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

Real-world examples of cross-browser, mobile, and data-driven testing with all the latest features of Selenium WebDriver 3 Key Features *Unlock the full potential of Selenium to test your web applications *Use Selenium Grid for faster, parallel running, and cross-browser testing *Test iOS and Android Apps with Appium Book Description Selenium WebDriver is an open source automation tool implemented through a browser-specific driver, which sends commands to a browser and retrieves results. The latest version of Selenium 3 brings with it a lot of new features that change the way you use and setup Selenium WebDriver. This book covers all those features along with the source code, including a demo website that allows you to work with an HMTL5 application and other examples throughout the book. Selenium WebDriver 3 Practical Guide will walk you through the various APIs of Selenium WebDriver, which are used in automation tests, followed by a discussion of the various WebDriver implementations available. You will learn to strategize and handle rich web UI using advanced WebDriver API along with real-time challenges faced in WebDriver and solutions to handle them. You will discover different types and domains of testing such as cross-browser testing, load testing, and mobile testing with Selenium. Finally, you will also be introduced to data-driven testing using TestNG to create your own automation framework. By the end of this book, you will be able to select any web application and automate it the way you want. What you will learn *Understand what Selenium 3 is and how is has been improved than its predecessor *Use different mobile and desktop browser platforms with Selenium 3 *Perform advanced actions, such as drag-and-drop and action builders on web page *Learn to use Java 8 API and Selenium 3 together *Explore remote WebDriver and discover how to use it *Perform cross browser and distributed testing with Selenium Grid *Use Actions API for performing various keyboard and mouse actions Who this book is for Selenium WebDriver 3 Practical Guide is for software quality assurance/testing professionals, software project managers, or software developers interested in using Selenium for testing their applications. Prior programming experience in Java is necessary.

Develop rich and scalable web applications with Node.js, Express.js, and MongoDB About This Book ? Learn the advanced features of Aurelia to build responsive web applications ? Write clean, modular, and testable code that will be easy to maintain and evolve ? Harness the power of JavaScript on the client and server side to build full-stack applications Who This Book Is For Hands-On Full Stack Web Development with Aurelia is for you if you are a web or full-stack JavaScript developer who has experience with traditional stacks such as LAMP, MEAN, or MERN and wish to explore the power of Aurelia and new stack with modern web technologies. What You Will Learn ? Employ best practices and modern approaches to create frontend applications ? Learn about modern CSS preprocessors and improve the readability of your application ? Use the Aurelia framework to create navigable web applications ? Write your own tests, making your application secure and fault-tolerant ? Create solid RESTful APIs using the microservice architecture ? Understand the NoSQL paradigm and get the best performance from your database ? Integrate third-party libraries such as Gmail for Single Sign On ? Write UI testing scripts and integration tests to build extensible apps In Detail Hands-On Full Stack Web Development with Aurelia begins with a review of basic JavaScript concepts and the structure of an Aurelia application generated with the Aurelia-CLI tool. You will learn how to create interesting and intuitive application using the Aurelia-Materialize plugin, which implements the material design approach. Once you fully configure a FIFA World Cup 2018 app, you'll start creating the initial components through TDD practices and then develop backend services to process and store all the user data. This book lets you explore the NoSQL model and implement it using one of the most popular NoSQL databases, MongoDB, with some exciting libraries to make the experience effortless. You'll also be able to add some advanced behavior to your components, from managing the lifecycle properly to using dynamic binding, field validations, and the custom service layer. You will integrate your application with Google OAuth Service and learn best practices to secure your applications. Furthermore, you'll write UI Testing scripts to create high-quality Aurelia Apps and explore the most used tools to run end-to-end tests. In the concluding chapters, you'll be able to deploy your application to the Cloud and Docker containers. By the end of this book, you will have learned how to create rich applications using best practices and modern approaches. Style and approach This is a comprehensive example-based book that guides you to create highly scalable applications using the new MEAN Stack.

