Modern Full-Stack Web Development with ASP.NET Core. A project-based guide to building web applications with ASP.NET Core 9 and JavaScript frameworks

Alexandre Malavasi

In the ASP.NET Core ecosystem, choosing the right JavaScript framework is key to addressing diverse project requirements. Witten by a four-time Microsoft MVP with 16 years of software development experience, this book is your comprehensive guide to mastering full-stack development, combining ASP.NET Core’s robust backend capabilities with the dynamic frontend power of Vue.js, Angular, and React.This book uses ASP.NET Core to teach you best practices for integrating modern JavaScript frameworks, and creating responsive, high-performance applications that deliver seamless client–server interactions and scalable RESTful APIs. In addition to building expertise in ASP.NET Core’s core strengths, such as API security, architecture principles, and performance optimization, the chapters will help you develop the essential frontend skills needed for full-stack development. Sections on Blazor take a C#-based approach to creating interactive UIs, showcasing ASP.NET Core’s flexibility in handling both server and client-side needs.By the end of this book, you will have a complete toolkit for designing, deploying, and maintaining complex full-stack applications, along with practical knowledge of both backend and frontend development.

Low Poly 3D Modeling in Blender. Kickstart your career as a 3D artist by learning how to create low poly assets and scenes from scratch

Samuel Sullins

Step into the world of low poly 3D art with Low Poly 3D Modeling in Blender—your entry point into Blender and mastering the fundamentals of 3D art. This beginner-friendly guide ensures that you’re fully prepared for the creative adventure that follows.Through a step-by-step learning process starting with the principles of low poly art, this book gradually immerses you in the intricacies of modeling. As you progress, you’ll gain hands-on experience creating diverse projects ranging from designing a simple 3D crate to rendering complete low poly scenes. The book covers a wide spectrum of topics as you navigate Blender's interface, mastering essential modeling tools and exploring both basic and advanced modeling techniques. Advancing to the final chapters, you’ll find ways to breathe life into your models with material creation and gain practical insights into modeling a variety of low poly objects. From end-to-end scene construction to configuring Blender for rendering high-quality images, you’ll be equipped with the foundational skills to propel your career in 3D modeling and explore the boundless creative possibilities that Blender offers.By the end of this book, you'll have a solid understanding of Blender, 3D modeling, low poly methodologies, material design, 3D rendering techniques, and the broader world of 3D art.

The Kaggle Book. Data analysis and machine learning for competitive data science

Konrad Banachewicz, Luca Massaron, Anthony Goldbloom

Millions of data enthusiasts from around the world compete on Kaggle, the most famous data science competition platform of them all. Participating in Kaggle competitions is a surefire way to improve your data analysis skills, network with an amazing community of data scientists, and gain valuable experience to help grow your career.The first audiobook of its kind, The Kaggle Book assembles in one place the techniques and skills you'll need for success in competitions, data science projects, and beyond. Two Kaggle Grandmasters walk you through modeling strategies you won't easily find elsewhere, and the knowledge they've accumulated along the way. As well as Kaggle-specific tips, you'll learn more general techniques for approaching tasks based on image, tabular, textual data, and reinforcement learning. You'll design better validation schemes and work more comfortably with different evaluation metrics.Whether you want to climb the ranks of Kaggle, build some more data science skills, or improve the accuracy of your existing models, this audiobook is for you.

Using Stable Diffusion with Python. Leverage Python to control and automate high-quality AI image generation using Stable Diffusion

Andrew Zhu (Shudong Zhu), Matthew Fisher

Stable Diffusion is a game-changing AI tool that enables you to create stunning images with code. The author, a seasoned Microsoft applied data scientist and contributor to the Hugging Face Diffusers library, leverages his 15+ years of experience to help you master Stable Diffusion by understanding the underlying concepts and techniques.You’ll be introduced to Stable Diffusion, grasp the theory behind diffusion models, set up your environment, and generate your first image using diffusers. You'll optimize performance, leverage custom models, and integrate community-shared resources like LoRAs, textual inversion, and ControlNet to enhance your creations. Covering techniques such as face restoration, image upscaling, and image restoration, you’ll focus on unlocking prompt limitations, scheduled prompt parsing, and weighted prompts to create a fully customized and industry-level Stable Diffusion app. This book also looks into real-world applications in medical imaging, remote sensing, and photo enhancement. Finally, you'll gain insights into extracting generation data, ensuring data persistence, and leveraging AI models like BLIP for image description extraction.By the end of this book, you'll be able to use Python to generate and edit images and leverage solutions to build Stable Diffusion apps for your business and users.

