Hands-On Mobile Development with .NET Core. Build cross-platform mobile applications with Xamarin, Visual Studio 2019, and .NET Core 3

Can Bilgin

.NET Core is the general umbrella term used for Microsoft’s cross-platform toolset. Xamarin, used for developing mobile applications, is one of the app model implementations for .NET Core infrastructure. In this book, you'll learn how to design, architect, and develop attractive, maintainable, and robust mobile applications for multiple platforms, including iOS, Android, and UWP, with the toolset provided by Microsoft using Xamarin, .NET Core, and Azure Cloud Services. This book will take you through various phases of application development using Xamarin, from environment setup, design, and architecture to publishing, with the help of real-world scenarios. Throughout the book, you'll learn how to develop mobile apps using Xamarin, Xamarin.Forms, and .NET Standard. You'll even be able to implement a web-based backend composed of microservices with .NET Core using various Azure services including, but not limited to, Azure App Services, Azure Active Directory, Notification Hub, Logic Apps, Azure Functions, and Cognitive Services. The book then guides you in creating data stores using popular database technologies such as Cosmos DB, SQL, and Realm.Finally, you will be able to set up an efficient and maintainable development pipeline to manage the application life cycle using Visual Studio App Center and Visual Studio Services.

Grails 1.1 Web Application Development. Reclaiming Productivity for faster Java Web Development

Jon Dickinson

Web development is trickyóeven a simple web application has a number of context changes ready to trip up the unwary. Grails takes the everyday pain out of web application development, allowing us to focus on delivering real application logic and create seamless experiences that will address the needs of our users. This book will take the pain out of Grails by showing you exactly how to build a web application with a minimum of fuss.With this book, even if you are new to Grails, you will be up and running before you know it. You will be able to code faster and your code will be better. This clear and concise book is packed with examples and clear instructions to help you build your first Grails application and gives you the skills to speed up your application development by adding a different angle for learning about the topic. After a brief introduction to the dynamic JVM-based Groovy programming language, which teaches you enough about Groovy to understand the relationship between Grails and the Groovy scripting language, it shows how to use Grails and a number of key plug-ins to deliver valuable web applications. It also takes you through creating, developing, testing, and deploying an example team collaboration application in Grails.Using an incremental and iterative approach you will learn how to build a basic web application with secure authentication and different levels of authorization. You will learn how to handle file upload allowing users to share files. Some advanced features of object-oriented persistence will be introduced through adding tags for messages and files to giving users a robust categorization system.You will then build on the basic application to enhance the user experience through AJAX and the RichUI plug-in. You will take a further step into the world of Web 2.0 by adding an RSS feed and a REST service to the application. Once the entire application is up and running, you will learn how to create your own plug-in for tagging. Finally, you will learn how to deploy this application to a production environment.

Databricks ML in Action. Learn how Databricks supports the entire ML lifecycle end to end from data ingestion to the model deployment

Stephanie Rivera, Anastasia Prokaieva, Amanda Baker, Hayley Horn

Discover what makes the Databricks Data Intelligence Platform the go-to choice for top-tier machine learning solutions. Written by a team of industry experts at Databricks with decades of combined experience in big data, machine learning, and data science, Databricks ML in Action presents cloud-agnostic, end-to-end examples with hands-on illustrations of executing data science, machine learning, and generative AI projects on the Databricks Platform.You’ll develop expertise in Databricks' managed MLflow, Vector Search, AutoML, Unity Catalog, and Model Serving as you learn to apply them practically in everyday workflows. This Databricks book not only offers detailed code explanations but also facilitates seamless code importation for practical use. You’ll discover how to leverage the open-source Databricks platform to enhance learning, boost skills, and elevate productivity with supplemental resources.By the end of this book, you'll have mastered the use of Databricks for data science, machine learning, and generative AI, enabling you to deliver outstanding data products.

