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.

Master SDDC Operations with proven best practices About This Book Understand the drawbacks of the traditional paradigm and management that make operations difficult in SDDC Master performance and capacity management in Software-Defined Data Center Operationalize performance and capacity monitoring with proven dashboards Who This Book Is For This book is primarily for any system administrator or cloud infrastructure specialist who is interested in performance management and capacity management using VMware technologies. This book will also help IT professionals whose area of responsibility is not VMware, but who work with the VMware team. You can be Windows, Linux, Storage, or Network team; or application architects. Note that prior exposure to the VMware platform of data-center and cloud-based solutions is expected. What You Will Learn Simplify the task of performance and capacity management Master the counters in vCenter and vRealize Operations and understand their dependency on one another Educate your peers and management on SDDC Operations Complete your SDDC monitoring to include non-VMware components Perform SDDC performance troubleshooting Explore real-life examples of how super metric and advanced dashboards Introduce and implement a Performance SLA Accomplish your Capacity Management by taking into service tiering and performance SLA In Detail Performance management and capacity management are the two top-most issues faced by enterprise IT when doing virtualization. Until the first edition of the book, there was no in-depth coverage on the topic to tackle the issues systematically. The second edition expands the first edition, with added information and reorganizing the book into three logical parts. The first part provides the technical foundation of SDDC Management. It explains the difference between a software-defined data center and a classic physical data center, and how it impacts both architecture and operations. From this strategic view, it zooms into the most common challenges—performance management and capacity management. It introduces a new concept called Performance SLA and also a new way of doing capacity management. The next part provides the actual solution that you can implement in your environment. It puts the theories together and provides real-life examples created together with customers. It provides the reasons behind each dashboard, so that you get the understanding on why it is required and what problem it solves. The last part acts as a reference section. It provides a complete reference to vSphere and vRealize Operations counters, explaining their dependencies and providing practical guidance on the values you should expect in a healthy environment. Style and approach This book covers the complex topic of managing performance and capacity in an easy-to-follow style. It relates real-world scenarios to topics in order to help you implement the book’s teachings on the go.

Develop fun and exciting games and create amazing animations for your existing apps with SpriteKit, Apple's 2D game development frameworkAbout This BookLearn the key concepts of game development in iOSTake advantage of SpriteKit to create your own games and improve your appsFollow the step-by-step chapters to create a complete product ready to submit to the App StoreWho This Book Is ForGetting Started with SpriteKit is for beginner-level iOS developers who want to add an extra edge to their apps and create amazing games using SpriteKit. It doesn’t matter whether you have experience in iOS development or not as this book will show you the swift tricks you can use to create games.What You Will LearnCreate and configure a SpriteKit project from scratchLoad and manage the basic elements of games such as sprites, labels, and geometrical primitivesHandle touch events, detect collisions, and play sound audio filesCreate complex elements, animate sprites, and run the parallax effectComplete your games with key components such as a main menu, transitions between scenes, a tutorial, and the ability to load and save dataIncrease the efficiency of your device using the accelerometer or by adding shaders, lights, and shadowsGain complementary techniques such as creating or finding audio resources, applying SpriteKit to apps, or using third-party toolsIn DetailSpriteKit is Apple’s game engine to develop native iOS games. Strongly boosted by the Apple Inc., Cupertino, it has increased in popularity since its first release. This book shows you the solutions provided by SpriteKit to help you create any 2D game you can imagine and apply them to create animations that will highlight your existing apps.This book will give you the knowledge you need to apply SpriteKit to your existing apps or create your own games from scratch.Throughout the book, you will develop a complete game. The beautiful designs implemented in the game in this book will easily lead you to learn the basis of 2D game development, including creating and moving sprites, and adding them to a game scene. You will also discover how to apply advanced techniques such as collision detection, action execution, playing music, or running animations to give a more professional aspect to the game. You will finish your first game by learning how to add a main menu and a tutorial, as well as saving and loading data from and to the player’s device.Finally, you will find out how to apply some mobile games techniques such as accelerometer use or touch detection.Style and approachWritten in an informal way with plenty of illustrative screenshots, this easy-to-follow and practical guide will help you get the most from SpriteKit. The main part of the book provides step-by-step instructions to develop of a complete product, while the last chapters give you some complementary techniques than can be used in mobile 2D game development.

