AjaxLine Books

Ajax Hacks: Tips & Tools for Creating Responsive Web Sites

Ajax Hacks: Tips & Tools for Creating Responsive Web Sites by Bruce Perry
Publisher: O?????Reilly Media, Inc.; 1 edition (March 1, 2006)
438 pages; Language: English; ISBN: 0596101694

Ajax, the popular term for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML, is one of the most important combinations of technologies for web developers to know these days. With its rich grouping of technologies, Ajax developers can create interactive web applications with XML-based web services, using JavaScript in the browser to process the web server response. Taking complete advantage of Ajax, however, requires something more than your typical ???how-to??? book. What it calls for is Ajax Hacks from O?????Reilly. This valuable guide provides direct, hands-on solutions that take the mystery out of Ajax?????s many capabilities. Each hack represents a clever way to accomplish a specific task, saving you countless hours of searching for the right answer.

A smart collection of 100 insider tips and tricks, Ajax Hacks covers all of the technology?????s finer points. Want to build next-generation web applications today? This book can show you how. Among the multitude of topics addressed, it shows you techniques for:

* Using Ajax with Google Maps and Yahoo Maps
* Displaying Weather.com data
* Scraping stock quotes
* Fetching postal codes
* Building web forms with auto-complete functionality

Ajax Hacks also features a number of advanced hacks for accelerated web developers. Discover how to create huge, maintainable bookmarklets, how to use client-side storage for Ajax applications, and how to call a built-in Java object from JavaScript using Ajax. The book even addresses best practices for testing Ajax applications and improving maintenance, performance, and reliability for JavaScript code.

The latest in O???Reilly?????s celebrated Hacks series, Ajax Hacks smartly complements other O?????Reilly titles such as Head Rush Ajax and JavaScript: The Definitive Guide.

Download: Ajax Hacks: Tips & Tools for Creating Responsive Web Sites 2.37 Mb

Ajax in Action

Ajax in Action by Dave Crane, Eric Pascarello, Darren James
Publisher: Manning Publications; 1 edition (October 1, 2005)
680 pages; Language: English; ISBN: 1932394613

Web users are getting tired of the traditional web experience. They get frustrated losing their scroll position; they get annoyed waiting for refresh; they struggle to reorient themselves on every new page. And the list goes on. With asynchronous JavaScript and XML, known as ???Ajax,??? you can give them a better experience. Once users have experienced an Ajax interface, they hate to go back. Ajax is new way of thinking that can result in a flowing and intuitive interaction with the user.

Ajax in Action helps you implement that thinking?????it explains how to distribute the application between the client and the server (hint: use a ???nested MVC??? design) while retaining the integrity of the system. You will learn how to ensure your app is flexible and maintainable, and how good, structured design can help avoid problems like browser incompatibilities. Along the way it helps you unlearn many old coding habits. Above all, it opens your mind to the many advantages gained by placing much of the processing in the browser. If you are a web developer who has prior experience with web technologies, this book is for you.

What?????s Inside

* Ajax principles
* Why Ajax design patterns matter
* How to avoid Ajax pitfalls
* Examples of Ajax in action: type-ahead suggest, live searching using XSL, and many more.
* Examples using Ajax frameworks: Prototype, Scriptaculous, x and Rico
* Ajax usability, security, and performance

Table of Contents

PART 1 RETHINKING THE WEB APPLICATION
A new design for the Web, First steps with Ajax, Introducing order to Ajax

PART 2 CORE TECHNIQUES

PART 3 PROFESSIONAL AJAX
The user experience, Security and Ajax, Performance

PART 4 AJAX BY EXAMPLE
Dynamic double combo, Type-ahead suggest, The enhanced Ajax web portal, Live search using XSLT, Building stand-alone applications with Ajax