Unity 4.x Game Development by Example: Beginner's Guide. A seat-of-your-pants manual for building fun, groovy little games quickly with Unity 4.x - Third Edition

Ryan Henson Creighton

Unity is one of the biggest game engines in the world, providing the user with a range of important tools that they need to bring their ideas into reality. Beginner game developers are optimistic, passionate, and ambitious, but that ambition can be dangerous! Too often, budding indie developers and hobbyists bite off more than they can chew. Games like Angry Birds, Cut the Rope, and Fruit Ninja are fun, simple games that have delighted players and delivered big profits to their creators. This is the perfect climate for new game developers to succeed by creating simple games with Unity, starting today.This book teaches you the ins and outs of the unique Unity game engine interface. Clear and concise code examples written in both Unity Javascript and C# take you through the step-by-step process of building five small, functional games. With this understanding you can start making your own mark on the game industry!With absolutely no programming or game development experience, you will learn how to build five simple games in Unity by following step-by-step instructions, peppered with amusing analogies and anecdotes from an experienced indie developer. Following a primer on simplifying your game ideas to that single “something” that keeps players coming back for more, dive into the Unity game engine by creating a simple bat-and-ball game. From there, you'll build a complete memory game using only the Unity GUI system. After building a 2.5D mouse avoider game, you'll learn how to re-skin the project to completely change the game's theme. Incorporating everything you've learned, you'll return to complete the bat-and-ball game by adding scoring, replay flow, sound effects, and animations. Finally, in the new bonus chapter, you'll program some simple AI (Artificial Intelligence) for a tic tac toe game.Unity 4.x Game Development by Example is a fun and light-hearted exploration of one of the most powerful game engines on the market today. Find out what all the fuss is about by getting up to speed using this book!

Practical Data Analysis. For small businesses, analyzing the information contained in their data using open source technology could be game-changing. All you need is some basic programming and mathematical skills to do just that

Hector Cuesta

Plenty of small businesses face big amounts of data but lack the internal skills to support quantitative analysis. Understanding how to harness the power of data analysis using the latest open source technology can lead them to providing better customer service, the visualization of customer needs, or even the ability to obtain fresh insights about the performance of previous products. Practical Data Analysis is a book ideal for home and small business users who want to slice and dice the data they have on hand with minimum hassle.Practical Data Analysis is a hands-on guide to understanding the nature of your data and turn it into insight. It will introduce you to the use of machine learning techniques, social networks analytics, and econometrics to help your clients get insights about the pool of data they have at hand. Performing data preparation and processing over several kinds of data such as text, images, graphs, documents, and time series will also be covered.Practical Data Analysis presents a detailed exploration of the current work in data analysis through self-contained projects. First you will explore the basics of data preparation and transformation through OpenRefine. Then you will get started with exploratory data analysis using the D3js visualization framework. You will also be introduced to some of the machine learning techniques such as, classification, regression, and clusterization through practical projects such as spam classification, predicting gold prices, and finding clusters in your Facebook friends' network. You will learn how to solve problems in text classification, simulation, time series forecast, social media, and MapReduce through detailed projects. Finally you will work with large amounts of Twitter data using MapReduce to perform a sentiment analysis implemented in Python and MongoDB. Practical Data Analysis contains a combination of carefully selected algorithms and data scrubbing that enables you to turn your data into insight.

Getting Started with Ionic. Get up and running with developing effective Hybrid Mobile Apps with Ionic

Rahat Khanna

Hybrid Apps are a promising choice in mobile app development to achieve cost effectiveness and rapid development. However, they were not preferred over native apps until few years back due to a poor performance and bad user experience, but everything has changed with the release of Ionic. It has evolved as the most popular choice for Hybrid Mobile App development as it tends to match the native experience and provides robust components/tools to build apps.Getting Started with Ionic equips any web developer with the basic knowledge needed to use modern web technologies to build amazing hybrid mobile apps using Ionic. This fast-paced, practical book explains all the important concepts of AngularJS and Cordova Framework required to develop apps, then gives you a brief introduction to hybrid mobile applications. It will guide you through setting up the environment to develop mobile apps, and through the multiple options and features available in Ionic so you can use them in your mobile apps. Features such as the Side Menu, Tabs, Touch Interactions, and native features such as Bar Code, Camera, and Geolocations are all covered.. Finally, we’ll show you how to use Cordova plugins and publish your apps.

Building Telephony Systems with OpenSER. A step-by-step guide to building a high performance Telephony System

Flavio E. Goncalves, Bogdan Andrei Iancu (EUR), Flavio E Goncalves

RESTful Web API Design with Node.js. A step-by-step guide in the RESTful world of Node.js. - Second Edition

Valentin Bojinov

In this era of cloud computing, every data provisioning solution is built in a scalable and fail-safe way. Thus, when building RESTful services, the right choice for the underlying platform is vital. Node.js, with its asynchronous, event-driven architecture, is exactly the right choice to build RESTful APIs.This book will help you enrich your development skills to create scalable, server-side, RESTful applications based on the Node.js platform.Starting with the fundamentals of REST, you will understand why RESTful web services are better data provisioning solution than other technologies. You will start setting upa development environment by installing Node.js, Express.js, and other modules. Next, you will write a simple HTTP request handler and create and test Node.js modules using automated tests and mock objects. You will then have to choose the most appropriate data storage type, having options between a key/value or document data store, and also you will implement automated tests for it. This module will evolve chapter by chapter until it turns into a full-fledged and secure Restful service.

