Publisher: Packt Publishing
Founded in 2004 in Birmingham, UK, Packt's mission is to help the world put software to work in new ways, through the delivery of effective learning and information services to IT professionals. Working towards that vision, we have published over 6,500 books and videos so far, providing IT professionals with the actionable knowledge they need to get the job done - whether that's specific learning on an emerging technology or optimizing key skills in more established tools. As part of our mission, we have also awarded over $1,000,000 through our Open Source Project Royalty scheme, helping numerous projects become household names along the way.
3289
Ebook

Azure Synapse Analytics Cookbook. Implement a limitless analytical platform using effective recipes for Azure Synapse

Gaurav Agarwal, Meenakshi Muralidharan, Dr Rohini Srivathsa

As data warehouse management becomes increasingly integral to successful organizations, choosing and running the right solution is more important than ever. Microsoft Azure Synapse is an enterprise-grade, cloud-based data warehousing platform, and this book holds the key to using Synapse to its full potential. If you want the skills and confidence to create a robust enterprise analytical platform, this cookbook is a great place to start.You'll learn and execute enterprise-level deployments on medium-to-large data platforms. Using the step-by-step recipes and accompanying theory covered in this book, you'll understand how to integrate various services with Synapse to make it a robust solution for all your data needs. Whether you're new to Azure Synapse or just getting started, you'll find the instructions you need to solve any problem you may face, including using Azure services for data visualization as well as for artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) solutions.By the end of this Azure book, you'll have the skills you need to implement an enterprise-grade analytical platform, enabling your organization to explore and manage heterogeneous data workloads and employ various data integration services to solve real-time industry problems.

3290
Ebook

Python Made Easy. A First Course in Computer Programming Using Python

Kevin Wilson

Python Made Easy is designed to transform beginners into proficient Python programmers. The journey begins with an introduction to Python, covering basic concepts and syntax that lay the foundation for your coding skills. As you progress, you'll dive into essential programming constructs like data structures, functions, and file handling.In the second phase of the course, you'll explore more complex topics such as object-oriented programming, modules, and libraries. These sections will give you the tools to write efficient, reusable, and modular code. You'll also learn how to handle exceptions, ensuring your programs are robust and error-resistant. Special attention is given to graphical user interfaces (GUIs) and game development, making your Python skills applicable to a wide range of projects.The final part of the course covers advanced topics like debugging, testing, and deploying Python applications. You'll also delve into web development, where you'll learn to build and deploy web applications using Python. The course concludes with valuable video resources to reinforce your learning and provide additional insights. By the end of this course, you'll have a solid understanding of Python and be ready to tackle real-world programming challenges.

3291
Ebook
3292
Ebook

Learning Magento 2 Administration. Maximize the power of Magento 2 to improve your e-commerce business

Bret Williams, Cyndi Williams

Magento 2 has been completely re-written and re-designed to take the world’s most popular open source e-commerce platform to new heights of productivity and usability. With this overhaul comes improved opportunities to leverage the world’s most successful open source e-commerce platform for your online retail and wholesale business. The focus of this book is on operational aspects: those actions you, as a proprietor, can take to give your customers a more delightful shopping experience. In this guide, we delve into all aspects of managing a Magento 2 store, from product creation to marketing, customer management to search engine optimization. This book is not only a step-by-step course in setting up your Magento 2 website, it will be a handy reference as continue to improve and refine your online presence.

