Build amazing Internet of Things projects using the ESP8266 Wi-Fi chip About This Book Get to know the powerful and low cost ESP8266 and build interesting projects in the field of Internet of Things Configure your ESP8266 to the cloud and explore the networkable modules that will be utilized in the IoT projects This step-by-step guide teaches you the basics of IoT with ESP8266 and makes your life easier Who This Book Is For This book is for those who want to build powerful and inexpensive IoT projects using the ESP8266 WiFi chip, including those who are new to IoT, or those who already have experience with other platforms such as Arduino. What You Will Learn Control various devices from the cloud Interact with web services, such as Twitter or Facebook Make two ESP8266 boards communicate with each other via the cloud Send notifications to users of the ESP8266, via email, text message, or push notifications Build a physical device that indicates the current price of Bitcoin Build a simple home automation system that can be controlled from the cloud Create your own cloud platform to control ESP8266 devices In Detail The Internet of Things (IoT) is the network of objects such as physical things embedded with electronics, software, sensors, and connectivity, enabling data exchange. ESP8266 is a low cost WiFi microcontroller chip that has the ability to empower IoT and helps the exchange of information among various connected objects. ESP8266 consists of networkable microcontroller modules, and with this low cost chip, IoT is booming. This book will help deepen your knowledge of the ESP8266 WiFi chip platform and get you building exciting projects. Kick-starting with an introduction to the ESP8266 chip, we will demonstrate how to build a simple LED using the ESP8266. You will then learn how to read, send, and monitor data from the cloud. Next, you’ll see how to control your devices remotely from anywhere in the world. Furthermore, you’ll get to know how to use the ESP8266 to interact with web services such as Twitter and Facebook. In order to make several ESP8266s interact and exchange data without the need for human intervention, you will be introduced to the concept of machine-to-machine communication. The latter part of the book focuses more on projects, including a door lock controlled from the cloud, building a physical Bitcoin ticker, and doing wireless gardening. You’ll learn how to build a cloud-based ESP8266 home automation system and a cloud-controlled ESP8266 robot. Finally, you’ll discover how to build your own cloud platform to control ESP8266 devices. With this book, you will be able to create and program Internet of Things projects using the ESP8266 WiFi chip. Style and approach This is a step-by-step guide that provides great IOT projects with ESP8266. All the key concepts are explained details with the help of examples and demonstrations of the projects.

Design, develop, and publish your own mobile apps for iOS and Android using C# and Xamarin Studio About This Book Explore the exciting features of Xamarin Studio while learning to develop your own applications Develop a complete application from conceptualization through to publishing it on the app store The book walks you through the basics of cross-platform development with Xamarin using examples and best practices and tips for cross platform solutions. Who This Book Is For If you want to develop your own applications and want to explore the features of Xamarin Studio, then this is the book for you. It is expected that you have a basic understanding of technologies in mobile development, but prior knowledge of Xamarin is not required. What You Will Learn Understand the software development lifecycle for mobile applications Use Xamarin Studio and its wide range of features to write your programs in C# Use different options to create multi-platform applications using Xamarin and develop a cross-platform extension method Work with Xamarin forms and various UI controls Integrate synchronous and asynchronous communication module within your app Render images to work with Android and iOS Link a third-party application to your solution In Detail The mobile app market is increasing exponentially every year. Xamarin Studio with its modern and powerful IDEs makes creating applications a lot easier by simplifying the development process. Xamarin will allow you and your team to create native applications by taking advantage of one of the most evolved programming language in the world: C#. This book will provide you with the basic skills you need to start developing mobile apps using C# and Xamarin. By working through the examples in each chapter, you will gain hands-on experience of creating a complete app that is fully functional by all means. Finally, you will learn to publish the app you created on the app market. Each project in this book will take you one step closer to becoming a professional app developer. Style and approach The step-by-guide will walk you through the process of creating an application of with the help of small projects that will teach you everything you need to know to build a complete application of your own.

Learn how to build physical computing systems using BeagleBone Black and Python About This Book Get to grips with the fundamentals of BeagleBone Leverage Python *s to program BeagleBone for your requirements Build four exciting projects, from home automation to a tele-controlled robot Who This Book Is For This book is intended for hobbyists and consumers who wish to create impressive projects using BeagleBone. You must be familiar with Python programming. What You Will Learn Program on BeagleBone Black using Python Interface sensors and actuators to BeagleBone Black Build your own real-time physical computing systems Connect physical computing systems to cloud servers Build your own home automation and home security system Build your own tele-controlled robot with real-time video streaming In Detail BeagleBone is a low cost, community-supported development platform to develop a variety of electronic projects. This book will introduce you to BeagleBone and get you building fun, cool, and innovative projects with it. Start with the specifications of BeagleBone Black and its operating systems, then get to grips with the GPIOs available in BeagleBone Black. Work through four types of exciting projects: building real-time physical computing systems, home automation, image processing for a security system, and building your own tele-controlled robot and learn the fundamentals of a variety of projects in a single book. By the end of this book, you will be able to write code for BeagleBone in order to operate hardware and impart decision-making capabilities with the help of efficient coding in Python. Style and approach This book is a step by step guide that will walk you through the fundamentals of building different projects using BeagleBone Black.

