Cocos2d-x Game Development Blueprints. Build a plethora of games for various genres using one of the most powerful game engines, Cocos2d-x

Karan Sequeira

Security+(R) Practice Tests. Prepare for, practice, and pass the CompTIA Security+ exam

Mike Chapple

Security+ certification is the most popular entry-level certification for cybersecurity professionals. It has no work experience requirement, making it accessible to everyone willing to put in the time to prepare for the exam. Security+? Practice Tests are the perfect tools to prepare for the CompTIA Security+ exam.The first six chapters each cover one of the six Security+ domains. Each of those chapters contains around 100 practice test questions covering the material from that domain. The last two chapters each contain a full-length Security+ practice test that’s designed to assess your readiness to take the actual test. At the end of each chapter, you’ll find the answers to all of the questions along with detailed explanations to help reinforce your learning of the material.By the end of the book, you’ll have enough practice to easily ace the CompTIA Security+ exam.

Unity 2022 by Example. A project-based guide to building 2D and 3D games, enhanced for AR, VR, and MR experiences

Scott H. Cameron, Edward Falzon

Unity 2022 by Example is a complete introduction to building games in Unity following a project-based approach. You’ll be introduced to the Unity game engine and the tools available for building and customizing a game exactly the way you want it, while maintaining a good code foundation to build upon.Once you get to grips with the fundamentals of Unity game development, you'll start creating a 2D collection game and an adventure game, followed by a 3D first person shooter game. Next, you’ll explore advanced topics, such as using machine learning to create AI-based enemy behavior, virtual reality for extending the first-person game, and augmented reality for developing a farming simulation game in a real-world setting. The book will help you gain hands-on knowledge of these topics as you build projects using the latest game tool kits. You'll also learn how to commercialize your game by publishing it to a distribution platform and maintain and support it throughout its lifespan. As you progress, you’ll gain real-world knowledge and experience by taking your games from conceptual design to completion.By the end of this Unity book, you’ll have strong foundational knowledge of how to structure a Unity project that is both maintainable and extensible for commercially released games.

Continuous Delivery and DevOps - A Quickstart Guide. Start your journey to successful adoption of CD and DevOps - Third Edition

Paul Swartout

Over the past few years, Continuous Delivery (CD) and DevOps have been in the spotlight in tech media, at conferences, and in boardrooms alike. Many articles and books have been written covering the technical aspects of CD and DevOps, yet the vast majority of the industry doesn’t fully understand what they actually are and how, if adopted correctly they can help organizations drastically change the way they deliver value. This book will help you figure out how CD and DevOps can help you to optimize, streamline, and improve the way you work to consistently deliver quality software. In this edition, you’ll be introduced to modern tools, techniques, and examples to help you understand what the adoption of CD and DevOps entails. It provides clear and concise insights in to what CD and DevOps are all about, how to go about both preparing for and adopting them, and what quantifiable value they bring. You will be guided through the various stages of adoption, the impact they will have on your business and those working within it, how to overcome common problems, and what to do once CD and DevOps have become truly embedded. Included within this book are some real-world examples, tricks, and tips that will help ease the adoption process and allow you to fully utilize the power of CD and DevOps

JasperReports for Java Developers

David R. Heffelfinger, David R Heffelfinger, Teodor Danciu

JasperReports is the world's most popular embeddable Java open source reporting library, providing Java developers with the power to easily create rich print and web reports. This book shows you exactly how to get started, and develop the skills to get the most from JasperReports.The book steers you through each point of report setup, to creating, designing, formatting, and exporting reports with data from a wide range of datasources, and integrating JasperReports with other Java frameworks.Starting with the basics of adding reporting capabilities to your application, and creating report templates you will first see how to produce your reports through the use of JRXML files, custom ANT targets, and then see preview them in both the browser and the native browser of JasperReports.Getting data into your reports is the next step, and you will see how to get data from a range of datasources, not only databases, but XML files, and Java Objects, among others.You will create better looking reports with formatting and grouping, as well as adding graphical elements to the report. You will export your reports to a range of different formats, including PDF and XML.Creating reports will be made even easier with a walkthrough of the iReport Designer visual designing tool. To round things off, you will see how to integrate your reports with other Java frameworks, using Spring or Hibernate to get data for the report, and Java Server Faces or Struts for presenting the report.

