Unleash the power of shell *s to solve real-world problems by breaking through the practice of writing tedious code About This Book Learn how to efficiently and effectively build shell *s and develop advanced applications with this handy book Develop high quality and efficient solutions by writing professional and real-world *s, and debug *s by checking and shell tracing A step-by-step tutorial to automate routine tasks by developing *s from a basic level to very advanced functionality Who This Book Is For This book is ideal for those who are proficient at working with Linux and who want to learn about shell *ing to improve their efficiency and practical skills. By the end of this book, you will be able to confidently use your own shell *s in the real world. What You Will Learn Familiarize yourself with the various text filtering tools available in Linux Combine the fundamental text and file processing commands to process data and automate repetitive tasks Understand expressions and variables and how to use them practically Automate decision-making and save a lot of time and effort of revisiting code Get to grips with advanced functionality such as using traps and signals and using dialogs to develop screens Start up a system and customize a Linux system Take an in-depth look at regular expressions and pattern matching to understand the capabilities of *ing In Detail Linux is the one of the most powerful and universally adopted OSes. Shell is a program that gives the user direct interaction with the operating system. Scripts are collections of commands that are stored in a file. The shell can read this file and act on the commands as if they were typed on the keyboard. Shell *ing is used to automate day-to-day administration, and for testing or product development tasks.This book covers Bash, GNU Bourne Again SHell, preparing you to work in the exciting world of Linux shell *ing. We start with an introduction to the Shell environment and explain basic commands used in Shell. Next we move on to check, kill, and control the execution of processes in Linux OS. Further, we teach you about the filter tools available in Linux and explain standard output and standard errors devices.Then we will ensure you understand Shell’s interpretation of commands and get a firmer grasp so you use them in practice. Next, you’ll experience some real-world essentials such as debugging and perform Shell arithmetic fluently. Then you’ll take a step ahead and learn new and advanced topics in Shell *ing, such as starting up a system and customizing a Linux system. Finally, you’ll get to understand the capabilities of *ing and learn about Grep, Stream Editor, and Awk.Style and approach This practical book will go from the very basics of shell *ing to complex, customized automation. The idea behind this book is to be as practical as possible and give you the look and feel of what real-world *ing is like.

Build your defense against web attacks with Kali Linux 2.0 About This Book Gain a deep understanding of the flaws in web applications and exploit them in a practical manner Get hands-on web application hacking experience with a range of tools in Kali Linux 2.0 Develop the practical skills required to master multiple tools in the Kali Linux 2.0 toolkit Who This Book Is For If you are already working as a network penetration tester and want to expand your knowledge of web application hacking, then this book tailored for you. Those who are interested in learning more about the Kali Sana tools that are used to test web applications will find this book a thoroughly useful and interesting guide. What You Will Learn Set up your lab with Kali Linux 2.0 Identify the difference between hacking a web application and network hacking Understand the different techniques used to identify the flavor of web applications Expose vulnerabilities present in web servers and their applications using server-side attacks Use SQL and cross-site *ing (XSS) attacks Check for XSS flaws using the burp suite proxy Find out about the mitigation techniques used to negate the effects of the Injection and Blind SQL attacks In Detail Kali Linux 2.0 is the new generation of the industry-leading BackTrack Linux penetration testing and security auditing Linux distribution. It contains several hundred tools aimed at various information security tasks such as penetration testing, forensics, and reverse engineering. At the beginning of the book, you will be introduced to the concepts of hacking and penetration testing and will get to know about the tools used in Kali Linux 2.0 that relate to web application hacking. Then, you will gain a deep understanding of SQL and command injection flaws and ways to exploit the flaws. Moving on, you will get to know more about *ing and input validation flaws, AJAX, and the security issues related to AJAX. At the end of the book, you will use an automated technique called fuzzing to be able to identify flaws in a web application. Finally, you will understand the web application vulnerabilities and the ways in which they can be exploited using the tools in Kali Linux 2.0. Style and approach This step-by-step guide covers each topic with detailed practical examples. Every concept is explained with the help of illustrations using the tools available in Kali Linux 2.0.

