Verleger: K-i-s-publishing
Jeffrey Winesett, Qiang Xue (Project)
This book is a step by step tutorial in developing a real-world application using the incremental and iterative approach to software development. You learn about agile software development by leaning on the agile nature of the Yii application development framework. You touch on each aspect of the software development lifecycle by building a project task management application from concept through production deployment.After a brief, general introduction to the Yii framework and outlining the software development approach taken throughout the book, the chapters break down in the same way as software development iterations do in real-world projects. After the 1st iteration, you will have a working and tested application with a valid, tested connection to a database.In the 2nd and 3rd iterations, we flesh out our main database entities and domain object model and become familiar with Yii's object-relational-mapping (ORM) layer, Active Record. We also learn how to lean on Yii's auto-generation tools to automatically build our create/read/update/delete (CRUD) functionality against our newly created model. These iterations also focus on how Yii's form validation and submission model works. By the end of the third iteration you will have a working application that allows you to mange projects and issues (tasks) within those projects.The 4th and 5th iterations are dedicated to user management. We learn about the built-in authentication model within Yii to assist in application login and logout functionality. We then dive into the authorization model, first taking advantage of a Yii's simple access control model, then implementing the more sophisticated role-based access control (RBAC) framework that Yii provides.By the end of the 5th iteration, all of the basics of a task management application are in place. The next several iterations are focused on the nice-to-haves. We add user comment functionality, introducing a reusable content portlet architecture approach in the process. We add in an RSS Web feed and demonstrate how easy it is to integrate other third-party tools within a Yii application. We take advantage of Yii's theming structure to help streamline and design the application, and then introduce Yii's internationalization (I18N) features so the application can be adapted to various languages and regions without engineering changes.Finally, we turn our focus to production deployment. We introduce ways to optimize performance and security to prepare the application for a real-world production environment.
AI & Data Literacy. Empowering Citizens of Data Science
Bill Schmarzo
AI is undoubtedly a game-changing tool with immense potential to improve human life.This book aims to empower you as a Citizen of Data Science, covering the privacy, ethics, and theoretical concepts you’ll need to exploit to thrive amid the current and future developments in the AI landscape.We'll explore AI's inner workings, user intent, and the critical role of the AI utility function while also briefly touching on statistics and prediction to build decision models that leverage AI and data for highly informed, more accurate, and less risky decisions.Additionally, we'll discuss how organizations of all sizes can leverage AI and data to engineer or create value. We'll establish why economies of learning are more powerful than the economies of scale in a digital-centric world. Ethics and personal/organizational empowerment in the context of AI will also be addressed.Lastly, we'll delve into ChatGPT and the role of Large Language Models (LLMs), preparing you for the growing importance of Generative AI. By the end of the book, you'll have a deeper understanding of AI and how best to leverage it and thrive alongside it.
AI Agents in Practice. Design, implement, and scale autonomous AI systems for production
Valentina Alto
As AI agents evolve to take on complex tasks and operate autonomously, you need to learn how to build these next-generation systems. Author Valentina Alto brings practical, industry-grounded expertise in AI Agents in Practice to help you go beyond simple chatbots and create AI agents that plan, reason, collaborate, and solve real-world problems using large language models (LLMs) and the latest open-source frameworks.In this book, you'll get a comparative tour of leading AI agent frameworks such as LangChain and LangGraph, covering each tool's strengths, ideal use cases, and how to apply them in real-world projects. Through step-by-step examples, you’ll learn how to construct single-agent and multi-agent architectures using proven design patterns to orchestrate AI agents working together. Case studies across industries will show you how AI agents drive value in real-world scenarios, while guidance on responsible AI will help you implement ethical guardrails from day one. The chapters also set the stage with a brief history of AI agents, from early rule-based systems to today's LLM-driven autonomous agents, so you understand how we got here and where the field is headed.By the end of this book, you'll have the practical skills, design insights, and ethical foresight to build and deploy AI agents that truly make an impact.
Paul Browne (GBP), ALEX PORCELLI
Microsoft Excel is widely adopted across diverse industries, but Excel Power Users often encounter limitations such as complex formulas, obscure business knowledge, and errors from using outdated sheets. They need a better enterprise-level solution, and this book introduces Business rules combined with the power of AI to tackle the limitations of Excel.This guide will give you a roadmap to link KIE (an industry-standard open-source application) to Microsoft’s business process automation tools, such as Power Automate, Power Query, Office Script, Forms, VBA, Script Lab, and GitHub. You’ll dive into the graphical Decision Modeling standard including decision tables, FEEL expressions, and advanced business rule editing and testing.By the end of the book, you’ll be able to share your business knowledge as graphical models, deploy and execute these models in the cloud (with Azure and OpenShift), link them back to Excel, and then execute them as an end-to-end solution removing human intervention. You’ll be equipped to solve your Excel queries and start using the next generation of Microsoft Office tools.