Make the most of Kotlin by leveraging design patterns and best practices to build scalable and high performing apps About This Book ? Understand traditional GOF design patterns to apply generic solutions ? Shift from OOP to FP; covering reactive and concurrent patterns in a step-by-step manner ? Choose the best microservices architecture and MVC for your development environment Who This Book Is For This book is for developers who would like to master design patterns with Kotlin to build efficient and scalable applications. Basic Java or Kotlin programming knowledge is assumed What You Will Learn ? Get to grips with Kotlin principles, including its strengths and weaknesses ? Understand classical design patterns in Kotlin ? Explore functional programming using built-in features of Kotlin ? Solve real-world problems using reactive and concurrent design patterns ? Use threads and coroutines to simplify concurrent code flow ? Understand antipatterns to write clean Kotlin code, avoiding common pitfalls ? Learn about the design considerations necessary while choosing between architectures In Detail Design patterns enable you as a developer to speed up the development process by providing you with proven development paradigms. Reusing design patterns helps prevent complex issues that can cause major problems, improves your code base, promotes code reuse, and makes an architecture more robust. The mission of this book is to ease the adoption of design patterns in Kotlin and provide good practices for programmers. The book begins by showing you the practical aspects of smarter coding in Kotlin, explaining the basic Kotlin syntax and the impact of design patterns. From there, the book provides an in-depth explanation of the classical design patterns of creational, structural, and behavioral families, before heading into functional programming. It then takes you through reactive and concurrent patterns, teaching you about using streams, threads, and coroutines to write better code along the way By the end of the book, you will be able to efficiently address common problems faced while developing applications and be comfortable working on scalable and maintainable projects of any size. Style and approach This book explains design patterns in a step-by-step manner with clear and concise code examples

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.

Build optimized applications in Kotlin by learning how to make use of the standard library features the smart way Key Features *Get the most out of the Kotlin library to develop high-quality portable applications *Explore the powerful support for data processing and I/O operations *Discover ways to enhance your Android application development Book Description Given the verbosity of Java, developers have turned to Kotlin for effective software development. The Kotlin standard library provides vital tools that make day-to-day Kotlin programming easier. This library features the core attributes of the language, such as algorithmic problems, design patterns, data processing, and working with files and data streams. The recipes in this book offer coding solutions that can be readily executed. The book covers various topics related to data processing, I/O operations, and collections transformation. We'll walk through effective design patterns in Kotlin and you'll understand how coroutines add new features to JavaScript. As you make your way through the chapters, you'll learn how to implement clean, reusable functions and scalable interfaces containing default implementations. In the concluding chapters, we'll provide recipes on functional programming concepts, such as lambdas, monads, functors, and Kotlin scoping functions. By the end of the book, you'll be able to address a range of problems that Kotlin developers face by implementing easy-to-follow solutions. What you will learn *Work with ranges, progressions, and sequences in use cases *Add new functionalities to current classes with Kotlin extensions *Understand elements such as lambdas, closures, and monads *Build a REST API consumer with Retrofit and a coroutine adapter *Discover useful tips and solutions for making your Android projects *Explore the benefits of standard library features Who this book is for This book is for software developers who are familiar with Kotlin’s basics and want to discover more advanced features and concepts, especially those provided by the Kotlin standard library. It’s also ideal for experienced software developers who are familiar with the functional programming paradigm and other programming languages who want to switch to Kotlin. It will also help Java developers switch to Kotlin and integrate it into existing Java Virtual Machine (JVM) projects.

Make web applications run faster by using advanced PHP, SQL and JavaScript techniques About This Book ? Use a customized PHP stack to create efficient data-driven web applications ? Ensure seamless implementation of a JavaScript & HTML 5 CSS based frontend and PHP based backend. ? Learn about problem identification, best strategies, and UI design patterns as well to build a clean, fast web application Who This Book Is For The audience for this book would be PHP developers who have some basic knowledge of PHP programming and Web technologies. JavaScript programming knowledge is not necessary. What You Will Learn ? Install, confgure, and use profling and benchmarking testing tools ? Understand how to recognize optimizable data structures and functions to effectively optimize a PHP7 application ? Diagnose bad SQL query performance and discover ways to optimize it ? Grasp modern SQL techniques to optimize complex SQL queries ? Identify and simplify overly complex JavaScript code ? Explore and implement UI design principles that effectively enhance the performance ? Combine web technologies to boost web server performance In Detail This book will get you started with the latest benchmarking, profiling and monitoring tools for PHP, MySQL and JavaScript using Docker-based technologies. From optimizing PHP 7 code to learning asynchronous programming, from implementing Modern SQL solutions to discovering Functional JavaScript techniques, this book covers all the latest developments in Faster Web technologies. You will not only learn to determine the best optimization strategies, but also how to implement them. Along the way, you will learn how to profile your PHP scripts with Blackfire.io, monitor your Web applications, measure database performance, optimize SQL queries, explore Functional JavaScript, boost Web server performance in general and optimize applications when there is nothing left to optimize by going beyond performance. After reading this book, you will know how to boost the performance of any Web application and make it part of what has come to be known as the Faster Web. Style and approach The book has a step by step practical approach to developing highly efficient Web applications, with many practical and useful code snippets.

