Practical Ansible 2. Automate infrastructure, manage configuration, and deploy applications with Ansible 2.9

Daniel Oh, James Freeman, Fabio Alessandro Locati

Ansible enables you to automate software provisioning, configuration management, and application roll-outs, and can be used as a deployment and orchestration tool. While Ansible provides simple yet powerful features to automate multi-layer environments using agentless communication, it can also solve other critical IT challenges, such as ensuring continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD) with zero downtime.In this book, you'll work with Ansible 2.9 and learn to solve complex issues quickly with the help of task-oriented scenarios. You'll start by installing and configuring Ansible on Linux and macOS to automate monotonous and repetitive IT tasks and get to grips with concepts such as playbooks, inventories, and network modules. As you progress, you'll gain insight into the YAML syntax and learn how to port between Ansible versions. In addition to this, you'll also understand how Ansible enables you to orchestrate multi-layer environments such as networks, containers, and the cloud.By the end of this Ansible book, you'll be well - versed in writing playbooks and other related Ansible code to overcome just about all of your IT challenges, from infrastructure-as-code provisioning to application deployments, and even handling the mundane day-to-day maintenance tasks that take up so much valuable time.

Practical Ansible. Learn how to automate infrastructure, manage configuration, and deploy applications - Second Edition

James Freeman, Fabio Alessandro Locati, Daniel Oh

Ansible empowers you to automate a myriad of tasks, including software provisioning, configuration management, infrastructure deployment, and application rollouts. It can be used as a deployment tool as well as an orchestration tool. While Ansible provides simple yet powerful features to automate multi-layer environments using agentless communication, it can also solve other critical IT challenges, such as ensuring continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD) with zero downtime.In this book, you'll work with the latest release of Ansible and learn how to solve complex issues quickly with the help of task-oriented scenarios. You'll start by installing and configuring Ansible on Linux and macOS to automate monotonous and repetitive IT tasks and learn concepts such as playbooks, inventories, and roles. As you progress, you'll gain insight into the YAML syntax and learn how to port between Ansible versions. Additionally, you'll understand how Ansible enables you to orchestrate multi-layer environments such as networks, containers, and the cloud.By the end of this Ansible book, you'll be well versed in writing playbooks and other related Ansible code to overcome all your IT challenges, from infrastructure-as-a-code provisioning to application deployments and handling mundane day-to-day maintenance tasks.

Practical Arduino Robotics. A hands-on guide to bringing your robotics ideas to life using Arduino

Lukas Kaul

Every robot needs a “brain,” and the Arduino platform provides an incredibly accessible way to bring your Arduino robot to life. Anyone can easily learn to build and program their own robots with Arduino for hobby and commercial uses, making Arduino-based robots the popular choice for school projects, college courses, and the rapid prototyping of industrial applications!Practical Arduino Robotics is a comprehensive guide that equips you with the necessary skills and techniques that can be applied to various projects and applications, from automating repetitive tasks in a laboratory to building engaging mobile robots.Building on basic knowledge of programming and electronics, this book teaches you how to choose the right components, such as Arduino boards, sensors, and motors, and write effective code for your robotics project, including the use of advanced third-party Arduino libraries and interfaces, such as Analog, SPI, I2C, PWM, and UART. You'll also learn different ways to command your robots wirelessly, such as over Wi-Fi. Finally, with basic to advanced project examples, this book illustrates how to build exciting autonomous robots like a self-balancing telepresence robot.By the end of this book, you'll be able to design and create your own custom robots for a wide variety of applications.

Practical Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain. A guide to converging blockchain and AI to build smart applications for new economies

Ganesh Prasad Kumble, Anantha Krishnan

AI and blockchain are two emerging technologies catalyzing the pace of enterprise innovation. With this book, you’ll understand both technologies and converge them to solve real-world challenges.This AI blockchain book is divided into three sections. The first section covers the fundamentals of blockchain, AI, and affiliated technologies, where you’ll learn to differentiate between the various implementations of blockchains and AI with the help of examples. The second section takes you through domain-specific applications of AI and blockchain. You’ll understand the basics of decentralized databases and file systems and connect the dots between AI and blockchain before exploring products and solutions that use them together. You’ll then discover applications of AI techniques in crypto trading. In the third section, you’ll be introduced to the DIApp design pattern and compare it with the DApp design pattern. The book also highlights unique aspects of SDLC (software development lifecycle) when building a DIApp, shows you how to implement a sample contact tracing application, and delves into the future of AI with blockchain.By the end of this book, you’ll have developed the skills you need to converge AI and blockchain technologies to build smart solutions using the DIApp design pattern.