Understand, train, and be ready to develop 3D Web applications/video games using the Babylon.js framework, even for beginners About This Book Understand the basics of 3D (along with the theory) before practicing Each mini-project provides previous features, alongside the new feature you are learning, to supply the examples Learn from the best of the best, a developer at Microsoft, France Who This Book Is For Babylon.JS Essentials is intended for developers who want to enter the world of 3D development for the Web, or developers who want to add the Babylon.js framework to their skill set. The notion of Oriented Object Programming would be helpful to understand the architecture of the Babylon.js framework. Also, a familiarity with Web development would be useful, to understand the principles used. What You Will Learn Understand what the TypeScript language is and its benefits (compared to JavaScript) in large projects such as 3D engines Learn the basics of 3D using Babylon.js without too much theory but with an emphasis on practice, for a better understanding of the architecture Know the usage of Material—a fundamental principle of 3D engines in Babylon.js—and then customize the appearance of 3D objects Integrate collisions and physics in gameplay. Understand the notion of impostor for physics simulation Manage, create, and spatialize audio tracks in 3D scenes Go further with the Babylon.js framework to create actions on events Create rendering effects provided by the Babylon.js framework, such as post-processes In Detail Are you familiar with HTML5Do you want to build exciting games and Web applicationsThen explore the exciting world of game and Web development with one of the best frameworks out there: Babylon.JS. Starting from the beginning, the book introduces the required basics for 3D development and the knowledge you need to use the Babylon.js framework. It focuses on the simplicity provided by Babylon.js and uses a combination of theory and practice. All the chapters are provided with example files ready to run; each example file provides the previously learned features of the framework. Finally, developers will be ready to easily understand new features added to the framework in the future. Style and approach The book is a comprehensive guide packed with ready-to-run examples with a mix of theory and practice.

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.

Master the art of developing message-based applications with RabbitMQAbout This BookLearn how to administer, manage, and extend your own message broker, RabbitMQDevelop clients to make a message bridge between your software systems using RabbitMQDiscover how to achieve proficiency with RabbitMQ with the well-defined de*ions of the topicsWho This Book Is ForIf you are an intermediate-level RabbitMQ developer, who wants to achieve professional-level expertise in the subject, this book is for you. You’ll also need to have a decent understanding of message queuing.What You Will LearnAdminister RabbitMQ using different toolsUnderstand the roots and details of messaging, message brokers, and AMQP protocolScale the RabbitMQ server using the clusters and high availability techniquesExtend RabbitMQ by developing the Erlang OTP-based applications that use the RabbitMQ APIManage the RabbitMQ server using its powerful toolsMonitor the RabbitMQ Server using different open source tools such as Nagios, Munin, and ZabbixEnsure your RabbitMQ’s security using SSL, SASL, and access controlDevelop RabbitMQ clients using Java, Python, and C# with an industry exampleIn DetailRabbitMQ is one of the most powerful Open Source message broker software, which is widely used in tech companies such as Mozilla, VMware, Google, AT&T, and so on. RabbitMQ gives you lots of fantastic and easy-to-manage functionalities to control and manage the messaging facility with lots of community support. As scalability is one of our major modern problems, messaging with RabbitMQ is the main part of the solution to this problem.This book explains and demonstrates the RabbitMQ server in a detailed way. It provides you with lots of real-world examples and advanced solutions to tackle the scalability issues.You’ll begin your journey with the installation and configuration of the RabbitMQ server, while also being given specific details pertaining to the subject. Next, you’ll study the major problems that our server faces, including scalability and high availability, and try to get the solutions for both of these issues by using the RabbitMQ mechanisms. Following on from this, you’ll get to design and develop your own plugins using the Erlang language and RabbitMQ’s internal API. This knowledge will help you to start with the management and monitoring of the messages, tools, and applications. You’ll also gain an understanding of the security and integrity of the messaging facilities that RabbitMQ provides. In the last few chapters, you will build and keep track of your clients (senders and receivers) using Java, Python, and C#.Style and approach An easy-to-follow guide, full of hands-on examples based around managing, monitoring, extending, and securing RabbitMQ and its internal tools. You will learn how to develop your own clients using Java, Python, and C#.