AI Blueprints. How to build and deploy AI business projects
Dr. Joshua Eckroth
AI Blueprints gives you a working framework and the techniques to build your own successful AI business applications. You’ll learn across six business scenarios how AI can solve critical challenges with state-of-the-art AI software libraries and a well thought out workflow. Along the way you’ll discover the practical techniques to build AI business applications from first design to full coding and deployment.The AI blueprints in this book solve key business scenarios. The first blueprint uses AI to find solutions for building plans for cloud computing that are on-time and under budget. The second blueprint involves an AI system that continuously monitors social media to gauge public feeling about a topic of interest - such as self-driving cars. You’ll learn how to approach AI business problems and apply blueprints that can ensure success.The next AI scenario shows you how to approach the problem of creating a recommendation engine and monitoring how those recommendations perform. The fourth blueprint shows you how to use deep learning to find your business logo in social media photos and assess how people interact with your products. Learn the practical techniques involved and how to apply these blueprints intelligently. The fifth blueprint is about how to best design a ‘trending now’ section on your website, much like the one we know from Twitter. The sixth blueprint shows how to create helpful chatbots so that an AI system can understand customers’ questions and answer them with relevant responses.This book continuously demonstrates a working framework and strategy for building AI business applications. Along the way, you’ll also learn how to prepare for future advances in AI. You’ll gain a workflow and a toolbox of patterns and techniques so that you can create your own smart code.
Hadelin de Ponteves
Welcome to the Robot World … and start building intelligent software now!Through his best-selling video courses, Hadelin de Ponteves has taught hundreds of thousands of people to write AI software. Now, for the first time, his hands-on, energetic approach is available as a book. Starting with the basics before easing you into more complicated formulas and notation, AI Crash Course gives you everything you need to build AI systems with reinforcement learning and deep learning. Five full working projects put the ideas into action, showing step-by-step how to build intelligent software using the best and easiest tools for AI programming, including Python, TensorFlow, Keras, and PyTorch.AI Crash Course teaches everyone to build an AI to work in their applications. Once you've read this book, you're only limited by your imagination.
AI Explained. Uncovering the Reality, Risks, and Rewards of Artificial Intelligence
Nigel Poulton
This book leads readers on a comprehensive journey through artificial intelligence, beginning with an introduction to its foundational concepts. Early on, readers are guided through what AI is and why it’s becoming a transformative force in today’s world. They’ll then explore the technical processes behind AI creation, learning how data and algorithms power intelligent systems, making complex technology accessible and understandable.Further on, the book delves into practical applications and ethical considerations. Readers discover the positive ways AI is improving our lives, from breakthroughs in healthcare to innovations in everyday industries. Following this, it presents a balanced view of AI’s potential risks, discussing the ethical concerns and societal challenges that arise with misuse, encouraging thoughtful reflection on AI’s impact.Towards the end, the book tackles critical future challenges and solutions. It discusses the threat of rogue AI behaviors and highlights strategies to prevent AI from acting unpredictably. The final section offers an optimistic outlook on the responsible development of AI, encouraging readers to envision a future where AI can drive positive change. By journey’s end, readers will feel equipped with a nuanced understanding of AI, its real-world significance, and its ethical implications.
Oliver Theobald
The course begins with an engaging introduction to the world of Artificial Intelligence, making it approachable for absolute beginners. We unravel the mysteries of AI's evolution, from its historical roots to the cutting-edge technologies shaping our future. By explaining complex concepts in simple terms, this course aims to illuminate the path for those curious about how AI impacts our world.The course focuses on the core components of AI, including machine learning, deep learning, and natural language processing, before advancing to more specialized topics like generative AI and computer vision. Each module is designed to build a comprehensive understanding, emphasizing why these technologies are crucial for solving real-world problems and how they're transforming industries.The course wraps up by exploring the ethical considerations and privacy concerns associated with AI, along with a visionary look at the future of work in an AI-driven world. It offers a treasure trove of further resources, ensuring learners have everything they need to continue their exploration of AI.