Develop programmatic functions to create powerful database applications About This Book Write complex SQL queries and design a robust database design that fits your application's need Improve database performance by indexing, partitioning tables, and query optimizing A comprehensive guide covering the advanced PostgreSQL concepts without any hassle Who This Book Is For If you are a PostgreSQL developer with a basic knowledge of PostgreSQL development and you’re want deeper knowledge to develop applications, then this book is for you. As this book does not cover basic installation and configurations, you should have PostgreSQL installed on your machine as a prerequisite. What You Will Learn Write more complex queries with advanced SQL queries Design a database that works with the application exactly the way you want Make the database work in extreme conditions by tuning, optimizing, partitioning, and indexing Develop applications in other programming languages such as Java and PHP Use extensions to get extra benefits in terms of functionality and performance Build an application that does not get locked by data manipulation Explore in-built db functions and data type conversions In Detail PostgreSQL is the most advanced open source database in the world. It is easy to install, configure, and maintain by following the documentation; however, it’s difficult to develop applications using programming languages and design databases accordingly. This book is what you need to get the most out of PostgreSQL You will begin with advanced SQL topics such as views, materialized views, and cursors, and learn about performing data type conversions. You will then perform trigger operations and use trigger functions in PostgreSQL. Next we walk through data modeling, normalization concepts, and the effect of transactions and locking on the database. The next half of the book covers the types of indexes, constrains, and the concepts of table partitioning, as well as the different mechanisms and approaches available to write efficient queries or code. Later, we explore PostgreSQL Extensions and Large Object Support in PostgreSQL. Finally, you will perform database operations in PostgreSQL using PHP and Java. By the end of this book, you will have mastered all the aspects of PostgreSQL development. You will be able to build efficient enterprise-grade applications with PostgreSQL by making use of these concepts Style and approach Every chapter follows a step by step approach that first explains the concept , then shows you how to execute it practically so that you can implement them in your application.

Explore the features of Unity 5 for 2D game development by building three amazing game projects About This Book Explore the 2D architecture of Unity 5, and the tools and techniques for developing 2D games Discover how to use Unity’s 2D tools, including Sprites, physics, and maps, to create different genres of games Practical tutorial on the intermediate and advanced development concepts in Unity 5 to create three interesting and fully functional games Who This Book Is For If you've got the basics of 2D development down, push your skills with the projects in this hands-on guide.Diversify your portfolio and learn the skills needed to build a range of awesome 2D game genres. What You Will Learn Explore and understand the vital role of sprites in 2D games Move, animate, and integrate sprites into a 2D platform game Set up User Interfaces (UIs) to keep track of the progress through the games Apply 2D Physics to improve gameplay believability Learn the foundation of Level Design and how to quickly create 2D Maps Discover NPC design, event triggers, and AI programming Create an epic strategy game, challenging all the skills acquired in the book In Detail Flexible, powerful, and full of rich features, Unity 5 is the engine of choice for AAA 2D and 3D game development. With comprehensive support for over 20 different platforms, Unity boasts a host of great new functions for making 2D games. Learn how to leverage these new options into awesome 2D games by building three complete game projects with the Unity game tutorials in this hands-on book. Get started with a quick overview of the principle concepts and techniques needed for making 2D games with Unity, then dive straight in to practical development. Build your own version of Super Mario Brothers as you learn how to animate sprites, work with physics, and construct brilliant UIs in order to create a platformer game. Go on a quest to create a RPG game discovering NPC design, event triggers, and AI programming. Finally, put your skills to the test against a real challenge - designing and constructing a complex strategy game that will draw on and develop all your previously learned skills. Style and approach This is a practical and easy-to-follow guide that starts with the basics and gradually delves into the process of creating 2D games. With step-by-step instructions on how to build three games, followed by a detailed explanation of each example, you will understand the concepts not just in theory, but also by applying the knowledge you gain in practice.

Design and implement successful private clouds with OpenStack About This Book Explore the various design choices available for cloud architects within an OpenStack deployment Craft an OpenStack architecture and deployment pipeline to meet the unique needs of your organization Create a product roadmap for Infrastructure as a Service in your organization using this hands-on guide Who This Book Is For This book is written especially for those who will design OpenStack clouds and lead their implementation. These people are typically cloud architects, but may also be in product management, systems engineering, or enterprise architecture. What You Will Learn Familiarize yourself with the components of OpenStack Build an increasingly complex OpenStack lab deployment Write compelling documentation for the architecture teams within your organization Apply Agile configuration management techniques to deploy OpenStack Integrate OpenStack with your organization's identity management, provisioning, and billing systems Configure a robust virtual environment for users to interact with Use enterprise security guidelines for your OpenStack deployment Create a product roadmap that delivers functionality quickly to the users of your platform In Detail Over the last five years, hundreds of organizations have successfully implemented Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) platforms based on OpenStack. The huge amount of investment from these organizations, industry giants such as IBM and HP, as well as open source leaders such as Red Hat have led analysts to label OpenStack as the most important open source technology since the Linux operating system. Because of its ambitious scope, OpenStack is a complex and fast-evolving open source project that requires a diverse skill-set to design and implement it. This guide leads you through each of the major decision points that you'll face while architecting an OpenStack private cloud for your organization. At each point, we offer you advice based on the experience we've gained from designing and leading successful OpenStack projects in a wide range of industries. Each chapter also includes lab material that gives you a chance to install and configure the technologies used to build production-quality OpenStack clouds. Most importantly, we focus on ensuring that your OpenStack project meets the needs of your organization, which will guarantee a successful rollout. Style and approach This is practical, hands-on guide to implementing OpenStack clouds, where each topic is illustrated with real-world examples and then the technical points are proven in the lab.

