Create responsive and intelligent game AI using Blueprints in Unreal Engine 4 About This Book Understand and apply your Game AI better through various projects such as adding randomness and probability, and introducing movement Configure and debug Game AI logic using multiple methodologies Bridge the gap between your knowledge and Game AI in Unreal Engine 4 Who This Book Is For This book is for programmers and artists who want to expand their knowledge of Game AI in relation to Unreal Engine 4. You are recommended to have some experience of exploring Unreal Engine 4 prior to this book because we jump straight into Game AI. What You Will Learn Understand the fundamental components of Game AI within Unreal Engine 4 Skillfully introduce Game AI within Unreal Engine 4 Configure, customize, and assign Navigation and AI components to your pawn Create, debug, and analyze Game AI behavior Design responsive Game AI using the Behavior Tree methodology Create smart objects designed to interact with AI Utilize advanced AI features within your project to maximize the user experience In Detail Unreal Engine is a powerful game development engine that provides rich functionalities to create 2D and 3D games. It is one of the three big game engines used, alongside Unity and CryEngine. Developers have the opportunity to build cross-platform mobile and desktop games from scratch. With Blueprints in Unreal Engine 4, you’re able to fully leverage the visual aid that Behavior Trees are built on. Rarely has there been an opportunity to prototype powerful Game AI and have immediate control over constructing, *ing, and viewing the response in a live gaming environment. This book will show you how to apply artificial intelligence (AI) techniques to your Unreal Script using C++ as your *ing language through multiple projects. With the knowledge gained through this book, you’ll be able to leverage the benefits of Unreal Engine 4. We’ll start with an introduction to AI, and you’ll learn how it is applied to gaming. Then you’ll jump right in and create a simple AI bot and apply basic behaviors to allow it to move randomly. Furthermore, you will get to know the difference between an AI Controller and a Player Controller. As you progress, you’ll find out how to implement randomness and probability traits. Using Navmesh, we will impart navigation components such as Character Movement, MoveTo Nodes, Settings, and World Objects, and implement behavior trees. You will see different techniques to sense the environment and create your own sensory system, and will implement Steering Behaviors, Path Following, Avoidance, and Projectiles. At the end of the book, we will troubleshoot any issues that might crop up while building the entire game. Style and approach This easy-to-follow project-based guide throws you directly into the excitement of Game AI in an approachable and comprehensive manner.

Customize and automate Google Applications using Apps Script About This Book Gain insight into customizing and automating Google applications with JavaScript Create add-ons for Google Sheets, Docs, or Forms; automate your workflow; integrate with external APIs; and more. A step-by-step guide to building real-world solutions Who This Book Is For Newbies to google apps * but having practical experience in Java*. What You Will Learn Learn about the Google Apps * platform and work with *s to develop Google apps Create custom menus and dialogs Parse and send emails Generate Google calendar events Build Translator and RSS reader applications Develop interactive web pages Design interactive web-forms Form a workflow application In Detail Google Apps Script is a cloud-based *ing language based on JavaScript to customize and automate Google applications. Apps Script makes it easy to create and publish add-ons in an online store for Google Sheets, Docs, and Forms. It serves as one single platform to build, code, and ultimately share your App on the Web store. This book begins by covering the basics of the Google application platform and goes on to empower you to automate most of the Google applications. You will learn the concepts of creating a menu, sending mails, building interactive web pages, and implementing all these techniques to develop an interactive Web page as a form to submit sheets You will be guided through all these tasks with plenty of screenshots and code snippets that will ensure your success in customizing and automating various Google applications This guide is an invaluable tutorial for beginners who intend to develop the skills to automate and customize Google applications Style and approach An easy-to-follow yet comprehensive guide, filled with many code examples and screenshots illustrating various Google Apps *s.

Build your own secure enterprise or home penetration testing lab to dig into the various hacking techniques About This Book Design and build an extendable penetration testing lab with wireless access suitable for home and enterprise use Fill the lab with various components and customize them according to your own needs and skill level Secure your lab from unauthorized access and external attacks Who This Book Is For If you are a beginner or a security professional who wishes to learn to build a home or enterprise lab environment where you can safely practice penetration testing techniques and improve your hacking skills, then this book is for you. No prior penetration testing experience is required, as the lab environment is suitable for various skill levels and is used for a wide range of techniques from basic to advance. Whether you are brand new to online learning or you are a seasoned expert, you will be able to set up your own hacking playground depending on your tasks. What You Will Learn Determine your needs and choose the appropriate lab components for them Build a virtual or hardware lab network Imitate an enterprise network and prepare intentionally vulnerable software and services Secure wired and wireless access to your lab Choose a penetration testing framework according to your needs Arm your own wireless hacking platform Get to know the methods to create a strong defense mechanism for your system In Detail Starting with the basics of wireless networking and its associated risks, we will guide you through the stages of creating a penetration testing lab with wireless access and preparing your wireless penetration testing machine. This book will guide you through configuring hardware and virtual network devices, filling the lab network with applications and security solutions, and making it look and work like a real enterprise network. The resulting lab protected with WPA-Enterprise will let you practice most of the attack techniques used in penetration testing projects. Along with a review of penetration testing frameworks, this book is also a detailed manual on preparing a platform for wireless penetration testing. By the end of this book, you will be at the point when you can practice, and research without worrying about your lab environment for every task. Style and approach This is an easy-to-follow guide full of hands-on examples and recipes. Each topic is explained thoroughly and supplies you with the necessary configuration settings. You can pick the recipes you want to follow depending on the task you need to perform.