Taking Flutter to the Web. Learn how to build cross-platform UIs for web and mobile platforms using Flutter for Web

Damodar Lohani

Using a shared codebase in addition to an extensive range of tools in the Flutter ecosystem optimized for browsers, the Flutter framework has expanded to enable you to bring your mobile apps to the web. You’ll find out how web developers can leverage the Flutter framework for web apps with this hands-on guide.Taking Flutter to the Web will help you learn all about the Flutter ecosystem by covering the tools and project structure that allows you to easily integrate Flutter into your web stack. You’ll understand the concepts of cross-platform UI development and how they can be applied to web platforms. As you explore Flutter on the web, you'll become well-versed with using Flutter as an alternative UI platform for building adaptive and responsive designs for web apps.By the end of this Flutter book, you'll have built and deployed a complete Flutter app for the web and have a roadmap ready to target the web for your existing Flutter mobile apps.

Quantum Computing Algorithms. Discover how a little math goes a long way

Barry Burd

Navigate the quantum computing spectrum with this book, bridging the gap between abstract, math-heavy texts and math-avoidant beginner guides. Unlike intermediate-level books that often leave gaps in comprehension, this all-encompassing guide offers the missing links you need to truly understand the subject.Balancing intuition and rigor, this book empowers you to become a master of quantum algorithms. No longer confined to canned examples, you'll acquire the skills necessary to craft your own quantum code. Quantum Computing Algorithms is organized into four sections to build your expertise progressively.The first section lays the foundation with essential quantum concepts, ensuring that you grasp qubits, their representation, and their transformations. Moving to quantum algorithms, the second section focuses on pivotal algorithms — specifically, quantum key distribution and teleportation.The third section demonstrates the transformative power of algorithms that outpace classical computation and makes way for the fourth section, helping you to expand your horizons by exploring alternative quantum computing models.By the end of this book, quantum algorithms will cease to be mystifying as you make this knowledge your asset and enter a new era of computation, where you have the power to shape the code of reality.

Hack the Cybersecurity Interview. A complete interview preparation guide for jumpstarting your cybersecurity career

Kenneth Underhill, Christophe Foulon, Tia Hopkins, Mari Galloway

This audiobook is a comprehensive guide that helps both entry-level and experienced cybersecurity professionals prepare for interviews in a wide variety of career areas.Complete with the authors’ answers to different cybersecurity interview questions, this easy-to-follow and actionable audiobook will help you get ready and be confident. You’ll learn how to prepare and form a winning strategy for job interviews. In addition to this, you’ll also understand the most common technical and behavioral interview questions, learning from real cybersecurity professionals and executives with years of industry experience.By the end of this audiobook, you’ll be able to apply the knowledge you've gained to confidently pass your next job interview and achieve success on your cybersecurity career path.

Mastering SAS Programming for Data Warehousing. An advanced programming guide to designing and managing Data Warehouses using SAS

Monika Wahi

SAS is used for various functions in the development and maintenance of data warehouses, thanks to its reputation of being able to handle ’big data’.This book will help you learn the pros and cons of storing data in SAS. As you progress, you’ll understand how to document and design extract-transform-load (ETL) protocols for SAS processes. Later, you’ll focus on how the use of SAS arrays and macros can help standardize ETL. The book will also help you examine approaches for serving up data using SAS and explore how connecting SAS to other systems can enhance the data warehouse user’s experience.By the end of this data management book, you will have a fundamental understanding of the roles SAS can play in a warehouse environment, and be able to choose wisely when designing your data warehousing processes involving SAS.

ODP.NET Developer's Guide: Oracle Database 10g Development with Visual Studio 2005 and the Oracle Data Provider for .NET. A practical guide for developers working with the Oracle Data Provider for .NET and the Oracle Developer Tools for Visual Studio 2005