Exploit the visualization capabilities of Kibana and build powerful interactive dashboards About This Book Introduction to data-driven architecture and the Elastic stack Build effective dashboards for data visualization and explore datasets with Elastic Graph A comprehensive guide to learning scalable data visualization techniques in Kibana Who This Book Is For If you are a developer, data visualization engineer, or data scientist who wants to get the best of data visualization at scale then this book is perfect for you. A basic understanding of Elasticsearch and Logstash is required to make the best use of this book. What You Will Learn How to create visualizations in Kibana Ingest log data, structure an Elasticsearch cluster, and create visualization assets in Kibana Embed Kibana visualization on web pages Scaffold, develop, and deploy new Kibana & Timelion customizations Build a metrics dashboard in Timelion based on time series data Use the Graph plugin visualization feature and leverage a graph query Create, implement, package, and deploy a new custom plugin Use Prelert to solve anomaly detection challenges In Detail Kibana is an open source data visualization platform that allows you to interact with your data through stunning, powerful graphics. Its simple, browser-based interface enables you to quickly create and share dynamic dashboards that display changes to Elasticsearch queries in real time. In this book, you’ll learn how to use the Elastic stack on top of a data architecture to visualize data in real time. All data architectures have different requirements and expectations when it comes to visualizing the data, whether it’s logging analytics, metrics, business analytics, graph analytics, or scaling them as per your business requirements. This book will help you master Elastic visualization tools and adapt them to the requirements of your project. You will start by learning how to use the basic visualization features of Kibana 5. Then you will be shown how to implement a pure metric analytics architecture and visualize it using Timelion, a very recent and trendy feature of the Elastic stack. You will learn how to correlate data using the brand-new Graph visualization and build relationships between documents. Finally, you will be familiarized with the setup of a Kibana development environment so that you can build a custom Kibana plugin. By the end of this book you will have all the information needed to take your Elastic stack skills to a new level of data visualization. Style and approach This book takes a comprehensive, step-by-step approach to working with the visualization aspects of the Elastic stack. Every concept is presented in a very easy-to-follow manner that shows you both the logic and method of implementation. Real world cases are referenced to highlight how each of the key concepts can be put to practical use.

Build, implement and scale distributed deep learning models for large-scale datasets About This Book Get to grips with the deep learning concepts and set up Hadoop to put them to use Implement and parallelize deep learning models on Hadoop’s YARN framework A comprehensive tutorial to distributed deep learning with Hadoop Who This Book Is For If you are a data scientist who wants to learn how to perform deep learning on Hadoop, this is the book for you. Knowledge of the basic machine learning concepts and some understanding of Hadoop is required to make the best use of this book. What You Will Learn Explore Deep Learning and various models associated with it Understand the challenges of implementing distributed deep learning with Hadoop and how to overcome it Implement Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) with deeplearning4j Delve into the implementation of Restricted Boltzmann Machines (RBM) Understand the mathematical explanation for implementing Recurrent Neural Networks (RNN) Get hands on practice of deep learning and their implementation with Hadoop. In Detail This book will teach you how to deploy large-scale dataset in deep neural networks with Hadoop for optimal performance. Starting with understanding what deep learning is, and what the various models associated with deep neural networks are, this book will then show you how to set up the Hadoop environment for deep learning. In this book, you will also learn how to overcome the challenges that you face while implementing distributed deep learning with large-scale unstructured datasets. The book will also show you how you can implement and parallelize the widely used deep learning models such as Deep Belief Networks, Convolutional Neural Networks, Recurrent Neural Networks, Restricted Boltzmann Machines and autoencoder using the popular deep learning library deeplearning4j. Get in-depth mathematical explanations and visual representations to help you understand the design and implementations of Recurrent Neural network and Denoising AutoEncoders with deeplearning4j. To give you a more practical perspective, the book will also teach you the implementation of large-scale video processing, image processing and natural language processing on Hadoop. By the end of this book, you will know how to deploy various deep neural networks in distributed systems using Hadoop. Style and approach This book takes a comprehensive, step-by-step approach to implement efficient deep learning models on Hadoop. It starts from the basics and builds the readers’ knowledge as they strengthen their understanding of the concepts. Practical examples are included in every step of the way to supplement the theory.

