Learn about cryptography and cryptocurrencies, so you can build highly secure, decentralized applications and conduct trusted in-app transactions. About This Book ? Get to grips with the underlying technical principles and implementations of blockchain ? Build powerful applications using Ethereum to secure transactions and create smart contracts ? Explore cryptography, mine cryptocurrencies, and solve scalability issues with this comprehensive guide Who This Book Is For This book will appeal to those who wish to build fast, highly secure, transactional applications. It targets people who are familiar with the concept of blockchain and are comfortable with a programming language. What You Will Learn ? Master the theoretical and technical foundations of the blockchain technology ? Understand the concept of decentralization, its impact, and its relationship with blockchain technology ? Master how cryptography is used to secure data - with practical examples ? Grasp the inner workings of blockchain and the mechanisms behind bitcoin and alternative cryptocurrencies ? Understand the theoretical foundations of smart contracts ? Learn how Ethereum blockchain works and how to develop decentralized applications using Solidity and relevant development frameworks ? Identify and examine applications of the blockchain technology - beyond currencies ? Investigate alternative blockchain solutions including Hyperledger, Corda, and many more ? Explore research topics and the future scope of blockchain technology In Detail A blockchain is a distributed ledger that is replicated across multiple nodes and enables immutable, transparent and cryptographically secure record-keeping of transactions. The blockchain technology is the backbone of cryptocurrencies, and it has applications in finance, government, media and almost all other industries. Mastering Blockchain, Second Edition has been thoroughly updated and revised to provide a detailed description of this leading technology and its implementation in the real world. This book begins with the technical foundations of blockchain technology, teaching you the fundamentals of distributed systems, cryptography and how it keeps data secure. You will learn about the mechanisms behind cryptocurrencies and how to develop applications using Ethereum, a decentralized virtual machine. You will also explore different other blockchain solutions and get an introduction to business blockchain frameworks under Hyperledger, a collaborative effort for the advancement of blockchain technologies hosted by the Linux Foundation. You will also be shown how to implement blockchain solutions beyond currencies, Internet of Things with blockchain, blockchain scalability, and the future scope of this fascinating and powerful technology. Style and approach This comprehensive guide allows you to build smart blockchain applications and explore the power of this database. The book will let you quickly brush up on the basics of the blockchain database, followed by advanced implementations of blockchain in currency, smart contracts, decentralization, and so on.

A comprehensive guide to design, build and execute effective Big Data strategies using Hadoop About This Book ? Get an in-depth view of the Apache Hadoop ecosystem and an overview of the architectural patterns pertaining to the popular Big Data platform ? Conquer different data processing and analytics challenges using a multitude of tools such as Apache Spark, Elasticsearch, Tableau and more ? A comprehensive, step-by-step guide that will teach you everything you need to know, to be an expert Hadoop Architect Who This Book Is For This book is for Big Data professionals who want to fast-track their career in the Hadoop industry and become an expert Big Data architect. Project managers and mainframe professionals looking forward to build a career in Big Data Hadoop will also find this book to be useful. Some understanding of Hadoop is required to get the best out of this book. What You Will Learn ? Build an efficient enterprise Big Data strategy centered around Apache Hadoop ? Gain a thorough understanding of using Hadoop with various Big Data frameworks such as Apache Spark, Elasticsearch and more ? Set up and deploy your Big Data environment on premises or on the cloud with Apache Ambari ? Design effective streaming data pipelines and build your own enterprise search solutions ? Utilize the historical data to build your analytics solutions and visualize them using popular tools such as Apache Superset ? Plan, set up and administer your Hadoop cluster efficiently In Detail The complex structure of data these days requires sophisticated solutions for data transformation, to make the information more accessible to the users.This book empowers you to build such solutions with relative ease with the help of Apache Hadoop, along with a host of other Big Data tools. This book will give you a complete understanding of the data lifecycle management with Hadoop, followed by modeling of structured and unstructured data in Hadoop. It will also show you how to design real-time streaming pipelines by leveraging tools such as Apache Spark, and build efficient enterprise search solutions using Elasticsearch. You will learn to build enterprise-grade analytics solutions on Hadoop, and how to visualize your data using tools such as Apache Superset. This book also covers techniques for deploying your Big Data solutions on the cloud Apache Ambari, as well as expert techniques for managing and administering your Hadoop cluster. By the end of this book, you will have all the knowledge you need to build expert Big Data systems. Style and approach Comprehensive guide with a perfect blend of theory, examples and implementation of real-world use-cases

