OpenStack Object Storage (Swift) Essentials. Design, implement, and successfully manage your cloud storage using OpenStack Swift

Kris Rajana, Sreedhar Varma, Amar Kapadia, Shilla Saebi

Moodle 2.0 First Look. Discover what's new in Moodle 2.0, how the new features work, and how it will impact you

Mary Cooch, Moodle Trust

Moodle is currently the world's most popular E-learning platform. The long-awaited second version of Moodle is now available and brings with it greatly improved functionality. If you are planning to upgrade your site to Moodle 2.0 and want to be up-to-date with the latest developments, then this book is for you.This book takes an in-depth look at all of the major new features in Moodle 2.0 and how it differs from previous Moodle versions. It highlights changes to the standard installation and explains the new features with clear screenshots, so you can quickly take full advantage of Moodle 2.0. It also assists you in upgrading your site to Moodle 2.0, and will give you the confidence to make the move up to Moodle 2.0, either as an administrator or a course teacher.With its step-by-step introduction to the new features of Moodle 2.0, this book will leave you confident and keen to get your own courses up and running on Moodle 2.0. It will take you on a journey from basic navigation to advanced administration, looking at the changes in resource management and activity setup along the way. It will show you new ways tutors and students can control the pace of their learning and introduce you to the numerous possibilities for global sharing and collaborating now available in Moodle 2.0

Artificial Intelligence for Robotics. Build intelligent robots using ROS 2, Python, OpenCV, and AI/ML techniques for real-world tasks - Second Edition

Francis X. Govers III, Dr. Kamesh Namuduri

Unlock the potential of your robots by enhancing their perception with cutting-edge artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques. From neural networks to computer vision, this second edition of the book equips you with the latest tools, new and expanded topics such as object recognition and creating artificial personality, and practical use cases to create truly smart robots.Starting with robotics basics, robot architecture, control systems, and decision-making theory, this book presents systems-engineering methods to design problem-solving robots with single-board computers. You'll explore object recognition using YOLO and genetic algorithms to teach your robot to identify and pick up objects, leverage natural language processing to give your robot a voice, and master neural networks to classify and separate objects and navigate autonomously, before advancing to guiding your robot arms using reinforcement learning and genetic algorithms. The book also covers path planning and goal-oriented programming to prioritize your robot's tasks, showing you how to connect all software using Python and ROS 2 for a seamless experience.By the end of this book, you'll have learned how to transform your robot into a helpful assistant with NLP and give it an artificial personality, ready to tackle real-world tasks and even crack jokes.

Web API Development with ASP.NET Core 8. Learn techniques, patterns, and tools for building high-performance, robust, and scalable web APIs

Xiaodi Yan

Web API applications have become increasingly significant in recent years, fueled by the ever-accelerating pace of technological advancements. However, with this rapid evolution comes the need to create web API apps that are not only functional but also adaptable, maintainable, and scalable to meet the demands of users and businesses alike. This book draws from the author’s immense technical expertise and decades of experience in software development to help you address this challenge head-on, equipping you with the knowledge and skills required to develop web API apps from scratch.By providing a deeper understanding of the various protocols implemented by ASP.NET Core, including RESTful, SignalR (WebSocket), gRPC, and GraphQL, supplemented by practical examples and optimization techniques, such as using middleware, testing, caching, and logging, this book offers invaluable insights for both newcomers as well as seasoned developers to meet modern web development requirements. Additionally, you’ll discover how to use cloud platforms such as Azure and Azure DevOps to enhance the development and operational aspects of your application.By the end of this book, you’ll be fully prepared to undertake enterprise-grade web API projects with confidence, harnessing the latest advancements in ASP.NET Core 8 to drive innovation.

ArcGIS Blueprints. Explore the robust features of Python to create real-world ArcGIS applications through exciting, hands-on projects

Eric Pimpler

This book is an immersive guide to take your ArcGIS Desktop application development skills to the next levelIt starts off by providing detailed description and examples of how to create ArcGIS Desktop Python toolboxes that will serve as containers for many of the applications that you will build. We provide several practical projects that involve building a local area/community map and extracting wildfire data. You will then learn how to build tools that can access data from ArcGIS Server using the ArcGIS REST API. Furthermore, we deal with the integration of additional open source Python libraries into your applications, which will help you chart and graph advanced GUI development; read and write JSON, CSV, and XML format data sources; write outputs to Google Earth Pro, and more. Along the way, you will be introduced to advanced ArcPy Mapping and ArcPy Data Access module techniques and use data-driven Pages to automate the creation of map books.Finally, you will learn advanced techniques to work with video and social media feeds. By the end of the book, you will have your own desktop application without having spent too much time learning sophisticated theory.

Instant Edublogs. Set up your blog, develop a thriving community of readers, and reach out to your students

Jason T. Bedell

Blogging is a way of publicly thinking and sharing. It allows us to connect with others, crystallize our thoughts, and get authentic feedback from others in education – parents, students, and educators from all over the world. This translates into becoming an effective practitioner. Edublogs allows you to build a platform where you can share your life and knowledge with others. Connect with other educators and support each other as you grow together.Instant Edublogs will show you how to start a blog and improve it with powerful plugins. It then goes into detail about how to choose and customize engaging themes, write and manage posts, and even more. It will delve into the most advanced features that Edublogs offers and help you start blogging collectively with your students.Instant Edublogs takes a systemic and step-by-step approach from the very beginning. It will show you how to start a blog, and choose a title and theme. It then moves onto the more advanced features, such as utilizing plugins for specialized functionality and growing readership through social media. This book also gives you tips and ideas on how to reach out to your students so that they can reap the benefits of community and public writing. Follow this book to become a pro at blogging with Edublogs.

iOS 14 Programming for Beginners. Get started with building iOS apps with Swift 5.3 and Xcode 12 - Fifth Edition

Ahmad Sahar

If you're looking to work and experiment with powerful iOS 14 features such as widgets and App Clips to create your own apps, this iOS programming guide is for you. The book offers a comprehensive introduction for experienced programmers who are new to iOS, taking you through the entire process of learning the Swift language, writing your own apps, and publishing them on the App Store.Fully updated to cover the new iOS 14 features, along with Xcode 12 and Swift 5.3, this fifth edition of iOS 14 Programming for Beginners starts with an introduction to the Swift programming language and shows you how to accomplish common programming tasks with it. You'll then start building the user interface (UI) of a complete real-world app using the storyboards feature in the latest version of Xcode and implement the code for views, view controllers, data managers, and other aspects of mobile apps. The book will also help you apply iOS 14 features to existing apps and introduce you to SwiftUI, a new way to build apps for all Apple devices. Finally, you’ll set up testers for your app and understand what you need to do to publish your app on the App Store.By the end of this book, you'll not only be well versed in writing and publishing applications, but you’ll also be able to apply your iOS development skills to enhance existing apps.

Learning JavaScript Robotics. Design, build, and program your own remarkable robots with JavaScript and open source hardware

Kassandra Perch