Visual Basic 2008 offers powerful new features, and Accelerated VB 2008 is the fastest path to mastering them, and the rest of Visual Basic, for both experienced Visual Basic programmers moving to VB 2008 and programmers moving to Visual Basic from another object–oriented language. Many books introduce VB, but very few also explain how to use it optimally with the .NET common language runtime (CLR). This book teaches both core Visual Basic language concepts and how to wisely employ VB idioms and object–oriented design patterns to exploit the power of VB and the CLR.

Accelerated VB 2008 is both a rapid tutorial and a permanent reference. You’ll quickly master VB syntax while learning how the CLR simplifies many programming tasks. You’ll also learn best practices that ensure your code will be efficient, reusable, and robust. Why spend months or years discovering the best ways to design and code VB when this book will show you how to do things the right way, right from the start?

• Comprehensively and concisely explains both Visual Basic 2005 and Visual Basic 2008 features
• Focuses on the language itself and on how to use Visual Basic 2008 proficiently for all .NET application development
• Concentrates on how VB features work and how to best use them for robust, high–performance code

• How VB works with and exploits the CLR
• How to use arrays and collections
• How to handle events with delegates
• How to design and use generic types and methods
• How to thread efficiently and robustly
• How the new VB 2008 anonymous types, lamba expressions, and extension methods work and how to use them

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• COVER: It's Not Over Yet - Super Tuesday was supposed to settle the Democratic race, but a split decision means it's just getting started–and could get truly ugly
• Clinton, Obama: Why Not Both? - Some Democratic faithful are floating visions of a dream ticket that marries Obama's energy with Clinton's expertise. But it's only a dream
• BUSINESS: A Microsoft-Yahoo! Deal User's Guide - Will the proposed $44.6 billion buyout be a marriage of dunces or the birth of a Net overlord? Either way, a new, ad-centered era is booting up
• PEOPLE: 10 Questions for Jeff Gordon - One of the fastest drivers in NASCAR, this veteran will start the season Feb. 17 at the 50th running of the Daytona 500, a race he has won three times. Jeff Gordon will now take your questions.
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Like all books in the Bible series, you can expect to find both hands-on tutorials and real-world practical applications, as well as reference and background information that provides a context for what you are learning. However, to cover every minute detail of every command of this very complex product would consume thousands of pages, so it is the second goal of this book to provide a concise yet comprehensive guide to SQL Server 2005 based on the information I have found most useful in my experience as a database developer, consultant, and instructor. By the time you have completed the SQL Server 2005 Bible, you will be well prepared to develop and manage your SQL Server 2005 database.

Whether you are a database developer or a database administrator, whether you are just starting out, have one year of experience or five, this book contains material that will be useful to you. This book is written so that you can learn from my experience and the experience of the co-authors. Each chapter begins with the assumption that you’ve never seen the topic before, and then progresses through the subject, presenting the information that makes a difference.

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With hundreds of practice questions and hands-on exercises, Sun Certified Enterprise Architect for Java EE Study Guide covers what you need to know–and shows you how to prepare–for this challenging exam.

• 100% complete coverage of all official objectives for exam 310-051
• Inside the Exam sections in every chapter highlight key exam topics covered
• Simulated exam questions match the format, tone, topics, and difficulty of the real exam

Covers all the exam topics, including:

Basic Principles of Enterprise Architectures * Object-Oriented Design Using UML  * Applicability of JEE Technology * Design Patterns * Legacy Connectivity * EJB and Container Models * Messaging * Internationalization and Localization * Security

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Maintain a dynamic, reliable, and secure Windows Server 2008 environment Exploit the powerful management, networking, and security tools in Windows Server 2008 using the comprehensive information contained in this real-world resource. Written by a seasoned Windows systems engineer, Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Administration lays out each feature alongside clear explanations, practical examples, and hands-on exercises. Inside, you'll learn how to deploy Windows Server 2008, use the new, integrated Server Manager tool, handle Internet services and remote access, and fine-tune performance. You'll also learn how to automate administrative tasks, create reliable system backups, and harden your server's defenses. Perform typical and Server Core installations of Windows Server 2008 Modify system and component settings using the new Server Manager Administer users, groups, and computers with Active Directory Deliver robust web and FTP hosting using IIS 7.0 and SP.NET Monitor stability and performance with Windows System Resource Manager Manage security using NAP, IPSec, 802.1x, and DHCP enforcement Encrypt data with Active Directory Certification Services and PKI Provide secure remote access using Terminal Services and RRAS Handle Windows DNS, BitLocker Drive Encryption, and Itanium support build Windows PowerShell scripts to perform repetitive management jobs. (more…)

How secure is your network? The best way to find out is to attack it. Network Security Assessment provides you with the tricks and tools professional security consultants use to identify and assess risks in Internet-based networks-the same penetration testing model they use to secure government, military, and commercial networks. With this book, you can adopt, refine, and reuse this testing model to design and deploy networks that are hardened and immune from attack.