This fast-paced guide will quickly enhance your skills to develop a highly scalable Cloud environment About This Book ? Efficiently build a highly scalable and reliable cloud environment for your applications with AWS ? Leverage the various AWS components and services to build a secure, reliable, and robust environment to host your applications on ? This quick-start guide will quickly enhance your skills to develop highly scalable services Who This Book Is For This book is for IT professionals and system administrators looking to design, deploy, and manage your applications and services on the AWS cloud platform. It’s also ideal for developers looking to build highly scalable cloud-based services. A basic understanding of AWS would be beneficial. What You Will Learn ? Find out about IAM to access AWS services securely ? Explore EC2 (virtual server) and scale up/down your application based on heavy traffic ? Learn about unlimited data storage service S3 and host a static website within minutes ? Get to grips with Relational Databases and NoSQL databases under the AWS ecosystem ? Understand the caching mechanism ? Get to know about notifications service and monitor AWS services ? Secure and troubleshoot your AWS architecture In Detail AWS is at the forefront of Cloud Computing today. Businesses are adopting AWS Cloud because of its reliability, versatility, and flexible design. The main focus of this book is teaching you how to build and manage highly reliable and scalable applications and services on AWS. It will provide you with all the necessary skills to design, deploy, and manage your applications and services on the AWS cloud platform. We’ll start by exploring Amazon S3, EC2, and so on to get you well-versed with core Amazon services. Moving on, we’ll teach you how to design and deploy highly scalable and optimized workloads. You’ll also discover easy-to-follow, hands-on steps, tips, and recommendations throughout the book and get to know essential security and troubleshooting concepts. By the end of the book, you’ll be able to create a highly secure, fault tolerant, and scalable environment for your applications to run on. Style and approach This book is all about fast and intensive learning. That means we don’t waste time helping you get started. The new features provided by AWS resources are being covered with highly-effective examples to develop new things, demonstrating different ways to create and use the AWS resources efficiently.

Delve into neural networks, implement deep learning algorithms, and explore layers of data abstraction with the help of TensorFlow v1.7. About This Book ? Learn how to implement advanced techniques in deep learning with Google's brainchild, TensorFlow v1.7 ? Explore deep neural networks and layers of data abstraction with the help of this comprehensive guide ? Gain real-world contextualization through some deep learning problems concerning research and application Who This Book Is For The book is for people interested in machine learning and machine intelligence. A rudimentary level of programming in one language is assumed, as is a basic familiarity with computer science techniques and technologies, including a basic awareness of computer hardware and algorithms. Some competence in mathematics is needed to the level of elementary linear algebra and calculus. What You Will Learn ? Apply deep machine intelligence and GPU computing with TensorFlow v1.7 ? Access public datasets and use TensorFlow to load, process, and transform the data ? Discover how to use the high-level TensorFlow API to build more powerful applications ? Use deep learning for scalable object detection and mobile computing ? Train machines quickly to learn from data by exploring reinforcement learning techniques ? Explore active areas of deep learning research and applications In Detail Deep learning is a branch of machine learning algorithms based on learning multiple levels of abstraction. Neural networks, which are at the core of deep learning, are being used in predictive analytics, computer vision, natural language processing, time series forecasting, and to perform a myriad of other complex tasks. This book is conceived for developers, data analysts, machine learning practitioners and deep learning enthusiasts who want to build powerful, robust, and accurate predictive models with the power of TensorFlow v1.7, combined with other open source Python libraries. Throughout the book, you’ll learn how to develop deep learning applications for machine learning systems using Feedforward Neural Networks, Convolutional Neural Networks, Recurrent Neural Networks, Autoencoders, and Factorization Machines. Discover how to attain deep learning programming on GPU in a distributed way. You'll come away with an in-depth knowledge of machine learning techniques and the skills to apply them to real-world projects. Style and approach This step-by-step guide explores common, and not so common, deep neural networks, and shows how they can be exploited in the real world with complex raw data. Benefit from practical examples, and learn how to implement different types of neural nets to build smart applications related to text, speech, and image data processing.

If your application source code is overly verbose, it can be a nightmare to maintain. Write concise and expressive, type-safe code in an environment that lets you build for the JVM, browser, and more. Key Features *Expert guidance that shows you to efficiently use both object-oriented and functional programming techniques *Understand functional programming libraries, such as Cats and Scalaz, and use them to augment your Scala development *Perfectly balances theory and hands-on exercises, assessments, and activities Book Description This book teaches you how to build and contribute to Scala programs, recognizing common patterns and techniques used with the language. You’ll learn how to write concise, functional code with Scala. After an introduction to core concepts, syntax, and writing example applications with scalac, you’ll learn about the Scala Collections API and how the language handles type safety via static types out-of-the-box. You’ll then learn about advanced functional programming patterns, and how you can write your own Domain Specific Languages (DSLs). By the end of the book, you’ll be equipped with the skills you need to successfully build smart, efficient applications in Scala that can be compiled to the JVM. What you will learn *Understand the key language syntax and core concepts for application development *Master the type system to create scalable type-safe applications while cutting down your time spent debugging *Understand how you can work with advanced data structures via built-in features such as the Collections library *Use classes, objects, and traits to transform a trivial chatbot program into a useful assistant *Understand what are pure functions, immutability, and higher-order functions *Recognize and implement popular functional programming design patterns Who this book is for This is an ideal book for developers who are looking to learn Scala, and is particularly well suited for Java developers looking to migrate across to Scala for application development on the JVM.