Download: Ajax in Action 6.32 Mb

Pragmatic Ajax: A Web 2.0 Primer

Pragmatic Ajax: A Web 2.0 Primer by Justin Gehtland, Ben Galbraith, Dion Almaer
Publisher: Pragmatic Bookshelf; 1 edition (April 1, 2006)
200 pages; Language: English; ISBN: 0976694085

It?????s not just another book on Ajax. It?????s Pragmatic Ajax: a concise, complete look at a new way of envisioning and implementing browser-based applications. Ajax turns static web pages into interactive applications. Now you can deploy rich-client applications to clients without sacrificing the easy deployment of web applications. But to many folks, Ajax seems difficult. That?????s why we produced this book. As a Pragmatic guide, it strips away the mystery and shows you the easy way to make Ajax work for you.

We cover the the basics of DHTML, JavaScript, and the infamous XmlHttpRequest call. You?????ll see how to add Ajax to existing programs, and design new applications to exploit the power of Web 2.0. Learn the three layers of Ajax framework, and when (and how) to use each. See how to create rich clients, use visual effects, add client-side validation, and handle forms. Write applications that degrade gracefully if clients don?????t support JavaScript. And see how to integrate your Ajaxified clients into Java, .NET, and Ruby on Rails server frameworks.

With Pragmatic Ajax, you?????ll:

* Understand the breadth of the Ajax/Web 2.0 landscape, and go-indepth on how Ajax works
* Learn how JavaScript works with your server-side framework
* See how to easily apply Ajax techniques to an existing application?????and when not to
* Know what?????s coming by looking at new features and frameworks currently in active development.

Writing dynamic applications isn?????t that hard. Folks are awed by Google Maps, but it isn?????t rocket science (apart from the satellite pictures). As a special bonus, see how to implement your own Google Maps-like application using DHTML.

Download: Pragmatic Ajax: A Web 2.0 Primer 6.01 Mb

Macromedia Studio 8 All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies

Macromedia Studio 8 All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies by Damon Dean
Publisher: For Dummies (January 11, 2006)
888 pages; Language: English; ISBN: 076459690X

Your one-stop guide to six great Macromedia tools for building Web sites It?????s like a Web-site-in-a-book! First, there?????s some Web site insight to help you decide what you want your site to do. Then it?????s into the nitty-gritty of making it happen - building with Dreamweaver, adding animation with Flash, enabling collaboration with Contribute, using ColdFusion to access databases, and a whole lot more.

Discover how to

* Plan content for your site
* Use CSS styles
* Incorporate forms into your pages
* Beef up Flash movies with ActionScript
* Use queries in ColdFusion

Download: Macromedia Studio 8 All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies 9.39 Mb
* Integrate all the Macromedia products

Macromedia Flash 8 ActionScript: Training from the Source

Macromedia Flash 8 ActionScript: Training from the Source by Jobe Makar, Danny Patterson
Publisher: Macromedia Press; Bk&CD-Rom edition (January 24, 2006)
536 pages; Language: English; ISBN: 0321336194

As any Flash developer worth his or her salt knows, you?????re not tapping all of the program?????s power unless you?????re taking advantage of its scripting language. Not to worry: With Flash 8?????s improved scripting language (which includes a visual interface!) and this project-based guide you don?????t have to be a master programmer to do so. In these pages best-selling authors Derek Franklin and Jobe Makar with Danny Patterson, Member of Team Macromedia Flash, use hands-on lessons and simple, step-by-step instructions to translate real-life activities into scripts, in the process demonstrating that scripting is something you already instinctively know how to do. To that end, the authors have provided methodologies and techniques for building nearly 40 real-life Flash 8 ActionScript projects, including sample games, wireless applications, Web sites, and more?????all of which will help you work faster and more efficiently. The companion CD contains all of the project files and images you?????ll need to complete the book?????s lessons.

