Up until the mid-1950s President Dwight D. Eisenhower believed that waging all-out war against an enemy threatening to end your national existence was right, natural, and necessary. In the wake of World War Two this was hardly a controversial position, as memories of Munich, Pearl Harbor, and Adolf Hitler had made the notion of just...

When people speak of Ruby web development, it has historically been in reference to the opinionated juggernaut that is Rails. This is certainly not an unfounded association; Hulu, Yellow Pages, Twitter, and countless others have relied on Rails to power their (often massive) web presences, and Rails facilitates that process with zeal....

Ongoing economic challenges are affecting and impacting business and society in nearly every industry and geographical region. Taking decisive action to reprioritize the way we are doing business is a key focus for companies. Around the world, companies are taking the necessary measures that will enable us to adjust to today’s reality...

The Internet encompasses all types of websites, from social media monoliths to individual blogs, from Justin Timberlake fan sites to Fortune 500 businesses. Everyone has a voice, and the medium has become the ultimate level playing field for those seeking to interact with the world through an always-on, instantly available, nearly...

Arduino boards have impressed both hackers and professional engineers. Whether you're a hobbyist or a professional, it isn't just a breadboard and a hazy idea that keeps you going. It's essential to institute a proper design, device instrumentation and, indeed, test your project thoroughly before committing to a...

PHP Master is aimed at intermediate PHP developers—those who have left their newbie status behind, and are looking to advance their skills and knowledge. Our aim as authors is to enable developers to refine their skills across a number of areas, and so we’ve picked topics that we felt have stood us in the best stead to grow...

"Modeling" has become one of the primary concerns in modern Software Engineering. The reason is simple: starting development processes from clear and succinct models has proven to foster not only quality but also productivity. With the advance of modeling there also came a desire for automatic code generation from models....

This book is about "threads" and how to use them. Thread" is just a name for a basic software "thing" that can do work on a computer. A thread is smaller, faster, and more maneuverable than a traditional process. In fact, once threads have been added to an operating system, a "process" becomes just...

The substantial effort of parallel programming is only justified if the resulting codes are adequately efficient. In this sense, all types of performance tuning are extremely important to parallel software development. With parallel programs, performance improvements are much more difficult to achieve than with con ventional...

SolidWorks as a topic of learning is a huge, sprawling expanse. There is a lot to know, and a lot to write about. While I have made every effort to be complete in this book, I'm sure there are some niche topics that have gone untreated. New in 2011, I have taken this book from a single volume of an immense scope to two individual volumes,...

Welcome to Introducing Autodesk Maya 2012 and the world of computer-generated imagery (CGI). Whether you’re new to 3D graphics or venturing into Autodesk’s powerhouse animation software from another 3D application, you’ll find this book a perfect primer. It introduces you to Maya and shows how you can work with Maya to...

Your encounters with GIS to date may be similar to those of a Martian arriving on Earth and being faced with a motor car. Imagine a Martian coming to Earth and stumbling across a motor car showroom. Very soon he (or she) has heard of a ‘car’ and may even have seen a few glossy brochures. Perhaps you are in the same...