Data Literacy in Practice. A complete guide to data literacy and making smarter decisions with data through intelligent actions

Angelika Klidas, Kevin Hanegan

Data is more than a mere commodity in our digital world. It is the ebb and flow of our modern existence. Individuals, teams, and enterprises working with data can unlock a new realm of possibilities. And the resultant agility, growth, and inevitable success have one origin—data literacy.This comprehensive guide is written by two data literacy pioneers, each with a thorough footprint within the data and analytics commercial world and lectures at top universities in the US and the Netherlands. Complete with best practices, practical models, and real-world examples, Data Literacy in Practice will help you start making your data work for you by building your understanding of data literacy basics and accelerating your journey to independently uncovering insights.You’ll learn the four-pillar model that underpins all data and analytics and explore concepts such as measuring data quality, setting up a pragmatic data management environment, choosing the right graphs for your readers, and questioning your insights.By the end of the book, you'll be equipped with a combination of skills and mindset as well as with tools and frameworks that will allow you to find insights and meaning within your data for data-informed decision making.

Beginning C++ Game Programming. Learn C++ from scratch by building fun games - Third Edition

John Horton

Always dreamed of creating your own games? With the third edition of Beginning C++ Game Programming, you can turn that dream into reality! This beginner-friendly guide is updated and improved to include the latest features of VS 2022, SFML, and modern C++20 programming techniques. You'll get a fun introduction to game programming by building four fully playable games of increasing complexity. You'll build clones of popular games such as Timberman, Pong, a Zombie survival shooter, and an endless runner.The book starts by covering the basics of programming. You'll study key C++ topics, such as object-oriented programming (OOP) and C++ pointers and get acquainted with the Standard Template Library (STL). The book helps you learn about collision detection techniques and game physics by building a Pong game. As you build games, you'll also learn exciting game programming concepts such as vertex arrays, directional sound (spatialization), OpenGL programmable shaders, spawning objects, and much more. You’ll dive deep into game mechanics and implement input handling, levelling up a character, and simple enemy AI. Finally, you'll explore game design patterns to enhance your C++ game programming skills.By the end of the book, you'll have gained the knowledge you need to build your own games with exciting features from scratch.

C++ and Algorithmic Thinking for the Complete Beginner. Learn to think like a programmer by mastering C++ and foundational algorithms from scratch

Aristides Bouras

Embark on your programming journey with a thorough introduction to how computers work, setting the stage for understanding C++ and its applications. This course begins with the basics, including setting up your development environment and installing necessary software packages. As you progress, you'll delve into fundamental algorithmic concepts, variables, constants, and handling input and output efficiently.As you build your knowledge, the course introduces more complex topics such as sequence control structures, decision-making processes, and loop control structures. You will learn to manipulate numbers, strings, and understand the intricacies of operators through practical exercises and real-world examples. Visual aids like trace tables and flowcharts will help you visualize the flow of your programs and improve your debugging skills.Towards the end of the course, you'll explore advanced topics such as arrays, data structures, subprograms, and an introduction to object-oriented programming. By the conclusion, you will also gain insights into file handling and advanced algorithmic strategies. Each chapter is designed to build on the previous one, ensuring a cohesive and comprehensive learning experience that equips you with the skills needed to excel in C++ programming and algorithmic thinking.

Learn Python Programming. A comprehensive, up-to-date, and definitive guide to learning Python - Fourth Edition

Fabrizio Romano, Heinrich Kruger

Learn Python Programming, Fourth Edition, provides a comprehensive, up-to-date introduction to Python programming, covering fundamental concepts and practical applications. This edition has been meticulously updated to include the latest features from Python versions 3.9 to 3.12, new chapters on type hinting and CLI applications, and updated examples reflecting modern Python web development practices. This Python book empowers you to take ownership of writing your software and become independent in fetching the resources you need. By the end of this book, you will have a clear idea of where to go and how to build on what you have learned from the book.Through examples, the book explores a wide range of applications and concludes by building real-world Python projects based on the concepts you have learned. This Python book offers a clear and practical guide to mastering Python and applying it effectively in various domains, such as data science, web development, and automation.