Monitor and automate complex JavaScript tasks and processes by obtaining a practical understanding of Grunt About This Book Gain a solid knowledge of Grunt to achieve better process management by improving consistency, productivity, reliability, and quality of code Install, configure, and use plugins into your project with this hands-on guide This step-by-step tutorial will walk you through practical examples of workflow automation Who This Book Is For If you are a JavaScript developer and want to learn project monitoring and automation using Grunt, then this book is for you. Basic knowledge of Node.js and Angular.js is assumed. However, no previous experience using Grunt.js is required. What You Will Learn Install and configure Grunt and its dependencies such as Node.js and Node Package Manager (NPM) Create a sample application using Angular.JS Configure plugins to perform various tasks that will benefit your project Explore the task-specific methods available through the Grunt API such as configuration, externals, events, and logging Set up tasks to automate the build process of the simple contact application Build, test, and refine a sample project Get general tips, tricks, and troubleshooting strategies to identify and solve common issues in Grunt Advance your knowledge of Grunt with concepts such as configuration variables and test automation In Detail With the increasing focus on task automation, the Grunt task runner is a vast platform that allows you to incorporate automation into your workflows. At the outset, you will learn how to use Node.js and NMP through an example. You will then find out how to build a sample app and the development environment for it. You will further delve into the implementation of Grunt plugins and the configuration of Grunt tasks. Furthermore, you will explore the various methods and packages for workflow automation. The final chapter will cover some advanced concepts, such as configuration variables and how to create a Grunt plugin. By the end of the book, you will have gained the fundamentals of Grunt and progressed through advanced concepts, including building a Grunt plugin. Style and approach This book is an easy-to-follow, step-by-step tutorial that provides explanations and examples of deploying Grunt from scratch.

Over 90 hands-on recipes to help you learn and master the intricacies of Apache Hadoop 2.X, YARN, Hive, Pig, Oozie, Flume, Sqoop, Apache Spark, and Mahout About This Book Implement outstanding Machine Learning use cases on your own analytics models and processes. Solutions to common problems when working with the Hadoop ecosystem. Step-by-step implementation of end-to-end big data use cases. Who This Book Is For Readers who have a basic knowledge of big data systems and want to advance their knowledge with hands-on recipes. What You Will Learn Installing and maintaining Hadoop 2.X cluster and its ecosystem. Write advanced Map Reduce programs and understand design patterns. Advanced Data Analysis using the Hive, Pig, and Map Reduce programs. Import and export data from various sources using Sqoop and Flume. Data storage in various file formats such as Text, Sequential, Parquet, ORC, and RC Files. Machine learning principles with libraries such as Mahout Batch and Stream data processing using Apache Spark In Detail Big data is the current requirement. Most organizations produce huge amount of data every day. With the arrival of Hadoop-like tools, it has become easier for everyone to solve big data problems with great efficiency and at minimal cost. Grasping Machine Learning techniques will help you greatly in building predictive models and using this data to make the right decisions for your organization. Hadoop Real World Solutions Cookbook gives readers insights into learning and mastering big data via recipes. The book not only clarifies most big data tools in the market but also provides best practices for using them. The book provides recipes that are based on the latest versions of Apache Hadoop 2.X, YARN, Hive, Pig, Sqoop, Flume, Apache Spark, Mahout and many more such ecosystem tools. This real-world-solution cookbook is packed with handy recipes you can apply to your own everyday issues. Each chapter provides in-depth recipes that can be referenced easily. This book provides detailed practices on the latest technologies such as YARN and Apache Spark. Readers will be able to consider themselves as big data experts on completion of this book. This guide is an invaluable tutorial if you are planning to implement a big data warehouse for your business. Style and approach An easy-to-follow guide that walks you through world of big data. Each tool in the Hadoop ecosystem is explained in detail and the recipes are placed in such a manner that readers can implement them sequentially. Plenty of reference links are provided for advanced reading.

Deliver applications to virtual desktop environments in seconds and at scale with the click of a button About This Book Learn how can you deliver a great user experience and drive down storage and management costs Discover hidden gems to deliver applications to virtual desktop environments in seconds This book will help you fully utilize the true potential of VMware App Volumes and design and build a complete production environment Who This Book Is For This book is for administrators and IT teams who would like to take full advantage of App Volumes to deal with application workloads. It will also be useful for virtualization professionals and teams who are working on VDI deployments and VMware end user computing solutions. What You Will Learn Find out how the VMware App Volumes solution can enhance the management and delivery of applications in your desktop environment Design a real-life App Volumes solution using best practices and following the recommended sizing guides Install, configure, and deploy App Volumes so it is ready to start delivering applications Create and prepare applications ready to be delivered to end users Discover how App Volumes can enhance other desktop solutions by looking at how it integrates with VMware Horizon View, VMware ThinApp, RDSH, and Citrix XenDesktop/XenApp Understand how to configure the advanced options within App Volumes In Detail App Volumes provides a virtualized, real-time application delivery engine for virtual desktop infrastructure and is designed to enable VDI deployments to ensure greater flexibility, agility, and cost reduction. This book starts with an in-depth overview of the architecture and components used to design an optimized solution. We then show you how to install and configure App Volumes for different use cases such as VMware View integration, using VMware ThinApp, Citrix XenApp, and more. Throughout the chapters, we provide hints, tips, and tricks as well as best practices. By the end of the book, you will have built a working App Volumes environment and acquired the skills to build and run a production environment. Style and approach This book comprises of the theoretical explanations that will help you perform a complete App Volumes deployment through step-by-step instructions