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.

Leverage the power of Hyperledger Fabric to develop Blockchain-based distributed ledgers with ease About This Book ? Write your own chaincode/smart contracts using Golang on hyperledger network ? Build and deploy decentralized applications (DApps) ? Dive into real world blockchain challenges such as integration and scalability Who This Book Is For The book benefits business leaders as it provides a comprehensive view on blockchain business models, governance structure, and business design considerations of blockchain solutions. Technology leaders stand to gain a lot from the detailed discussion around the technology landscape, technology design, and architecture considerations in the book. With model-driven application development, this guide will speed up understanding and concept development for blockchain application developers. The simple and well organized content will put novices at ease with blockchain concepts and constructs. What You Will Learn ? Discover why blockchain is a game changer in the technology landscape ? Set up blockchain networks using basic Hyperledger Fabric deployment ? Understand the considerations for creating decentralized applications ? Learn the process of creating good business networks using Hyperledger ? Write Smart Contracts quickly with Hyperledger Composer ? Design transaction model and chaincode with Golang ? Deploy Composer REST Gateway to access the Composer transactions ? Discern how business network impacts your Hyperledger Fabric solutions In Detail Blockchain and Hyperledger technologies are hot topics. Hyperledger Fabric and Hyperledger Composer are open source projects that help organizations create private, permissioned blockchain networks. Applications that exploit them include finance, banking, supply chains, IoT, and much more. This book will be an easy reference to explore and build blockchain networks using Hyperledger technologies. This book will start by explaining the blockchain evolution, including an overview of relevant blockchain technologies. You will learn how to configure Hyperledger Fabric on a cloud platform. Understand the architectural components of Hyperledger Fabric, and how they are configured to build private blockchain networks, and applications that connect to them. You'll build up a network and application from scratch, starting with first principles. You'll learn how to implement smart contracts in chaincode and much more on the Hyperledger network. By the end of this book, you will be able to build and deploy your own decentralized applications using Hyperledger, addressing the key pain points encountered in the blockchain life cycle. Style and approach An easy-to-follow step by step guide which will help you get to grips with real world application of Hyperledger

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.

Bring realism to your games by mastering post-processing effects and advanced shading techniques in Unity 2018 About This Book ? Learn the secrets of creating AAA quality shaders without writing long algorithms ? Master shader programming through easy-to-follow examples ? Create stunning visual effects that can be used in 3D games Who This Book Is For Unity Shaders and Effects Cookbook is for developers who want to create their first shaders in Unity 2018 or wish to take their game to a whole new level by adding professional post-processing effects. A solid understanding of Unity is required to get the most from this book. What You Will Learn ? Understand physically based rendering to fit the aesthetic of your game ? Write shaders from scratch in ShaderLab and HLSL/Cg ? Combine shader programming with interactive scripts to add life to your materials ? Design efficient shaders for mobile platforms without sacrificing their realism ? Use state-of-the-art techniques, such as volumetric explosions and fur shading ? Master the math and algorithms behind the most used lighting models ? Understand how shader models have evolved and how you can create your own In Detail Since their introduction to Unity, shaders have been seen as notoriously difficult to understand and implement in games. Complex mathematics has always stood in the way of creating your own shaders and attaining the level of realism you crave. Unity 2018 Shaders and Effects Cookbook changes that by giving you a recipe-based guide to creating shaders using Unity. It will show you everything you need to know about vectors, how lighting is constructed with them, and how textures are used to create complex effects without the heavy math. This book starts by teaching you how to use shaders without writing code with the post-processing stack. Then, you’ll learn how to write shaders from scratch, build up essential lighting, and finish by creating stunning screen effects just like those in high-quality 3D and mobile games. You'll discover techniques, such as normal mapping, image-based lighting, and animating your models inside a shader. We'll explore how to use physically based rendering to treat light the way it behaves in the real world. At the end, we’ll even look at Unity 2018’s new Shader Graph system. With this book, what seems like a dark art today will be second nature by tomorrow. Style and approach The recipes in this book contain step-by-step instructions, complemented with screenshots, code, and real-world examples.