Sunitha Paruchuri, Jagadish Chatarji Pulakhandam, Jagadish Pulakhandam

The Oracle Data Provider for .NET (ODP.NET) features optimized data access to the Oracle database from a .NET environment and allows developers to take advantage of advanced Oracle database functionality, including Real Application Clusters, XML DB, and advanced security. It can be used from any .NET language, including C# and VB.NET.This book is a practical guide that will give you the in-depth information you need to work with the Oracle 10g v10.2 database from Visual Studio .NET 2005, using the Oracle Developer Tools and ODP.NET. After introducing ODP.NET, we move on to dealing with SQL, PL/SQL, and XML DB using ODP.NET. Next we look at application development with ODP.NET: Web Applications, Web Services, and Mobile Applications. The last chapter covers Oracle Developer Tools for Visual Studio .NET. All the code examples are in Visual Basic.NET 2005.https://www.packtpub.com/article/ODP-dot-net-oracle-data-provider-table-of-conten - Read the full Table of Contents for ODP.NET Developer's GuideChapter-by-ChapterChapter 1 introduces the concept of Oracle Database Extensions for .NET and provides information about Oracle Developer tools for Visual Studio.Chapter 2 introduces the Provider Independent Model in ADO.NET 2.0, and shows how to connect to Oracle databases from .NET, working with .NET data providers, connection pooling, system privileged connection, and single sign-on etc.Chapter 3 shows you several methods to retrieve data from an Oracle database. You will work with the core ODP.NET classes like OracleCommand, OracleDataReader, OracleDataAdapter, OracleParameter and ADO.NET classes like Dataset, DataTable, and DataRow etc.Chapter 4 is about inserting, updating, and deleting data in the database. You will also learn about statement caching, array binding, working with offline data, implementing transactions, and handling errors and exceptions encountered during database work.Chapter 5 deals with working with PL/SQL blocks, PL/SQL stored procedures, and functions. It also teaches you how to execute routines in PL/SQL packages, how to pass and receive arrays from the Oracle database, and working with REF CURSOR using ODP.NET.Chapter 6 is completely dedicated to dealing with Large objects in Oracle. This chapter illustrates concepts, configurations, and programming for BFILE, BLOB, and CLOB (or NCLOB) in conjunction with ODP.NET.Chapter 7 gives details about Oracle XML DB, an add-on feature of Oracle database. It provides information about generating XML from existing rows in tables, manipulating rows in a table using XML, and working with native XML in the Oracle database.Chapter 8 deals with real-time application development scenarios like Oracle database change notifications, Asynchronous Application development, Web Application development using ASP.NET 2.0, Web Reporting (including grouping, sub-totals, charts etc.), Object-Oriented Development with ODP.NET and ASP.NET, XML Web Services development using ODP.NET and Smart Device Application development (for clients like the Pocket PC etc.).Chapter 9 introduces you to Oracle Developer Tools for Visual Studio 2005. It teaches you to connect to Oracle from the Visual Studio 2005 environment, retrieve Oracle information from Visual Studio, and work with database objects from Visual Studio. It also provides information about how to create and debug PL/SQL stored procedures and .NET CLR Stored Procedures in Oracle.

Hands-On Ethical Hacking Tactics. Strategies, tools, and techniques for effective cyber defense

Shane Hartman, Ken Dunham

If you’re an ethical hacker looking to boost your digital defenses and stay up to date with the evolving cybersecurity landscape, then this book is for you. Hands-On Ethical Hacking Tactics is a comprehensive guide that will take you from fundamental to advanced levels of ethical hacking, offering insights into both offensive and defensive techniques. Written by a seasoned professional with 20+ years of experience, this book covers attack tools, methodologies, and procedures, helping you enhance your skills in securing and defending networks.The book starts with foundational concepts such as footprinting, reconnaissance, scanning, enumeration, vulnerability assessment, and threat modeling. Next, you’ll progress to using specific tools and procedures for hacking Windows, Unix, web servers, applications, and databases. The book also gets you up to speed with malware analysis. Throughout the book, you’ll experience a smooth transition from theoretical concepts to hands-on techniques using various platforms. Finally, you’ll explore incident response, threat hunting, social engineering, IoT hacking, and cloud exploitation, which will help you address the complex aspects of ethical hacking.By the end of this book, you’ll have gained the skills you need to navigate the ever-changing world of cybersecurity.

Interpretable Machine Learning with Python. Build explainable, fair, and robust high-performance models with hands-on, real-world examples - Second Edition

Serg Masís, Aleksander Molak, Denis Rothman

Interpretable Machine Learning with Python, Second Edition, brings to light the key concepts of interpreting machine learning models by analyzing real-world data, providing you with a wide range of skills and tools to decipher the results of even the most complex models.Build your interpretability toolkit with several use cases, from flight delay prediction to waste classification to COMPAS risk assessment scores. This book is full of useful techniques, introducing them to the right use case. Learn traditional methods, such as feature importance and partial dependence plots to integrated gradients for NLP interpretations and gradient-based attribution methods, such as saliency maps.In addition to the step-by-step code, you’ll get hands-on with tuning models and training data for interpretability by reducing complexity, mitigating bias, placing guardrails, and enhancing reliability.By the end of the book, you’ll be confident in tackling interpretability challenges with black-box models using tabular, language, image, and time series data.

