IT related books offered by amazon
|
Sponsored links
  |
Product: Book - Paperback
Title: Microstation for AutoCAD Users Publisher: Thomson Delmar Learning Authors: Frank Conforti, Ralph Grabowski Rating: 3/5  First off this book is based on AutoCAD 14 and Microstation J. That information should be much more up front than it currently is. Since I am familiar with AutoCAD 2000 sometimes the book seems out of date. (well it is, acutally) Secondly, Frank Conforti who writes the Microstation portions of the book, frequently says, "this is easy in Microstation." I get tired of not only the bias but also the oversimplification of the operations. Thirdly, a great deal of the book covers the company histories of Autodesk and Bentley. The writers expressed the value of this to help understand the different philosophies behind the two packages. While I found it interesting, it didn't help me one whit to make me a better user of either program. Fourth, the book deals primarily with the similarities of the two programs. While this is good for a beginner, it leaves unexplained the true power of each system because most tasks can be accomplished in several different ways. The book usually explains the way that is most similar in each program rather than the most efficient way to get something done in each program. The book doesn't cover the tremendous rendering capabilities of Microstation at all, since this is not something that AutoCAD does. Since I think this is a book that would be most helpful to people who are just making the switch (not me who switched four months ago, 90% of what I would consider useful information I've learned on my own or from my fellow workers), it ought to have a chapter about first timers pitfalls. One specific first-timer pitfall is the behaviour of the right mouse button. In AutoCAD the right mouse button is equivalent to hitting enter. It completes every command and restarts the command. In Microstation it is completely opposite; it behaves like AutoCAD's esc key. So the experienced AutoCAD user practically without thinking hits the right mouse button to complete a command, but he will discover to his dismay that nothing happens because he just cancelled the command. This just takes some getting used to. Another thing that everyone tells the new user is there are keyin commands like AutoCAD's command line. Well, hardly. With AutoCAD to create a line all one had to do was type "l" and hit enter. To get microstation to do the same command from its key-in window, first you have to click with the mouse in the key-in window they type "place line" which can be abbreviated to "pl l". This is much more work than simply clicking the line tool from the toolbar. It has two particularly useful chapters that each take a fairly simple project and go step-by-step through the process of creating the project using each CAD package. It also has an excellent chapter on translating from one to the other. It points out the pitfalls and incompatibilities as well as explaining when you should and shouldn't translate. If I've sounded critical its because I was really wanting a book that teaches more advanced features of Microstation. This isn't it. If you want a nice history of computer aided design, this is a good book. Or if it is your first time using Mircostation this would be pretty handy (though it needs the chapter I described above)
Product: Book - Paperback
Title: Mastering Enterprise JavaBeans, 3rd Edition Publisher: Wiley Authors: Ed Roman, Rima Patel Sriganesh, Gerald Brose Rating: 5/5  Ed Roman has done a wonderful job in writing this book. He has taken lots of pain to describe every concept in detail. This book (and it's previous edition) has managed to explain me everything I wanted to know about EJBs. I recommened this book to everyone. In fact, this book can also be downloaded for preview. It was only when I read the pdf version that I decided to buy this book. I surely saved a lot of time, money and efforts for researching a good book on EJBs. Meghraj.
Product: Book - Hardcover
Title: Data Structures & Algorithms in Java (Mitchell Waite Signature Series) Publisher: Waite Group Press Authors: Mitchell Waite, Robert Lafore Rating: 5/5 Last chapter of when to use what is great! Don't like implementations of data structures however, not generic enough for handling any kind of object.
Product: Book - Paperback
Title: Designing Web Usability : The Practice of Simplicity Publisher: New Riders Press Authors: Jakob Nielsen Rating: 5/5 This is an excellent book. If you are involved with web design, creation, construction; this is a must read. Jakob writes very clearly. He provides, in a very simply and clear way, his views on different design alternatives, that are backed-up with rational reasons that you will find insightful. Buy this book, use it, and reap the benefits. It will help everyone using your website.
|