Unveil many hidden gems of programming functionally by taking the foundational steps with ElixirAbout This BookExplore the functional paradigms of programming with Elixir through use of helpful examplesConcise step-by-step instructions to teach you difficult technical conceptsBridge the gap between functional programming and ElixirWho This Book Is ForThis book targets developers new to Elixir, as well as Erlang, in order to make them feel comfortable in functional programming with Elixir, thus enabling them to develop more scalable and fault-tolerant applications.Although no knowledge of Elixir is assumed, some programming experience with mainstream Object-Oriented programming languages such a Ruby, Python, Java, C# would be beneficial.What You Will LearnExplore Elixir to create resilient, scalable applicationsCreate fault-tolerant applicationsBecome better acquainted with Elixir code and see how it is structured to build and develop functional programsLearn the basics of functional programmingGain an understanding of effective OTP principlesDesign program-distributed applications and systemsWrite and create branching statements in ElixirLearn to do more with less using Elixir's metaprogrammingBe familiar with the facilities Elixir provides for metaprogramming, macros, and extending the Elixir languageIn DetailElixir, based on Erlang’s virtual machine and ecosystem, makes it easier to achieve scalability, concurrency, fault tolerance, and high availability goals that are pursued by developers using any programming language or programming paradigm. Elixir is a modern programming language that utilizes the benefits offered by Erlang VM without really incorporating the complex syntaxes of Erlang.Learning to program using Elixir will teach many things that are very beneficial to programming as a craft, even if at the end of the day, the programmer isn't using Elixir. This book will teach you concepts and principles important to any complex, scalable, and resilient application. Mostly, applications are historically difficult to reason about, but using the concepts in this book, they will become easy and enjoyable. It will teach you the functional programing ropes, to enable them to create better and more scalable applications, and you will explore how Elixir can help you achieve new programming heights. You will also glean a firm understanding of basics of OTP and the available generic, provided functionality for creating resilient complex systems. Furthermore, you will learn the basics of metaprogramming: modifying and extending Elixir to suite your needs.Style and approach An exploration of functional programming and Elixir with easy to follow examples using Elixir and the functional style. All the topics, concepts, and principles covered are clearly and concisely explained with either code examples or in depth discussions, or both!

Learn the essence of data science and visualization using R in no time at allAbout This BookBecome a pro at making stunning visualizations and dashboards quickly and without hassleFor better decision making in business, apply the R programming language with the help of useful statistical techniques.From seasoned authors comes a book that offers you a plethora of fast-paced techniques to detect and analyze data patternsWho This Book Is ForIf you are an aspiring data scientist or analyst who has a basic understanding of data science and has basic hands-on experience in R or any other analytics tool, then R Data Science Essentials is the book for you.What You Will LearnPerform data preprocessing and basic operations on dataImplement visual and non-visual implementation data exploration techniquesMine patterns from data using affinity and sequential analysisUse different clustering algorithms and visualize themImplement logistic and linear regression and find out how to evaluate and improve the performance of an algorithmExtract patterns through visualization and build a forecasting algorithmBuild a recommendation engine using different collaborative filtering algorithmsMake a stunning visualization and dashboard using ggplot and R shinyIn DetailWith organizations increasingly embedding data science across their enterprise and with management becoming more data-driven it is an urgent requirement for analysts and managers to understand the key concept of data science. The data science concepts discussed in this book will help you make key decisions and solve the complex problems you will inevitably face in this new world.R Data Science Essentials will introduce you to various important concepts in the field of data science using R. We start by reading data from multiple sources, then move on to processing the data, extracting hidden patterns, building predictive and forecasting models, building a recommendation engine, and communicating to the user through stunning visualizations and dashboards.By the end of this book, you will have an understanding of some very important techniques in data science, be able to implement them using R, understand and interpret the outcomes, and know how they helps businesses make a decision.Style and approachThis easy-to-follow guide contains hands-on examples of the concepts of data science using R.