Get a solid understanding of Java fundamentals to master programming through a series of practical steps About This Book ? Enjoy your first step into the world of programming ? Understand what a language is and use its features to build applications ? Learn about a wide variety of programming applications Who This Book Is For Introduction to Programming is for anybody who wants to learn programming. All you’ll need is a computer, internet connection, and a cup of coffee. What You Will Learn ? Understand what Java is ? Install Java and learn how to run it ? Write and execute a Java program ? Write and execute the test for your program ? Install components and confgure your development environment ? Learn and use Java language fundamentals ? Learn object-oriented design principles ? Master the frequently used Java constructs In Detail Have you ever thought about making your computer do what you want it to do? Do you want to learn to program, but just don't know where to start? Instead of guiding you in the right direction, have other learning resources got you confused with over-explanations? Don't worry. Look no further. Introduction to Programming is here to help. Written by an industry expert who understands the challenges faced by those from a non-programming background, this book takes a gentle, hand-holding approach to introducing you to the world of programming. Beginning with an introduction to what programming is, you'll go on to learn about languages, their syntax, and development environments. With plenty of examples for you to code alongside reading, the book's practical approach will help you to grasp everything it has to offer. More importantly, you'll understand several aspects of application development. As a result, you'll have your very own application running by the end of the book. To help you comprehensively understand Java programming, there are exercises at the end of each chapter to keep things interesting and encourage you to add your own personal touch to the code and, ultimately, your application. Style and approach This step-by-step guide will familiarize you with programming using some practical examples.

Learn how to create interactive and visually aesthetic plots using the Bokeh package in Python About This Book ? A step by step approach to creating interactive plots with Bokeh ? Go from nstallation all the way to deploying your very own Bokeh application ? Work with a real time datasets to practice and create your very own plots and applications Who This Book Is For This book is well suited for data scientists and data analysts who want to perform interactive data visualization on their web browsers using Bokeh. Some exposure to Python programming will be helpful, but prior experience with Bokeh is not required. What You Will Learn ? Installing Bokeh and understanding its key concepts ? Creating plots using glyphs, the fundamental building blocks of Bokeh ? Creating plots using different data structures like NumPy and Pandas ? Using layouts and widgets to visually enhance your plots and add a layer of interactivity ? Building and hosting applications on the Bokeh server ? Creating advanced plots using spatial data In Detail Adding a layer of interactivity to your plots and converting these plots into applications hold immense value in the field of data science. The standard approach to adding interactivity would be to use paid software such as Tableau, but the Bokeh package in Python offers users a way to create both interactive and visually aesthetic plots for free. This book gets you up to speed with Bokeh - a popular Python library for interactive data visualization. The book starts out by helping you understand how Bokeh works internally and how you can set up and install the package in your local machine. You then use a real world data set which uses stock data from Kaggle to create interactive and visually stunning plots. You will also learn how to leverage Bokeh using some advanced concepts such as plotting with spatial and geo data. Finally you will use all the concepts that you have learned in the previous chapters to create your very own Bokeh application from scratch. By the end of the book you will be able to create your very own Bokeh application. You will have gone through a step by step process that starts with understanding what Bokeh actually is and ends with building your very own Bokeh application filled with interactive and visually aesthetic plots. Style and approach This books take you through a step by step process that starts with understanding what Bokeh actually is and ends with building your very own Bokeh application filled with interactive and visually aesthetic plots that will amaze your users.

IT service management automation at your fingertips About This Book ? Learn to leverage ServiceNow’s capabilities for improved IT automation by following step-by-step, practical instructions ? Build core administration, development, and maintenance skills with IT service management in ServiceNow ? Improve your workflow efficiency by designing and creating responsive and automated workflows, business logic, and front-end automation Who This Book Is For This book is for IT professionals and administrators who are planning to or are already trying to implement ServiceNow in their organization for Enterprise IT service management tasks. Some familiarity with web technologies (JavaScript) would be helpful. Prior ServiceNow experience is not necessary. What You Will Learn ? Read and write clear, effective code for the ServiceNow platform ? Identify and avoid common pitfalls and missteps that could seriously impact future progress and upgradeability ? Use debugging tools to troubleshoot when things go wrong ? Discover tips and tricks from top ServiceNow developers, architects, and administrators. Find out what the pros wish they knew when they were starting out In Detail This book is an updated version of Learning ServiceNow, that will cover the new and updated features of the ServiceNow platform. It will show you how to put important ServiceNow features to work in the real world, while introducing key concepts via examples of managing and automating IT services. It'll help you build a solid foundation of knowledge, and will demonstrate how to effectively implement and configure modules within ServiceNow. We'll show you how to configure and administer your instance, and then move on to building strong user interfaces and creating powerful workflows. We also cover other key elements of ServiceNow, such as notifications, security, reporting, and custom development. You will learn how to improve and automate your business' workflow and processes. By the end of this book, you will be able to successfully configure and manage ServiceNow like a pro. Style and approach This book is a step-by-step practical tutorial to help you quickly deploy and configure ServiceNow in your organization. It guides you through the process of building applications and understanding the underlying systems, to help you become a more effective ServiceNow/ITSM administrator and/or developer.