Enterprise Agility is practical framework for enhancing Agility and equipping your company with the tools to survive. About This Book ? Prepare your company to navigate the rapidly-moving business world ? Enhance Agility in every component of your organization ? Build a framework that meets the unique requirements of your enterprise Who This Book Is For Enterprise Agility is a tool for anyone with the motivation to influence outcomes in an enterprise, who aspires to improve Agility. Readers from the following backgrounds will benefit: chief executive officer, chief information officer, people/human resource director, information technology director, head of change program, head of transformation, and Agile coach/consultant. What You Will Learn ? Drive agility-oriented change across the enterprise ? Understand why agility matters (more than ever) to modern enterprises ? Adopt and influence an Agile mindset in your teams and in your organization ? Understand the concept of a CAS and how to model enterprise and leadership behaviors on CAS characteristics to enhance enterprise agility ? Understand and convey the differences between Agile and true enterprise agility ? Create an enterprise-specific action plan to enhance agility ? Become a champion for enterprise agility ? Recognize the advantages and challenges of distributed teams, and how Agile ways of working can remedy the rough spots ? Enable and motivate your IT partners to adopt Agile ways of working In Detail The biggest challenge enterprises face today is dealing with fast-paced change in all spheres of business. Enterprise Agility shows how an enterprise can address this challenge head on and thrive in the dynamic environment. Avoiding the mechanistic construction of existing enterprises that focus on predictability and certainty, Enterprise Agility delivers practical advice for responding and adapting to the scale and accelerating pace of disruptive change in the business environment. Agility is a fundamental shift in thinking about how enterprises work to effectively deal with disruptive changes in the business environment. The core belief underlying agility is that enterprises are open and living systems. These living systems, also known as complex adaptive systems (CAS), are ideally suited to deal with change very effectively. Agility is to enterprises what health is to humans. There are some foundational principles that can be broadly applied, but the definition of healthy is very specific to each individual. Enterprise Agility takes a similar approach with regard to agility: it suggests foundational practices to improve the overall health of the body—culture, mindset, and leadership—and the health of its various organs: people, process, governance, structure, technology, and customers. The book also suggests a practical framework to create a plan to enhance agility. Style and approach Enterprise Agility is a step-by-step guide to facing change and uncertainty head-on. The books provides practical ways to apply Agile methodologies and boost Agility throughout a business.

Learn how to implement the reactive programming paradigm with C++ and build asynchronous and concurrent applications About This Book ? Efficiently exploit concurrency and parallelism in your programs ? Use the Functional Reactive programming model to structure programs ? Understand reactive GUI programming to make your own applications using Qt Who This Book Is For If you’re a C++ developer interested in using reactive programming to build asynchronous and concurrent applications, you’ll find this book extremely useful. This book doesn’t assume any previous knowledge of reactive programming. What You Will Learn ? Understand language-level concurrency in C++ ? Explore advanced C++ programming for the FRP ? Uncover the RxCpp library and its programming model ? Mix the FP and OOP constructs in C++ 17 to write well-structured programs ? Master reactive microservices in C++ ? Create custom operators for RxCpp ? Learn advanced stream processing and error handling In Detail Reactive programming is an effective way to build highly responsive applications with an easy-to-maintain code base. This book covers the essential functional reactive concepts that will help you build highly concurrent, event-driven, and asynchronous applications in a simpler and less error-prone way. C++ Reactive Programming begins with a discussion on how event processing was undertaken by different programming systems earlier. After a brisk introduction to modern C++ (C++17), you’ll be taken through language-level concurrency and the lock-free programming model to set the stage for our foray into the Functional Programming model. Following this, you’ll be introduced to RxCpp and its programming model. You’ll be able to gain deep insights into the RxCpp library, which facilitates reactive programming. You’ll learn how to deal with reactive programming using Qt/C++ (for the desktop) and C++ microservices for the Web. By the end of the book, you will be well versed with advanced reactive programming concepts in modern C++ (C++17). Style and approach The book includes real-world problems that you will solve with the reactive programming model. It highlights the way event processing has evolved in the programming world.