Get up and running with developing effective Hybrid Mobile Apps with IonicAbout This BookDevelop engaging mobile experiences with a native-looking UI in Ionic and AngularJSBuild mobile applications with a native UI and interactions with device APIs using popular web technologies such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScriptCreate an e-commerce mobile app using tutorials and code samplesWho This Book Is ForThis book is ideal for any web developer who wants to enter into the world of mobile app development but has no clue where to start. Ionic is an ideal starting point and provides a smooth learning curve to help you build hybrid apps using web technologies and to develop native apps for iOS and Android, you do not need to know multiple languages. This book will also be useful for Hybrid App developers who have not found the perfect framework to ensure users get a rich experience from your apps.What You Will LearnGet to know about Hybrid Apps and AngularJSSet up a development environment to build Hybrid AppsNavigate around the components and routing in IonicUse different Ionic directives for a mobile-specific experienceIntegrate an Ionic App with backend web servicesWork with plugins to include native functionality in your hybrid appsTest your apps on real devicesBuild an e-commerce app for iOS and Android from scratchIn DetailHybrid Apps are a promising choice in mobile app development to achieve cost effectiveness and rapid development. However, they were not preferred over native apps until few years back due to a poor performance and bad user experience, but everything has changed with the release of Ionic. It has evolved as the most popular choice for Hybrid Mobile App development as it tends to match the native experience and provides robust components/tools to build apps.Getting Started with Ionic equips any web developer with the basic knowledge needed to use modern web technologies to build amazing hybrid mobile apps using Ionic.This fast-paced, practical book explains all the important concepts of AngularJS and Cordova Framework required to develop apps, then gives you a brief introduction to hybrid mobile applications. It will guide you through setting up the environment to develop mobile apps, and through the multiple options and features available in Ionic so you can use them in your mobile apps. Features such as the Side Menu, Tabs, Touch Interactions, and native features such as Bar Code, Camera, and Geolocations are all covered.. Finally, we’ll show you how to use Cordova plugins and publish your apps.Style and approachGetting started with Ionic is a compact, easy-to-follow guide to developing hybrid mobile apps using Ionic with real world examples of building an e-commerce app.

Build amazing cross-platform mobile apps with Ionic, the HTML5 framework that makes modern mobile application development simpleAbout This BookLearn how to use one of the most exciting mobile development frameworks around to build even better appsFollow the featured sample projects to experience Ionic’s impressive capabilitiesExtend your developer skillset to build, test, and launch mobile apps with confidenceWho This Book Is ForThis book is for anyone who wants to see Ionic in action - and find out how it could transform the way they build mobile apps. If you’re a JavaScript web developer, you’ll be building great projects in no time.What You Will LearnLearn Ionic by creating three complete mobile applicationsGet to know the Ionic CLIAdd basic and advanced features to the Ionic frameworkConnect an Ionic app with a Firebase back endIntegrate PhoneGap plugins with NG-CordovaTest your apps to improve and optimize performanceIn DetailChange doesn’t have to be challenging. Sometimes it can be simple – sometimes it just makes sense. With Ionic, mobile development has never been so simple, so elegant and obvious. By helping developers to harness AngularJS and HTML5 for mobile development, it’s the perfect framework for anyone obsessed with performance, and anyone that understands just how important a great user experience really is.This book shows you how to get started with Ionic framework immediately. But it doesn’t just give you instructions and then expect you to follow them. Instead it demonstrates what Ionic is capable of through three practical projects you can follow and build yourself.From a basic to-do list app, a London tourist app, to a complete social media app, all three projects have been designed to help you learn Ionic at its very best. From setting up your project to developing on both the server side and front end, and best practices for testing and debugging your projects, you’ll quickly become a better mobile developer, delivering high performance mobile apps that look awesome.Ionic Framework by Example is for people who don’t want to learn now, build later – it’s for people who want to learn and build at the same time – so they can meet today’s mobile development challenges head on and deliver better products than anyone else.Style and approachThis book isn’t just an instruction manual. It doesn’t just tell you what to do – it shows you. Featuring three sample projects, it’s been created so you can get started with Ionic immediately.