Over 100 recipes to help you solve the most common problems faced by Android Developers today About This Book Find the answers to your common Android programming problems, from set up to security, to help you deliver better applications, faster Uncover the latest features of Android Marshmallow to make your applications stand out Get up to speed with Android Studio 1.4 - the first Android Studio based on the IntelliJ IDE from JetBrains Who This Book Is For If you are new to Android development and want to take a hands-on approach to learning the framework, or if you are an experienced developer in need of clear working code to solve the many challenges in Android development, you can benefit from this book. Either way, this is a resource you’ll want to keep at your desk for a quick reference to solve new problems as you tackle more challenging projects. What You Will Learn Along with Marshmallow, get hands-on working with Google’s new Android Studio IDE Develop applications using the latest Android framework while maintaining backward-compatibility with the support library Master Android programming best practices from the recipes Create exciting and engaging applications using knowledge gained from recipes on graphics, animations, and multimedia Work through succinct steps on specifics that will help you complete your project faster Keep your app responsive (and prevent ANRs) with examples on the AsynchTask class Utilize Google Speech Recognition APIs for your app. Make use of Google Cloud Messaging (GCM) to create Push Notifications for your users Get a better understanding of the Android framework through detailed explanations In Detail The Android OS has the largest installation base of any operating system in the world; there has never been a better time to learn Android development to write your own applications, or to make your own contributions to the open source community! This “cookbook” will make it easy for you to jump to a topic of interest and get what you need to implement the feature in your own application. If you are new to Android and learn best by “doing,” then this book will provide many topics of interest. Starting with the basics of Android development, we move on to more advanced concepts, and we’ll guide you through common tasks developers struggle to solve. The first few chapters cover the basics including Activities, Layouts, Widgets, and the Menu. From there, we cover fragments and data storage (including SQLite), device sensors, the camera, and GPS. Then we move on more advanced topics such as graphics and animation (including OpenGL), multi-threading with AsyncTask, and Internet functionality with Volley. We’ll also demonstrate Google Maps and Google Cloud Messaging (also known as Push Notifications) using the Google API Library. Finally, we’ll take a look at several online services designed especially for Android development. Take your application big-time with full Internet web services without having to become a server admin by leveraging the power of Backend as a Service (BaaS) providers. Style and approach This book progresses from the fundamentals of Android Development to more advanced concepts, with recipes to solve the most common problems faced by developers. This cookbook makes it easy to jump to specific topics of interest, where you’ll find simple steps to implement the solution and get a clear explanation of how it works.

Build and customize a wide range of powerful Unity AI systems with over 70 hands-on recipes and techniques About This Book Empower your agent with decision making capabilities using advanced minimaxing and Negamaxing techniques Discover how AI can be applied to a wide range of games to make them more interactive. Instigate vision and hearing abilities in your agent through collider based and graph based systems Who This Book Is For This book is intended for those who already have a basic knowledge of Unity and are eager to get more tools under their belt to solve AI and gameplay-related problems. What You Will Learn Use techniques such as A*and A*mbush to empower your agents with path finding capabilities. Create a representation of the world and make agents navigate it Construct decision-making systems to make the agents take different actions Make different agents coordinate actions and create the illusion of technical behavior Simulate senses and apply them in an awareness system Design and implement AI in board games such as Tic-Tac-Toe and Checkers Implement efficient prediction mechanism in your agents with algorithms such as N-Gram predictor and na?ve Bayes classifier Understand and analyze how the influence maps work. In Detail Unity 5 comes fully packaged with a toolbox of powerful features to help game and app developers create and implement powerful game AI. Leveraging these tools via Unity’s API or built-in features allows limitless possibilities when it comes to creating your game’s worlds and characters. This practical Cookbook covers both essential and niche techniques to help you be able to do that and more. This Cookbook is engineered as your one-stop reference to take your game AI programming to the next level. Get to grips with the essential building blocks of working with an agent, programming movement and navigation in a game environment, and improving your agent's decision making and coordination mechanisms - all through hands-on examples using easily customizable techniques. Discover how to emulate vision and hearing capabilities for your agent, for natural and humanlike AI behaviour, and improve them with the help of graphs. Empower your AI with decision-making functions through programming simple board games such as Tic-Tac-Toe and Checkers, and orchestrate agent coordination to get your AIs working together as one. Style and approach This recipe-based guide will take you through implementing various AI algorithms. Each topic is explained and placed among other related techniques, sometimes building on the knowledge from previous chapters. There are also references to more technical books and papers, so you can dig deeper if you want to.