This book covers the fundamentals of machine learning with Python in a concise and dynamic manner. It covers data mining and large-scale machine learning using Apache Spark. About This Book ? Take your first steps in the world of data science by understanding the tools and techniques of data analysis ? Train efficient Machine Learning models in Python using the supervised and unsupervised learning methods ? Learn how to use Apache Spark for processing Big Data efficiently Who This Book Is For If you are a budding data scientist or a data analyst who wants to analyze and gain actionable insights from data using Python, this book is for you. Programmers with some experience in Python who want to enter the lucrative world of Data Science will also find this book to be very useful, but you don't need to be an expert Python coder or mathematician to get the most from this book. What You Will Learn ? Learn how to clean your data and ready it for analysis ? Implement the popular clustering and regression methods in Python ? Train efficient machine learning models using decision trees and random forests ? Visualize the results of your analysis using Python’s Matplotlib library ? Use Apache Spark’s MLlib package to perform machine learning on large datasets In Detail Join Frank Kane, who worked on Amazon and IMDb’s machine learning algorithms, as he guides you on your first steps into the world of data science. Hands-On Data Science and Python Machine Learning gives you the tools that you need to understand and explore the core topics in the field, and the confidence and practice to build and analyze your own machine learning models. With the help of interesting and easy-to-follow practical examples, Frank Kane explains potentially complex topics such as Bayesian methods and K-means clustering in a way that anybody can understand them. Based on Frank’s successful data science course, Hands-On Data Science and Python Machine Learning empowers you to conduct data analysis and perform efficient machine learning using Python. Let Frank help you unearth the value in your data using the various data mining and data analysis techniques available in Python, and to develop efficient predictive models to predict future results. You will also learn how to perform large-scale machine learning on Big Data using Apache Spark. The book covers preparing your data for analysis, training machine learning models, and visualizing the final data analysis. Style and approach This comprehensive book is a perfect blend of theory and hands-on code examples in Python which can be used for your reference at any time.

This unique book provides you with a wealth of tips, tricks, best practices, and answers to the day-to-day questions that programmers face in their careers. It is split into three parts: Coder Skills, Freelancer Skills, and Career Skills, providing the knowledge you need to get ahead in programming. About This Book ? Over 50 essays with practical advice on improving your programming career ? Practical focus gives solutions to common problems, and methods to become a better coder ? Includes advice for existing programmers and those wanting to begin a career in programming Who This Book Is For This book is useful for programmers of any ability or discipline. It has advice for those thinking about beginning a career in programming, those already working as a fully employed programmer, and for those working as freelance developers. What You Will Learn ? Improve your soft skills to become a better and happier coder ? Learn to be a better developer ? Grow your freelance development business ? Improve your development career ? Learn the best approaches to breaking down complex topics ? Have the confidence to charge what you're worth as a freelancer ? Succeed in developer job interviews In Detail This is an all-purpose toolkit for your programming career. It has been built by Jordan Hudgens over a lifetime of coding and teaching coding. It helps you identify the key questions and stumbling blocks that programmers encounter, and gives you the answers to them! It is a comprehensive guide containing more than 50 insights that you can use to improve your work, and to give advice in your career. The book is split up into three topic areas: Coder Skills, Freelancer Skills, and Career Skills, each containing a wealth of practical advice. Coder Skills contains advice for people starting out, or those who are already working in a programming role but want to improve their skills. It includes such subjects as: how to study and understand complex topics, and getting past skill plateaus when learning new languages. Freelancer Skills contains advice for developers working as freelancers or with freelancers. It includes such subjects as: knowing when to fire a client, and tips for taking over legacy applications. Career Skills contains advice for building a successful career as a developer. It includes such subjects as: how to improve your programming techniques, and interview guides and developer salary negotiation strategies. Style and approach This unique book provides over 50 insightful essays full of practical advice for improving your programming career. The book is split into three broad sections covering different aspects of a developer's career. Each essay is self-contained and can be read individually, or in chunks.

Bring the performance and security of SQL Server to Linux About This Book ? Design and administer your SQL Server solution on the open source Linux platform ? Install, configure, and fine-tune your database application for maximum performance ? An easy-to-follow guide teaching you how to implement various SQL Server CTP 2.x offerings on Linux—from installation to administration Who This Book Is For This book is for the Linux users who want to learn SQL Server on their favorite Linux distributions. It is not important if you are experienced database user or a beginner as we are starting from scratch. However, it is recommended that you have basic knowledge about relational models. More advanced readers can pick the chapters of their interest and study specific topics immediately. Users from Windows platform can also benefit from this book to expand their frontiers and become equally efficient on both platforms. What You Will Learn ? Install and set up SQL Server CTP 2.x on Linux ? Create and work with database objects using SQL Server on Linux ? Configure and administer SQL Server on Linux-based systems ? Create and restore database back-ups ? Protect sensitive data using the built-in cryptographic features ? Optimize query execution using indexes ? Improve query execution time by more than 10x using in-memory OLTP ? Track row-versioning using temporal tables In Detail Microsoft's launch of SQL Server on Linux has made SQL Server a truly versatile platform across different operating systems and data-types, both on-premise and on-cloud. This book is your handy guide to setting up and implementing your SQL Server solution on the open source Linux platform. You will start by understanding how SQL Server can be installed on supported and unsupported Linux distributions. Then you will brush up your SQL Server skills by creating and querying database objects and implementing basic administration tasks to support business continuity, including security and performance optimization. This book will also take you beyond the basics and highlight some advanced topics such as in-memory OLTP and temporal tables. By the end of this book, you will be able to recognize and utilize the full potential of setting up an efficient SQL Server database solution in your Linux environment. Style and approach This book follows a step-by-step approach to teach readers the concepts of SQL Server on Linux using the bash command line and SQL programming language trough examples which can easily be adapted and applied in your own solutions.