Machine Learning for Finance. Principles and practice for financial insiders

Jannes Klaas

Machine Learning for Finance explores new advances in machine learning and shows how they can be applied across the financial sector, including insurance, transactions, and lending. This book explains the concepts and algorithms behind the main machine learning techniques and provides example Python code for implementing the models yourself.The book is based on Jannes Klaas’ experience of running machine learning training courses for financial professionals. Rather than providing ready-made financial algorithms, the book focuses on advanced machine learning concepts and ideas that can be applied in a wide variety of ways.The book systematically explains how machine learning works on structured data, text, images, and time series. You'll cover generative adversarial learning, reinforcement learning, debugging, and launching machine learning products. Later chapters will discuss how to fight bias in machine learning. The book ends with an exploration of Bayesian inference and probabilistic programming.

scikit-learn: Machine Learning Simplified. Implement scikit-learn into every step of the data science pipeline

Guillermo Moncecchi, Raul G Tompson, Trent Hauck, Gavin Hackeling

Machine learning, the art of creating applications that learn from experience and data, has been around for many years. Python is quickly becoming the go-to language for analysts and data scientists due to its simplicity and flexibility; moreover, within the Python data space, scikit-learn is the unequivocal choice for machine learning. The course combines an introduction to some of the main concepts and methods in machine learning with practical, hands-on examples of real-world problems. The course starts by walking through different methods to prepare your data—be it a dataset with missing values or text columns that require the categories to be turned into indicator variables. After the data is ready, you'll learn different techniques aligned with different objectives—be it a dataset with known outcomes such as sales by state, or more complicated problems such as clustering similar customers. Finally, you'll learn how to polish your algorithm to ensure that it's both accurate and resilient to new datasets. You will learn to incorporate machine learning in your applications. Ranging from handwritten digit recognition to document classification, examples are solved step-by-step using scikit-learn and Python. By the end of this course you will have learned how to build applications that learn from experience, by applying the main concepts and techniques of machine learning.

Tkinter GUI Application Development Blueprints. Master GUI programming in Tkinter as you design, implement, and deliver 10 real-world applications

Bhaskar Chaudhary

Tkinter is the built-in GUI package that comes with standard Python distributions. It is a cross-platform package, which means you build once and deploy everywhere. It is simple to use and intuitive in nature, making it suitable for programmers and non-programmers alike. This book will help you master the art of GUI programming. It delivers the bigger picture of GUI programming by building real-world, productive, and fun applications such as a text editor, drum machine, game of chess, media player, drawing application, chat application, screen saver, port scanner, and many more. In every project, you will build on the skills acquired in the previous project and gain more expertise. You will learn to write multithreaded programs, network programs, database driven programs and more. You will also get to know the modern best practices involved in writing GUI apps. With its rich source of sample code, you can build upon the knowledge gained with this book and use it in your own projects in the discipline of your choice.

Learn Computer Forensics. A beginner's guide to searching, analyzing, and securing digital evidence

William Oettinger

A computer forensics investigator must possess a variety of skills, including the ability to answer legal questions, gather and document evidence, and prepare for an investigation. This book will help you get up and running with using digital forensic tools and techniques to investigate cybercrimes successfully. Starting with an overview of forensics and all the open source and commercial tools needed to get the job done, you'll learn core forensic practices for searching databases and analyzing data over networks, personal devices, and web applications. You'll then learn how to acquire valuable information from different places, such as filesystems, e-mails, browser histories, and search queries, and capture data remotely. As you advance, this book will guide you through implementing forensic techniques on multiple platforms, such as Windows, Linux, and macOS, to demonstrate how to recover valuable information as evidence. Finally, you'll get to grips with presenting your findings efficiently in judicial or administrative proceedings.By the end of this book, you'll have developed a clear understanding of how to acquire, analyze, and present digital evidence like a proficient computer forensics investigator.