Master the art of machine learning with .NET and gain insight into real-world applications About This Book Based on .NET framework 4.6.1, includes examples on ASP.NET Core 1.0 Set up your business application to start using machine learning techniques Familiarize the user with some of the more common .NET libraries for machine learning Implement several common machine learning techniques Evaluate, optimize and adjust machine learning models Who This Book Is For This book is targeted at .Net developers who want to build complex machine learning systems. Some basic understanding of data science is required. What You Will Learn Write your own machine learning applications and experiments using the latest .NET framework, including .NET Core 1.0 Set up your business application to start using machine learning. Accurately predict the future using regressions. Discover hidden patterns using decision trees. Acquire, prepare, and combine datasets to drive insights. Optimize business throughput using Bayes Classifier. Discover (more) hidden patterns using KNN and Na?ve Bayes. Discover (even more) hidden patterns using K-Means and PCA. Use Neural Networks to improve business decision making while using the latest ASP.NET technologies. Explore “Big Data”, distributed computing, and how to deploy machine learning models to IoT devices – making machines self-learning and adapting Along the way, learn about Open Data, Bing maps, and MBrace In Detail .Net is one of the widely used platforms for developing applications. With the meteoric rise of Machine learning, developers are now keen on finding out how can they make their .Net applications smarter. Also, .NET developers are interested into moving into the world of devices and how to apply machine learning techniques to, well, machines. This book is packed with real-world examples to easily use machine learning techniques in your business applications. You will begin with introduction to F# and prepare yourselves for machine learning using .NET framework. You will be writing a simple linear regression model using an example which predicts sales of a product. Forming a base with the regression model, you will start using machine learning libraries available in .NET framework such as Math.NET, Numl.NET and Accord.NET with the help of a sample application. You will then move on to writing multiple linear regressions and logistic regressions. You will learn what is open data and the awesomeness of type providers. Next, you are going to address some of the issues that we have been glossing over so far and take a deep dive into obtaining, cleaning, and organizing our data. You will compare the utility of building a KNN and Naive Bayes model to achieve best possible results. Implementation of Kmeans and PCA using Accord.NET and Numl.NET libraries is covered with the help of an example application. We will then look at many of issues confronting creating real-world machine learning models like overfitting and how to combat them using confusion matrixes, scaling, normalization, and feature selection. You will now enter into the world of Neural Networks and move your line of business application to a hybrid scientific application. After you have covered all the above machine learning models, you will see how to deal with very large datasets using MBrace and how to deploy machine learning models to Internet of Thing (IoT) devices so that the machine can learn and adapt on the fly. Style and approach This book will guide you in learning everything about how to tackle the flood of data being encountered these days in your .NET applications with the help of popular machine learning libraries offered by the .NET framework.

Design and develop state-of-the-art applications using Force.com's powerful development platformAbout This BookFlaunt your skillsets by developing complex applications that include demanding concepts such as triggers, Visualforce controllers, batch jobs, and Lightning componentsEarn the gratitude of your colleagues by structuring a project so that multiple developers can work independently of each otherKevin Poorman, the author of the book and a Force.com MVP, shares his years of Force.com knowledge and experience with you through the medium of telling examplesWho This Book Is ForIf you're a Force.com developer with a fundamental understanding of Apex and JavaScript but now want to enhance your skills with tips, tricks, and guidance on the best architectural and engineering practices, then this book is for you.What You Will LearnCreating triggers, and the best practices for writing themDeveloping a number of Visualforce controllers and extensionsIntegrating third-party web APIs into your Apex codeWriting unit tests that cover testing bulk safety, user and profile settings, and negative testsCreating a Lightning component for use in Salesforce1Getting acquainted with various methods for deploying metadata between orgsUsing the Rest sObject API for access to Salesforce objects and data using the REST methodologyLearning about overarching architectural considerations such as naming conventions, testing practices, and data modeling practicesIn DetailForce.com is an extremely powerful, scalable, and secure cloud platform, delivering a complete technology stack, ranging from databases and security to workflow and the user interface. With salesforce.com's Force.com cloud platform, you can build any business application and run it on your servers.The book will help you enhance your skillset and develop complex applications using Force.com. It gets you started with a quick refresher of Force.com's development tools and methodologies, and moves to an in-depth discussion of triggers, bulkification, DML order of operations, and trigger frameworks. Next, you will learn to use batchable and schedulable interfaces to process massive amounts of information asynchronously. You will also be introduced to Salesforce Lightning and cover components—including backend (apex) controllers, frontend (JavaScript) controllers, events, and attributes—in detail.Moving on, the book will focus on testing various apex components: what to test, when to write the tests, and—most importantly—how to test. Next, you will develop a changeset and use it to migrate your code from one org to another, and learn what other tools are out there for deploying metadata. You will also use command-line tools to authenticate and access the Force.com Rest sObject API and the Bulk sObject API; additionally, you will write a custom Rest endpoint, and learn how to structure a project so that multiple developers can work independently of each other without causing metadata conflicts.Finally, you will take an in-depth look at the overarching best practices for architecture (structure) and engineering (code) applications on the Force.com platform.Style and approach A step-by-step tutorial, with plenty of tips and tricks that will help you develop complex Force.com applications.