Download: Macromedia Flash 8 ActionScript: Training from the Source 7.11 Mb

SQL Cookbook

SQL Cookbook (Cookbooks (O?????Reilly)) by Anthony Molinaro
Publisher: O?????Reilly Media, Inc.; 1 edition (December 1, 2005)
628 pages; Language: English; ISBN: 0596009763

You know the rudiments of the SQL query language, yet you feel you aren?????t taking full advantage of SQL?????s expressive power. You?????d like to learn how to do more work with SQL inside the database before pushing data across the network to your applications. You?????d like to take your SQL skills to the next level.

Let?????s face it, SQL is a deceptively simple language to learn, and many database developers never go far beyond the simple statement: SELECT FROM WHERE . But there is so much more you can do with the language. In the SQL Cookbook, experienced SQL developer Anthony Molinaro shares his favorite SQL techniques and features. You?????ll learn about:

* Window functions, arguably the most significant enhancement to SQL in the past decade. If you?????re not using these, you?????re missing out
* Powerful, database-specific features such as SQL Server?????s PIVOT and UNPIVOT operators, Oracle?????s MODEL clause, and PostgreSQL?????s very useful GENERATE_SERIES function
* Pivoting rows into columns, reverse-pivoting columns into rows, using pivoting to facilitate inter-row calculations, and double-pivoting a result set
* Bucketization, and why you should never use that term in Brooklyn.
* How to create histograms, summarize data into buckets, perform aggregations over a moving range of values, generate running-totals and subtotals, and other advanced, data warehousing techniques
* The technique of walking a string, which allows you to use SQL to parse through the characters, words, or delimited elements of a string

Written in O?????Reilly?????s popular Problem/Solution/Discussion style, the SQL Cookbook is sure to please. Anthony?????s credo is: ???When it comes down to it, we all go to work, we all have bills to pay, and we all want to go home at a reasonable time and enjoy what?????s still available of our days.??? The SQL Cookbook moves quickly from problem to solution, saving you time each step of the way.

Download: SQL Cookbook 680 Kb

The Art of SQL

The Art of SQL by Stephane Faroult, Peter Robson
Publisher: O?????Reilly Media, Inc.; 1 edition (March 1, 2006)
367 pages; Language: English; ISBN: 0596008945

For all the buzz about trendy IT techniques, data processing is still at the core of our systems, especially now that enterprises all over the world are confronted with exploding volumes of data. Database performance has become a major headache, and most IT departments believe that developers should provide simple SQL code to solve immediate problems and let DBAs tune any ???bad SQL??? later.

In The Art of SQL, author and SQL expert Stephane Faroult argues that this ???safe approach??? only leads to disaster. His insightful book, named after Art of War by Sun Tzu, contends that writing quick inefficient code is sweeping the dirt under the rug. SQL code may run for 5 to 10 years, surviving several major releases of the database management system and on several generations of hardware. The code must be fast and sound from the start, and that requires a firm understanding of SQL and relational theory.

The Art of SQL offers best practices that teach experienced SQL users to focus on strategy rather than specifics. Faroult?????s approach takes a page from Sun Tzu?????s classic treatise by viewing database design as a military campaign. You need knowledge, skills, and talent. Talent can?????t be taught, but every strategist from Sun Tzu to modern-day generals believed that it can be nurtured through the experience of others. They passed on their experience acquired in the field through basic principles that served as guiding stars amid the sound and fury of battle. This is what Faroult does with SQL.

Like a successful battle plan, good architectural choices are based on contingencies. What if the volume of this or that table increases unexpectedly? What if, following a merger, the number of users doubles? What if you want to keep several years of data online? Faroult?????s way of looking at SQL performance may be unconventional and unique, but he?????s deadly serious about writing good SQL and using SQL well. The Art of SQL is not a cookbook, listing problems and giving recipes. The aim is to get you-and your manager-to raise good questions.

