Job titles like "Technical Architect" and "Chief Architect" nowadays abound in the software industry, yet many people suspect that "architecture" is one of the most overused and least understood terms in professional software development.

Gorton's book helps resolve this predicament. It concisely describes the essential elements of knowledge and key skills required to be a software architect. The explanations encompass the essentials of architecture thinking, practices, and supporting technologies. They range from a general understanding of software structure and quality attributes, through technical issues like middleware components and documentation techniques, to emerging technologies like model-driven architecture, software product lines, aspect-oriented design, service-oriented architectures, and the Semantic Web, all of which will influence future software system architectures.

All approaches are illustrated by an ongoing real-world example. So if you work as an architect or senior designer (or want to someday), or if you are a student in software engineering, here is a valuable and yet approachable source of knowledge.

"Ian's book helps us to head in the right direction through the various techniques and approaches… An essential guide to computer science students as well as developers and IT professionals who aspire to become an IT architect". (Anna Liu, Architect Advisor, Microsoft Australia).

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* This resource serves as the perfect transition tool for anyone coming from Windows or Macintosh who wants to use Linux as a desktop system and needs to choose which distribution is best for them.

* Updated with coverage of the exciting new Linux distributions Ubuntu, Mepis, and Arch Linux.

* A new section examines the most practical uses for Linux, including making a computer child-safe, getting certified for a career in Linux, and learning to program with Linux.

* Explores such various topics as the newest features of the latest Fedora, SUSE and Debian distributions, cool multimedia applications, the latest in instant messaging, bittorrent, and improved security technique.

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Algorithms and Networking for Computer Games is an essential guide to solving the algorithmic and networking problems of modern commercial computer games, written from the perspective of a computer scientist. Combining algorithmic knowledge and game-related problems, the authors discuss all the common difficulties encountered in game programming.

The first part of the book tackles algorithmic problems by presenting how they can be solved practically. As well as "classical" topics such as random numbers, tournaments and game trees, the authors focus on how to find a path in, create the terrain of, and make decisions in the game world. Part two introduces networking related problems in computer games and focuses on three key questions: how to hide the inherent communication delay, how to utilize limited network resources, and how to cope with cheating.

Algorithms and Networking for Computer Games provides a comprehensive resource that offers deeper algorithmic insight into game programming and explains game-specific network considerations. Read on for…

• Algorithmic solutions in pseudo code format, which not only emphasizes the idea behind the solution, but also can easily be written into the programming language of your choice.
• A section on the Synthetic player, covering decision-making, influence maps, finite-state machines, flocking, fuzzy sets and probabilistic reasoning.
• In-depth treatment of network communication including dead reckoning, local perception filters and cheating prevention.
• 51 ready-to-use algorithms and 178 illustrative exercises.

Algorithms and Networking for Computer Games is a must-read text for advanced undergraduate and graduate students on computer game-related courses, postgraduate researchers in game-related topics, and game developers interested in new approaches and the theoretical background to games.

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"You may think you know OpenGL. As a software engineer with ten years of OpenGL experience, I thought I did. However, this book quickly convinced me that I was very much mistaken. David Blythe and Tom McReynolds have taught me much that I did not know, and in the process improved my company's products. This is a book for computer graphics enthusiasts, both amateur and professional. If you use OpenGL in your work, Advanced Graphics Programming using OpenGL will be your constant companion. Be sure to get your own copy, however - my copy is not leaving my desk under any circumstances!" Ian Ashdown, President, byHeart Consultants Limited.

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Taking the principles and skills taught in ActionScript 3.0 in Flash CS3 Professional Essential Training, Adobe Certified Instructor Todd Perkins demonstrates how to put them to practical use in this course. Todd fully explores ActionScript's most powerful features, including creating advanced navigational interfaces and special effects using XML data and adding accessibility to files via closed captioning. Exercise files accompany the tutorials.

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Tomorrow, all communications will happen over IP. In the past, telecom operators handled most communications, and the main business for them was voice communication. In reality, almost all last-mile communications  today  still  happen  over  the  conventional  telecom  infrastructure. The backbone of the Internet has been going through a fast transition to faster  and  faster  fiber  optics  and  digital  data  transfer.  The  era  of  analog communications has been over for some time already.

Today, people speak of Voice over IP, but a better name for the Next Generation Networks is Everything over IP (EoIP). And all of that communication will be wireless. But what does that have to do with the topic of this book? It means the world has to finally wake up to the security of the communications networks.

To be secure, you have to understand that wireless networks are always open. While in traditional telephone networks all the switches were kept behind locked doors and all the cabling was protected, in wireless technology there are no cables and everyone has access to wireless access points. One  compromised  infrastructure  component,  and  the  entire  network  is compromised. One virus-contaminated access device, and everyone in the network will be contaminated.

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This introduction to 3D computer graphics emphasizes fundamentals and the mathematics underlying computer graphics, while also covering programming techniques using OpenGL, a platform-independent graphics programming environment. The minimal prerequisites make it suitable for self-study or for use as an advanced undergraduate or introductory graduate text as the author leads step-by-step from the basics of transformations to advanced topics such as animations and kinematics. Accompanying software, including source code for a ray tracing software package, is available freely from the book's web site.

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Interactivity - the unique feature that sets games apart from other forms of entertainment. The power of interactivity lies in the programming that occurs behind the scenes. If you're ready to jump into the world of programming for games, "Beginning C++Game Programming" will get you started on your journey, providing you with a solid foundation in the game programming language of the professionals. As you cover each programming concept, you'll create small games that demonstrate your new skills. Wrap things up by combining each major concept to create an ambitious multiple player game. Get ready to master the basics of game programming with C++!
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