Data Engineering with Databricks Cookbook. Build effective data and AI solutions using Apache Spark, Databricks, and Delta Lake

Pulkit Chadha

Written by a Senior Solutions Architect at Databricks, Data Engineering with Databricks Cookbook will show you how to effectively use Apache Spark, Delta Lake, and Databricks for data engineering, starting with comprehensive introduction to data ingestion and loading with Apache Spark.What makes this book unique is its recipe-based approach, which will help you put your knowledge to use straight away and tackle common problems. You’ll be introduced to various data manipulation and data transformation solutions that can be applied to data, find out how to manage and optimize Delta tables, and get to grips with ingesting and processing streaming data. The book will also show you how to improve the performance problems of Apache Spark apps and Delta Lake. Advanced recipes later in the book will teach you how to use Databricks to implement DataOps and DevOps practices, as well as how to orchestrate and schedule data pipelines using Databricks Workflows. You’ll also go through the full process of setup and configuration of the Unity Catalog for data governance.By the end of this book, you’ll be well-versed in building reliable and scalable data pipelines using modern data engineering technologies.

Machine Learning and Generative AI for Marketing. Take your data-driven marketing strategies to the next level using Python

Yoon Hyup Hwang, Nicholas C. Burtch

In the dynamic world of marketing, the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) is no longer just an advantage—it's a necessity. Moreover, the rise of generative AI (GenAI) helps with the creation of highly personalized, engaging content that resonates with the target audience.This book provides a comprehensive toolkit for harnessing the power of GenAI to craft marketing strategies that not only predict customer behaviors but also captivate and convert, leading to improved cost per acquisition, boosted conversion rates, and increased net sales.Starting with the basics of Python for data analysis and progressing to sophisticated ML and GenAI models, this book is your comprehensive guide to understanding and applying AI to enhance marketing strategies. Through engaging content & hands-on examples, you'll learn how to harness the capabilities of AI to unlock deep insights into customer behaviors, craft personalized marketing messages, and drive significant business growth. Additionally, you'll explore the ethical implications of AI, ensuring that your marketing strategies are not only effective but also responsible and compliant with current standardsBy the conclusion of this book, you'll be equipped to design, launch, and manage marketing campaigns that are not only successful but also cutting-edge.

Learn Ansible. Automate your cloud infrastructure, security configuration, and application deployment with Ansible - Second Edition

Russ McKendrick

Are you tired of manually deploying and managing your infrastructure and looking for ways to streamline your deployments, introduce consistency and collaboration, and save time? If so, then Learn Ansible is for you. Written by a DevOps practitioner and system administrator with 30+ years of experience, this book will teach you how to automate repetitive tasks and effortlessly manage several resources from a single code base.From installing Ansible and writing your first playbook to deploying multi-tier applications across different cloud platforms, this book will take you on an exciting learning journey. By learning the art of defining highly available cloud infrastructure using code, you’ll find it easy to distribute configurations alongside your application. You’ll explore Ansible Galaxy, learn about community-contributed Ansible roles, and discover how to create and share your own roles. Later, the book delves into the capabilities of Ansible AWX and integrating Ansible with your CI/CD pipelines, using Azure DevOps and GitHub Actions. With real-world examples and hands-on tutorials, you’ll build a solid foundation to tackle any automation project.By the end of this book, you'll be able to confidently implement Ansible in your environment and day-to-day workflows, taking your deployments to the next level.

Mastering C++ Game Animation Programming. Enhance your skills with advanced game animation techniques in C++, OpenGL, and Vulkan

Michael Dunsky

With two decades of programming experience across multiple languages and platforms, expert game developer and console porting programmer Michael Dunsky guides you through the intricacies of character animation programming. This book tackles the common challenges developers face in creating sophisticated, efficient, and visually appealing character animations.You’ll learn how to leverage the Open Asset Import Library for easy 3D model loading and optimize your 3D engine by offloading computations from the CPU to the GPU. The book covers visual selection, extended camera handling, and separating your application into edit and simulation modes. You’ll also master configuration storage to progressively build your virtual world piece by piece.As you develop your engine-like application, you’ll implement collision detection, inverse kinematics, and expert techniques to bring your characters to life with realistic visuals and fluid movement. For more advanced animation and character behavior controls, you’ll design truly immersive and responsive NPCs, load real game maps, and use navigation algorithms, enabling the instances to roam freely in complex environments.By the end of this book, you’ll be skilled at designing interactive virtual worlds inhabited by lifelike NPCs that exhibit natural, context-aware behaviors.