Transform your tiny Arduino device into a secret agent gadget to build a range of espionage projects with this practical guide for hackers About This Book Discover the limitless possibilities of the tiny Arduino and build your own secret agent projects From a fingerprint sensor to a GPS Tracker and even a robot– learn how to get more from your Arduino Build nine secret agent projects using the power and simplicity of the Arduino platform Who This Book Is For This book is for Arduino programmers with intermediate experience of developing projects, and who want to extend their knowledge by building projects for secret agents. It would also be great for other programmers who are interested in learning about electronics and programming on the Arduino platform. What You Will Learn Get to know the full range of Arduino features so you can be creative through practical projects Discover how to create a simple alarm system and a fingerprint sensor Find out how to transform your Arduino into a GPS tracker Use the Arduino to monitor top secret data Build a complete spy robot! Build a set of other spy projects such as Cloud Camera and Microphone System In Detail Q might have Bond’s gadgets– but he doesn’t have an Arduino (not yet at least). Find out how the tiny Arduino microcomputer can be used to build an impressive range of neat secret agent projects that can help you go undercover and get to grips with the cutting-edge of the world of espionage with this book, created for ardent Arduino fans and anyone new to the powerful device. Each chapter shows you how to construct a different secret agent gadget, helping you to unlock the full potential of your Arduino and make sure you have a solution for every tricky spying situation. You’ll find out how to build everything from an alarm system to a fingerprint sensor, each project demonstrating a new feature of Arduino, so you can build your expertise as you complete each project. Learn how to open a lock with a text message, monitor top secret data remotely, and even create your own Arduino Spy Robot, Spy Microphone System, and Cloud Spy Camera This book isn’t simply an instruction manual – it helps you put your knowledge into action so you can build every single project to completion. Style and approach This practical reference guide shows you how to build various projects with step-by-step explanations on each project, starting with the assembly of the hardware, followed by basics tests of all those hardware components and finally developing project on the hardware.

Over 150 real-world recipes to simplify database management, automate repetitive tasks, and enhance your productivity About This Book This book helps you build a strong foundation to get you comfortable using PowerShell with SQL Server, empowering you to create more complex *s for your day-to-day job The book provides numerous guidelines, tips, and explanations on how and when to use PowerShell cmdlets, WMI, SMO, .NET classes, or other components It offers easy-to-follow, practical recipes to help you get the most out of SQL Server and PowerShell Who This Book Is For If you are a SQL Server database professional (DBA, developer, or BI developer) who wants to use PowerShell to automate, integrate, and simplify database tasks, this books is for you. Prior knowledge of *ing would be helpful, but it is not necessary. What You Will Learn Explore database objects and execute queries on multiple servers Manage and monitor the running of SQL Server services and accounts Back up and restore databases Create an inventory of database properties and server configuration settings Maintain permissions and security for users Work with CLR assemblies, XML, and BLOB objects in SQL Manage and deploy SSIS packages and SSRS reports In Detail PowerShell can be leveraged when automating and streamlining SQL Server tasks. PowerShell comes with a rich set of cmdlets, and integrates tightly with the .NET framework. Its *ing capabilities are robust and flexible, allowing you to simplify automation and integration across different Microsoft applications and components. The book starts with an introduction to the new features in SQL Server 2014 and PowerShell v5 and the installation of SQL Server. You will learn about basic SQL Server administration tasks and then get to know about some security-related topics such as the authentication mode and assigning permissions. Moving on, you will explore different methods to back up and restore your databases and perform advanced administration tasks such as working with Policies, Filetables, and SQL audits. The next part of the book covers more advanced HADR tasks such as log shipping and data mirroring, and then shows you how to develop your server to work with BLOB, XML, and JSON. Following on from that, you will learn about SQL Server's BI stack, which includes SSRS reports, the SSIS package, and the SSAS cmdlet and database. Snippets not specific to SQL Server will help you perform tasks quickly on SQL servers. Towards the end of the book, you will find some useful information, which includes a PowerShell tutorial for novice users, some commonly-used PowerShell and SQL Server syntax, and a few online resources. Finally, you will create your own SQL Server Sandbox VMs. All these concepts will help you to efficiently manage your administration tasks. Style and approach SQL Server 2014 with PowerShell v5 Cookbook is an example-focused book that provides step-by-step instructions on how to accomplish specific SQL Server tasks using PowerShell. Each recipe is followed by an analysis of the steps or design decisions taken and additional information about the task at hand. Working *s are provided for all examples so that you can dive in right away. You can read this book sequentially by chapter or you can pick and choose which topics you need right away.