Create powerful applications with the most robust open source web mapping library using this advanced guideAbout This BookDevelop responsive and platform-independent web mapping applications with OpenLayers 3Learn the key points of creating great applications with native JavaScript through the step-by-step examplesMaster the use of the library, from compiling custom builds to developing a complete WebGIS applicationWho This Book Is ForThis book is intended for front-end developers with basic understanding of JavaScript and GIS concepts, and preferably for those who are familiar with the fundamentals of OpenLayers 3. You might have never used OpenLayers 3 as a seasoned JavaScript developer. If this is the case and you are eager to learn web mapping, this book will definitely set you on the right track.What You Will LearnUse the advanced functionality of the OpenLayers 3 library effectivelyImplement the library in your application, shaping it to your needsManage layers and the layer stack dynamicallyCreate not only stunning but also accurate thematic mapsExtend OpenLayers 3 with your own custom classesDevelop mobile-friendly web mapping applicationsMake stunning effects with canvas manipulation, or visualize point clouds with WebGLIntegrate third-party applications, and create custom builds that completely satisfy your needsIn DetailOpenLayers 3 allows you to create stunning web mapping and WebGIS applications. It uses modern, cutting edge browser technologies. It is written with Closure Library, enabling you to build browser-independent applications without painful debugging ceremonies, which even have some limited fallback options for older browsers.With this guide, you will be introduced to the world of advanced web mapping and WebGIS.First, you will be introduced to the advanced features and functionalities available in OpenLayers 3. Next, you will be taken through the key points of creating custom applications with OpenLayers 3. You will then learn how to create the web mapping application of yours (or your company's) dream with this open source, expense-free, yet very powerful library. We’ll also show you how to make amazing looking thematic maps and create great effects with canvas manipulation.By the end of this book, you will have a strong command of web mapping and will be well on your way to creating amazing applications using OpenLayers 3.Style and approachThis is an advanced guide packed with comprehensive examples, and it concentrates on the advanced parts of OpenLayers 3 and JavaScript. It intentionally skips the basic and well-known methodologies, but discusses the hard-to-understand ones in great detail.

Explore the possibility of building truly native, cross-platform mobile applications using your JavaScript skill—NativeScript!About This BookSave your marketing time by building for iOS, Android, and Windows Mobile platforms simultaneouslyBe an ace at utilizing the features of NativeScript and its ability to communicate with each of the host device libraries nativelyProficiently, build your fully cross-platform communication application exhibiting the fundamentals of NativeScriptWho This Book Is ForIf you are a JavaScript developer and want to build cross-platform applications, then this book is just the right one for you!What You Will LearnInstall and compile your application in NativeScriptGet important know-how on the NativeScript project structureDevelop and style your screens for multiple platformsCreate a full-featured cross-platform communication applicationImport and use several third-party componentsSimplify and deal with device resolution and cross-platform issuesTest and deploy your applicationIn DetailNativeScript allows you to build a fast cross-platform application that has a native UI. NativeScript is a true cross-platform framework that generates native speed applications using the native components of the host platform, all using JavaScript. Although NativeScript allows you to build your application in JavaScript, you have full access to the host OS from your code, allowing you to easily tweak or use new platform features instantly at native code speeds.Whether you have already developed multiple applications or zero applications, this book will help you to develop your next application in a cross-platform framework quickly, saving you a massive amount of time and money.This book concisely shows you NativeScript’s built-in framework that allows you to rapidly develop a fully-working compiled cross-platform application in just a few chapters. It starts by laying the foundation of NativeScript and working through the fundamentals to create a basic shell of the application. Moving on, you’ll see how to build a full-fledged application step by step. We’ll show you how to use plugins, and how to communicate with the native OS libraries easily so that you can customize your application as if your app was created in Java or Objective C. We then deal with the issues that arise from being cross platform and compensate for the different screen sizes, screen resolutions, and device abilities. Finally, we progress to testing and deploying your app.Style and approach A stepwise guide for building cross-platform mobile applications with the help of easy-to-understand examples.

Get to grips with object-oriented programming in Swift to efficiently build powerful real-world applicationsAbout This BookLeverage the most efficient object-oriented design patterns in your Swift applicationsWrite robust, safer, and better code using the blueprints that generate objectsBuild a platform with object-oriented code by using real-world elements and represent them in your appWho This Book Is ForIf you are an iOS developer who has a basic idea of object-oriented programming and want to incorporate its concepts with Swift to optimize your application's code and create reusable and easily to understand building blocks, then this book is for you. This is a very useful resource for developers who want to shift from Objective C, C#, Java, Python, JavaScript, or other object-oriented languages to SwiftWhat You Will LearnBuild solid, stable, and reliable applications using SwiftWork with encapsulation, abstraction, and polymorphism using Swift 2.0Customize constructors and destructors based on your needsDevelop Swift 2.0 with classes, instances, properties, and methodsTake advantage of generic code to maximize code reuse and generalize behaviorsUse state of inheritance, specialization, and the possibility to overload membersWrite high quality object-oriented code to build apps for iOS or Mac OS XIn DetailObject-Oriented Programming (OOP) is a programming paradigm based on the concept of objects; these are data structures that contain data in the form of fields, often known as attributes and code. Objects are everywhere, and so it is very important to recognize elements, known as objects, from real-world situations and know how they can easily be translated into object-oriented code.Object-Oriented Programming with Swift is an easy-to-follow guide packed full of hands-on examples of solutions to common problems encountered with object-oriented code in Swift. It starts by helping you to recognize objects using real-life scenarios and demonstrates how working with them makes it simpler to write code that is easy to understand and reuse.You will learn to protect and hide data with the data encapsulation features of Swift. Then, you will explore how to maximize code reuse by writing code capable of working with objects of different types. After that, you'll discover the power of parametric polymorphism and will combine generic code with inheritance and multiple inheritance. Later, you move on to refactoring your existing code and organizing your source for easy maintenance and extensions.By the end of the book, you will be able to create better, stronger, and more reusable code, which will help you build better applications.Style and approachThis simple guide is packed with practical examples of solutions to common problems. Each chapter includes exercises and the possibility for you to test your progress by answering questions.