Get to know techniques and approaches to procedurally generate game content in C++ using Simple and Fast Multimedia LibraryAbout This BookThis book contains a bespoke Simple and Fast Multimedia Library (SFML) game engine with complete online documentationThrough this book, you’ll create games that are non-predictable and dynamic and have a high replayability factorGet a breakdown of the key techniques and approaches applied to a real game.Who This Book Is ForIf you are a game developer who is familiar with C++ and is looking to create bigger and more dynamic games, then this book is for you. The book assumes some prior experience with C++, but any intermediate concepts are clarified in detail. No prior experience with SFML is required.What You Will LearnDiscover the systems and ideology that lie at the heart of procedural systemsUse Random number generation (RNG) with C++ data types to create random but controlled resultsBuild levels procedurally with randomly located items and eventsCreate dynamic game objects at runtimeConstruct games using a component-based approachAssemble non-predictable game events and scenariosOperate procedural generation to create dynamic content fast and easilyGenerate game environments for endless replayabilityIn DetailProcedural generation is a growing trend in game development. It allows developers to create games that are bigger and more dynamic, giving the games a higher level of replayability. Procedural generation isn’t just one technique, it’s a collection of techniques and approaches that are used together to create dynamic systems and objects. C++ is the industry-standard programming language to write computer games. It’s at the heart of most engines, and is incredibly powerful. SFML is an easy-to-use, cross-platform, and open-source multimedia library. Access to computer hardware is broken into succinct modules, making it a great choice if you want to develop cross-platform games with ease.Using C++ and SFML technologies, this book will guide you through the techniques and approaches used to generate content procedurally within game development.Throughout the course of this book, we’ll look at examples of these technologies, starting with setting up a roguelike project using the C++ template. We’ll then move on to using RNG with C++ data types and randomly scattering objects within a game map. We will create simple console examples to implement in a real game by creating unique and randomised game items, dynamic sprites, and effects, and procedurally generating game events. Then we will walk you through generating random game maps. At the end, we will have a retrospective look at the project.By the end of the book, not only will you have a solid understanding of procedural generation, but you’ll also have a working roguelike game that you will have extended using the examples provided.Style and approachThis is an easy-to-follow guide where each topic is explained clearly and thoroughly through the use of a bespoke example, then implemented in a real game project.

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.

Build well-structured, testable applications and APIs using hapi.js About This Book With the help of this book, you will improve your productivity as a developer and that of your team by focusing on business logic utilizing the structure that Hapi.js provides You will be introduced to a real-world problem and we’ll demonstrate how to use the tools Hapi provides to resolve it This is the only book with a learn-by-example approach Who This Book Is For If you are a JavaScript developer with or without Node.js experience and would like to learn to build applications, APIs, and web servers with the best-in-class framework hapi.js, this book is perfect for you. What You Will Learn Increase your productivity by taking advantage of the out-of-the-box features hapi.js provides Build secure API servers Create websites and applications using your favorite templating language Leverage hapi.js plugins to better structure your codebase Simplify your security workflows with the built-in authentication and authorization functionality of hapi.js Ensure application reliability with testing and code coverage Reduce code complexity using reusable validation logic with joi Gather insight into your application performance via logging Start the journey to building robust production-ready applications In Detail This book will introduce hapi.js and walk you through the creation of your first working application using the out-of-the-box features hapi.js provides. Packed with real-world problems and examples, this book introduces some of the basic concepts of hapi.js and Node.js and takes you through the typical journey you'll face when developing an application. Starting with easier concepts such as routing requests, building APIs serving JSON, using templates to build websites and applications, and connecting databases, we then move on to more complex problems such as authentication, model validation, caching, and techniques for structuring your codebase to scale gracefully. You will also develop skills to ensure your application's reliability through testing, code coverage, and logging. By the end of this book, you'll be equipped with all the skills you need to build your first fully featured application. This book will be invaluable if you are investigating Node.js frameworks or planning on using hapi.js in your next project. Style and approach This book takes a step-by-step approach to building an application or web server using hapi.js though examples.