Learn how to unify Customer Experience, User Experience and more to shape lasting customer engagement in a world of rapid change. About This Book ? An introductory guide to Experience Design that will help you break into XD as a career by gaining A strong foundational knowledge ? Get acquainted with the various phases of a typical Experience Design workflow ? Work through the key process and techniques in XD, supported by most of the common use cases Who This Book Is For This book is for designers who wish to enter the field of UX Design, especially Programmers, Content Strategists, and Organizations keen to understand the core concepts of UX Design. What You Will Learn ? Understand why Experience Design (XD) is at the forefront of business priorities, as organizations race to innovate products and services in order to compete for customers in a global economy driven by technology and change ? Get motivated by the numerous professional opportunities that XD opens up for practitioners in wide-ranging domains, and by the stories of real XD practitioners ? Understand what experience is, how experiences are designed, and why they are effective ? Gain knowledge of user-centered design principles, methodologies, and best practices that will improve your product (digital or physical) ? Get to know your X’s and D’s—understand the differences between XD and UX, CX, IxD, IA, SD, VD, PD, and other design practices In Detail We live in an experience economy in which interaction with products is valued more than owning them. Products are expected to engage and delight in order to form the emotional bonds that forge long-term customer loyalty: Products need to anticipate our needs and perform tasks for us: refrigerators order food, homes monitor energy, and cars drive autonomously; they track our vitals, sleep, location, finances, interactions, and content use; recognize our biometric signatures, chat with us, understand and motivate us. Beautiful and easy to use, products have to be fully customizable to match our personal preferences. Accomplishing these feats is easier said than done, but a solution has emerged in the form of Experience design (XD), the unifying approach to fusing business, technology and design around a user-centered philosophy. This book explores key dimensions of XD: Close collaboration among interdisciplinary teams, rapid iteration and ongoing user validation. We cover the processes, methodologies, tools, techniques and best-practices practitioners use throughout the entire product development life-cycle, as ideas are transformed to into positive experiences which lead to perpetual customer engagement and brand loyalty. Style and approach An easy-to-understand guide, filled with real-world use cases on process, design, and techniques, helping you build a strong foundation in Experience Design.

A C# beginners guide to the core parts of the C# language! About This Book ? Learn C#, Visual Studio, and Object Oriented Programming ? See practical examples of all the core C# language features so that you can easily master them yourself ? Use the C# programming language to work with code and data, which can be applied to other programming languages as well ? Complete a variety of programming assignments for hands-on practice, as you move through the course Who This Book Is For This book will appeal to anyone who is interested in learning how to program in C#. Previous programming experience will help you get through the initial sections with ease, although, it’s not mandatory to possess any experience at all. What You Will Learn ? Learn C#, Visual Studio, and object-oriented programming ? Learn all the core C# language syntax with hands-on working examples ? Learn everything from basic variable assignments to complex multidimensional arrays ? Go through practical examples of all the core C# language features so that you can easily master them yourself ? Use the C# programming language to work with code and data, which can be applied to other programming languages as well In Detail Beginning C# Hands-On - The Core Language teaches you core C# language and syntax in a working Visual Studio environment. This book covers everything from core language through to more advanced features such as object-oriented programming techniques. This book is for C# beginners who need a practical reference to core C# language features. You'll also gain a view of C# through web programming with web forms, so you'll learn HTML, basic CSS, and how to use a variety of controls, such as buttons and drop-down lists. You'll start with the fundamentals of C# and Visual Studio, including defining variables, interacting with users, and understanding data types, data conversions, and constants. You'll move on to checking conditions using if/else blocks, and see how to use loops to do things such as repeat blocks of code. After covering various operators to evaluate and assign control structures, you'll see how to use arrays to store collections of data. By the time you’ve finished the book, you’ll know how to program the vital elements of the core C# language. These are the building blocks that you can then combine to build complex C# programs. Style and approach A comprehensive book that blends theory with just the right amount of practical code implementations, to help you get up and running with the C# programming language. You’ll also get to work with other tools and technologies that complement C# programming. Each core part of the C# language is coded as you learn, and code output is tested every time to verify the syntax is working as expected, so it’s easy for you to learn directly from the working code examples.