Cinematic Photoreal Environments in Unreal Engine 5. Create captivating worlds and unleash the power of cinematic tools without coding

Giovanni Visai

As Unreal Engine 5 continues to conquer all industries thanks to its real-time technology, UE skills are becoming more sought after than ever. This three-part book covers all the processes behind the creation of a stunning environment in UE 5.Starting with the steps for installing the game engine and learning about its potential, you’ll quickly progress toward generating a variety of different upwards scaling outputs, each bigger than the previous one. After completing the first part and getting realistic shots of a single object, you’ll delve into the world of landscapes, procedural material and foliage, the Landmass plugin, and water tools by creating an environment using Megascan assets. At this point, you’ll know everything you need to create a fascinating and realistic environment. The final part of this book will teach you how to craft cinematic shots by working with cinematic tools, post processing, and framing tools, and by rendering a photorealistic shot in the last chapter.By the end of this Unreal Engine book, you'll be able to create outstanding and realistic environments using the powerful tools provided by UE as well as have an understanding of the importance of filming and composition in world building.

Data Engineering Best Practices. Architect robust and cost-effective data solutions in the cloud era

Richard J. Schiller, David Larochelle

Revolutionize your approach to data processing in the fast-paced business landscape with this essential guide to data engineering. Discover the power of scalable, efficient, and secure data solutions through expert guidance on data engineering principles and techniques. Written by two industry experts with over 60 years of combined experience, it offers deep insights into best practices, architecture, agile processes, and cloud-based pipelines. You’ll start by defining the challenges data engineers face and understand how this agile and future-proof comprehensive data solution architecture addresses them. As you explore the extensive toolkit, mastering the capabilities of various instruments, you’ll gain the knowledge needed for independent research. Covering everything you need, right from data engineering fundamentals, the guide uses real-world examples to illustrate potential solutions. It elevates your skills to architect scalable data systems, implement agile development processes, and design cloud-based data pipelines. The book further equips you with the knowledge to harness serverless computing and microservices to build resilient data applications.By the end, you'll be armed with the expertise to design and deliver high-performance data engineering solutions that are not only robust, efficient, and secure but also future-ready.

The Ultimate Kali Linux Book. Perform advanced penetration testing using Nmap, Metasploit, Aircrack-ng, and Empire

Glen D. Singh

Kali Linux is the most popular and advanced penetration testing Linux distribution within the cybersecurity industry. Using Kali Linux, a cybersecurity professional will be able to discover and exploit various vulnerabilities and perform advanced penetration testing on both enterprise wired and wireless networks.This audiobook is a comprehensive guide for those who are new to Kali Linux and penetration testing that will have you up to speed in no time. Using real-world scenarios, you’ll understand how to set up a lab and explore core penetration testing concepts. Throughout this book, you’ll focus on information gathering and even discover different vulnerability assessment tools bundled in Kali Linux. You’ll learn to discover target systems on a network, identify security flaws on devices, exploit security weaknesses and gain access to networks, set up Command and Control (C2) operations, and perform web application penetration testing. In this updated second edition, you’ll be able to compromise Active Directory and exploit enterprise networks. Finally, this audiobook covers best practices for performing complex web penetration testing techniques in a highly secured environment.By the end of this Kali Linux audiobook, you’ll have gained the skills to perform advanced penetration testing on enterprise networks using Kali Linux.

Introduction to Software Architecture. Get familiar with the basics of software architecture and design concepts

Adrian Ostrowski, Piotr Gaczkowski

Software architecture refers to the high-level design of complex applications. It is evolving just like the languages we use, but there are architectural concepts and patterns that you can learn to write high-performance apps in a high-level language without sacrificing readability and maintainability.If you want to become a software architect, this audiobook will get you up to speed with architectural concepts, including established patterns and rising trends. It will also demonstrate effective approaches to its design and documentation. Next, you'll discover the design concepts involved in application architecture and the patterns in software development. We’ll introduce you to a few concepts and fallacies related to architectural design and show you when to use the said patterns.