A step-by-step introductory guide to mobile app development with App Inventor 2 About This Book Get an introduction to the functionalities of App Inventor 2 and use it to unleash your creativity Learn to navigate the App Inventor platform, develop basic coding skills and become familiar with a blocks based programming language Build your very first mobile app and feel proud of your accomplishment Follow tutorials to expand your app development skills Who This Book Is For App Inventor 2 Essentials is for anyone who wants to learn to make mobile apps for Android devices – no prior coding experience is necessary. What You Will Learn Perform technical setup and navigate the App Inventor platform Utilize the interactive development environment by pairing a mobile device with a computer using Wi-Fi or USB Build three apps: a game, an event app and a raffle app Create the user interface of the app in the Designer and program the code in the Blocks Editor Integrate basic computer science principles along with more complex elements such fusion tables and lists Test and troubleshoot your applications Publish your apps on Google Play Store to reach a wide audience Unleash your creativity for further app development In Detail App Inventor 2 will take you on a journey of mobile app development. We begin by introducing you to the functionalities of App Inventor and giving you an idea about the types of apps you can develop using it. We walk you through the technical set up so you can take advantage of the interactive development environment (live testing). You will get hands-on, practical experience building three different apps using tutorials. Along the way, you will learn computer science principles as well as tips to help you prepare for the creative process of building an app from scratch. By the end of the journey, you will learn how to package an app and deploy it to app markets. App Inventor 2 Essentials prepares you to amass a resource of skills, knowledge and experience to become a mobile app developer Style and approach Every topic in this book is explained in step-by-step and easy-to-follow fashion, accompanied with screenshots of the interface that will make it easier for you to understand the processes.

Attain expert-level proficiency with Git for enhanced productivity and efficient collaboration by mastering advanced distributed version control features About This Book Set up Git for solo and collaborative development Harness the full power of Git version control system to customize Git behavior, manipulate history, integrate external tools and explore platform shortcuts A detailed guide, which explains how to apply advanced Git techniques and workflows and ways to handle submodules Who This Book Is For If you are a Git user with reasonable knowledge of Git and familiarity with basic concepts such as branching, merging, staging, and workflows, this is the book for you. Basic knowledge of installing Git and software configuration management concepts is essential. What You Will Learn Explore project history, find revisions using different criteria, and filter and format how history looks Manage your working directory and staging area for commits and interactively create new revisions and amend them Set up repositories and branches for collaboration Submit your own contributions and integrate contributions from other developers via merging or rebasing Customize Git behavior system-wide, on a per-user, per-repository, and per-file basis Take up the administration and set up of Git repositories, configure access, find and recover from repository errors, and perform repository maintenance Chose a workflow and configure and set up support for the chosen workflow In Detail Git is one of the most popular types of Source Code Management (SCM) and Distributed Version Control System (DVCS). Despite the powerful and versatile nature of the tool enveloping strong support for nonlinear development and the ability to handle large projects efficiently, it is a complex tool and often regarded as “user-unfriendly”. Getting to know the ideas and concepts behind the architecture of Git will help you make full use of its power and understand its behavior. Learning the best practices and recommended workflows should help you to avoid problems and ensure trouble-free development. The book scope is meticulously designed to help you gain deeper insights into Git's architecture, its underlying concepts, behavior, and best practices. Mastering Git starts with a quick implementation example of using Git for a collaborative development of a sample project to establish the foundation knowledge of Git operational tasks and concepts. Furthermore, as you progress through the book, the tutorials provide detailed de*ions of various areas of usage: from archaeology, through managing your own work, to working with other developers. This book also helps augment your understanding to examine and explore project history, create and manage your contributions, set up repositories and branches for collaboration in centralized and distributed version control, integrate work from other developers, customize and extend Git, and recover from repository errors. By exploring advanced Git practices, you will attain a deeper understanding of Git’s behavior, allowing you to customize and extend existing recipes and write your own. Style and approach Step-by-step instructions and useful information make this book the ultimate guide to understanding and mastering Git. This book will show road to mastery example by example, while explaining mental model of Git. The Introduction section covers the 'Essentials' just for refreshing the basics. The main highlight is that the concepts are based on HOW the technology/framework works and not just practical 'WHAT to do'.