3293
Ebook

AWS DevOps Simplified. Build a solid foundation in AWS to deliver enterprise-grade software solutions at scale

Akshay Kapoor, Paul Duvall

DevOps and AWS are the two key enablers for the success of any modern software-run business. DevOps accelerates software delivery, while AWS offers a plethora of services, allowing developers to prioritize business outcomes without worrying about undifferentiated heavy lifting. This book focuses on the synergy between them, equipping you with strong foundations, hands-on examples, and a strategy to accelerate your DevOps journey on AWS.AWS DevOps Simplified is a practical guide that starts with an introduction to AWS DevOps offerings and aids you in choosing a cloud service that fits your company's operating model. Following this, it provides hands-on tutorials on the GitOps approach to software delivery, covering immutable infrastructure and pipelines, using tools such as Packer, CDK, and CodeBuild/CodeDeploy. Additionally, it provides you with a deep understanding of AWS container services and how to implement observability and DevSecOps best practices to build and operate your multi-account, multi-Region AWS environments.By the end of this book, you’ll be equipped with solutions and ready-to-deploy code samples that address common DevOps challenges faced by enterprises hosting workloads in the cloud.

3294
Ebook

IBM Lotus Sametime 8 Essentials: A User's Guide. Mastering Online Enterprise Communication with this collaborative software

Marie L. Scott, Thomas Duff, Marie L Kovalchick, Thomas William Duff

IBM Lotus Sametime software allows you to collaborate and communicate with others in real time. By using Sametime, you can communicate with your peers and teammates with the Sametime Connect client, embedded Sametime integration with Lotus Notes or Microsoft Outlook e-mail, or on mobile devices like a Blackberry. You will be able to connect to your colleagues via text, voice, video, or by setting up an online meeting with colleagues in several sites or countries getting the information you need to do your job and make better and faster decisions.This user guide enables you, no matter what your skill level, to develop and increase your knowledge of Sametime and how to use each feature from start to finish. It shows how you can effectively collaborate with your colleagues and teammates both in your organization and outside your organization by using the features of Sametime. It's practical, and most of all, fun!This book takes you from the basics of Sametime through to the most advanced features with a focus on real work-related situations along with plenty of screen prints to guide you. You'll learn everything from how to conduct a quick chat to conducting an online meeting. Or perhaps you want to learn how to take advantage of Sametime's telephony features or set up an online poll? The book starts by teaching you how to install Sametime and set up a contact list of people with whom you interact. Next, you learn how the chat feature of Sametime works, from using basic text to sharing screen-capture images. You learn how to use Sametime both within an organization and with other external instant messaging services like AOL, Yahoo, and Google. However, Sametime isn't restricted to just the Sametime client. You learn how to use Sametime from a web browser as well as from a mobile device. Meeting rooms with screen sharing, whiteboarding, audio, and video features are covered, as well as how Sametime integrates into an organization's phone system so that you can have a single place to go for all your communication and collaboration needs. Learn how Sametime advanced features like persistent chats and broadcast communities can help your project teams stay organized. And finally learn about Sametime 8.5 and 8.5.1.

3295
Ebook

Becoming an Enterprise Django Developer. Discover best practices, tooling, and solutions for writing and organizing Django applications in production

Michael Dinder

Django is a powerful framework but choosing the right add-ons that match the scale and scope of your enterprise projects can be tricky. This book will help you explore the multifarious options available for enterprise Django development. Countless organizations are already using Django and more migrating to it, unleashing the power of Python with many different packages and dependencies, including AI technologies.This practical guide will help you understand practices, blueprints, and design decisions to put Django to work the way you want it to. You’ll learn various ways in which data can be rendered onto a page and discover the power of Django for large-scale production applications. Starting with the basics of getting an enterprise project up and running, you'll get to grips with maintaining the project throughout its lifecycle while learning what the Django application lifecycle is.By the end of this book, you'll have learned how to build and deploy a Django project to the web and implement various components into the site.