Build enterprise-grade microservice ecosystems with intensive case studies using C# About This Book ? Learn to build message-based microservices ? Packed with case studies to explain the intricacies of large-scale microservices ? Build scalable, modular, and robust architectures with C# Who This Book Is For C# developers, software architects, and professionals who want to master the art of designing the microservice architecture that is scalable based on environment. Developers should have a basic understanding of.NET application development using C# and Visual Studio What You Will Learn ? Explore different open source tools within the context of designing microservices ? Learn to provide insulation to exception-prone function calls ? Build common messages used between microservices for communication ? Learn to create a microservice using our base class and interface ? Design a quantitative financial machine microservice ? Learn to design a microservice that is capable of using Blockchain technology In Detail C# is a powerful language when it comes to building applications and software architecture using rich libraries and tools such as .NET. This book will harness the strength of C# in developing microservices architectures and applications. This book shows developers how to develop an enterprise-grade, event-driven, asynchronous, message-based microservice framework using C#, .NET, and various open source tools. We will discuss how to send and receive messages, how to design many types of microservice that are truly usable in a corporate environment. We will also dissect each case and explain the code, best practices, pros and cons, and more. Through our journey, we will use many open source tools, and create file monitors, a machine learning microservice, a quantitative financial microservice that can handle bonds and credit default swaps, a deployment microservice to show you how to better manage your deployments, and memory, health status, and other microservices. By the end of this book, you will have a complete microservice ecosystem you can place into production or customize in no time. Style and approach A step-by-step guide that enables readers to create a complete microservice ecosystem they can place into production or customize in no time.

Transform games into environments using machine learning and Deep learning with Tensorflow, Keras, and Unity About This Book ? Learn how to apply core machine learning concepts to your games with Unity ? Learn the Fundamentals of Reinforcement Learning and Q-Learning and apply them to your games ? Learn How to build multiple asynchronous agents and run them in a training scenario Who This Book Is For This book is intended for developers with an interest in using Machine learning algorithms to develop better games and simulations with Unity. The reader will be required to have a working knowledge of C# and a basic understanding of Python. What You Will Learn ? Develop Reinforcement and Deep Reinforcement Learning for games. ? Understand complex and advanced concepts of reinforcement learning and neural networks ? Explore various training strategies for cooperative and competitive agent development ? Adapt the basic script components of Academy, Agent, and Brain to be used with Q Learning. ? Enhance the Q Learning model with improved training strategies such as Greedy-Epsilon exploration ? Implement a simple NN with Keras and use it as an external brain in Unity ? Understand how to add LTSM blocks to an existing DQN ? Build multiple asynchronous agents and run them in a training scenario In Detail Unity Machine Learning agents allow researchers and developers to create games and simulations using the Unity Editor, which serves as an environment where intelligent agents can be trained with machine learning methods through a simple-to-use Python API. This book takes you from the basics of Reinforcement and Q Learning to building Deep Recurrent Q-Network agents that cooperate or compete in a multi-agent ecosystem. You will start with the basics of Reinforcement Learning and how to apply it to problems. Then you will learn how to build self-learning advanced neural networks with Python and Keras/TensorFlow. From there you move o n to more advanced training scenarios where you will learn further innovative ways to train your network with A3C, imitation, and curriculum learning models. By the end of the book, you will have learned how to build more complex environments by building a cooperative and competitive multi-agent ecosystem. Style and approach This book focuses on the foundations of ML, RL and DL for building agents in a game or simulation

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.