Develop testable, modular, and maintainable Ruby software for the real world using RSpec About This Book Explore the concept of testability and how to implement tests that deliver the most value Maximize the quality of your Ruby code through a wide variety of tests Master the real-world tradeoffs of testing through detailed examples supported by in-depth discussion Who This Book Is For This book is aimed at the software engineer who wants to make their code more reliable and their development process easier. It is also aimed at test engineers who need to automate the testing of complex systems. Knowledge of Ruby is helpful, but even someone new to the language should find it easy to follow the code and tests. What You Will Learn Identify a unit of software for the purposes of testing Manage test states with hooks, fixtures, and mocks Handle external web services in tests using various techniques Configure RSpec flexibly and cleanly using support code and environment variables Interact with rich web apps in tests using Capybara Build the right feature with behavior-driven development Customize matchers and failure messages Verify correct development and production environments In Detail This book will teach you how to use RSpec to write high-value tests for real-world code. We start with the key concepts of the unit and testability, followed by hands-on exploration of key features. From the beginning, we learn how to integrate tests into the overall development process to help create high-quality code, avoiding the dangers of testing for its own sake. We build up sample applications and their corresponding tests step by step, from simple beginnings to more sophisticated versions that include databases and external web services. We devote three chapters to web applications with rich JavaScript user interfaces, building one from the ground up using behavior-driven development (BDD) and test-driven development (TDD). The code examples are detailed enough to be realistic while simple enough to be easily understood. Testing concepts, development methodologies, and engineering tradeoffs are discussed in detail as they arise. This approach is designed to foster the reader’s ability to make well-informed decisions on their own. Style and approach This comprehensive tutorial is packed with real-world examples of testing with RSpec. The most important features of RSpec are introduced in the early chapters and are used in examples of growing complexity in the following chapters. Concepts and methodologies are discussed in detail.

Over 70 recipes to get you writing powerful and efficient multithreaded, asynchronous, and parallel programs in C# 6.0 About This Book Rewritten and updated to take advantage of the latest C# 6 features Learn about multithreaded, asynchronous, and parallel programming through hands-on, code-first examples Use these recipes to build fast, scalable, and reliable applications in C# Who This Book Is For This book is aimed at those who are new to multithreaded programming, and who are looking for a quick and easy way to get started. It is assumed that you have some experience in C# and .NET already, and you should also be familiar with basic computer science terminology and basic algorithms and data structures. What You Will Learn Use C# 6.0 asynchronous language features Work with raw threads, synchronize threads, and coordinate their work Develop your own asynchronous API with Task Parallel Library Work effectively with a thread pool Scale up your server application with I/O threads Parallelize your LINQ queries with PLINQ Use common concurrent collections Apply different parallel programming patterns Use Reactive Extensions to run asynchronous operations and manage their options In Detail Multi-core processors are synonymous with computing speed and power in today’s world, which is why multithreading has become a key concern for C# developers. Multithreaded code helps you create effective, scalable, and responsive applications. This is an easy-to-follow guide that will show you difficult programming problems in context. You will learn how to solve them with practical, hands-on, recipes. With these recipes, you’ll be able to start creating your own scalable and reliable multithreaded applications. Starting from learning what a thread is, we guide you through the basics and then move on to more advanced concepts such as task parallel libraries, C# asynchronous functions, and much more. Rewritten to the latest C# specification, C# 6, and updated with new and modern recipes to help you make the most of the hardware you have available, this book will help you push the boundaries of what you thought possible in C#. Style and approach This is an easy-to-follow guide full of hands-on examples of real-world multithreading tasks. Each topic is explained and placed in context, and for the more inquisitive, there are also more in-depth details of the concepts used.