Learn how to execute web application penetration testing end-to-end About This Book ? Build an end-to-end threat model landscape for web application security ? Learn both web application vulnerabilities and web intrusion testing ? Associate network vulnerabilities with a web application infrastructure Who This Book Is For Practical Web Penetration Testing is for you if you are a security professional, penetration tester, or stakeholder who wants to execute penetration testing using the latest and most popular tools. Basic knowledge of ethical hacking would be an added advantage. What You Will Learn ? Learn how to use Burp Suite effectively ? Use Nmap, Metasploit, and more tools for network infrastructure tests ? Practice using all web application hacking tools for intrusion tests using Kali Linux ? Learn how to analyze a web application using application threat modeling ? Know how to conduct web intrusion tests ? Understand how to execute network infrastructure tests ? Master automation of penetration testing functions for maximum efficiency using Python In Detail Companies all over the world want to hire professionals dedicated to application security. Practical Web Penetration Testing focuses on this very trend, teaching you how to conduct application security testing using real-life scenarios. To start with, you’ll set up an environment to perform web application penetration testing. You will then explore different penetration testing concepts such as threat modeling, intrusion test, infrastructure security threat, and more, in combination with advanced concepts such as Python scripting for automation. Once you are done learning the basics, you will discover end-to-end implementation of tools such as Metasploit, Burp Suite, and Kali Linux. Many companies deliver projects into production by using either Agile or Waterfall methodology. This book shows you how to assist any company with their SDLC approach and helps you on your journey to becoming an application security specialist. By the end of this book, you will have hands-on knowledge of using different tools for penetration testing. Style and approach In this book, you will learn and understand the workflow of application security testing. Starting from analysis using threat modeling until the testing phase and before the web project goes into production, you will be able conduct effective penetrating testing using web intrusion tests , network infrastructure tests, and code review.

Develop, test, and deploy decentralized applications for Ethereum platform About This Book ? Build your first Ethereum Dapp with Truffle: the most popular Ethereum development framework ? Build, compile, and deploy smart contracts in your development environment ? Embrace Blockchains and utilize it to create new generation of secured and scalable apps Who This Book Is For This book is for web developers who are interested in the new world blockchain. Some basic understanding of JavaScript and web services is required. No prior knowledge of Decentralized applications or blockchain is required. What You Will Learn ? Understand the fundamentals of Truffle and Web3 ? Build a decentralized application with Truffle, while choosing the correct Ethereum client ? Connect your Dapp to Ethereum clients including Geth, Parity, and Ganache ? Migrate and test your Dapp with the correct networks such as Ropsten and Rinkeby ? Package a decentralized application into a user-friendly product by integrating Truffle with JavaScript frameworks such as Angular, React and Vue ? Explore tools including Ethereum Package Manager, the Registrar and browser wallets, and exploit third-party smart contract libraries. ? Evaluate the common migration pitfalls and how to mitigate them In Detail Truffle is a world-class development environment, testing framework and asset pipeline for Ethereum, aiming to make life as an Ethereum developer easier. If you are a web developer wanting to try your hand at developing Dapps with Truffle, then this is the book for you. This book will teach you to write smart contracts and build Dapps with Truffle. You will begin with covering the basics of Truffle, briefly explaining how it integrates Solidity and Web3, in orderto start building a mini decentralized application. Also, you will dive into migration, testing and integrating Truffle with the use of popular JavaScript frameworks. Lastly, you will ship your decentralized application and package it into a product. Moreover, you will go through the best practices in Truffle,so as to increase your proficiency in building Dapps with Truffle. By the end of the book, you will be able to write smart contracts and build decentralized applications with Truffle on Ethereum blockchains. Style and approach An intuitive, step-by-step and engaging guide that will teach you to build a real-world, decentralized application with Truffle.

