Apache Spark for Machine Learning. Build and deploy high-performance big data AI solutions for large-scale clusters

Deepak Gowda

In the world of big data, efficiently processing and analyzing massive datasets for machine learning can be a daunting task. Written by Deepak Gowda, a data scientist with over a decade of experience and 30+ patents, this book provides a hands-on guide to mastering Spark’s capabilities for efficient data processing, model building, and optimization. With Deepak’s expertise across industries such as supply chain, cybersecurity, and data center infrastructure, he makes complex concepts easy to follow through detailed recipes.This book takes you through core machine learning concepts, highlighting the advantages of Spark for big data analytics. It covers practical data preprocessing techniques, including feature extraction and transformation, supervised learning methods with detailed chapters on regression and classification, and unsupervised learning through clustering and recommendation systems. You’ll also learn to identify frequent patterns in data and discover effective strategies to deploy and optimize your machine learning models. Each chapter features practical coding examples and real-world applications to equip you with the knowledge and skills needed to tackle complex machine learning tasks.By the end of this book, you’ll be ready to handle big data and create advanced machine learning models with Apache Spark.

Tools and Skills for .NET 8. Get the career you want with good practices and patterns to design, debug, and test your solutions 

Mark J. Price

Unlock the full potential of .NET development with Tools and Skills for .NET 8.Dive into source code management using Git and learn how to navigate projects while ensuring version control. Discover advanced debugging techniques and troubleshooting strategies to identify and resolve issues, and gain practical insights on documenting your code, APIs, and services, fostering project clarity and maintainability. Delve into the world of cryptography, ensuring confidentiality and integrity throughout your development lifecycle.Elevate your skills as you explore cutting-edge topics such as building intelligent apps using custom LLM-based chat services, mastering dependency injection, optimizing performance through testing, and Docker containerization. Harness the power of cloud-native development with .NET Aspire, unlocking the benefits of modern cloud platforms. With guidance on software architecture best practices, this book empowers you to build robust, scalable and maintainable applications.Advance your career with invaluable insights on job readiness and interview preparation, positioning yourself as a top-tier candidate in today's competitive job market.Whether you're a seasoned .NET professional or an aspiring developer looking to enhance your skills, this book is your ultimate companion on the journey to .NET mastery.

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.

Mastering PyTorch. Create and deploy deep learning models from CNNs to multimodal models, LLMs, and beyond - Second Edition

Ashish Ranjan Jha

PyTorch is making it easier than ever before for anyone to build deep learning applications. This PyTorch deep learning book will help you uncover expert techniques to get the most out of your data and build complex neural network models.You’ll build convolutional neural networks for image classification and recurrent neural networks and transformers for sentiment analysis. As you advance, you'll apply deep learning across different domains, such as music, text, and image generation, using generative models, including diffusion models. You'll not only build and train your own deep reinforcement learning models in PyTorch but also learn to optimize model training using multiple CPUs, GPUs, and mixed-precision training. You’ll deploy PyTorch models to production, including mobile devices. Finally, you’ll discover the PyTorch ecosystem and its rich set of libraries. These libraries will add another set of tools to your deep learning toolbelt, teaching you how to use fastai to prototype models and PyTorch Lightning to train models. You’ll discover libraries for AutoML and explainable AI (XAI), create recommendation systems, and build language and vision transformers with Hugging Face.By the end of this book, you'll be able to perform complex deep learning tasks using PyTorch to build smart artificial intelligence models.

Microservices with Go. The expert's guide to building secure, scalable, and reliable microservices with Go - Second Edition

Microservices with Go, Second Edition explains the key benefits and common issues faced by developers when working with microservices, helping you understand the problems microservice architecture solves, the issues it introduces, and how to tackle them.The author distils his 18+ years of experience in building scalable and reliable infrastructure to help you grasp the importance of using the right principles and standards to achieve all that microservice architecture has to offer. You'll see why Go is a popular choice for microservice development, as well as navigate its foundational aspects, including service scaffolding, discovery, data serialization, communication, deployment, and testing. After covering development, you'll move to maintenance and reliability. This second edition is fully updated with newly added topics, including security and compliance, distributed system challenges, and performance monitoring. The final section focuses on advanced concepts, such as system reliability, observability, maintainability, and scalability. Through best practices and practical examples, you'll learn how to apply key ideas to existing applications using previously scaffolded services.By the end of this book, you'll have gained hands-on experience in developing scalable, reliable, and high-performance microservices with Go.

Procedural Content Generation with Unreal Engine 5. Harness the PCG framework to take your environment design and art skills to the next level

Paul Martin Eliasz

In the ever-evolving world of games and virtual production, mastering procedural content generator (PCG) opens the door to endless creative possibilities. This book takes you deeper into the realm of procedurally generated environments and assets by showing you how to use the PCG framework integrated into Unreal Engine 5.4 and helping you build the skills to surpass traditional methods and create cutting-edge projects with unparalleled efficiency.This book guides you through the complete level design and tools production pipeline using open-source software. Whether you’re an aspiring technical artist or level designer in real-time visualization and game production, you’ll benefit from following the step-by-step, beginner-friendly approach to crafting custom levels, from jungles to cities, and incorporating 3D assets from libraries such as Quixel or Sketchfab. Next, you’ll get to grips with data preparation, construct a PCG graph to populate assets in your environment, and apply these methods to optimize your projects. You’ll understand how this process enhances your PCG tools, elevating their capacity to improve the quality of your levels.By the end of this book, you’ll be able to seamlessly integrate different elements in Unreal Engine 5, empowering you to create your own PCG tools and transform your game development experience.

AWS Certified Security - Specialty (SCS-C02) Exam Guide. Get all the guidance you need to pass the AWS (SCS-C02) exam on your first attempt - Second Edition

Adam Book, Stuart Scott

The AWS Certified Security – Specialty exam validates your expertise in advanced cloud security, a crucial skill set in today's cloud market. With the latest updates and revised study material, this second edition provides an excellent starting point for your exam preparation.You’ll learn the fundamentals of core services, which are essential prerequisites before delving into the six domains covered in the exam. The book addresses various security threats, vulnerabilities, and attacks, such as DDoS attacks, offering insights into effective mitigation strategies at different layers. You’ll learn different tools available in Amazon Web Services (AWS) to secure your Virtual Private Cloud and allow the correct traffic to travel securely to your workloads. As you progress, you’ll explore the intricacies of AWS EventBridge and IAM services. Additionally, you’ll get lifetime access to supplementary online resources, including mock exams with exam-like timers, detailed solutions, interactive flashcards, and invaluable exam tips, all accessible across various devices such as PCs, tablets, and smartphones.Ultimately, armed with the knowledge and skills acquired from this AWS security guide, you'll be well-prepared to pass the exam and design secure AWS solutions with confidence.

Ethical Password Cracking. Decode passwords using John the Ripper, hashcat, and advanced methods for password breaking

James Leyte-Vidal

Whether you’re looking to crack passwords as part of a thorough security audit or aiming to recover vital information, this book will equip you with the skills to accomplish your goals. Written by a cybersecurity expert with over fifteen years of experience in penetration testing, Ethical Password Cracking offers a thorough understanding of password protection and the correct approach to retrieving password-protected data.As you progress through the chapters, you first familiarize yourself with how credentials are stored, delving briefly into the math behind password cracking. Then, the book will take you through various tools and techniques to help you recover desired passwords before focusing on common cracking use cases, hash recovery, and cracking. Real-life examples will prompt you to explore brute-force versus dictionary-based approaches and teach you how to apply them to various types of credential storage.By the end of this book, you'll understand how passwords are protected and how to crack the most common credential types with ease.