Android Security Cookbook. Practical recipes to delve into Android's security mechanisms by troubleshooting common vulnerabilities in applications and Android OS versions

Keith Makan, Scott Alexander-Bown, Keith Harald Esrick Makan

Android Security Cookbook discusses many common vulnerabilities and security related shortcomings in Android applications and operating systems. The book breaks down and enumerates the processes used to exploit and remediate these vulnerabilities in the form of detailed recipes and walkthroughs.The book also teaches readers to use an Android Security Assessment Framework called Drozer and how to develop plugins to customize the framework.Other topics covered include how to reverse-engineer Android applications to find common vulnerabilities, and how to find common memory corruption vulnerabilities on ARM devices. In terms of application protection this book will show various hardening techniques to protect application components, the data stored, secure networking. In summary, Android Security Cookbook provides a practical analysis into many areas of Android application and operating system security and gives the reader the required skills to analyze the security of their Android devices.

Django in Production. Expert tips, strategies, and essential frameworks for writing scalable and maintainable code in Django

Arghya Saha

You may have got your first Django developer job after a six-week bootcamp or online course, and that’s great, but what’s next? In small companies, mentorship can be hard to come by and gaining the traits of a senior developer without that can take a long time. This is precisely where Django in Production comes into play.This book will first delve into the true meaning of good practice and help you understand the rationale behind industry professionals building websites in specific ways to develop a solid foundation for your Django projects. Next, you will uncover hidden Django secrets through hands-on exploration, leveraging the power of Docker and version control to your advantage. You will gain insights into mastering Git hooks for efficient code maintenance, establishing a robust CI pipeline, and harnessing the capabilities of AWS Beanstalk. These tools will empower you to develop highly scalable products—an essential skill set for aspiring developers transitioning from junior to senior roles. Later, you will understand the significance of monitoring and be introduced to industry-standard tools utilized by professionals for effective monitoring practices.By the end of this book, you will have set yourself apart from the crowd, equipped with the knowledge and expertise to thrive as a seasoned Django developer.

Information Theory. A Tutorial Introduction to the Principles and Applications of Information Theory

James V Stone

This book offers a comprehensive journey through the fascinating world of information theory, beginning with the fundamental question: what is information? Early chapters introduce key concepts like entropy, binary representation, and data compression, providing a clear and accessible foundation. Readers explore Shannon's source coding theorem and practical tools like Huffman coding to understand how information is quantified and optimized.Building on these basics, the book delves into advanced topics such as the noisy channel coding theorem, mutual information, and error correction techniques. It examines entropy in continuous systems, channel capacity, and rate-distortion theory, making complex ideas accessible through real-world examples. Connections between information and thermodynamics are also explored, including Maxwell’s Demon, the Landauer Limit, and the second law of thermodynamics.The final chapters tie information theory to biology and artificial intelligence, investigating its role in evolution, the human genome, and brain computation. With practical examples throughout, this book balances theoretical depth with hands-on learning, making it an essential resource for mastering information theory. A basic mathematical foundation will be beneficial but is not required to engage with the material.

Neural Search - From Prototype to Production with Jina. Build deep learning–powered search systems that you can deploy and manage with ease

Bo Wang, Cristian Mitroi, Feng Wang, Shubham Saboo, ...

Search is a big and ever-growing part of the tech ecosystem. Traditional search, however, has limitations that are hard to overcome because of the way it is designed. Neural search is a novel approach that uses the power of machine learning to retrieve information using vector embeddings as first-class citizens, opening up new possibilities of improving the results obtained through traditional search.Although neural search is a powerful tool, it is new and finetuning it can be tedious as it requires you to understand the several components on which it relies. Jina fills this gap by providing an infrastructure that reduces the time and complexity involved in creating deep learning–powered search engines. This book will enable you to learn the fundamentals of neural networks for neural search, its strengths and weaknesses, as well as how to use Jina to build a search engine. With the help of step-by-step explanations, practical examples, and self-assessment questions, you'll become well-versed with the basics of neural search and core Jina concepts, and learn to apply this knowledge to build your own search engine.By the end of this deep learning book, you'll be able to make the most of Jina's neural search design patterns to build an end-to-end search solution for any modality.