3296
Ebook
3297
Ebook

Building Websites with VB.NET and DotNetNuke 3.0

Shaun Walker, Daniel N Egan, Daniel N. Egan

DotNetNukeDotNetNuke is a free, open source evolution of Microsoft's celebrated ASP.NET reference implementation, the IBuySpy Portal Solution Kit. DotNetNuke began life as a framework for constructing data-driven intranet and Internet portal applications. It has now developed into an advanced web content management system with tools to manage a dynamic and interactive data-driven website.If you work with ASP.NET and VB.NET, and want an interactive website, with forums, news and image management, where visitors can register, participate and contribute to your site, then DotNetNuke is the ideal solution for you. This book is your indispensable guide to creating content-rich websites with DotNetNuke 3.0, as quickly as possible.The first part of this book gives you a deep understanding of working with basic DotNetNuke sites, guiding you through the features and giving you the confidence to create and manage your own site. After that, you will journey to the heart of DotNetNuke, and learn about its core architecture. From there, you will learn how to customize DotNetNuke sites through skinning and creating custom modules. Enhancing your site with forums and ecommerce functionality, creating multiple sites and deploying your site round off the book. You will master each of these topics as you leap into the development of a DotNetNuke 3.0 site.

3298
Ebook

Test Automation Engineering Handbook. Learn and implement techniques for building robust test automation frameworks

Manikandan Sambamurthy

This book helps you build a better understanding of test automation and aids in bridging the gap between testing and test automation.The book has been divided into three sections with the first section focusing on preparing you for testing and test automation fundamentals. By the end of this section, you’ll have an understanding of some common automation terms, definitions, and roles. The second section covers the practical implementation of test automation for mobile, web, API and performance. The third section will help you understand how test automation works with CI/CD, and explore the common issues and pitfalls when executing test automation.By the end of this book, you’ll have a better understanding of automation, addressing the common pain points and best practices around test automation.

3299
Ebook

Moodle 4 Security. Enhance security, regulation, and compliance within your Moodle infrastructure

Ian Wild

Online learning platforms have revolutionized the teaching landscape, but with this comes the imperative of securing your students' private data in the digital realm. Have you taken every measure to ensure their data's security? Are you aligned with your organization’s cybersecurity standards? What about your insurer and your country’s data protection regulations?This book offers practical insights through real-world examples to ensure compliance. Equipping you with tools, techniques, and approaches, Moodle 4 Security guides you in mitigating potential threats to your Moodle platform. Dedicated chapters on understanding vulnerabilities familiarize you with the threat landscape so that you can manage your server effectively, keeping bad actors at bay and configuring Moodle for optimal user and data protection.By the end of the book, you’ll have gained a comprehensive understanding of Moodle’s security issues and how to address them. You’ll also be able to demonstrate the safety of your Moodle platform, assuring stakeholders that their data is measurably safer.

3300
Ebook
3301
Ebook

Python API Development Fundamentals. Develop a full-stack web application with Python and Flask

Jack Chan, Ray Chung, Jack Huang

Python is a flexible language that can be used for much more than just script development. By knowing the Python RESTful APIs work, you can build a powerful backend for web applications and mobile applications using Python.You'll take your first steps by building a simple API and learning how the frontend web interface can communicate with the backend. You'll also learn how to serialize and deserialize objects using the marshmallow library. Then, you'll learn how to authenticate and authorize users using Flask-JWT. You'll also learn how to enhance your APIs by adding useful features, such as email, image upload, searching, and pagination. You'll wrap up the whole book by deploying your APIs to the cloud.By the end of this book, you'll have the confidence and skill to leverage the power of RESTful APIs and Python to build efficient web applications.

3302
Ebook

Machine Learning on Kubernetes. A practical handbook for building and using a complete open source machine learning platform on Kubernetes

Faisal Masood, Ross Brigoli

MLOps is an emerging field that aims to bring repeatability, automation, and standardization of the software engineering domain to data science and machine learning engineering. By implementing MLOps with Kubernetes, data scientists, IT professionals, and data engineers can collaborate and build machine learning solutions that deliver business value for their organization.You'll begin by understanding the different components of a machine learning project. Then, you'll design and build a practical end-to-end machine learning project using open source software. As you progress, you'll understand the basics of MLOps and the value it can bring to machine learning projects. You will also gain experience in building, configuring, and using an open source, containerized machine learning platform. In later chapters, you will prepare data, build and deploy machine learning models, and automate workflow tasks using the same platform. Finally, the exercises in this book will help you get hands-on experience in Kubernetes and open source tools, such as JupyterHub, MLflow, and Airflow.By the end of this book, you'll have learned how to effectively build, train, and deploy a machine learning model using the machine learning platform you built.