Use an open source firewall and features such as failover, load balancer, OpenVPN, IPSec, and Squid to protect your network Key Features *Explore pfSense, a trusted open source network security solution *Configure pfSense as a firewall and create and manage firewall rules *Test pfSense for failover and load balancing across multiple WAN connections Book Description While connected to the internet, you’re a potential target for an array of cyber threats, such as hackers, keyloggers, and Trojans that attack through unpatched security holes. A firewall works as a barrier (or ‘shield’) between your computer and cyberspace. pfSense is highly versatile firewall software. With thousands of enterprises using pfSense, it is fast becoming the world's most trusted open source network security solution. Network Security with pfSense begins with an introduction to pfSense, where you will gain an understanding of what pfSense is, its key features, and advantages. Next, you will learn how to configure pfSense as a firewall and create and manage firewall rules. As you make your way through the chapters, you will test pfSense for failover and load balancing across multiple wide area network (WAN) connections. You will then configure pfSense with OpenVPN for secure remote connectivity and implement IPsec VPN tunnels with pfSense. In the concluding chapters, you’ll understand how to configure and integrate pfSense as a Squid proxy server. By the end of this book, you will be able to leverage the power of pfSense to build a secure network. What you will learn *Understand what pfSense is, its key features, and advantages *Configure pfSense as a firewall *Set up pfSense for failover and load balancing *Connect clients through an OpenVPN client *Configure an IPsec VPN tunnel with pfSense *Integrate the Squid proxy into pfSense Who this book is for Network Security with pfSense is for IT administrators, security administrators, technical architects, chief experience officers, and individuals who own a home or small office network and want to secure it.

Over 60 recipes to help you design interactive, smart, and cross-platform GUI applications Key Features * Get succinct QT solutions to pressing GUI programming problems in Python * Learn how to effectively implement reactive programming * Build customized applications that are robust and reliable Book Description PyQt is one of the best cross-platform interface toolkits currently available; it's stable, mature, and completely native. If you want control over all aspects of UI elements, PyQt is what you need. This book will guide you through every concept necessary to create fully functional GUI applications using PyQt, with only a few lines of code. As you expand your GUI using more widgets, you will cover networks, databases, and graphical libraries that greatly enhance its functionality. Next, the book guides you in using Qt Designer to design user interfaces and implementing and testing dialogs, events, the clipboard, and drag and drop functionality to customize your GUI. You will learn a variety of topics, such as look and feel customization, GUI animation, graphics rendering, implementing Google Maps, and more. Lastly, the book takes you through how Qt5 can help you to create cross-platform apps that are compatible with Android and iOS. You will be able to develop functional and appealing software using PyQt through interesting and fun recipes that will expand your knowledge of GUIs What you will learn * Use basic Qt components, such as a radio button, combo box, and sliders * Use QSpinBox and sliders to handle different signals generated on mouse clicks * Work with different Qt layouts to meet user interface requirements * Create custom widgets and set up customizations in your GUI * Perform asynchronous I/O operations and thread handling in the Python GUI * Employ network concepts, internet browsing, and Google Maps in UI * Use graphics rendering and implement animation in your GUI * Make your GUI application compatible with Android and iOS devices Who this book is for If you’re an intermediate Python programmer wishing to enhance your coding skills by writing powerful GUIs in Python using PyQT, this is the book for you.

Learn the fundamentals of Java EE 8 APIs to build effective web services Key Features *Design modern and stylish web services with Java EE APIs *Secure your web services with JSON Web Tokens *Explore the advanced concepts of RESTful web services and the JAX-RS API Book Description Java Enterprise Edition is one of the leading application programming platforms for enterprise Java development. With Java EE 8 finally released and the first application servers now available, it is time to take a closer look at how to develop modern and lightweight web services with the latest API additions and improvements. Building RESTful Web Services with Java EE 8 is a comprehensive guide that will show you how to develop state-of-the-art RESTful web services with the latest Java EE 8 APIs. You will begin with an overview of Java EE 8 and the latest API additions and improvements. You will then delve into the details of implementing synchronous RESTful web services and clients with JAX-RS. Next up, you will learn about the specifics of data binding and content marshalling using the JSON-B 1.0 and JSON-P 1.1 APIs. This book also guides you in leveraging the power of asynchronous APIs on the server and client side, and you will learn to use server-sent events (SSEs) for push communication. The final section covers advanced web service topics such as validation, JWT security, and diagnosability. By the end of this book, you will have implemented several working web services and have a thorough understanding of the Java EE 8 APIs required for lightweight web service development. What you will learn *Dive into the latest Java EE 8 APIs relevant for developing web services *Use the new JSON-B APIs for easy data binding *Understand how JSON-P API can be used for flexible processing *Implement synchronous and asynchronous JAX-RS clients *Use server-sent events to implement server-side code *Secure Java EE 8 web services with JSON Web Tokens Who this book is for If you're a Java developer who wants to learn how to implement web services using the latest Java EE 8 APIs, this book is for you. Though no prior knowledge of Java EE 8 is required, experience with a previous Java EE version will be beneficial.