Integrate the power of R with the simplicity of Shiny to deliver cutting-edge analytics over the WebAbout This BookUse Shiny's built-in functions to produce engaging user interfaces, and integrate them into your own web pagesImplement powerful user-contributed packages to access graphics from the web, make your own dashboards, use interactive maps, and moreExtend Shiny using JavaScript and jQuery with minimal coding using this handy, step-by-step guideWho This Book Is ForThis book is for anybody who wants to produce interactive data summaries over the web, whether you want to share them with a few colleagues or the whole world. No previous experience with R, Shiny, HTML, or CSS is required to begin using this book, although you should possess some previous experience with programming in a different language.What You Will LearnBuild interactive applications using Shiny's built-in widgetsUse the built-in layout functions in Shiny to produce user-friendly applicationsIntegrate Shiny applications with web pages and customize them using HTML and CSSHarness the power of JavaScript and jQuery to customize your applicationsEngage your users and build better analytics using interactive plotsDebug your applications using Shiny's built-in functionsDeliver simple and powerful analytics across your organization using Shiny dashboardsShare your applications with colleagues or over the Internet using cloud services or your own serverIn DetailR is a highly flexible and powerful tool for analyzing and visualizing data. Most of the applications built using various libraries with R are desktop-based. But what if you want to go on the webHere comes Shiny to your rescue!Shiny allows you to create interactive web applications using the excellent analytical and graphical capabilities of R. This book will guide you through basic data management and analysis with R through your first Shiny application, and then show you how to integrate Shiny applications with your own web pages. Finally, you will learn how to finely control the inputs and outputs of your application, along with using other packages to build state-of-the-art applications, including dashboards.Style and approachLearn by doing! Each chapter includes code and examples to use and adapt for your own applications. As the chapters progress, the code and examples are built upon until you have all the materials required to build a large, complex, real-world analytics application.

Harness the power of procedural content generation to design unique games with UnityAbout This BookLearn the basics of PCG developmentDevelop a 2D game from start to finishExplore all the different ways PCG can be applied in gamesWho This Book Is ForThis book is for Unity game developers, especially those who work on indie games. You should be familiar with Unity and C# *ing but you'll be able to jump in and start learning PCG straightaway.What You Will LearnUnderstand the theory of Procedural Content GenerationLearn the uses of Pseudo Random NumbersCreate reusable algorithm designs for PCGEvaluate the data structures for PCGDevelop smaller games with larger amounts of contentGenerate content instead of spending time designing every minute detailLearn when and how to add PCG to your gameLearn the fundamental techniques of PCGIn DetailProcedural Content Generation is a process by which game content is developed using computer algorithms, rather than through the manual efforts of game developers. This book teaches readers how to develop algorithms for procedural generation that they can use in their own games. These concepts are put into practice using C# and Unity is used as the game development engine.This book provides the fundamentals of learning and continued learning using PCG. You'll discover the theory of PCG and the mighty Pseudo Random Number Generator. Random numbers such as die rolls and card drafting provide the chance factor that makes games fun and supplies spontaneity. This book also takes you through the full development of a 2D game.Starting with level generation, you'll learn how PCG can make the game environment for you. You'll move into item generation and learn the different techniques to procedurally create game items. Thereafter, you'll be guided through the more abstract PCG areas such as scaling difficulty to the player and even generating music! The book helps you set up systems within your games where algorithms create computationally generated levels, art assets, quests, stories, characters, and weapons; these can substantially reduce the burden of manually creating every aspect of the game.Finally, you'll get to try out your new PCG skills on 3D terrain generation.Style and approachAn easy-to-follow, project-based guide that will let you build a complete game by the end of the book using PCG.

Design, build, and automate 10 real-world OpenStack administrative tasks with AnsibleAbout This BookAutomate real-world OpenStack cloud operator administrative tasksConstruct a collection of automation code to save time on managing your OpenStack cloudUse this step-by-step tutorial to automate such tasks with AnsibleWho This Book Is ForIf you are an OpenStack-based cloud operator and/or infrastructure administrator and are interested in automating administrative functions, then this book is exactly what you are looking for. Having a functioning OpenStack environment is helpful, but most certainly not necessary.What You Will LearnEfficiently execute OpenStack administrative tasksFamiliarize yourself with how Ansible works and assess the defined best practicesCreate Ansible playbooks and rolesAutomate tasks to customize your OpenStack cloudReview OpenStack automation considerations when automating administrative tasksExamine and automate advanced OpenStack tasks and designated use casesGet a high-level overview of OpenStack and the current production-ready projectsDeep dive into OpenStack CLI tools and find out how to use themIn DetailMost organizations are seeking methods to improve business agility because they have realized just having a cloud is not enough. Being able to improve application deployments, reduce infrastructure downtime, and eliminate daily manual tasks can only be accomplished through some sort of automation.Packed with real-world OpenStack administrative tasks, this book will walk you through working examples and explain how these tasks can be automated using one of the most popular open source automation tools—Ansible.We will start with a brief overview of OpenStack and Ansible and highlight some best practices. Each chapter will provide an introduction to handling various Cloud Operator administration tasks such as creating multiple users/tenants, setting up Multi-Tenant Isolation, customizing your clouds quotas, taking instance snapshots, evacuating compute hosts for maintenance, and running cloud health checks, and a step-by-step tutorial on how to automate these tasks with Ansible.Style and approachThis easy-to-follow reference guide is packed with examples of real-world OpenStack administration tasks; each task is explained in detail and then subsequently turned into automation code.