Practical Aspects in Doing International Business

Tomasz Dorożyński

Running a business on an international scale requires not only a substantial body of knowledge but also the ability to apply it in practice. That is why our textbook, with a vast collection of practical examples, discusses a wide variety of pertinent issues connected with business operations in international markets, from international market analysis, drafting business plans, concluding business transactions and the insurance of goods through to customs clearance procedures and professional etiquette. We also explain the specificity of doing business online. The book is addressed primarily to students of courses in economics and management. We hope it will also make interesting reading for entrepreneurs and people indirectly involved in international business, who work in its immediate environment in banks, chambers of commerce and consulting companies and those who have dealings with public administration at different levels in foreign countries.  

Practical Autodesk AutoCAD 2021 and AutoCAD LT 2021. A no-nonsense, beginner's guide to drafting and 3D modeling with Autodesk AutoCAD

Yasser Shoukry, Jaiprakash Pandey

AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT are one of the most versatile software applications for architectural and engineering designs and the most popular computer-aided design (CAD) platform for 2D drafting and 3D modeling. This hands-on guide will take you through everything you need to know to make the most out of this powerful tool, starting from a simple tour of the user interface through to using advanced tools.Starting with basic drawing shapes and functions, you'll get to grips with the fundamentals of CAD designs. You’ll then learn about effective drawing management using layers, dynamic blocks, and groups and discover how to add annotations and plot like professionals. The book delves into 3D modeling and helps you convert your 2D drawings into 3D models and shapes. As you progress, you’ll cover advanced tools and features such as isometric drawings, drawing utilities for managing and recovering complex files, quantity surveying, and multidisciplinary drawing files using xRefs, and you'll learn how to implement them with the help of practical exercises at the end of each chapter. Finally, you’ll get to grips with rendering and visualizing your designs in AutoCAD.By the end of the book, you’ll have developed a solid understanding of CAD principles and be able to work with AutoCAD software confidently to build impressive 2D and 3D drawings.

Practical Autodesk AutoCAD 2023 and AutoCAD LT 2023. A beginner’s guide to 2D drafting and 3D modeling with Autodesk AutoCAD - Second Edition

Jaiprakash Pandey, Yasser Shoukry

AutoCAD is one of the most versatile software applications for architectural and engineering designs and the most popular computer-aided design (CAD) platform for 2D drafting and 3D modeling. This hands-on 2nd edition guide will take you through everything you need to know to make the most out of this powerful tool, from a simple tour of the user interface to using advanced tools.Starting with basic drawing shapes and functions, you'll get to grips with the fundamentals of CAD designs. You’ll then learn about effective drawing management using layers, dynamic blocks, and groups, and discover how to add annotations and plots like a professional. As you progress, the book will show you how to convert your 2D drawings into 3D models and shapes. You’ll also discover advanced features, such as isometric drawings, drawing utilities for managing and recovering complex files, quantity surveying, and multidisciplinary drawing files using xRefs. Finally, you’ll focus on rendering and visualizing your designs in AutoCAD.By the end of this book, you’ll have developed a solid understanding of CAD principles and be able to work with AutoCAD software confidently to build impressive 2D and 3D creations.

Practical Automated Machine Learning Using H2O.ai. Discover the power of automated machine learning, from experimentation through to deployment to production

Salil Ajgaonkar

With the huge amount of data being generated over the internet and the benefits that Machine Learning (ML) predictions bring to businesses, ML implementation has become a low-hanging fruit that everyone is striving for. The complex mathematics behind it, however, can be discouraging for a lot of users. This is where H2O comes in – it automates various repetitive steps, and this encapsulation helps developers focus on results rather than handling complexities.You’ll begin by understanding how H2O’s AutoML simplifies the implementation of ML by providing a simple, easy-to-use interface to train and use ML models. Next, you’ll see how AutoML automates the entire process of training multiple models, optimizing their hyperparameters, as well as explaining their performance. As you advance, you’ll find out how to leverage a Plain Old Java Object (POJO) and Model Object, Optimized (MOJO) to deploy your models to production. Throughout this book, you’ll take a hands-on approach to implementation using H2O that’ll enable you to set up your ML systems in no time.By the end of this H2O book, you’ll be able to train and use your ML models using H2O AutoML, right from experimentation all the way to production without a single need to understand complex statistics or data science.