Harness the power of RStudio to create web applications, R packages, markdown reports and pretty data visualizationsAbout This BookDiscover the multi-functional use of RStudio to support your daily work with R codeLearn to create stunning, meaningful, and interactive graphs and learn to embed them into easy communicable reports using multiple R packagesDevelop your own R packages and Shiny web apps to share your knowledge and collaborate with others.Who This Book Is ForThis book is aimed at R developers and analysts who wish to do R statistical development while taking advantage of RStudio’s functionality to ease their development efforts. R programming experience is assumed as well as being comfortable with R’s basic structures and a number of functions.What You Will LearnDiscover the RStudio IDE and details about the user interfaceCommunicate your insights with R Markdown in static and interactive waysLearn how to use different graphic systems to visualize your dataBuild interactive web applications with the Shiny framework to present and share your resultsUnderstand the process of package development and assemble your own R packagesEasily collaborate with other people on your projects by using Git and GitHubManage the R environment for your organization with RStudio and Shiny serverApply your obtained knowledge about RStudio and R development to create a real-world dashboard solutionIn DetailRStudio helps you to manage small to large projects by giving you a multi-functional integrated development environment, combined with the power and flexibility of the R programming language, which is becoming the bridge language of data science for developers and analyst worldwide. Mastering the use of RStudio will help you to solve real-world data problems.This book begins by guiding you through the installation of RStudio and explaining the user interface step by step. From there, the next logical step is to use this knowledge to improve your data analysis workflow. We will do this by building up our toolbox to create interactive reports and graphs or even web applications with Shiny. To collaborate with others, we will explore how to use Git and GitHub with RStudio and how to build your own packages to ensure top quality results. Finally, we put it all together in an interactive dashboard written with R.Style and approachAn easy-to-follow guide full of hands-on examples to master RStudio.Beginning from explaining the basics, each topic is explained with a lot of details for every feature.

Delve into the SAP Data Services environment to efficiently prepare, implement, and develop ETL processes About This Book Install and configure the SAP Data Services environment Develop ETL techniques in the Data Services environment Implement real-life examples of Data Services uses through step-by-step instructions to perform specific ETL development tasks Who This Book Is For This book is for IT technical engineers who want to get familiar with the EIM solutions provided by SAP for ETL development and data quality management. The book requires familiarity with basic programming concepts and basic knowledge of the SQL language. What You Will Learn Install, configure, and administer the SAP Data Services components Run through the ETL design basics Maximize the performance of your ETL with the advanced patterns in Data Services Extract methods from various databases and systems Get familiar with the transformation methods available in SAP Data Services Load methods into various databases and systems Code with the Data Services *ing language Validate and cleanse your data, applying the Data quality methods of the Information Steward In Detail Want to cost effectively deliver trusted information to all of your crucial business functionsSAP Data Services delivers one enterprise-class solution for data integration, data quality, data profiling, and text data processing. It boosts productivity with a single solution for data quality and data integration. SAP Data Services also enables you to move, improve, govern, and unlock big data. This book will lead you through the SAP Data Services environment to efficiently develop ETL processes. To begin with, you’ll learn to install, configure, and prepare the ETL development environment. You will get familiarized with the concepts of developing ETL processes with SAP Data Services. Starting from smallest unit of work- the data flow, the chapters will lead you to the highest organizational unit—the Data Services job, revealing the advanced techniques of ETL design.You will learn to import XML files by creating and implementing real-time jobs. It will then guide you through the ETL development patterns that enable the most effective performance when extracting, transforming, and loading data. You will also find out how to create validation functions and transforms.Finally, the book will show you the benefits of data quality management with the help of another SAP solution—Information Steward.Style and approach This book is an easy-to-follow guide with step-by-step instructions to perform specific ETL development tasks.