3303
Ebook

ChatGPT and AI for Accountants. A practitioner's guide to harnessing the power of GenAI to revolutionize your accounting practice

Dr. Scott Dell, Dr. Mfon Akpan

In the fast-paced AI world, accounting professionals are increasingly challenged by the complexities of AI. Many struggle to integrate these advanced tools into their workflows, leading to a sense of overwhelm. ChatGPT for Accounting bridges this gap by not only simplifying AI concepts but also offering practical insights for its application in various accounting domains.This book takes you from the foundational principles of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) to its practical applications in audits, tax planning, practice management, fraud examination, financial analysis, and beyond. Each chapter equips you with essential skills, showing you how AI can revolutionize internal control systems, enhance recruitment processes, streamline marketing plans, optimize tax strategies, and boost efficiency in audits. You’ll then advance to exploring the role of AI in forensic accounting, financial analysis, managerial accounting, and corporate governance, while also addressing ethical and security implications.Concluding with a reflective outlook on the promises and challenges of AI, you’ll gain a holistic view of the future of accounting. By the end of this book, you’ll be equipped with the knowledge to harness the power of AI effectively and ethically, transforming your accounting practice and staying ahead in the ever-evolving landscape.

3304
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3305
Ebook

Shading, Lighting, and Rendering with Blender EEVEE. Create amazing concept art 12 times faster using a real-time rendering engine

Sammie Crowder

Blender is the most important up-and-coming 3D software package in the world. EEVEE, a state-of-the-art real-time rendering engine is a fairly new addition to Blender and provides the capacity to create artwork at blazing speed, almost 12 times faster than Cycles.Lighting, Shading, and Rendering with Blender’s EEVEE provides a high-level overview of what EEVEE is capable of, then teaches users about Geometry Nodes, Rendering Techniques, using shortcuts like Kitbashing and Alphas to speed up scene creation, volumetrics, reflections, adding lights, cameras and even special effects like fire and smoke, all in EEVEE. All of this is in the context of creating actual scenes that readers will work through from start to finish. By the time a Blender Artist completes the book, they will have created three separate works that have challenged them to iterate and design with the full power of Blender’s EEVEE.

3306
Ebook

iOS 10 Programming for Beginners. Explore the latest iOS 10 and Swift 3 features

Craig Clayton

You want to build iOS applications for iPhone and iPad—but where do you start? Forget sifting through tutorials and blog posts, this is a direct route into iOS development, taking you through the basics and showing you how to put the principles into practice. With every update, iOS has become more and more developer-friendly, so take advantage of it and begin building applications that might just take the App Store by storm!Whether you’re an experienced programmer or a complete novice, this book guides you through every facet of iOS development. From Xcode and Swift—the building blocks of modern Apple development—and Playgrounds for beginners, one of the most popular features of the iOS development experience, you’ll quickly gain a solid foundation to begin venturing deeper into your development journey. For the experienced programmer, jump right in and learn the latest iOS 10 features.You’ll also learn the core elements of iOS design, from tables to tab bars, as well as more advanced topics such as gestures and animations that can give your app the edge. Find out how to manage databases, as well as integrating standard elements such as photos, GPS into your app. With further guidance on beta testing with TestFlight, you’ll quickly learn everything you need to get your project on the App Store!