Integrate, deploy, rapidly configure, and successfully manage your own big data-intensive clusters in the cloud using OpenStack Sahara About This Book A fast paced guide to help you utilize the benefits of Sahara in OpenStack to meet the Big Data world of Hadoop. A step by step approach to simplify the complexity of Hadoop configuration, deployment and maintenance. Who This Book Is For This book targets data scientists, cloud developers and Devops Engineers who would like to become proficient with OpenStack Sahara. Ideally, this book is well suitable for readers who are familiars with databases, Hadoop and Spark solutions. Additionally, a basic prior knowledge of OpenStack is expected. The readers should also be familiar with different Linux boxes, distributions and virtualization technology. What You Will Learn Integrate and Install Sahara with OpenStack environment Learn Sahara architecture under the hood Rapidly configure and scale Hadoop clusters on top of OpenStack Explore the Sahara REST API to create, deploy and manage a Hadoop cluster Learn the Elastic Processing Data (EDP) facility to execute jobs in clusters from Sahara Cover other Hadoop stable plugins existing supported by Sahara Discover different features provided by Sahara for Hadoop provisioning and deployment Learn how to troubleshoot OpenStack Sahara issues In Detail The Sahara project is a module that aims to simplify the building of data processing capabilities on OpenStack. The goal of this book is to provide a focused, fast paced guide to installing, configuring, and getting started with integrating Hadoop with OpenStack, using Sahara. The book should explain to users how to deploy their data-intensive Hadoop and Spark clusters on top of OpenStack. It will also cover how to use the Sahara REST API, how to develop applications for Elastic Data Processing on Openstack, and setting up hadoop or spark clusters on Openstack. Style and approach This book takes a step by step approach teaching how to integrate, deploy and manage data using OpenStack Sahara. It will teach how the OpenStack Sahara is beneficial by simplifying the complexity of Hadoop configuration, deployment and maintenance.

A handy guide that covers the most essential topics for Salesforce Platform App Builder Certification in an easy-to-understand format About This Book Get to grips with the fundamentals of Force.com to pass the certification exam with flying colors Create Force.com applications, automate business processes, and manage data operations to be a successful Salesforce.com Certified Force.com app builder A step-by-step guide that covers the most essential topics for the Platform App Builder Certification in an easy-to-understand format Who This Book Is For Salesforce beginners who need to prepare for the Salesforce Platform App Builder Certification exam will benefit from this book. This book is ideal for developers and admins who are new to Salesforce CRM and the Force.com platform. It is recommended that users have some basic programming knowledge and are familiar with salesforce. By the end of the book, you will be ready to appear for the exam and develop various applications on the cloud platform. What You Will Learn Learn the basics of the force.com cloud platform Learn to build objects that align with your business Understand the process of building an application on force.com platform Kick-start your certification journey in basic- easy-to-follow guide Focus on important topics that help you accomplish your certification goals Learn to secure your application with the Salesforce security model Manipulate and process large amount of data using the data tools Prepare for the exam with sample mock questions In Detail The Salesforce Certified Platform App Builder exam is for individuals who want to demonstrate their skills and knowledge in designing, building, and implementing custom applications using the declarative customization capabilities of Force.com. This book will build a strong foundation in Force.com to prepare you for the platform app builder certification exam. It will guide you through designing the interface while introducing the Lightning Process Builder. Next, we will implement business logic using various point and click features of Force.com. We will learn to manage data and create reports and dashboards. We will then learn to administer the force.com application by configuring the object-level, field-level, and record-level security. By the end of this book, you will be completely equipped to take the Platform App Builder certification exam. Style and approach Simple and to-the-point examples that can be tried out in your developer org. A practical book for professionals who want to take the Salesforce Platform App Builder Certification exam. Sample questions for every topic in an exam pattern to help you prepare better, and tips to get things started. Full of screen-shots, diagrams, and clear step-by-step instructions that cover the entire syllabus for the exam.