Learn to process massive real-time data streams using Storm and Python—no Java required!About This Book Learn to use Apache Storm and the Python Petrel library to build distributed applications that process large streams of data Explore sample applications in real-time and analyze them in the popular NoSQL databases MongoDB and Redis Discover how to apply software development best practices to improve performance, productivity, and quality in your Storm projects Who This Book Is For This book is intended for Python developers who want to benefit from Storm’s real-time data processing capabilities. If you are new to Python, you’ll benefit from the attention to key supporting tools and techniques such as automated testing, virtual environments, and logging. If you’re an experienced Python developer, you’ll appreciate the thorough and detailed examples What You Will Learn Install Storm and learn about the prerequisites Get to know the components of a Storm topology and how to control the flow of data between them Ingest Twitter data directly into Storm Use Storm with MongoDB and Redis Build topologies and run them in Storm Use an interactive graphical debugger to debug your topology as it’s running in Storm Test your topology components outside of Storm Configure your topology using YAML In Detail Big data is a trending concept that everyone wants to learn about. With its ability to process all kinds of data in real time, Storm is an important addition to your big data “bag of tricks.” At the same time, Python is one of the fastest-growing programming languages today. It has become a top choice for both data science and everyday application development. Together, Storm and Python enable you to build and deploy real-time big data applications quickly and easily. You will begin with some basic command tutorials to set up storm and learn about its configurations in detail. You will then go through the requirement scenarios to create a Storm cluster. Next, you’ll be provided with an overview of Petrel, followed by an example of Twitter topology and persistence using Redis and MongoDB. Finally, you will build a production-quality Storm topology using development best practices. Style and approach This book takes an easy-to-follow and a practical approach to help you understand all the concepts related to Storm and Python.

Design, build and simulate complex robots using Robot Operating System and master its out-of-the-box functionalities About This Book Develop complex robotic applications using ROS for interfacing robot manipulators and mobile robots with the help of high end robotic sensors Gain insights into autonomous navigation in mobile robot and motion planning in robot manipulators Discover the best practices and troubleshooting solutions everyone needs when working on ROS Who This Book Is For If you are a robotics enthusiast or researcher who wants to learn more about building robot applications using ROS, this book is for you. In order to learn from this book, you should have a basic knowledge of ROS, GNU/Linux, and C++ programming concepts. The book will also be good for programmers who want to explore the advanced features of ROS. What You Will Learn Create a robot model of a Seven-DOF robotic arm and a differential wheeled mobile robot Work with motion planning of a Seven-DOF arm using MoveIt! Implement autonomous navigation in differential drive robots using SLAM and AMCL packages in ROS Dig deep into the ROS Pluginlib, ROS nodelets, and Gazebo plugins Interface I/O boards such as Arduino, Robot sensors, and High end actuators with ROS Simulation and motion planning of ABB and Universal arm using ROS Industrial Explore the ROS framework using its latest version In Detail The area of robotics is gaining huge momentum among corporate people, researchers, hobbyists, and students. The major challenge in robotics is its controlling software. The Robot Operating System (ROS) is a modular software platform to develop generic robotic applications.This book discusses the advanced concepts in robotics and how to program using ROS. It starts with deep overview of the ROS framework, which will give you a clear idea of how ROS really works. During the course of the book, you will learn how to build models of complex robots, and simulate and interface the robot using the ROS MoveIt motion planning library and ROS navigation stacks.After discussing robot manipulation and navigation in robots, you will get to grips with the interfacing I/O boards, sensors, and actuators of ROS. One of the essential ingredients of robots are vision sensors, and an entire chapter is dedicated to the vision sensor, its interfacing in ROS, and its programming.You will discuss the hardware interfacing and simulation of complex robot to ROS and ROS Industrial (Package used for interfacing industrial robots).Finally, you will get to know the best practices to follow when programming using ROS.Style and approach This is a simplified guide to help you learn and master advanced topics in ROS using hands-on examples.