Architect and design data-intensive applications and, in the process, learn how to collect, process, store, govern, and expose data for a variety of use cases Key Features *Integrate the data-intensive approach into your application architecture *Create a robust application layout with effective messaging and data querying architecture *Enable smooth data flow and make the data of your application intensive and fast Book Description Are you an architect or a developer who looks at your own applications gingerly while browsing through Facebook and applauding it silently for its data-intensive, yet ?uent and efficient, behaviour? This book is your gateway to build smart data-intensive systems by incorporating the core data-intensive architectural principles, patterns, and techniques directly into your application architecture. This book starts by taking you through the primary design challenges involved with architecting data-intensive applications. You will learn how to implement data curation and data dissemination, depending on the volume of your data. You will then implement your application architecture one step at a time. You will get to grips with implementing the correct message delivery protocols and creating a data layer that doesn’t fail when running high traffic. This book will show you how you can divide your application into layers, each of which adheres to the single responsibility principle. By the end of this book, you will learn to streamline your thoughts and make the right choice in terms of technologies and architectural principles based on the problem at hand. What you will learn *Understand how to envision a data-intensive system *Identify and compare the non-functional requirements of a data collection component *Understand patterns involving data processing, as well as technologies that help to speed up the development of data processing systems *Understand how to implement Data Governance policies at design time using various Open Source Tools *Recognize the anti-patterns to avoid while designing a data store for applications *Understand the different data dissemination technologies available to query the data in an efficient manner *Implement a simple data governance policy that can be extended using Apache Falcon Who this book is for This book is for developers and data architects who have to code, test, deploy, and/or maintain large-scale, high data volume applications. It is also useful for system architects who need to understand various non-functional aspects revolving around Data Intensive Systems.

Implement intelligent agents using PyTorch to solve classic AI problems, play console games like Atari, and perform tasks such as autonomous driving using the CARLA driving simulator Key Features *Explore the OpenAI Gym toolkit and interface to use over 700 learning tasks *Implement agents to solve simple to complex AI problems *Study learning environments and discover how to create your own Book Description Many real-world problems can be broken down into tasks that require a series of decisions to be made or actions to be taken. The ability to solve such tasks without a machine being programmed requires a machine to be artificially intelligent and capable of learning to adapt. This book is an easy-to-follow guide to implementing learning algorithms for machine software agents in order to solve discrete or continuous sequential decision making and control tasks. Hands-On Intelligent Agents with OpenAI Gym takes you through the process of building intelligent agent algorithms using deep reinforcement learning starting from the implementation of the building blocks for configuring, training, logging, visualizing, testing, and monitoring the agent. You will walk through the process of building intelligent agents from scratch to perform a variety of tasks. In the closing chapters, the book provides an overview of the latest learning environments and learning algorithms, along with pointers to more resources that will help you take your deep reinforcement learning skills to the next level. What you will learn *Explore intelligent agents and learning environments *Understand the basics of RL and deep RL *Get started with OpenAI Gym and PyTorch for deep reinforcement learning *Discover deep Q learning agents to solve discrete optimal control tasks *Create custom learning environments for real-world problems *Apply a deep actor-critic agent to drive a car autonomously in CARLA *Use the latest learning environments and algorithms to upgrade your intelligent agent development skills Who this book is for If you’re a student, game/machine learning developer, or AI enthusiast looking to get started with building intelligent agents and algorithms to solve a variety of problems with the OpenAI Gym interface, this book is for you. You will also find this book useful if you want to learn how to build deep reinforcement learning-based agents to solve problems in your domain of interest. Though the book covers all the basic concepts that you need to know, some working knowledge of Python programming language will help you get the most out of it.

Build, design, and style beautiful and informative applications on the Salesforce Lightning platform Key Features *Build and Test Lightning Components that enhance application usability and adaptability *Apply Security Best Practices to your Custom Lightning Components *Design Lightning Components for Salesforce UIs such as Lightning Pages, Salesforce 1 Application, Communities, and more. Book Description Built on the Salesforce App Cloud, the new Salesforce Lightning Experience combines three major components: Lightning Design System, Lightning App Builder, and Lightning Components, to provide an enhanced user experience. This book will enable you to quickly create modern, enterprise apps with Lightning Component Framework. You will start by building simple Lightning Components and understanding the Lightning Components architecture. The chapters cover the basics of Lightning Component Framework semantics and syntax, the security features provided by Locker Service, and use of third-party libraries inside Lightning Components. The later chapters focus on debugging, performance tuning, testing using Lightning Testing Services, and how to publish Lightning Components on Salesforce AppExchange. What you will learn *Understand Lightning Components architecture *Learn Locker security best practices *Debug and Improve performance of your Lightning Components *Use third-party libraries along with Lightning Component Framework *Learn how to publish Lightning Components on AppExchange *Use Lightning Out to take your Lightning Components outside the Salesforce platform Who this book is for This book is for Salesforce developers or developers from other platforms who are familiar with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript and want to build and test Salesforce Lightning components. No knowledge of Salesforce Lightning is required.