Develop more dynamic and robust GUI applications using PySide, an open source cross-platform UI frameworkAbout This BookDesigned for beginners to help you get started with GUI application developmentDevelop your own applications by creating customized widgets and dialogsWritten in a simple and elegant structure so you easily understand how to program various GUI componentsWho This Book Is ForThis book is written for Python programmers who want to learn about GUI programming. It is also suitable for those who are new to Python but are familiar with object-oriented programming.What You Will LearnProgram GUI applications in an easy and efficient wayDownload and install PySide, a cross-platform GUI development toolkit for PythonCreate menus, toolbars, status bars, and child windowsDevelop a text editor application on your ownConnect your GUI to a database and manage itExecute SQL queries by handling databasesIn DetailElegantly-built GUI applications are always a massive hit among users. PySide is an open source software project that provides Python bindings for the Qt cross-platform UI framework. Combining the power of Qt and Python, PySide provides easy access to the Qt framework for Python developers and also acts as an excellent rapid application development platform.This book will take you through everything you need to know to develop UI applications. You will learn about installing and building PySide in various major operating systems as well as the basics of GUI programming. The book will then move on to discuss event management, signals and slots, and the widgets and dialogs available with PySide. Database interaction and manipulation is also covered.By the end of this book, you will be able to program GUI applications efficiently and master how to develop your own applications and how to run them across platforms.Style and approachThis is an accessible and practical guide to developing GUIs for Python applications.

Leverage the power of Scala with different tools to build scalable, robust data science applicationsAbout This BookA complete guide for scalable data science solutions, from data ingestion to data visualizationDeploy horizontally scalable data processing pipelines and take advantage of web frameworks to build engaging visualizationsBuild functional, type-safe routines to interact with relational and NoSQL databases with the help of tutorials and examples providedWho This Book Is ForIf you are a Scala developer or data scientist, or if you want to enter the field of data science, then this book will give you all the tools you need to implement data science solutions.What You Will LearnTransform and filter tabular data to extract features for machine learningImplement your own algorithms or take advantage of MLLib’s extensive suite of models to build distributed machine learning pipelinesRead, transform, and write data to both SQL and NoSQL databases in a functional mannerWrite robust routines to query web APIsRead data from web APIs such as the GitHub or Twitter APIUse Scala to interact with MongoDB, which offers high performance and helps to store large data sets with uncertain query requirementsCreate Scala web applications that couple with JavaScript libraries such as D3 to create compelling interactive visualizationsDeploy scalable parallel applications using Apache Spark, loading data from HDFS or HiveIn DetailScala is a multi-paradigm programming language (it supports both object-oriented and functional programming) and *ing language used to build applications for the JVM. Languages such as R, Python, Java, and so on are mostly used for data science. It is particularly good at analyzing large sets of data without any significant impact on performance and thus Scala is being adopted by many developers and data scientists. Data scientists might be aware that building applications that are truly scalable is hard. Scala, with its powerful functional libraries for interacting with databases and building scalable frameworks will give you the tools to construct robust data pipelines.This book will introduce you to the libraries for ingesting, storing, manipulating, processing, and visualizing data in Scala.Packed with real-world examples and interesting data sets, this book will teach you to ingest data from flat files and web APIs and store it in a SQL or NoSQL database. It will show you how to design scalable architectures to process and modelling your data, starting from simple concurrency constructs such as parallel collections and futures, through to actor systems and Apache Spark. As well as Scala’s emphasis on functional structures and immutability, you will learn how to use the right parallel construct for the job at hand, minimizing development time without compromising scalability. Finally, you will learn how to build beautiful interactive visualizations using web frameworks.This book gives tutorials on some of the most common Scala libraries for data science, allowing you to quickly get up to speed with building data science and data engineering solutions.Style and approachA tutorial with complete examples, this book will give you the tools to start building useful data engineering and data science solutions straightaway

Harness the power of ElasticSearch to build and manage scalable search and analytics solutions with this fast-paced guideAbout This BookNew to ElasticSearchHere’s what you need—a highly practical guide that gives you a quick start with ElasticSearch using easy-to-follow examples; get up and running with ElasticSearch APIs in no timeGet the latest guide on ElasticSearch 2.0.0, which contains concise and adequate information on handling all the issues a developer needs to know while handling data in bulk with search relevancyLearn to create large-scale ElasticSearch clusters using best practicesLearn from our experts—written by Bharvi Dixit who has extensive experience in working with search servers (especially ElasticSearch)Who This Book Is ForAnyone who wants to build efficient search and analytics applications can choose this book. This book is also beneficial for skilled developers, especially ones experienced with Lucene or Solr, who now want to learn Elasticsearch quickly.What You Will LearnGet to know about advanced Elasticsearch concepts and its REST APIsWrite CRUD operations and other search functionalities using the ElasticSearch Python and Java clientsDig into wide range of queries and find out how to use them correctlyDesign schema and mappings with built-in and custom analyzersExcel in data modeling concepts and query optimizationMaster document relationships and geospatial dataBuild analytics using aggregationsSetup and scale Elasticsearch clusters using best practicesLearn to take data backups and secure Elasticsearch clustersIn DetailWith constantly evolving and growing datasets, organizations have the need to find actionable insights for their business. ElasticSearch, which is the world's most advanced search and analytics engine, brings the ability to make massive amounts of data usable in a matter of milliseconds. It not only gives you the power to build blazing fast search solutions over a massive amount of data, but can also serve as a NoSQL data store.This guide will take you on a tour to become a competent developer quickly with a solid knowledge level and understanding of the ElasticSearch core concepts. Starting from the beginning, this book will cover these core concepts, setting up ElasticSearch and various plugins, working with analyzers, and creating mappings. This book provides complete coverage of working with ElasticSearch using Python and performing CRUD operations and aggregation-based analytics, handling document relationships in the NoSQL world, working with geospatial data, and taking data backups. Finally, we’ll show you how to set up and scale ElasticSearch clusters in production environments as well as providing some best practices.Style and approachThis is an easy-to-follow guide with practical examples and clear explanations of the concepts. This fast-paced book believes in providing very rich content focusing majorly on practical implementation. This book will provide you with step-by-step practical examples, letting you know about the common errors and solutions along with ample screenshots and code to ensure your success.