Learn how UX and design thinking can make your site stand out from the rest of the internet. About This Book ? Learn everything you need to know about UX for your Web Design. ? Design B2B, B2C websites that stand out from the competitors with this guide ? Enhance your business by improving customer accessibility and retention. Who This Book Is For If you’re a designer, developer, or just someone who has the desire to create websites that are not only beautiful to look at but also easy to use and fully accessible to everyone, including people with special needs, UX for the Web will provide you with the basic building blocks to achieve just that. What You Will Learn ? Discover the fundamentals of UX and the User-Centered Design (UCD) Process. ? Learn how UX can enhance your brand and increase user retention ? Learn how to create the golden thread between your product and the user ? Use reliable UX methodologies to research and analyze data to create an effective UX strategy ? Bring your UX strategy to life with wireframes and prototypes ? Set measurable metrics and conduct user tests to improve digital products ? Incorporate the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) to create accessible digital products In Detail If you want to create web apps that are not only beautiful to look at, but also easy to use and fully accessible to everyone, including people with special needs, this book will provide you with the basic building blocks to achieve just that. The book starts with the basics of UX, the relationship between Human-Centered Design (HCD), Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), and the User-Centered Design (UCD) Process; it gradually takes you through the best practices to create a web app that stands out from your competitors. You’ll also learn how to create an emotional connection with the user to increase user interaction and client retention by different means of communication channels. We’ll guide you through the steps in developing an effective UX strategy through user research and persona creation and how to bring that UX strategy to life with beautiful, yet functional designs that cater for complex features with micro interactions. Practical UX methodologies such as creating a solid Information Architecture (IA), wireframes, and prototypes will be discussed in detail. We’ll also show you how to test your designs with representative users, and ensure that they are usable on different devices, browsers and assistive technologies. Lastly, we’ll focus on making your web app fully accessible from a development and design perspective by taking you through the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). Style and Approach This is an easy-to-understand step-by-step guide with full of examples to that will help you in creating good UX for your web applications.

Use the two popular web development stacks, Node.js and MongoDB, to build full-featured web applications About This Book ? Learn the new ECMAScript along with Node 8 and MongoDB to make your application more effective. ? Get the up-to-date information required to launch your first application prototype using the latest versions of Node.js and MongoDB. ? A practical guide with clear instructions to designing and developing a complete web application from start to finish using trending frameworks such as angular4 and hapi Who This Book Is For The book is designed for JavaScript developers of any skill level who want to get up-and-running using Node.js and MongoDB to build full-featured web applications. A basic understanding of JavaScript and HTML is the only prerequisite for this book. What You Will Learn ? Work with Node.js building blocks ? Write and configure a web server using Node.js powered by the Express.js framework ? Build dynamic HTML pages using the Handlebars template engine ? Persist application data using MongoDB and Mongoose ODM ? Test your code using automated testing tools such as the Mocha framework ? Automate test cases using Gulp ? Reduce your web development time by integrating third-party tools for web interaction. ? Deploy a development environment to the cloud using services such as Heroku, Amazon Web Services, and Microsoft Azure ? Explore single-page application frameworks to take your web applications to the next level In Detail Node.js builds fast, scalable network applications while MongoDB is the perfect fit as a high-performance, open source NoSQL database solution. The combination of these two technologies offers high performance and scalability and helps in building fast, scalable network applications. Together they provide the power for manage any form of data as well as speed of delivery. This book will help you to get these two technologies working together to build web applications quickly and easily, with effortless deployment to the cloud. You will also learn about angular 4, which consumes pure JSON APOIs from a hapi server. The book begins by setting up your development environment, running you through the steps necessary to get the main application server up-and-running. Then you will see how to use Node.js to connect to a MongoDB database and perform data manipulations. From here on, the book will take you through integration with third-party tools to interact with web apps. You will see how to use controllers and view models to generate reusable code that will reduce development time. Toward the end, the book supplies tests to properly execute your code and take your skills to the next level with the most popular frameworks for developing web applications. By the end of the book, you will have a running web application developed with MongoDB, Node.js, and some of the most powerful and popular frameworks. Style and approach A practical guide with clear instructions to designing and developing a complete web application from start to finish

Explore and use the agile techniques of SAP Activate Framework in your SAP Projects. About This Book ? Explore the three pillars of SAP Activate and see how it works in different scenario. ? Understand and Implement Agile and Scrum concepts in SAP Activate. ? Get to Grisp with SAP Activate framework and manage your SAP projects effectively. Who This Book Is For This book is for readers who want to understand the working of SAP Activate and use it to manage SAP projects. Prior knowledge of SAP Hana is must. What You Will Learn ? Understand the fundamentals of SAP S4/HANA. ? Get familiar with the structure and characteristics of SAP Activate. ? Explore the application scenarios of SAP Activate. ? Use Agile and Scrum in SAP Projects effectively and efficiently ? Implement your learning into a sample project to explore and understand the benefits of SAP Activate methodology. In Detail It has been a general observation that most SAP consultants and professionals are used to the conventional waterfall methodology. Traditionally, this method has been there for ages and we all grew up learning about it and started practicing it in real world. The evolution of agile methodology has revolutionized the way we manage our projects and businesses. SAP Activate is an innovative, next generation business suite that allows producing working deliverables straight away. Manage your SAP Project with SAP Activate, will take your learning to the next level. The book promises to make you understand and practice the SAP Activate Framework. The focus is to take you on a journey of all the phases of SAP Activate methodology and make you understand all the phases with real time project examples. The author explains how SAP Activate methodology can be used through real-world use cases, with a comprehensive discussion on Agile and Scrum, in the context of SAP Project. You will get familiar with SAP S4HANA which is an incredibly innovative platform for businesses which can store business data, interpret it, analyze it, process it in real time, and use it when it's needed depending upon the business requirement. Style and approach An easy to follow approach with concepts explained via scenarios and project examples