Download: The Art of SQL 1.63 Mb

Focal Easy Guide to Photoshop CS2: Image Editing for New Users and Professionals

Focal Easy Guide to Photoshop CS2: Image Editing for New Users and Professionals
Publisher: Focal Press (September 26, 2005) by Brad Hinkel
240 pages; Language: English; ISBN: 0240520017

???If you?????re after a concise introduction to Photoshop CS2?????s many image-editing facilities, this is a useful book that packs in a lot of information at a modest price.??? - Advanced Photoshop. ???This concise and accessible title is excellent for anyone thinking of upgrading to CS2, or those who have already made the leap????this is a well-structured book that is useful and easy to navigate through.??? - Photoshop Creative

Brad Hinkel worked as a program manager for a very large software company in the Seattle area. He helped ship a number of important software products including Word, Mail, and Flight Simulator. He also worked for an Internet retailer in the mid-90s. Brad has been teaching digital photography since 1999. He was largely responsible for starting the digital photography program at the Rocky Mountain School of Photography starting in 1999, and has taught several sections of every course at RMSP. He also created the complete digital photography program at the Photographic Center Northwest in Seattle starting in 2000, and created the entire digital curriculum for that school. Brad has successfully taught his workflow for digital negatives to more than a hundred of students.

Download: Focal Easy Guide to Photoshop CS2: Image Editing for New Users and Professionals 5.62 Mb

Photoshop Elements 4 For Dummies (For Dummies (Computer/Tech))

Photoshop Elements 4 For Dummies (For Dummies (Computer/Tech)) by Barbara Obermeier, Ted Padova
Publisher: For Dummies (January 24, 2006)
400 pages; Language: English; ISBN: 0471774839

Whether you?????re a hobbyist or a pro, look what you can do with Elements 4! Photoshop Elements is all grown up - a powerful program that?????s easy to use and gives professional results. This book?????s step-by-step instructions and full-color examples help you take creative control of Photoshop Elements????? tools. From sharpening and improving contrast to creating greeting cards, calendars, and photo albums in Windows, here?????s how to tweak, improve, print, and share great pictures.

Discover how to

* Create sharp and colorful images for printing
* Combine multiple images into creative collages
* Correct color, contrast, and clarity * Share photos as PDF slideshows
* Build a Web photo gallery
* Organize and find photos fast

Download: Photoshop Elements 4 For Dummies (For Dummies (Computer/Tech)) 21.49 Mb

Photoshop CS2 Before & After Makeovers

Photoshop CS2 Before & After Makeovers by Taz Tally
Publisher: Wiley (January 18, 2006)
384 pages; Language: English; ISBN: 047174901X

You?????re no stranger to Photoshop. But sometimes, it certainly would simplify your life if you had a step-by-step recipe for fixing this problem or creating that effect. And wouldn?????t it be nice if you could see the expected result? Open this book and that?????s what you?????ll find. From basic enhancements like sharpening contrast and tweaking lighting to radical makeovers that change backgrounds or add elements, you simply pick your project, follow the directions, and watch blah ???befores??? become amazing ???afters???!

The cream of the makeovers crop, including

* Dimensional makeovers, such as adding image area, altering dimensions, or creating a panorama
* Exposure enhancements?????bringing subjects out of shadow or adjusting contrast
* Color corrections using highlights, adjusting color object by object, or matching color across images
* Controlling composition by desaturating, removing distracting objects, and creating a focal point
* Mode makeovers interchanging black-and-white, color, grayscale, and transparency
* Repurposing images from digital to print or print to the Web

Even the most discriminating Photoshop user will be blown away by the featured projects that begin with a ???before??? situation and gradually take readers step by step to the amazing ???after??? result This full-color, image-heavy book covers altering brightness, tweaking contrast, replacing the background, matching color across images, and adding motion to images Shows readers how to perform plastic surgery on their photos by fixing photo tears and scratches, painting on an image, and removing distracting elements Photoshop users who know the basics of using the software will improve their skills, gain a better understanding of the technology, and bask in the reward of amazing results.

Download: Photoshop CS2 Before & After Makeovers 49.37 Mb