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.

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.

Extending Creativity with Adobe Firefly. Create striking visuals, add text effects, and edit design elements faster with text prompts

Rollan Banez

Creating conceptual art and design assets is a slow and laborious process, especially for those unfamiliar with complex design tools. With Adobe Firefly, you can say goodbye to your design challenges and start creating attractive visuals faster than ever before. Written by an Adobe expert with over two decades of experience, Extending Creativity With Adobe Firefly teaches you how to use Generative AI for art and design with easy-to-follow steps. You’ll learn how to create images, add text effects, edit photos, and explore colors faster with Adobe Firefly. You'll discover Firefly’s capabilities for tasks like generating text-to-image samples, styling text effects, and editing photos quickly. You’ll also find how to integrate Firefly with other Adobe Creative Cloud apps to streamline your workflow. If you're just starting out, this book will acquaint you with the basics of design, enabling you to create images easily. If you are a professional, you’ll learn how to improve collaboration and visual communication, and if you are a teacher, you’ll be able to enhance your teaching methods with visual thinking. By the end, you’ll master every function of Adobe Firefly and create outputs for website and desktop applications such as Photoshop, Illustrator, Express, and Adobe Stock.

The Kubernetes Book. A Comprehensive Guide to Container Orchestration and Cloud-Native Deployment - Third Edition

Nigel Poulton, Pushkar Joglekar

Kubernetes is a powerful container orchestration platform that enables efficient application deployment, scaling, and management. This book begins with foundational concepts, explaining Kubernetes architecture, control planes, worker nodes, and the declarative model. Readers will learn how to set up a Kubernetes environment using tools like Docker Desktop and cloud-based solutions.The book then covers core operational topics, including Pods, Deployments, Namespaces, and Services, providing hands-on exercises to reinforce learning. Networking, storage, and security are explored in depth, with real-world examples of managing applications, configuring RBAC, and using ConfigMaps and Secrets. Advanced topics such as StatefulSets, the Kubernetes API, and service discovery offer insights into optimizing and securing Kubernetes workloads.Security is a key focus, with chapters dedicated to API security, threat modeling, and real-world Kubernetes security practices. Readers will gain practical knowledge on securing clusters, managing access controls, and mitigating common threats. By the end, they will be equipped with the skills to deploy, scale, and secure Kubernetes environments effectively.

AWS Cloud Projects. Strengthen your AWS skills through practical projects, from websites to advanced AI applications

Ivo Pinto, Pedro Santos

Tired of resumes getting lost in the pile? This book is your roadmap to building an in-demand AWS portfolio that grabs attention and gets you hired.This comprehensive guide unlocks AWS’s full potential through eight real-world projects designed for developers of all levels. Inside, you'll find invaluable guidance for crafting stunning websites with S3, CloudFront, and Route53. You’ll build robust and scalable applications, such as recipe-sharing platforms, using DynamoDB and Elastic Load Balancing. For streamlined efficiency, the book will teach you how to develop serverless architectures with AWS Lambda and Cognito. Gradually, you’ll infuse your projects with artificial intelligence by creating a photo analyzer powered by Amazon Rekognition. You’ll also automate complex workflows for seamless content translation using Translate, CodePipeline, and CodeBuild. Later, you’ll construct intelligent virtual assistants with Amazon Lex and Bedrock to answer web development queries. The book will also show you how to visualize your data with insightful dashboards built using Athena, Glue, and QuickSight.By the end of this book, you’ll have a portfolio of AWS projects to showcase your cloud skills, making you stand out in today’s competitive job market.

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.

Software Architecture for Web Developers. An introductory guide for developers striving to take the first steps toward software architecture or just looking to grow as professionals

Mihaela Roxana Ghidersa

Large-scale web applications require you to write code efficiently following business and architectural considerations. They require web developers to understand the impact of their work on the system and how they can evolve the product.With this audiobook, every developer will find something to take away. This audiobook will help web developers looking to change projects or work on a new project in understanding the context of the application, along with how some design decisions or patterns fit better in their application’s architecture. It acts as a guide, taking you through different levels of professional growth with a focus on best practices, coding guidelines, business considerations, and soft skills that will help you gain the knowledge to craft a career in web development. Finally, you’ll work with examples and ways of applying the discussed concepts in practical situations.By the end of this book, you’ll have gained valuable insights into what it means to be a web architect, as well as the impact architecture has on a web application.