian. Those of you who know nothing about Linux will likely not have heard of Debian; it is enough to know that it is considered to be one of the most stable and secure Linux distributions currently available. Ubuntu benefits directly from many contributions from free software developers across the world.

If you are new to Linux, you have made a great decision by choosing this book. Sams Publishing’s Unleashed books offer an in-depth look at their subject, taking in both beginner and advanced users and moving them to a new level of knowledge and expertise. Ubuntu is a fast-changing distribution that can be updated at least twice a year. We have tracked the development of Ubuntu from early on to make sure that the information in this book mirrors closely the development of the distribution. A full copy of Ubuntu is included on the enclosed disc, making it possible for you to install Linux in less than an hour! No longer an upstart, Linux now has an enviable position in today’s modern computing world. It can be found on machines as diverse as mobile phones and wristwatches, all the way up to supercomputers—in fact, Linux currently runs on more than half of the world’s top 500 supercomputers.

Do not let the reputation of Linux discourage you, however. Most people who have heard of Linux think that it is found only on servers, looking after websites and email. Nothing could be further from the truth because Linux is making huge inroads in to the desktop market, too. Corporations are realizing the benefits of running a stable and powerful operating system that is easy to maintain and easy to secure. Add to that the hundreds of improvements in usability, and Linux becomes an attractive proposition that tempts many CIOs. The best part is that as large Linux vendors improve Linux, the majority of those improvements make it into freely available distributions, allowing you to benefit from the additions and refinements made. You can put Ubuntu to work today and be assured of a great user experience.

This book provides all the information that you need to get up and running with Ubuntu. It even tells you how to keep Ubuntu running in top shape and how to adapt Ubuntu to changes in your own needs. You can use Ubuntu at home, in the workplace, or, with permission, at your school or college. In fact, you might want to poke around your school’s computer rooms: You will probably find that someone has already beaten you to the punch—Linux is commonly found in academic institutions. Feel free to make as many copies of the software as you want; because Ubuntu is freely distributable all over the world, no copyright lawyers are going to pound on your door.

Most Internet applications use sockets to implement network communication protocols. TCP/IP Sockets in Java: Practical Guide for Programmers, with its focused, tutorial-based coverage, helps you master the tasks and techniques essential to virtually all client-server projects using sockets in Java. Later chapters teach you to implement more specialized functionality; incisive discussions of programming constructs and protocol implementations equip you with a deeper understanding that is invaluable for meeting future challenges. No other resource presents so concisely or so effectively the exact material you need to get up and running with Java sockets programming right away.
For those who program using the C language, be sure to check out this book's companion, TCP/IP Sockets in C: Practical Guide for Programmers.

The first part of this book discusses the mobile games industry, and includes analysis of why the mobile industry differs from other sectors of the games market, a discussion of the sales of mobile games, their types, the gamers who play them, and how the games are sold.

The second part describes key aspects of writing games for Symbian smartphones using Symbian C++ and native APIs. The chapters cover the use of graphics and audio, multiplayer game design, the basics of writing a game loop using Symbian OS active objects, and general good practice. There is also a chapter covering the use of hardware APIs, such as the camera and vibra.

Part Three covers porting games to Symbian OS using C or C++, and discusses the standards support that Symbian OS provides,and some of the middleware solutions available. A chapter about the N-Gage platform discusses how Nokia is pioneering the next generation of mobile games, by providing a platform SDK for professional games developers to port games rapidly and effectively.

The final part of the book discusses how to create mobile games for Symbian smartphones using java ME, Doja (for Japan) or Flash Lite 2. This book will help you if you are:
~ a C++ developer familiar with mobile development but new to the games market
~ a professional games developer wishing to port your games to run on Symbian OS platforms such as S60 and UIQ
~ a someone who is interested in creating C++, Java ME or Flash Lite games for Symbian smartphones.

This book shows how to create mobile games for Symbian smartphones such as S60 3rd Edition, UIQ3 or FOMA devices. It includes contributions from a number of experts in the mobile games industry, including Nokia's N-gage team, Ideaworks3D, and ZingMagic, as well as academics leading the field of innovative mobile experiences.

Flex 3 is the next generation of a technology that revolutionized web applications. It is the next evolutionary step of Flash, which has grown from a web animation medium to a powerful enterprise web design and development platform. With nearly 98% of all web browsers, and a growing number of mobile devices, running Flash Player, a knowledge of Flex is indispensible for any serious web developer.

This book will show you how to create powerful Rich Internet Applications using Flex 3. After learning how to install and becoming familiar with the basics of the Flex Builder 3 software, you will explore in depth how the Flash scripting language, ActionScript 3.0, interacts with Flex's powerful XML-like design language: MXML.

You'll learn how to construct your applications using layout and navigation containers, and how to move between various states using transitions. There is coverage of how best to plan your applications and use the Model-View-Controller pattern to keep various aspects of development separated and ease creation of potentially complicated projects.

Rich Internet Applications rely on data, and this book shows how to bring data from various sources into your Flex application and check its integrity, and how best to display and interact with it.

Going farther, applications built for the Flash platform can now exist and function beyond the traditional confines of the web browser. Adobe AIR allows you to take your applications to the desktop, and this book shows how to reapply your Flex skills to take advantage of this new environment.

The Essential Guide to Flex 3 takes you through all the powerful features of Flex using a series of stand-alone, practical exercises. The skills acquired throughout the book are then brought together in the form of a full-featured case study application showcasing essential techniques that can easily be applied to your own Flex applications.