3307
Ebook

Building Machine Learning Systems with Python. Expand your Python knowledge and learn all about machine-learning libraries in this user-friendly manual. ML is the next big breakthrough in technology and this book will give you the head-start you need

Willi Richert, Luis Pedro Coelho

Machine learning, the field of building systems that learn from data, is exploding on the Web and elsewhere. Python is a wonderful language in which to develop machine learning applications. As a dynamic language, it allows for fast exploration and experimentation and an increasing number of machine learning libraries are developed for Python.Building Machine Learning system with Python shows you exactly how to find patterns through raw data. The book starts by brushing up on your Python ML knowledge and introducing libraries, and then moves on to more serious projects on datasets, Modelling, Recommendations, improving recommendations through examples and sailing through sound and image processing in detail. Using open-source tools and libraries, readers will learn how to apply methods to text, images, and sounds. You will also learn how to evaluate, compare, and choose machine learning techniques. Written for Python programmers, Building Machine Learning Systems with Python teaches you how to use open-source libraries to solve real problems with machine learning. The book is based on real-world examples that the user can build on.Readers will learn how to write programs that classify the quality of StackOverflow answers or whether a music file is Jazz or Metal. They will learn regression, which is demonstrated on how to recommend movies to users. Advanced topics such as topic modeling (finding a text's most important topics), basket analysis, and cloud computing are covered as well as many other interesting aspects.Building Machine Learning Systems with Python will give you the tools and understanding required to build your own systems, which are tailored to solve your problems.

3308
Ebook

Enhancing Microsoft Content Management Server with ASP.NET 2.0. Use the powerful new features of ASP.NET 2.0 with your MCMS Websites

Lim Mei Ying, Spencer Harbar, Stefan Gossner

The release of Microsoft Content Management Server (MCMS) Service Pack 2 opens up the world of ASP.NET 2.0 to MCMS developers. Written by the masters of MCMS, this book shows you how to use the new features of ASP.NET 2.0 that everyone is talking about in your MCMS development.You will first learn how to install and configure MCMS SP2. There are two approaches to setting up a development environment for SP2: an upgrade from a previous SP1a installation or starting from scratch and building a fresh installation including SP2. Of course, both approaches are covered.You will become familiar with the MCMS Service Pack 2 development environment, and create custom Visual Studio 2005 templates to overcome some of the issues which are present with the templates shipped with MCMS SP2.After that, its time to look at some of the most exciting features of ASP.NET 2.0, and how you can make use of them in MCMS: master pages, site navigation, themes, and the membership provider model.One of the coolest features introduced with ASP.NET 2.0 is master pages, which allow developers to enforce common layout and behaviour across pages within an application. You will learn about the benefits of using master pages and see a step-by-step guide for implementing them in your MCMS applications, where they become master templates!ASP.NET 2.0 introduces a whole new way of implementing site navigation, driven by site maps. By programmatically adding channels and postings to a site map you will see how to smoothly integrate these controls to any MCMS site.To customize the look of your site, we will see how a common look and feel can be applied efficiently to a MCMS site by using ASP.NET 2.0 themes. An essential customization required for themes to work correctly in an MCMS site is a must-read feature of this chapter.MCMS has its own role based authorization and user management system which cannot be extended. However, the new ASP.NET 2.0 Membership Provider Model and the shipped controls can be used within MCMS applications to improve the implementation of Forms Authentication and provide a more elegant solution for authenticating against an external store.A collection of tips and tricks round off the book, including using the Provider Model design pattern to ease migration to Office SharePoint Portal Server

3309
Ebook

Instant .NET 4.5 Extension Methods How-to. Utilize and harness the power of extension methods in your .NET applications

Shawn R. McLean, Shawn Ricardo Mclean

.NET extension methods is an essential feature to know and understand for all .NET developers. Usage of extension methods is found in applications ranging from small to large scale enterprise systems built using the .NET framework. Create and use extension methods the correct way to save your development time and maintainability costs.Instant .NET 4.5 Extension Methods How-to is a practical, hands-on guide that provides you with a number of clear, step-by-step exercises that will help you take advantage of the real power that is behind extension methods and gives you good knowledge of how to use them in your .NET applications.This book covers how to create, write, and use different types of extension methods. It will take you through a number of clear, practical recipes that will help you take advantage of the power of extension methods in the quickest possible way.You will also learn exactly how to create extension methods on strings, interfaces, classes such as IQueryable and IEnumerable, and so on. You will write them from scratch and then use them practically in your application. You will also learn the most suitable scenarios for using these extension methods.You will learn everything you need to know about creating your own extension methods and using them and other external extension methods.