Leverage the power of D and the vibe.d framework to develop web applications that are incredibly fastAbout This BookUtilize the elegant vibe.d framework to build web applications easily and REST backends with the D programming languageLearn about all components of vibe.d to enhance your web development with DA hands-on guide to the vibe.d framework; from static web pages to template-based, interactive and localized web applications with database access and REST backendsWho This Book Is ForWhether you are new to the world of D, or already have developed applications in D, or if you want to leverage the power of D for web development, then this book is ideal for you. Basic knowledge of core web technologies like HTML 5 is helpful but not required. This book explains the difficult details to speed your web development.What You Will LearnCreate amazingly fast web applications with DUse Diet templates to easily create a web user interfaceUtilize the web framework for interactive applications with input validation and internationalizationAccess a database to provide persistent storage for your applicationExtend your application with a REST interface and access other applications via RESTUnderstand vibe.d’s fiber-based approach to asynchronous I/O and use it for integration of existing componentsCreate GUI applications with vibe.dIn DetailD is a programming language with C-like syntax and static typing. The vibe.d framework builds on powerful D concepts like template meta-programming and compile-time function execution to provide an easy-to-use environment for web applications. The combination of a feature-rich web programming framework with a language compiling to native code solves two common issues in web development today: it accelerates your development and it results in fast, native web applications. Learning the vibe.d framework before you start your application will help you to choose the right features to reach your goal.This book guides you through all aspects of web development with D and the vibe.d framework.Covering the popular operating systems today, this guide starts with the setup of your development system. From the first Hello World-style application you will move on to building static web pages with templates. The concise treatment of web forms will give you all the details about form handling and web security. Using the abstractions of the web framework you will learn how to easily validate user input. Next, you will add database access to your application, providing persistent storage for your data. Building on this foundation, you will expose your component and integrate other components via REST. Learning about the internals of vibe.d you will be able to use low-level techniques such as raw TCP access. The vibe.d concepts can also be used for GUI clients, which is the next topic that you will learn. vibe.d is supported by an active community, which adds new functionality. This comprehensive guide concludes with an overview of the most useful vibe.d extensions and where to find them. It also shows you how to integrate these extensions in your application.The concepts are always illustrated with source code, giving you an insight into how to apply them in your application.Style and approachA tutorial-style guide to develop web applications with D and the vibe.d framework. Each topic is explained in detail and illustrated with source code, providing you with hands-on assistance for your application.

Learn Database design, development,and administration using the feature-rich SQL Developer 4.1 interfaceAbout This BookExplore all the SQL Developer 4.1 features useful for Oracle database developers, architects, and administratorsUnderstand how this free tool from Oracle has evolved over the years and has become a complete tool that makes life easy for Oracle and third-party database usersThe author, Ajith Narayanan, has a total of 10+ years of work experience as an Oracle [APPS] DBAWho This Book Is ForThis book is intended for Oracle developers who are responsible for database management. You are expected to have programming knowledge of SQL and PL/SQL, and must be familiar with basic Oracle database concepts.What You Will LearnInstall and navigate through all the advanced features of SQL Developer that were introduced in version 4.1Browse, create, edit, and delete (drop) database objectsUse the SQL worksheet to run SQL statements and *s, edit and debug PL/SQL code, manipulate and export (unload) dataCarry out all DBA-related activities such as exporting/importing, tuning, and analyzing database performance issuesQuickly analyze, create, and edit the data model using data modelerExtend the SQL developer capabilities by exploring the APEX related pages, enabling and working with RESTful servicesUse the available reports and create new custom reports with custom *sGrasp how to connect to third-party databases and work smoothly with themIn DetailAt times, DBAs support 100s of databases at work. In such scenarios, using a command-line tool like putty adds to the difficulty, while SQL Developer makes the life of a developer, DBA, or DB architect easier by providing a graphical user interface equipped with features that can bolster and enhance the user experience and boost efficiency. Features such as DBA panel, Reports, Data Modeler, and Data Miner are just a few examples of its rich features, and its support for APEX, REST Services, timesten, and third-party database drivers demonstrate its extensibility.You may be a newbie to databases or a seasoned database expert, either way this book will help you understand the database structure and the different types of objects that organize enterprise data in an efficient manner. This book introduces the features of the SQL Developer 4.1 tool in an incremental fashion, starting with installing them, making the database connections, and using the different panels. By sequentially walking through the steps in each chapter, you will quickly master SQL Developer 4.1.Style and approachThis book follows a step-by-step approach and is in a conversational and easy-to-follow style. Screenshots , and detailed explanations of the basic and advanced features of SQL Developer 4.1 that will make your work and life easy.