Design accessible and creative games across genres, platforms, and development realities About This Book ? Implement the skills and techniques required to work in a professional studio ? Ace the core principles and processes of level design, world building, and storytelling ? Design interactive characters that animate the gaming world Who This Book Is For Whether you are a student eager to design a game or a junior game designer looking for your first role as a professional, this book will help you with the fundamentals of game design. By focusing on best practices and a pragmatic approach, Practical Game Design provides insights into the arts and crafts from two senior game designers that will interest more seasoned professionals in the game industry. What You Will Learn ? Define the scope and structure of a game project ? Conceptualize a game idea and present it to others ? Design gameplay systems and communicate them clearly and thoroughly ? Build and validate engaging game mechanics ? Design successful business models and prepare your games for live operations ? Master the principles behind level design, worldbuilding and storytelling ? Improve the quality of a game by playtesting and polishing it In Detail If you are looking for an up-to-date and highly applicable guide to game design, then you have come to the right place! Immerse yourself in the fundamentals of game design with this book, written by two highly experienced industry professionals to share their profound insights as well as give valuable advice on creating games across genres and development platforms. Practical Game Design covers the basics of game design one piece at a time. Starting with learning how to conceptualize a game idea and present it to the development team, you will gradually move on to devising a design plan for the whole project and adapting solutions from other games. You will also discover how to produce original game mechanics without relying on existing reference material, and test and eliminate anticipated design risks. You will then design elements that compose the playtime of a game, followed by making game mechanics, content, and interface accessible to all players. You will also find out how to simultaneously ensure that the gameplay mechanics and content are working as intended. As the book reaches its final chapters, you will learn to wrap up a game ahead of its release date, work through the different challenges of designing free-to-play games, and understand how to significantly improve their quality through iteration, polishing and playtesting. Style and approach A practical step by step guide to get you up and running with Game Design from scratch

Use Java features such as JAX-RS, EJBs, and JPAs to build powerful middleware for newer architectures such as the cloud About This Book ? Explore EJBs to build middleware solutions for enterprise and distributed applications ? Understand middleware designs such as event-based and message-driven web services ? Learn to design and maintain large-scale systems and vendor disputes Who This Book Is For Enterprise architects, designers, developers, and programmers who are interested in learning how to build robust middleware solutions for enterprise software will find this book useful. Prior knowledge of Java EE is essential What You Will Learn ? Implement the latest Java EE 8 APIs and manage dependencies with CDI 2.0 ? Perform CRUD operations and access databases with JPA 2.1 ? Use bean validation API 2.0 to validate data ? Develop business logic with EJB 3.2 ? Incorporate the REST architecture and RESTful API design patterns ? Perform serialization and deserialization on JSON documents using JSON-B ? Utilize JMS for messaging and queuing models and securing applications ? Test applications using JUnit and Mockito and deploy them using Docker In Detail Middleware is the infrastructure in software based applications that enables businesses to solve problems, operate more efficiently, and make money. As the use of middleware extends beyond a single application, the importance of having it written by experts increases substantially. This book will help you become an expert in developing middleware for a variety of applications. The book starts off by exploring the latest Java EE 8 APIs with newer features and managing dependencies with CDI 2.0. You will learn to implement object-to-relational mapping using JPA 2.1 and validate data using bean validation. You will also work with different types of EJB to develop business logic, and with design RESTful APIs by utilizing different HTTP methods and activating JAX-RS features in enterprise applications. You will learn to secure your middleware with Java Security 1.0 and implement various authentication techniques, such as OAuth authentication. In the concluding chapters, you will use various test technologies, such as JUnit and Mockito, to test applications, and Docker to deploy your enterprise applications. By the end of the book, you will be proficient in developing robust, effective, and distributed middleware for your business. Style and approach Learn how to design and implement professional enterprise middleware solutions using the latest techniques and features provided by the Java EE 8 platform.