Learn JavaScript test-driven development using popular frameworks and tools About This Book Learn the life cycle of TDD and its importance in real-world application Gain knowledge about popular tools and analyze features, syntax, and how they help in JavaScript testing Implement test-driven programming exercises using the practical code examples Who This Book Is For If you have an intermediate knowledge of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript and want to learn how and why the test-driven development approach is better for your assignments, then this book is for you. What You Will Learn Basic TDD fundamentals, life cycle, and benefits Become acquainted with the concepts and elements of unit testing and writing basic unit tests for JavaScript Understand the way JsUnit, Qunit, Karma and DalekJs work Use the Jasmine framework Interpret feature detection and devise tests specific to cross-browser compatibility Integrate jsTestDriver with Eclipse and run tests with jsTestDriver Explore re-factoring, adding and notifying observers Understand test-driven development in case of server-side JS In Detail Initially, all processing used to happen on the server-side and simple output was the response to web browsers. Nowadays, there are so many JavaScript frameworks and libraries created that help readers to create charts, animations, simulations, and so on. By the time a project finishes or reaches a stable state, so much JavaScript code has already been written that changing and maintaining it further is tedious. Here comes the importance of automated testing and more specifically, developing all that code in a test-driven environment. Test-driven development is a methodology that makes testing the central part of the design process – before writing code developers decide upon the conditions that code must meet to pass a test. The end goal is to help the readers understand the importance and process of using TDD as a part of development. This book starts with the details about test-driven development, its importance, need, and benefits. Later the book introduces popular tools and frameworks like YUI, Karma, QUnit, DalekJS, JsUnit and goes on to utilize Jasmine, Mocha, Karma for advanced concepts like feature detection, server-side testing, and patterns. We are going to understand, write, and run tests, and further debug our programs. The book concludes with best practices in JavaScript testing. By the end of the book, the readers will know why they should test, how to do it most efficiently, and will have a number of versatile tests (and methods for devising new tests) to get to work immediately. Style and approach Easy-to-follow guide with suitable examples for developing JavaScript code in the test-Driven environment, with popular tools and frameworks. User experience and statements are also included to help readers make a better choice of tool for real-world projects.

Over 50 hands-on recipes to help you build exhilarating games using the robust GameMaker system About This Book Design and develop game elements that can be used alone or stacked to enhance your gaming experience Explore extensions that can unlock GameMaker: Studio’s true potential to create complex games A recipe-based, easy-to-follow guide to take your GameMaker skills to the next level Who This Book Is For This book is intended for GameMaker: Studio enthusiasts who are looking to add more substance and improve their content. If know your way around the program and have some basic GML skills but want to take them further, then this book is for you. What You Will Learn Set up player control schemes of various types, such as touch controls and a gamepad Create your own physics sandbox Get accustomed to advanced player movement Implement music and 3D sound in your games Utilize GameMaker’s GUI layers to create exciting games Generate adjustable game settings and save systems Add depth to your game with lighting and special effects In Detail GameMaker: Studio started off as a tool capable of creating simple games using a drag-and-drop interface. Since then, it has grown to become a powerful instrument to make release-ready games for PC, Mac, mobile devices, and even current-gen consoles. GameMaker is designed to allow its users to develop games without having to learn any of the complex programming languages such as C++ or Java. It also allows redistribution across multiple platforms. This book teaches you to harness GameMaker: Studio’s full potential and take your game development to new heights. It begins by covering the basics and lays a solid foundation for advanced GameMaker concepts. Moving on, it covers topics such as controls, physics, and advanced movement, employing a strategic approach to the learning curve. The book concludes by providing insights into complex concepts such as the GUI, menus, save system, lighting, particles, and VFX. By the end of the book, you will be able to design games using GameMaker: Studio and implement the same techniques in other games you intend to design. Style and approach A problem-solving guide that teaches you the construction of game elements and mechanics to be integrated in games for rapid prototyping. Each overall topic includes several individual recipes taught through step-by-step instructions, and in-depth follow-up with examples.

