Google SketchUp for Game Design: Beginner's Guide. Create 3D game worlds complete with textures, levels and props

Robin de Jongh, Robin de Jongh

Creating video game environments similar to the best 3D games on the market is now within the capability of hobbyists for the first time, with the free availability of game development software such as Unity 3D, and the ease with which groups of enthusiasts can get together to pool their skills for a game project. The sheer number of these independent game projects springing up means there is a constant need for game art, the physical 3D environment and objects that inhabit these game worlds. Now thanks to Google there is an easy, fun way to create professional game art, levels and props.Google SketchUp is the natural choice for beginners to game design. This book provides you with the workflow to quickly build realistic 3D environments, levels, and props to fill your game world. In simple steps you will model terrain, buildings, vehicles, and much more.Google SketchUp is the ideal entry level modeling tool for game design, allowing you to take digital photographs and turn them into 3D objects for quick, fun, game creation. SketchUp for Game Design takes you through the modeling of a game level with SketchUp and Unity 3D, complete with all game art, textures and props. You will learn how to create cars, buildings, terrain, tools and standard level props such as barrels, fencing and wooden pallets. You will set up your game level in Unity 3D to create a fully functional first person walk-around level to email to your friends or future employers.When you have completed the projects in this book, you will be comfortable creating 3D worlds, whether for games, visualization, or films.

Tableau Prep Cookbook. Use Tableau Prep to clean, combine, and transform your data for analysis

Hendrik Kleine

Tableau Prep is a tool in the Tableau software suite, created specifically to develop data pipelines. This book will describe, in detail, a variety of scenarios that you can apply in your environment for developing, publishing, and maintaining complex Extract, Transform and Load (ETL) data pipelines.The book starts by showing you how to set up Tableau Prep Builder. You’ll learn how to obtain data from various data sources, including files, databases, and Tableau Extracts. Next, the book demonstrates how to perform data cleaning and data aggregation in Tableau Prep Builder. You’ll also gain an understanding of Tableau Prep Builder and how you can leverage it to create data pipelines that prepare your data for downstream analytics processes, including reporting and dashboard creation in Tableau. As part of a Tableau Prep flow, you’ll also explore how to use R and Python to implement data science components inside a data pipeline. In the final chapter, you’ll apply the knowledge you’ve gained to build two use cases from scratch, including a data flow for a retail store to prepare a robust dataset using multiple disparate sources and a data flow for a call center to perform ad hoc data analysis.By the end of this book, you’ll be able to create, run, and publish Tableau Prep flows and implement solutions to common problems in data pipelines.

Industrial IoT for Architects and Engineers. Architecting secure, robust, and scalable industrial IoT solutions with AWS

Joey Bernal, Bharath Sridhar

When it comes to using the core and managed services available on AWS for making decisions about architectural environments for an enterprise, there are as many challenges as there are advantages. This Industrial IoT book follows the journey of data from the shop floor to the boardroom, identifying goals and aiding in strong architectural decision-making.You’ll begin from the ground up, analyzing environment needs and understanding what is required from the captured data, applying industry standards and conventions throughout the process. This will help you realize why digital integration is crucial and how to approach an Industrial IoT project from a holistic perspective. As you advance, you’ll delve into the operational technology realm and consider integration patterns with common industrial protocols for data gathering and analysis with direct connectivity to data through sensors or systems. The book will equip you with the essentials for designing industrial IoT architectures while also covering intelligence at the edge and creating a greater awareness of the role of machine learning and artificial intelligence in overcoming architectural challenges.By the end of this book, you’ll be ready to apply IoT directly to the industry while adapting the concepts covered to implement AWS IoT technologies.

Midjourney. Leverage The Future Of Creativity

Adrian Twarog

Unleash the full potential of Midjourney by mastering the essentials of prompt creation. The book begins with an in-depth exploration of prompt anatomy, teaching you the key components that make up an effective input. From there, you'll move on to crafting your first Midjourney prompt, gaining confidence as you bring your creative ideas to life.As you progress, you'll delve into the vital commands and the parameter list that enable you to fine-tune your results. Each concept is broken down into actionable insights, ensuring you fully understand how to control Midjourney’s output. By learning the interplay of these elements, you’ll start crafting outputs tailored to your vision.Finally, advanced techniques take center stage, showing you how to push the boundaries of your creativity. Whether you're creating stunning visuals, refining complex ideas, or exploring new ways to express yourself, this course equips you with the tools and knowledge to excel in the world of Midjourney.