Learn C# in 7 days with practical examples, build a foundation for C# programming, and boost your skills to an advanced level About This Book ? Learn the basics of C# in 7 days ? Works as a reference guide describing the major features of C# ? Build easy and simple code through real-world example scenarios Who This Book Is For The book is for aspiring developers and absolute novices who want to get started with the world of programming. You do not need any knowledge of C# for this book. What You Will Learn ? Understand and set up the .NET environment ? Code in C# using the Visual Studio 2017 RC (preferable community edition) IDE ? Define variables, syntax, control flows, statements, and arrays etc through examples ? Understand the concepts of Object-Oriented Programming using C# ? Get acquainted with attributes, collection, generics, and LINQ ? Get your hands on class members such as Modifiers, Methods, Properties, Indexers, File I/O, Exception Handling, and Regex ? Build a real-world application using C# 7 In Detail This book takes a unique approach to teach C# to absolute beginners. You’ll learn the basics of the language in seven days. It takes a practical approach to explain the important concepts that build the foundation of the C# programming language. The book begins by teaching you the basic fundamentals using real-world practical examples and gets you acquainted with C# programming. We cover some important features and nuances of the language in a hands-on way, helping you grasp the concepts in a fluid manner. Later, you’ll explore the concepts of Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) through a real-world example. Then we dive into advanced-level concepts such as generics and collections, and you’ll get acquainted with objects and LINQ. Towards the end, you’ll build an application that covers all the concepts explained in the book. By the end of this book, you will have next-level skills and a good knowledge of the fundamentals of C#. Style and approach Fast paced guide to get you up-to-speed with the language. Every chapter is followed by an exercise that focuses on building something with the language. The codes of the exercises can be found on the Packt website

Build fast and powerful applications by harnessing the power of protocol-oriented programming in Swift 4 About This Book ? Leverage the power of protocol-oriented programming in your applications and learn from real-world use cases ? Create a flexible code base with protocols and protocol extensions ? Leverage the power of generics in Swift 4 to create very flexible frameworks Who This Book Is For This book is for Swift developers who want to learn and implement protocol-oriented programming in their real-world applications.. What You Will Learn ? Understand the differences between object-oriented programming and protocol-oriented programming ? Explore the different types that Swift offers and what pitfalls to avoid ? Delve into generics and generic programming ? Learn how to implement Copy-On-Write within your custom types ? Implement several design patterns in a protocol-oriented way ? Design applications by prioritizing the protocol first and the implementation types second In Detail Swift has become the number one language used in iOS and macOS development. The Swift standard library is developed using protocol-oriented programming techniques, generics, and first-class value semantics; therefore, every Swift developer should understand these powerful concepts and how to take advantage of them in their application design. This book will help you understand the differences between object-oriented programming and protocol-oriented programming. It will demonstrate how to work with protocol-oriented programming using real-world use cases. You will gain a solid knowledge of the various types that can be used in Swift and the differences between value and reference types. You will be taught how protocol-oriented programming techniques can be used to develop very flexible and easy-to-maintain code. By the end of the book, you will have a thorough understanding of protocol-oriented programming and how to utilize it to build powerful and practical applications. Style and approach This book is written for developers who learn best by working with code, so every concept discussed in this book is reinforced with real code examples.

Rich Finelli's modern CSS training course, based on his bestselling Mastering CSS video, now available in a book. Master CSS from best practices to practical CSS coding. About This Book ? Learn CSS directly from Rich Finelli, author of the bestselling Mastering CSS training course ? From best practices to deep coding, Rich Finelli shares his CSS knowledge with you ? Rich Finelli covers the latest CSS updates with flexbox and works with retina devices Who This Book Is For This book is for web designers who wish to master the best practices of CSS in their web projects. You already know how to work with a web page, and want to use CSS to master website presentation. What You Will Learn ? Master fundamental CSS concepts like the anatomy of a rule set, the box model, and the differences between block and inline elements ? Employ flexbox to layout and align elements simply and cleanly ? Become proficient with CSS3 properties such as transitions, transforms, gradients, and animations ? Delve into modular, reusable, and scalable CSS for more organized and maintainable style sheets ? Understand media queries and other pillars of responsive web design ? Get creative with the @font-face property, Google Web Fonts, font services such as Typekit, as well as, icon fonts ? Understand the workflow for HiDPI (retina) devices using 2x images, SVG, and the srcset attribute In Detail Rich Finelli trains you in CSS deep learning and shows you the techniques you need to work in the world of responsive, feature-rich web applications. Based on his bestselling Mastering CSS training video, you can now learn with Rich in this book! Rich shares with you his skills in creating advanced layouts, and the critical CSS insights you need for responsive web designs, fonts, transitions, animations, and using flexbox. Rich begins your CSS training with a review of CSS best practices, such as using a good text editor to automate your authoring and setting up a CSS baseline. You then move on to create a responsive layout making use of floats and stylable drop-down menus, with Rich guiding you toward a modular-organized approach to CSS. Your training with Rich Finelli then dives into detail about working with CSS and the best solutions to make your websites work. You'll go with him into CSS3 properties, transforms, transitions, and animations. You’ll gain his understanding of responsive web designs, web fonts, icon fonts, and the techniques used to support retina devices. Rich expands your knowledge of CSS so you can master one of the most valuable tools in modern web design. Style and approach Let Rich Finelli train you in CSS! This book has a direct training style because it is based on Rich's bestselling Mastering CSS training course.