Left all but penniless by the death of her husband, Lady Maude Camberley is reduced to scraping a living through gambling and the generosity of Society gentlemen. So when the stupendously wealthy but conceited and cruel Prince Ahmadi of Kahriz offers her ten thousand pounds for the hand in marriage of her young beautiful daughter, Alyna, she accepts at once. Poor Alyna is utterly mortified and horrified as she finds the Prince utterly repulsive and could bear it if he touched her. Her mother will not listen to her pleas as she is frantic for the money the Prince has offered her. Alyna is so desperate that she is on the verge of suicide when a handsome Good Samaritan dissuades her on the bank of the River Thames. He is the handsome and debonair Lord Dorrington, who is instantly struck by Alyna’s plight and he then sets about protecting her from the evil Prince’s clutches. Alynda is adamant that she hates all men and will never marry, but gradually the noble good looks and gentle humour of Lord Dorrington helps to change her mind. And just as she realises that she is in love, the dastardly Prince reappears bent on revenge and she fears desperately for the life of her newfound love.

Leverage the computational power of Python with more than 60 recipes that arm you with the required skills to make informed business decisions About This Book Want to minimize risk and optimize profits of your businessLearn to create efficient analytical reports with ease using this highly practical, easy-to-follow guide Learn to apply Python for business intelligence tasks—preparing, exploring, analyzing, visualizing and reporting—in order to make more informed business decisions using data at hand Learn to explore and analyze business data, and build business intelligence dashboards with the help of various insightful recipes Who This Book Is For This book is intended for data analysts, managers, and executives with a basic knowledge of Python, who now want to use Python for their BI tasks. If you have a good knowledge and understanding of BI applications and have a “working” system in place, this book will enhance your toolbox. What You Will Learn Install Anaconda, MongoDB, and everything you need to get started with your data analysis Prepare data for analysis by querying cleaning and standardizing data Explore your data by creating a Pandas data frame from MongoDB Gain powerful insights, both statistical and predictive, to make informed business decisions Visualize your data by building dashboards and generating reports Create a complete data processing and business intelligence system In Detail The amount of data produced by businesses and devices is going nowhere but up. In this scenario, the major advantage of Python is that it's a general-purpose language and gives you a lot of flexibility in data structures. Python is an excellent tool for more specialized analysis tasks, and is powered with related libraries to process data streams, to visualize datasets, and to carry out scientific calculations. Using Python for business intelligence (BI) can help you solve tricky problems in one go. Rather than spending day after day scouring Internet forums for “how-to” information, here you’ll find more than 60 recipes that take you through the entire process of creating actionable intelligence from your raw data, no matter what shape or form it’s in. Within the first 30 minutes of opening this book, you’ll learn how to use the latest in Python and NoSQL databases to glean insights from data just waiting to be exploited.< We’ll begin with a quick-fire introduction to Python for BI and show you what problems Python solves. From there, we move on to working with a predefined data set to extract data as per business requirements, using the Pandas library and MongoDB as our storage engine. Next, we will analyze data and perform transformations for BI with Python. Through this, you will gather insightful data that will help you make informed decisions for your business. The final part of the book will show you the most important task of BI—visualizing data by building stunning dashboards using Matplotlib, PyTables, and iPython Notebook. Style and approach This is a step-by-step guide to help you prepare, explore, analyze and report data, written in a conversational tone to make it easy to grasp. Whether you’re new to BI or are looking for a better way to work, you’ll find the knowledge and skills here to get your job done efficiently.