Asynchronous Android Programming. Click here to enter text. - Second Edition

Helder Vasconcelos, Steve Liles

Asynchronous programming has acquired immense importance in Android programming, especially when we want to make use of the number of independent processing units (cores) available on the most recent Android devices. With this guide in your hands you’ll be able to bring the power of Asynchronous programming to your own projects, and make your Android apps more powerful than ever before!To start with, we will discuss the details of the Android Process model and the Java Low Level Concurrent Framework, delivered by Android SDK. We will also guide you through the high-level Android-specific constructs available on the SDK: Handler, AsyncTask, and Loader. Next, we will discuss the creation of IntentServices, Bound Services and External Services, which can run in the background even when the user is not interacting with it. You will also discover AlarmManager and JobScheduler APIs, which are used to schedule and defer work without sacrificing the battery life. In a more advanced phase, you will create background tasks that are able to execute CPU-intensive tasks in a native code-making use of the Android NDK. You will be then guided through the process of interacting with remote services asynchronously using the HTTP protocol or Google GCM Platform. Using the EventBus library, we will also show how to use the Publish-Subscribe software pattern to simplify communication between the different Android application components by decoupling the event producer from event consumer.Finally, we will introduce RxJava, a popular asynchronous Java framework used to compose work in a concise and reactive way. Asynchronous Android will help you to build well-behaved applications with smooth responsive user interfaces that delight the users with speedy results and data that’s always fresh.

IBM WebSphere Application Server v7.0 Security. For IBM WebSphere users, this is the complete guide to securing your applications with Java EE and JAAS security standards. From a far-ranging overview to the fundamentals of data encryption, all the essentials are here

Omar P Siliceo (USD), Omar Siliceo

In these days of high-profile hacking, server security is no less important than securing your application or network. In addition many companies must comply with government security regulations. No matter how secure your application is, your business is still at risk if your server is vulnerable. Here is how you solve your WebSphere server security worries in the best possible way.This tutorial is focused towards ways in which you can avoid security loop holes. You will learn to solve issues that can cause bother when getting started with securing your IBM WebSphere Application Server v7.0 installation. Moreover, the author has documented details in an easy-to-read format, by providing engaging hands-on exercises and mini-projects.The book starts with an in-depth analysis of the global and administrative security features of WebSphere Application Server v7.0, followed by comprehensive coverage of user registries for user authentication and authorization information. Moving on you will build on the concepts introduced and get hands-on with a mini project. From the next chapter you work with the different front-end architectures of WAS along with the Secure Socket Layer protocol, which offer transport layer security through data encryption.You learn user authentication and data encryption, which demonstrate how a clear text channel can be made safer by using SSL transport to encrypt its data. The book will show you how to enable an enterprise application hosted in a WebSphere Application Server environment to interact with other applications, resources, and services available in a corporate infrastructure. Platform hardening, tuning parameters for tightening security, and troubleshooting are some of the aspects of WebSphere Application Server v7.0 security that are explored in the book. Every chapter builds strong security foundations, by demonstrating concepts and practicing them through the use of dynamic, web-based mini-projects.

Modern Graph Theory Algorithms with Python. Harness the power of graph algorithms and real-world network applications using Python

Colleen M. Farrelly, Franck Kalala Mutombo, Michael Giske

We are living in the age of big data, and scalable solutions are a necessity. Network science leverages the power of graph theory and flexible data structures to analyze big data at scale.This book guides you through the basics of network science, showing you how to wrangle different types of data (such as spatial and time series data) into network structures. You’ll be introduced to core tools from network science to analyze real-world case studies in Python. As you progress, you’ll find out how to predict fake news spread, track pricing patterns in local markets, forecast stock market crashes, and stop an epidemic spread. Later, you’ll learn about advanced techniques in network science, such as creating and querying graph databases, classifying datasets with graph neural networks (GNNs), and mining educational pathways for insights into student success. Case studies in the book will provide you with end-to-end examples of implementing what you learn in each chapter.By the end of this book, you’ll be well-equipped to wrangle your own datasets into network science problems and scale solutions with Python.