Network Security Assessment demonstrates how a determined attacker scours Internet-based networks in search of vulnerable components, from the network to the application level. This new edition is up-to-date on the latest hacking techniques, but rather than focus on individual issues, it looks at the bigger picture by grouping and analyzing threats at a high-level. By grouping threats in this way, you learn to create defensive strategies against entire attack categories, providing protection now and into the future.

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If you think you're well versed in ASP.NET, think again. This exceptional guide gives you a master class in site building with ASP.NET 3.5 and other cutting-edge Microsoft technologies. You learn how to develop rock-solid web portal applications that can withstand millions of hits every day while surviving scalability and security pressures — not just for mass-consumer homepages, but also for dashboards that deliver powerful content aggregation for enterprises. Written by Omar AL Zabir, co-founder and CTO of Pageflakes, Building a Web 2.0 Portal with ASP.NET 3.5 demonstrates how to develop portals similar to My Yahoo!, iGoogle, and Pageflakes using ASP.NET 3.5, ASP.NET AJAX, Windows Workflow Foundation, LINQ and .NET 3.5. Through the course of the book, AL Zabir builds an open source Ajax-enabled portal prototype (available online at "www.dropthings.com"), and walks you though the design and architectural challenges, advanced Ajax concepts, performance optimization techniques, and server-side scalability problems involved. You learn how to: Implement a highly decoupled architecture following the popular n-tier, widget-based application model Provide drag-and-drop functionality, and use ASP.NET 3.5 to build the server-side part of the web layer Use LINQ to build the data access layer, and Windows Workflow Foundation to build the business layer as a collection of workflows Build client-side widgets using JavaScript for faster performance and better caching Get maximum performance out of the ASP.NET AJAX Framework for faster, more dynamic, and scalable sites Build a custom web service call handler to overcome shortcomings in ASP.NET AJAX 1.0 for asynchronous, transactional, cache-friendlyweb services Overcome JavaScript performance problems, and help the user interface load faster and be more responsive Solve scalability and security problems as your site grows from hundreds to millions of users Deploy and run a high-volume production site while solving software, hardware, hosting, and Internet infrastructure problems Building a Web 2.0 Portal with ASP.NET 3.5 also presents real-world ASP.NET challenges that the author has solved in building educational and enterprise portals, plus thirteen production disasters common to web applications serving millions of users. If you're ready to build state-of-the art, high-volume web applications, this book has exactly what you need.

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Maximize the powerful BI tools available in PerformancePoint 2007 with help from this practical guide. You will learn how to collect and store data, monitor progress, analyze performance, distribute dynamic reports, and create maintainable projects and forecasts. Business Intelligence with Microsoft Office PerformancePoint Server 2007 provides full details on creating scorecards and dashboards, performing advanced analysis on data, and setting up business plans. You will also learn how to integrate PerformancePoint with ProClarity, Excel 2007, and SQL Server Reporting Services.

• Configure, deploy, and secure all the PerformancePoint components
• Create KPIs, scorecards, reports, and dashboards with the Dashboard Designer
• Create business models with the Planning Business Modeler and create budgets and forecasts with Excel 2007
• Enable advanced data analysis with PerformancePoint Server and ProClarity tools
• Take advantage of the enhanced analytic capabilities of Excel 2007
• Use SQL Server Reporting Services for analytics
• Align performance with organizational objectives

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Oracle Database 11g: New Features is a comprehensive, example-laden review of the most significant new features and improvements offered by the latest release of Oracle Corporation’s flagship database product.

• Learn what’s new in Oracle that really counts.
• See actual examples and test run output.
• Make sound decisions on new feature adoption.

Sift the gold from the silt and discover which new features of the latest release of Oracle’s flagship database product are really worth adopting. Years of database administration experience from authors Sam Alapati and Charles Kim are combined with sound, step-by-step testing and a heart-felt emphasis on what matters in the real-world to help you get the most out of Oracle Database 11g.
What you’ll learn

• Which new features really can make your day-to-day work easier
• How to automate more of your DBA work than ever before

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