3310
Ebook

JavaScript for .NET Developers. Developing for the modern web

Ovais Mehboob Ahmed Khan

If you want to improve responsiveness or the UX in your ASP.NET applications, JavaScript can be a life saver. In an age where server-side operations have shifted to the client, being able to handle JavaScript with confidence and fluency is vital for ASP.NET developers. There’s no point trying to fight it, so start learning with this book. Make sure your projects exceed user expectations.Begin by getting stuck into the basics of JavaScript, and explore the language in the context of ASP.NET Core. You’ll then find out how to put the principles into practice, as you learn how to develop a basic ASP.NET application using Angular 2 and TypeScript. You’ll also develop essential skills required to develop responsive apps, with a little help from AJAX, ensuring that you’re building projects that can be easily accessed across different devices. With guidance on Node.js and some neat techniques to test and debug a range of JavaScript libraries in Visual Studio, you’ll soon be well on your way to combining JavaScript with ASP.NET in a way that’s capable of meeting the challenges of modern web development head-on.

3311
Ebook

Moodle 1.9 Teaching Techniques. Creative ways to build powerful and effective online courses

Moodle Trust, Susan Smith Nash, William Rice, William Rice

Moodle is the world's most popular, free open-source Learning Management System (LMS). It is vast and has lots to offer. More and more colleges, universities, and training providers are using Moodle, which has helped revolutionize e-learning with its flexible, reusable platform and components. It works best when you feel confident that the tools you have at hand will allow you to create exactly what you need.This book brings together step-by-step, easy-to-follow instructions and learning theory to give you new tools and new power with Moodle. It will show you how to connect with your online students, and how and where they develop an enthusiastic, open, and trusting relationship with their fellow students and with you, their instructor. With this book, you'll learn to get the best from Moodle.This book helps you develop good, solid, dynamic courses that will last by making sure that your instructional design is robust, and that they are built around satisfying learning objectives and course outcomes. With this book, you'll have excellent support and step-by-step guidance for putting together courses that incorporate your choice of the many features that Moodle offers. You will also find the best way to create effective assessments, and how to create them for now and in the future. The book will also introduce you to many modules, which you can use to make your course unique and create an environment where your students will get maximum benefit. In addition, you will learn how you can save time and reuse your best ideas by taking advantage of Moodle's unique features.

3312
Ebook

Designing Microservices Platforms with NATS. A modern approach to designing and implementing scalable microservices platforms with NATS messaging

Chanaka Fernando

Building a scalable microservices platform that caters to business demands is critical to the success of that platform. In a microservices architecture, inter-service communication becomes a bottleneck when the platform scales. This book provides a reference architecture along with a practical example of how to implement it for building microservices-based platforms with NATS as the messaging backbone for inter-service communication.In Designing Microservices Platforms with NATS, you’ll learn how to build a scalable and manageable microservices platform with NATS. The book starts by introducing concepts relating to microservices architecture, inter-service communication, messaging backbones, and the basics of NATS messaging. You’ll be introduced to a reference architecture that uses these concepts to build a scalable microservices platform and guided through its implementation. Later, the book touches on important aspects of platform securing and monitoring with the help of the reference implementation. Finally, the book concludes with a chapter on best practices to follow when integrating with existing platforms and the future direction of microservices architecture and NATS messaging as a whole.By the end of this microservices book, you’ll have developed the skills to design and implement microservices platforms with NATS.