Gain a thorough understanding of operating in a Python development environment, and some of the most important advanced topics with Daniel Arbuckle. This dynamic, concise book is full of real-world solutions for Python 3.6 problems, and advanced-level concepts such as reactive programming, microservices, ctypes and Cython. About This Book ? Covers the latest and advanced concepts of Python such as parallel processing with Python 3.6 ? Explore the Python language from its basic installation and setup to concepts such as reactive programming and microservices ? Get introduced to the mechanism for rewriting code in a compiled language along with ctypes and Cython tools Who This Book Is For If you are a programmer and are familiar with the basics of Python, and you want to broaden your knowledge base to develop projects better and faster, this book is for you. Even if you are not familiar with Python, Daniel Arbuckle's Mastering Python starts with the basics and takes you on a journey to become an expert in the technology. What You Will Learn ? Get to grips with the basics of operating in a Python development environment ? Build Python packages to efficiently create reusable code ? Become proficient at creating tools and utility programs in Python ? Use the Git version control system to protect your development environment from unwanted changes ? Harness the power of Python to automate other software ? Distribute computational tasks across multiple processors ? Handle high I/O loads with asynchronous I/O to get a smoother performance ? Take advantage of Python's metaprogramming and programmable syntax features ? Get acquainted with the concepts behind reactive programming and RxPy In Detail Daniel Arbuckle's Mastering Python covers the basics of operating in a Python development environment, before moving on to more advanced topics. Daniel presents you with real-world solutions to Python 3.6 and advanced-level concepts, such as reactive programming, microservices, ctypes, and Cython tools. You don't need to be familiar with the Python language to use this book, as Daniel starts with a Python primer. Throughout, Daniel highlights the major aspects of managing your Python development environment, shows you how to handle parallel computation, and helps you to master asynchronous I/O with Python 3.6 to improve performance. Finally, Daniel will teach you the secrets of metaprogramming and unit testing in Python, helping you acquire the perfect skillset to be a Python expert. Daniel will get you up to speed on everything from basic programming practices to high-end tools and techniques, things that will help set you apart as a successful Python programmer. Style and Approach Daniel Arbuckle's Mastering Python covers basic to advanced-level concepts in computer science. If you are a beginner, then Daniel will help you get started. If you are experienced, he will expand your knowledge base.

Create efficient and smart web applications with jQuery 3.0 using this step-by-step practical tutorial About This Book ? Create a fully featured and responsive client-side application using jQuery ? Explore all the latest features of jQuery 3.0 and code examples updated to reflect modern JavaScript environments ? Develop high performance interactive pages Who This Book Is For This book is ideal for client-side JavaScript developers. You do need to have any previous experience with jQuery, although basic JavaScript programming knowledge is necessary. What You Will Learn ? Create custom interactive elements for your web designs ? Find out how to create the best user interface for your web applications ? Use selectors in a variety of ways to get anything you want from a page when you need it ? Master events to bring your web pages to life ? Add flair to your actions with a variety of different animation effects ? Discover the latest features available in jQuery with the latest update of this incredibly popular title ? Using jQuery npm Packages In Detail If you are a web developer and want to create web applications that look good, are efficient, have rich user interfaces, and integrate seamlessly with any backend using AJAX, then this book is the ideal match for you. We’ll show you how you can integrate jQuery 3.0 into your web pages, avoid complex JavaScript code, create brilliant animation effects for your web applications, and create a flawless app. We start by configuring and customising the jQuery environment, and getting hands-on with DOM manipulation. Next, we’ll explore event handling advanced animations, creating optimised user interfaces, and building useful third-party plugins. Also, we'll learn how to integrate jQuery with your favourite back-end framework. Moving on, we’ll learn how the ECMAScript 6 features affect your web development process with jQuery. we’ll discover how to use the newly introduced JavaScript promises and the new animation API in jQuery 3.0 in great detail, along with sample code and examples. By the end of the book, you will be able to successfully create a fully featured and efficient single page web application and leverage all the new features of jQuery 3.0 effectively. Style and approach Create efficient client-side apps that look great and run seamlessly across all devices with this step-by-step practical guide. There are illustrative examples for those who need extra help to get started with jQuery web development.