Practical AWS Networking. Build and manage complex networks using services such as Amazon VPC, Elastic Load Balancing, Direct Connect, and Amazon Route 53

Mitesh Soni

Amazon Web Services (AWS) dominates the public cloud market by a huge margin and continues to be the first choice for many organizations. Networking has been an area of focus for all the leading cloud service providers. AWS has a suite of network-related products which help in performing network related task on AWS.This book initially covers the basics of networking in AWS. Then we use AWS VPC to create an isolated virtual cloud for performing network-related tasks. We then provide an overview of AWS Direct Connect after taking a deep dive into scalability and load balancing using the auto scaling feature, Elastic Load Balancing, and Amazon Route S3. Toward the end of the book, we cover troubleshooting tips and security best practices for your network. By the end of this book, you will have hands-on experience of working with network tasks on AWS.

Practical Big Data Analytics. Hands-on techniques to implement enterprise analytics and machine learning using Hadoop, Spark, NoSQL and R

Nataraj Dasgupta

Big Data analytics relates to the strategies used by organizations to collect, organize, and analyze large amounts of data to uncover valuable business insights that cannot be analyzed through traditional systems. Crafting an enterprise-scale cost-efficient Big Data and machine learning solution to uncover insights and value from your organization’s data is a challenge. Today, with hundreds of new Big Data systems, machine learning packages, and BI tools, selecting the right combination of technologies is an even greater challenge. This book will help you do that. With the help of this guide, you will be able to bridge the gap between the theoretical world of technology and the practical reality of building corporate Big Data and data science platforms. You will get hands-on exposure to Hadoop and Spark, build machine learning dashboards using R and R Shiny, create web-based apps using NoSQL databases such as MongoDB, and even learn how to write R code for neural networks.By the end of the book, you will have a very clear and concrete understanding of what Big Data analytics means, how it drives revenues for organizations, and how you can develop your own Big Data analytics solution using the different tools and methods articulatedin this book.

Practical Business Intelligence. Optimize Business Intelligence for Efficient Data Analysis

Ahmed Sherif

Business Intelligence (BI) is at the crux of revolutionizing enterprise. Everyone wants to minimize losses and maximize profits. Thanks to Big Data and improved methodologies to analyze data, Data Analysts and Data Scientists are increasingly using data to make informed decisions. Just knowing how to analyze data is not enough, you need to start thinking how to use data as a business asset and then perform the right analysis to build an insightful BI solution. Efficient BI strives to achieve the automation of data for ease of reporting and analysis. Through this book, you will develop the ability to think along the right lines and use more than one tool to perform analysis depending on the needs of your business. We start off by preparing you for data analytics. We then move on to teach you a range of techniques to fetch important information from various databases, which can be used to optimize your business.The book aims to provide a full end-to-end solution for an environment setup that can help you make informed business decisions and deliver efficient and automated BI solutions to any company.It is a complete guide for implementing Business intelligence with the help of the most powerful tools like D3.js, R, Tableau, Qlikview and Python that are available on the market.

Practical C++ Game Programming with Data Structures and Algorithms. Write high-performance code and solve game development challenges with expert-led C++ solutions

Zhenyu George Li, Charles Shih-I Yeh, Dr. E. Wyn Roberts

Game development demands performance-driven solutions—from rendering complex 3D scenes to managing AI behavior and handling animations. This hands-on book guides you in solving these challenges using high-performance C++ data structures and algorithms. The authors distill their decades of combined industry experience to help you apply practical C++ techniques to create smooth, scalable, and intelligent games. Instead of pseudocode or abstract theory, you’ll work with real, executable examples that translate directly to your projects. Demos in this book have been developed based on raylib library, providing accessible and efficient foundations for learning.Opening with a structured overview of algorithmic thinking in C++ game development, the book covers advanced algorithms and their applications in real-world game scenarios. You’ll implement data structures that optimize game functionality, solve algorithmic problems efficiently, and enhance gameplay with robust AI and rendering techniques. In addition, the key focus is collision detection, 2D/3D rendering, animation, camera controls, and machine learning-driven AI, all through practical, executable C++ code.By the end of this book, you’ll be able to confidently apply advanced C++ techniques to develop efficient, scalable, and feature-rich gameplay systems for modern games.