This book will give you an all encompassing view of the domain name ecosystem combined with a comprehensive set of operations strategies. About This Book ? Manage infrastructure, risk, and management of DNS name servers. Get hands-on with factors like types of name servers, DNS queries and and so on. ? Practical guide for system administrators to manage mission-critical servers ? Based on real-world experience - Written by an industry veteran who has made every possible mistake within this field. Who This Book Is For Ideal for sysadmins, webmasters, IT consultants, and developers-anyone responsible for maintaining your organization's core DNS What You Will Learn ? Anatomy of a domain - how a domain is the sum of both its DNS zone and its registration data, and why that matters. ? The domain name ecosystem - the role of registries, registrars and oversight bodies and their effect on your names. ? How DNS queries work - queries and responses are examined including debugging techniques to zero in on problems. ? Nameserver considerations - alternative nameserver daemons, numbering considerations, and deployment architectures. ? DNS use cases - the right way for basic operations such as domain transfers, large scale migrations, GeoDNS, Anycast DNS. ? Securing your domains - All aspects of security from registrar vendor selection, to DNSSEC and DDOS mitigation strategies. In Detail Managing your organization's naming architecture and mitigating risks within complex naming environments is very important. This book will go beyond looking at “how to run a name server” or “how to DNSSEC sign a domain”, Managing Mission Critical Domains & DNS looks across the entire spectrum of naming; from external factors that exert influence on your domains to all the internal factors to consider when operating your DNS. The readers are taken on a comprehensive guided tour through the world of naming: from understanding the role of registrars and how they interact with registries, to what exactly is it that ICANN does anyway? Once the prerequisite knowledge of the domain name ecosystem is acquired, the readers are taken through all aspects of DNS operations. Whether your organization operates its own nameservers or utilizes an outsourced vendor, or both, we examine the complex web of interlocking factors that must be taken into account but are too frequently overlooked. By the end of this book, our readers will have an end to end to understanding of all the aspects covered in DNS name servers. Style and approach The book is divided into two parts, the first part looks at the wider domain name ecosystem: registries, registrars and oversight policies. The second and larger part goes into operations. Every aspect of naming is considered from the viewpoint of how this affects ones domains, what are the ramifications of different operating methods as portfolios scale.

Find out how to create visually stunning and feature-rich applications by empowering Python's built-in Tkinter GUI toolkit About This Book ? Explore Tkinter's powerful features to easily design and customize your GUI application ? Learn the basics of 2D and 3D animation in GUI applications. ? Learn to integrate stunning Data Visualizations using Tkinter Canvas and Matplotlib. Who This Book Is For This book will appeal to developers and programmers who would like to build GUI-based applications. Knowledge of Python is a prerequisite. What You Will Learn ? Implement the tools provided by Tkinter to design beautiful GUIs ? Discover cross-platform development through minor customizations in your existing application ? Visualize graphs in real time as data comes in using Tkinter's animation capabilities ? Use PostgreSQL authentication to ensure data security for your application ? Write unit tests to avoid regressions when updating code In Detail Tkinter is a lightweight, portable, and easy-to-use graphical toolkit available in the Python Standard Library, widely used to build Python GUIs due to its simplicity and availability. This book teaches you to design and build graphical user interfaces that are functional, appealing, and user-friendly using the powerful combination of Python and Tkinter. After being introduced to Tkinter, you will be guided step-by-step through the application development process. Over the course of the book, your application will evolve from a simple data-entry form to a complex data management and visualization tool while maintaining a clean and robust design. In addition to building the GUI, you'll learn how to connect to external databases and network resources, test your code to avoid errors, and maximize performance using asynchronous programming. You'll make the most of Tkinter's cross-platform availability by learning how to maintain compatibility, mimic platform-native look and feel, and build executables for deployment across popular computing platforms. By the end of this book, you will have the skills and confidence to design and build powerful high-end GUI applications to solve real-world problems. Style and approach This is a comprehensive guide that explores the essential Tkinter features and modules and implements them in building real-world cross-platform GUI applications

Learn to build a full-fledged application in Spring and Kotlin taking a reactive, microservice-based approach for scalability and robustness in the cloud About This Book ? Build a full-fledged application in Spring and Kotlin ? Architect your application to take a microservice-based approach in the cloud ? Integrate your application with a variety of Spring components Who This Book Is For Developers comfortable using Spring who have basic knowledge of Kotlin and want to take their development skills to the next level and build enterprise-grade applications will benefit from this book. What You Will Learn ? Explore Spring 5 concepts with Kotlin ? Learn both dependency injections and complex configurations ? Utilize Spring Data, Spring Cloud, and Spring Security in your applications ? Create efficient reactive systems with Project Reactor ? Write unit tests for your Spring/Kotlin applications ? Deploy applications on cloud platforms like AWS In Detail Kotlin is being used widely by developers because of its light weight, built-in null safety, and functional and reactive programming aspects. Kotlin shares the same pragmatic, innovative and opinionated mindset as Spring, so they work well together. Spring when combined with Kotlin helps you to reach a new level of productivity. This combination has helped developers to create Functional Applications using both the tools together. This book will teach you how to take advantage of these developments and build robust, scalable and reactive applications with ease. In this book, you will begin with an introduction to Spring and its setup with Kotlin. You will then dive into assessing the design considerations of your application. Then you will learn to use Spring (with Spring Boot) along with Kotlin to build a robust backend in a microservice architecture with a REST based collaboration, and leverage Project Reactor in your application. You’ll then learn how to integrate Spring Data and Spring Cloud to manage configurations for database interaction and cloud deployment. You’ll also learn to use Spring Security to beef up security of your application before testing it with the JUnit framework and then deploying it on a cloud platform like AWS. Style and approach Everything you learn will be demonstrated on real-world Spring project. In each chapter we will cover some of Spring features and apply it on our project. We will guide you from the project initialization till the project deployment.