Windows Application Development Cookbook. Click here to enter text

Marcin Jamro

Need to ensure you can always create the best Windows apps regardless of platform? What you need are solutions to the biggest issues you can face, so you can always ensure you’re making the right choices and creating the best apps you can.The book starts with recipes that will help you set up the integrated development environment before you go ahead and design the user interface. You will learn how to use the MVVM design pattern together with data binding, as well as how to work with data in different file formats.Moving on, you will explore techniques to add animations and graphics to your application, and enable your solution to work with multimedia content.You will also see how to use sensors, such as an accelerometer and a compass, as well as obtain the current GPS location. You will make your application ready to work with Internet-based scenarios, such as composing e-mails or downloading files, before finally testing the project and submitting it to the Windows Store.By the end of the book, you will have a market-ready application compatible across different Windows devices, including smartphones, tablets, and desktops.

Demystifying Ansible Automation Platform. A definitive way to manage Ansible Automation Platform and Ansible Tower

Sean Sullivan

While you can use any automation software to simplify task automation, scaling automation to suit your growing business needs becomes difficult using only a command-line tool. Ansible Automation Platform standardizes how automation is deployed, initiated, delegated, and audited, and this comprehensive guide shows you how you can simplify and scale its management.The book starts by taking you through the ways to get Ansible Automation Platform installed, their pros and cons, and the initial configuration. You’ll learn about each object in the platform, how it interacts with other objects, as well as best practices for defining and managing objects to save time. You’ll see how to maintain the created pieces with infrastructure as code. As you advance, you’ll monitor workflows with CI/CD playbooks and understand how Ansible Automation Platform integrates with many other services such as GitLab and GitHub.By the end of this book, you’ll have worked through real-world examples to make the most of the platform while learning how to manipulate, manage, and deploy any playbook to Ansible Automation Platform.

AndEngine for Android Game Development Cookbook. AndEngine is a simple but powerful 2D game engine that's ideal for developers who want to create mobile games. This cookbook will get you up to speed with the latest features and techniques quickly and practically

Nicolas Gramlich, JAYME SCHROEDER, Brian Boyles

AndEngine is a broad 2D game engine which allows game developers, both experienced and inexperienced, to develop games for the Android platform with ease. Don't be fooled by the simplicity, though. As easy as it is to “pick up and go,” AndEngine includes enough functionality to bring any type of 2D game world to life.The AndEngine for Android Game Development Cookbook contains all of the necessary information and examples in order to build the games as you imagine them. The book's recipes will walk you through the various aspects of game design with AndEngine and provides detailed instructions on how to achieve some of the most desirable effects for your games.The AndEngine for Android Game Development Cookbook begins with detailed information on some of the more useful structuring techniques in game design and general aspects of resource management. Continuing on, the book will begin to discuss AndEngine entities, including sprites, text, meshes, and more. Everything from positioning, to modifiers, and even tips on improving entity functionality with raw OpenGL capabilities. From here on, everything from applying physics to your game, working with multi-touch events and gestures, game optimization, and even an overview of the various AndEngine extensions will be covered.The book has a widerange of recipes, from saving and loading game data, applying parallax backgrounds to create a seemingly 3D world, relying on touch events to zoom the game camera, taking screen-shots of the device's screen, and performance optimization using object pools. If physics-based games are more interesting to you, there's also a list of recipes ranging from controlling the world forces and calculating forces applied to bodies, creating destructible objects, and even creating rag-dolls.Pong styled games were fun 35 years ago, but it is time to take your game to the next level with the AndEngine for Android Game Development Cookbook.

Instant Highcharts. Learn to create dynamic and customized charts instantly using Highcharts

Cyril Grandjean

Nowadays, a lot of systems and tools are developed using web technologies. Customers need to analyze their data using charts on their computer or their mobile device. With the Highcharts library, it is possible to create highly customizable and interactive charts on any computer or a mobile device without installing any plugins.Instant Highcharts is a practical, hands-on guide that provides you with a step-by-step approach, which will help you to take advantage of the powerful features of Highcharts. With Instant Highcharts, you will learn everything you need to know to create your own dynamic charts with your own data inside your web application.Instant Highcharts will present you with different features available with Highcharts, and helps you to create your own chart. You will start with Highcharts installation and then learn to create your own customized column, bar, area, and pie charts with your data. You will learn to add some interactive functionality such as the zoom feature or to export your chart into a printable format. We will also give you tips that will help you to improve your skills with Highcharts.