Practical C Programming. Solutions for modern C developers to create efficient and well-structured programs

B. M. Harwani

Used in everything from microcontrollers to operating systems, C is a popular programming language among developers because of its flexibility and versatility. This book helps you get hands-on with various tasks, covering the fundamental as well as complex C programming concepts that are essential for making real-life applications.You’ll start with recipes for arrays, strings, user-defined functions, and pre-processing directives. Once you’re familiar with the basic features, you’ll gradually move on to learning pointers, file handling, concurrency, networking, and inter-process communication (IPC). The book then illustrates how to carry out searching and arrange data using different sorting techniques, before demonstrating the implementation of data structures such as stacks and queues. Later, you’ll learn interesting programming features such as using graphics for drawing and animation, and the application of general-purpose utilities. Finally, the book will take you through advanced concepts such as low-level programming, embedded software, IoT, and security in coding, as well as techniques for improving code performance.By the end of this book, you'll have a clear understanding of C programming, and have the skills you need to develop robust apps.

Practical Change Management for IT Projects. Transform your IT project and make change stick with this step-by-step guide with this book and

Emily Carr

Transform your IT project and make change stick with this step-by-step guide.In today’s fast-paced world of change, companies expect you to do more, with less. Drawing on over a decade of Change Management experience as a consultant with Fortune 500 companies including IBM and NCR, Emily Carr shares the secrets to making change happen smoothly.If your company is like most, the number one reason that projects have failed over the years don’t have to do with technology. They have to do with people. People didn’t like the new technology. People weren’t trained properly on the change. People hadn’t received adequate communications and didn’t understand the change. Sound familiar?Project teams rarely forget to work on the technology, but they often forget to work with the people, and no matter how amazing your new technology is, it’s useless unless people use it efficiently.This book will help you focus on the people.Packed with templates, checklists, and real-life examples, this user-friendly guide will provide you with the insights and guidance of an expert consultant, for a fraction of the price. You’ll follow a clearly laid out path from Change Management novice to confident and prepared change manager. You’ll be introduced to the Five Pillars of Change: Sponsorship, Stakeholder Management, Communication, Training, and Organization Design. You will work step-by-step through templates in each pillar to build and run a comprehensive Change Management plan tailor-made to your project and organization.

Practical Cloud-Native Java Development with MicroProfile. Develop and deploy scalable, resilient, and reactive cloud-native applications using MicroProfile 4.1

Emily Jiang, Andrew McCright, John Alcorn, David Chan, ...

In this cloud-native era, most applications are deployed in a cloud environment that is public, private, or a combination of both. To ensure that your application performs well in the cloud, you need to build an application that is cloud native. MicroProfile is one of the most popular frameworks for building cloud-native applications, and fits well with Kubernetes. As an open standard technology, MicroProfile helps improve application portability across all of MicroProfile's implementations.Practical Cloud-Native Java Development with MicroProfile is a comprehensive guide that helps you explore the advanced features and use cases of a variety of Jakarta and MicroProfile specifications. You'll start by learning how to develop a real-world stock trader application, and then move on to enhancing the application and adding day-2 operation considerations. You'll gradually advance to packaging and deploying the application. The book demonstrates the complete process of development through to deployment and concludes by showing you how to monitor the application's performance in the cloud. By the end of this book, you will master MicroProfile's latest features and be able to build fast and efficient cloud-native applications.

Practical Computer Vision. Extract insightful information from images using TensorFlow, Keras, and OpenCV

Abhinav Dadhich

In this book, you will find several recently proposed methods in various domains of computer vision. You will start by setting up the proper Python environment to work on practical applications. This includes setting up libraries such as OpenCV, TensorFlow, and Keras using Anaconda. Using these libraries, you'll start to understand the concepts of image transformation and filtering. You will find a detailed explanation of feature detectors such as FAST and ORB; you'll use them to find similar-looking objects.With an introduction to convolutional neural nets, you will learn how to build a deep neural net using Keras and how to use it to classify the Fashion-MNIST dataset. With regard to object detection, you will learn the implementation of a simple face detector as well as the workings of complex deep-learning-based object detectors such as Faster R-CNN and SSD using TensorFlow. You'll get started with semantic segmentation using FCN models and track objects with Deep SORT. Not only this, you will also use Visual SLAM techniques such as ORB-SLAM on a standard dataset. By the end of this book, you will have a firm understanding of the different computer vision techniques and how to apply them in your applications.