Are you looking for a deeper understanding of the Java™ programming language so that you can write code that is clearer, more correct, more robust, and more reusable? Look no further! Effective Java™, Second Edition, brings together seventy-eight indispensable programmer’s rules of thumb: working, best-practice solutions for the programming challenges you encounter every day. 

This highly anticipated new edition of the classic, Jolt Award-winning work has been thoroughly updated to cover Java SE 5 and Java SE 6 features introduced since the first edition. Bloch explores new design patterns and language idioms, showing you how to make the most of features ranging from generics to enums, annotations to autoboxing.
 
Each chapter in the book consists of several “items” presented in the form of a short, standalone essay that provides specific advice, insight into Java platform subtleties, and outstanding code examples. The comprehensive descriptions and explanations for each item illuminate what to do, what not to do, and why.

Essential Skills--Made Easy! Updated and Expanded for J2SE 5

Learn to program in Java from master programmer and best-selling author Herb Schildt. Completely revised and updated to cover Java 2 Platform, Standard Edition 5 (J2SEj 5), this step-by-step guide will have you programming in practically no time. You’ll start at the beginning, learning why Java is the preeminent language of the Internet, how it relates to object-oriented programming (OOP), and the general form of a Java program. Next, it’s on to Java fundamentals, including data types, operators, program control statements, classes, objects, and methods. You’ll then progress to more advanced topics, such as inheritance, exception handling, the I/O system, multithreading, and applets. Of course Herb covers the powerful, new features added by J2SE 5, such as generics, autoboxing, enumerations, and static import. Get started programming in Java today with this easy-to-follow tutorial.

Spring has made a remarkable rise since its conception in 2002. Users find Spring the ideal framework to build their applications in J2EE environments. Beginning Spring 2 is the first and only Spring-authorized book that takes you through the first steps of using Spring, and requires no prior J2EE experience. It discusses relevant integrated technologies that you should be aware of, and illustrates how Spring makes using them easier.

The book teaches the correct usage of Spring in applications, and lowers the learning curve on J2EE standards. It covers useful features of Spring without delving too far into complicated features. The authors take advantage of less complex alternatives whenever possible, and shows how Spring can make you more productive in complicated environments where J2EE technologies need to be applied. The book covers the complete Spring web tools portfolio and deals with persistence and transaction management. It also introduces 3-tier application design and how to test these designs.

If you're interested in recording and streaming media using Flash Media Server 3 (FMS3) and Adobe's Real-Time Messaging Protocol, this unique 267-page PDF-only book is the perfect primer. It is not a reference, but a systematic guide to developing FMS3 applications using ActionScript 3.0, with chapters that focus on specific aspects of the server and how they work. FMS3 is very different from regular web servers. Because its open-socket server technology stays connected until users quit the application, you can stream audio, video, text, and other media in real time. FMS3 is also quite different from previous versions, a fact that web developers familiar with Flash Media Server 2 or Flash Communication Server 1.5 will quickly discover. Don't worry. With Learning Flash Media Server 3 and a little experience with Flash CS3 and ActionScript 3.0, anyone can get up to speed in no time. You'll learn how to install FMS3, organize your development environment with Apache web server, and use the management console before diving into the whys and hows of:

• Recording and playing back streaming audio and video in VP6 and H.264 formats
• Using the new Flash Media Encoder to stream and record video
• Camera and microphone settings
• Non-persistent client-side remote shared objects
• Two-way audio-video communications
• Broadcasting and server-side bandwidth control
• Working with server-side files: the file class
• Server-side shared objects
• Server-side streams
• Setting up a software load handler using FMS3's new server-side NetStream
• Bringing in data and working with configuration files

At the heart of every chapter is a core set of code that shows the minimum requirements needed for different procedures. Beyond that, Learning Flash Media Server 3 provides you with plenty of options for using FMS3's different versions -- the full-feature server, the streaming-only server, and the limited-user development server. It's a whole new world of media, and this book puts you right at the doorstep. Ready to enter?

I ’ m especially amazed at how the Internet has grown and evolved over the past decade or so. It has grown from a collection of static text documents connected by a few hyperlinks to a platform for delivering rich, distributed applications. And when it comes time to develop these web - based applications, many programmers are choosing PHP and MySQL.

In this book, I present basic code for 12 PHP - powered projects that you can use and extend however you wish. I have tried to write them so the code can be easily reused in future applications, but in some instances the entire application can be reused as well!

I ’ ve enjoyed the opportunity to write and share with you this information and I hope you have just as much fun reading it and learning from it. More importantly, I hope you find good, practical uses for the projects found within this book.

What you will learn from this book

• Practical steps you can take to combine different developmental philosophies, processes, and construction techniques into a unified approach to software
• Methods for deciding which parts of a project you need to write yourself versus what you can buy or reuse
• Tools and processes you can employ to improve source code quality and maintainability
• How to create, run, organize, and measure tests, and then make them more useful to developers and testers
• Ways that programming by contract can make your code easier for developers to understand and use
• Recommended techniques for handling errors in your code that will make your application easier to debug and support

Who this book is for

This book is for experienced software developers who are looking to improve their development skill set and bring a higher level of discipline to a project.

All the tools and know-how to create digital characters that can move, express emotions, and talk 3-D Human Modeling and Animation demonstrates how you can use your artistic skills in figure drawing, painting, and sculpture to create animated human figures using the latest computer technology. This easy-to-follow book guides you through all the necessary steps to create and animate digital humans. Students and professional 3-D artists will find this book to be an invaluable resource.