Odoo 14 Development Cookbook. Rapidly build, customize, and manage secure and efficient business apps using Odoo's latest features - Fourth Edition

Parth Gajjar, Alexandre Fayolle, Holger Brunn, Daniel Reis

With its latest iteration, the powerful Odoo framework released a wide variety of features for rapid application development. This updated Odoo development cookbook will help you explore the new features in Odoo 14 and learn how to use them to develop Odoo applications from scratch. You'll learn about the new website concepts in Odoo 14 and get a glimpse of Odoo's new web-client framework, the Odoo Web Library (OWL).Once you've completed the installation, you'll begin to explore the Odoo framework with real-world examples. You'll then create a new Odoo module from the ground up and progress to advanced framework concepts. You'll also learn how to modify existing applications, including Point of Sale (POS) applications. This book isn't just limited to backend development; you'll discover advanced JavaScript recipes for creating new views and widgets. As you progress, you'll learn about website development and become a quality Odoo developer by studying performance optimization, debugging, and automated testing. Finally, you'll delve into advanced concepts such as multi-website, In-App Purchasing (IAP), Odoo.sh, the IoT Box, and security.By the end of the book, you'll have all the knowledge you need to build impressive Odoo applications and you'll be well versed in development best practices that will come in handy when working with the Odoo framework.

Git Essentials. Create, merge, and distribute code with Git, the most powerful and flexible versioning system available

Ferdinando Santacroce

Python: End-to-end Data Analysis. Leverage the power of Python to clean, scrape, analyze, and visualize your data

Ivan Idris, Luiz Felipe Martins, Martin Czygan, Phuong Vo.T.H, ...

Data analysis is the process of applying logical and analytical reasoning to study each component of data present in the system. Python is a multi-domain, high-level, programming language that offers a range of tools and libraries suitable for all purposes, it has slowly evolved as one of the primary languages for data science. Have you ever imagined becoming an expert at effectively approaching data analysis problems, solving them, and extracting all of the available information from your data? If yes, look no further, this is the course you need!In this course, we will get you started with Python data analysis by introducing the basics of data analysis and supported Python libraries such as matplotlib, NumPy, and pandas. Create visualizations by choosing color maps, different shapes, sizes, and palettes then delve into statistical data analysis using distribution algorithms and correlations. You’ll then find your way around different data and numerical problems, get to grips with Spark and HDFS, and set up migration scripts for web mining. You’ll be able to quickly and accurately perform hands-on sorting, reduction, and subsequent analysis, and fully appreciate how data analysis methods can support business decision-making. Finally, you will delve into advanced techniques such as performing regression, quantifying cause and effect using Bayesian methods, and discovering how to use Python’s tools for supervised machine learning.The course provides you with highly practical content explaining data analysis with Python, from the following Packt books:1. Getting Started with Python Data Analysis.2. Python Data Analysis Cookbook.3. Mastering Python Data Analysis.By the end of this course, you will have all the knowledge you need to analyze your data with varying complexity levels, and turn it into actionable insights.

Technical Program Manager's Handbook. Unlock your TPM potential by leading technical projects successfully and elevating your career path - Second Edition

Joshua Alan Teter

The role of the Technical Program Manager (TPM) is crucial in the tech industry, bridging the gap between technical expertise and business acumen. The second edition of the Technical Program Manager’s Handbook offers a comprehensive guide to excelling in this role. Building on the foundational concepts from the first edition, this updated version introduces new chapters that explore the integration of AI and Emotional Intelligence (EI) in program management. These crucial additions complement the broader focus of the book on bridging business and technology but don’t overshadow it. You'll learn how to apply AI-driven tools to enhance project planning, risk management, and stakeholder communication, as well as how to leverage EI to build strong team relationships and improve leadership effectiveness.This book provides practical tools, methodologies, and case studies, offering insights from industry leaders to help both aspiring and practicing TPMs apply advanced concepts and strategies effectively. It also explores the unique aspects of the TPM role in major tech companies, helping you to navigate and thrive in your career.By the end of this book, you'll have a clear understanding of the TPM role, along with a breakdown of the necessary technical and program management skills, to develop a clear roadmap for your career.

Learning PowerShell DSC. Get started with the fundamentals of PowerShell DSC and utilize its power to automate deployment and configuration of your servers

James Pogran

Getting Started with Docker. Master the Art of Containerization with Docker

Nigel Poulton

Embark on an exciting journey into the realm of Docker, where you'll discover the transformative potential of containerization. The course begins with an introduction to containers, providing a solid foundation for understanding their importance in modern software development. You'll then learn how to install Docker, setting up your environment for success.As you progress, you'll run your first container, gaining hands-on experience with Docker's core functionalities. The course delves into containerizing applications, offering practical insights into creating and managing Docker images. You'll explore Docker registries, learning how to store and share your images efficiently.The adventure continues with multi-container applications using Docker Compose. You'll master the skills needed to orchestrate complex applications, ensuring smooth integration and deployment. The course also introduces Docker's integration with WebAssembly, showcasing cutting-edge techniques to further enhance your development process. By the end, you'll be equipped with the knowledge and confidence to take your containerization skills to the next level.

Hands-On Genetic Algorithms with Python. Apply genetic algorithms to solve real-world AI and machine learning problems - Second Edition

Eyal Wirsansky

Written by Eyal Wirsansky, a senior data scientist and AI researcher with over 25 years of experience and a research background in genetic algorithms and neural networks, Hands-On Genetic Algorithms with Python offers expert insights and practical knowledge to master genetic algorithms.After an introduction to genetic algorithms and their principles of operation, you’ll find out how they differ from traditional algorithms and the types of problems they can solve, followed by applying them to search and optimization tasks such as planning, scheduling, gaming, and analytics. As you progress, you’ll delve into explainable AI and apply genetic algorithms to AI to improve machine learning and deep learning models, as well as tackle reinforcement learning and NLP tasks. This updated second edition further expands on applying genetic algorithms to NLP and XAI and speeding up genetic algorithms with concurrency and cloud computing. You’ll also get to grips with the NEAT algorithm. The book concludes with an image reconstruction project and other related technologies for future applications.By the end of this book, you’ll have gained hands-on experience in applying genetic algorithms across a variety of fields, with emphasis on artificial intelligence with Python.

RubyMotion iOS Development Essentials. Forget the complexity of developing iOS applications with Objective-C; with this hands-on guide you'll soon be embracing the logic and versatility of RubyMotion. From installation to development to testing, all the essentials are here

Abhishek Nalwaya, Akshat Paul

RubyMotion is a revolutionary toolchain for iOS app development. With RubyMotion, you can quickly develop and test native iOS apps for the iPhone and iPad, combining the expressiveness and simplicity of Ruby with the power of the iOS SDK.RubyMotion iOS Development Essentials is a hands-on guide for developing iOS apps using RubyMotion. With RubyMotion, you can eliminate the complexity and confusion associated with the development of iOS applications using Objective-C.We'll begin from scratch. Starting by installing RubyMotion, we'll build ourselves up to developing an app that uses the various device capabilities iOS has to offer. What's more, we'll even learn how to launch your app on the App Store!We'll also learn to use iOS SDK classes to create application views. Discover how to use the camera, geolocation, gestures, and other device capabilities to create engaging, interactive apps. We'll develop stunning user interfaces faster with the XCode interface builder and make web apps by using WebView. We'll then augment applications with RubyMotion gems, doing more by writing less code and learn how to write test cases for RubyMotion projects. Finally, we'll understand the app submission process to push your app to Apple's App StoreWith RubyMotion iOS Development Essentials, we will learn how to create iOS apps with ease. At the end of each chapter we will have a tangible and running app, which utilizes the concepts we have learnt in that chapter.

Burp Suite Cookbook. Web application security made easy with Burp Suite - Second Edition

Dr. Sunny Wear

With its many features, easy-to-use interface, and fl exibility, Burp Suite is the top choice for professionals looking to strengthen web application and API security.This book off ers solutions to challenges related to identifying, testing, and exploiting vulnerabilities in web applications and APIs. It provides guidance on identifying security weaknesses in diverse environments by using diff erent test cases. Once you’ve learned how to confi gure Burp Suite, the book will demonstrate the eff ective utilization of its tools, such as Live tasks, Scanner, Intruder, Repeater, and Decoder, enabling you to evaluate the security vulnerability of target applications. Additionally, you’ll explore various Burp extensions and the latest features of Burp Suite, including DOM Invader.By the end of this book, you’ll have acquired the skills needed to confi dently use Burp Suite to conduct comprehensive security assessments of web applications and APIs.