Load, wrangle, and analyze your data using the world's most powerful statistical programming language About This Book Load, manipulate and analyze data from different sources Gain a deeper understanding of fundamentals of applied statistics A practical guide to performing data analysis in practice Who This Book Is For Whether you are learning data analysis for the first time, or you want to deepen the understanding you already have, this book will prove to an invaluable resource. If you are looking for a book to bring you all the way through the fundamentals to the application of advanced and effective analytics methodologies, and have some prior programming experience and a mathematical background, then this is for you. What You Will Learn Navigate the R environment Describe and visualize the behavior of data and relationships between data Gain a thorough understanding of statistical reasoning and sampling Employ hypothesis tests to draw inferences from your data Learn Bayesian methods for estimating parameters Perform regression to predict continuous variables Apply powerful classification methods to predict categorical data Handle missing data gracefully using multiple imputation Identify and manage problematic data points Employ parallelization and Rcpp to scale your analyses to larger data Put best practices into effect to make your job easier and facilitate reproducibility In Detail Frequently the tool of choice for academics, R has spread deep into the private sector and can be found in the production pipelines at some of the most advanced and successful enterprises. The power and domain-specificity of R allows the user to express complex analytics easily, quickly, and succinctly. With over 7,000 user contributed packages, it’s easy to find support for the latest and greatest algorithms and techniques. Starting with the basics of R and statistical reasoning, Data Analysis with R dives into advanced predictive analytics, showing how to apply those techniques to real-world data though with real-world examples. Packed with engaging problems and exercises, this book begins with a review of R and its syntax. From there, get to grips with the fundamentals of applied statistics and build on this knowledge to perform sophisticated and powerful analytics. Solve the difficulties relating to performing data analysis in practice and find solutions to working with “messy data”, large data, communicating results, and facilitating reproducibility. This book is engineered to be an invaluable resource through many stages of anyone’s career as a data analyst. Style and approach Learn data analysis using engaging examples and fun exercises, and with a gentle and friendly but comprehensive "learn-by-doing" approach.

A detailed guide to the complex new animation tools in Unity, packed with clear instructions and illustrated with original content in the context of a next generation zombie apocalypse adventure game About This Book Create and export models and animation sequences to Unity from 3ds max and Maya Prepare character models and animation for games using Mecanim’s rigging tools Retarget, adjust, and mix and match motion capture and other animation data Write and edit *s compatible with Mecanim Animation Controllers Who This Book Is For If you are a Unity developer looking to get to grips with the character animation specific tools, a 3D software user who is new to Unity, or a beginner game developer who is interested in character animation and interaction, this book is ideal for you. Some experience with either the Unity interface or basic 3D coordinates is recommended, but not required. What You Will Learn Learn how to prepare a rigged character model to receive animation within Unity Acquire efficient techniques to refine and optimize motion capture data Retarget animation sequences between different character rigs Discover how to rig a humanoid character and export for use in Unity Script character interaction for a First Person character model Create dynamic animation sequences from scratch using keyframe techniques, in a variety of 3D software packages Learn Project Management in Unity Understand how to set up a complex facial rig for speech Set up Animation Controllers with masked states and blend trees to create seamless and additive animation transitions Construct a ragdoll game object and instantiate it in a game Devise Mecanim animation integration for the player and AI driven animation for enemy characters In Detail Game animation for independent developers has taken a giant leap forward with Unity's Mecanim toolset, which streamlines the import/export, retargeting, and many other aspects of the character animation workflow. Unity Character Animation with Mecanim is a great primer for getting to know the nuts and bolts of Mecanim and other character animation related tools in Unity. It offers you step-by-step instructions for preparing and exporting rigged models and animation sequences from commonly used 3D packages, such as Maya, 3ds Max and Blender. This book explores the new set of animation tools introduced with Mecanim in Unity. Approaching its subject matter through a typical genre–a zombie action game, character animation techniques are explored using real examples of player input and interaction, enemy behavior, and other aspects of game dynamics. As the book progresses, the reader will understand how these elements fit together in a small game development workflow. We will begin with a demonstration of the process of getting a rigged character into Unity and setting it up to use provided animation sequences. We will also consider a few industry standard 3D packages and how these can be used to rig a humanoid character for use in Unity. We will demonstrate the retargeting capabilities of Mecanim’s Humanoid Animation type by adjusting motion sequences to fit disparate character types in our game. After this, we will look at Ragdoll physics and the implementation of this commonly used technique in a Mecanim workflow. The book culminates with a thorough dissection of the enemy character AI * incorporating the Mecanim elements detailed in the previous chapters. Unity Character Animation with Mecanim will provide you with a detailed exploration of the interaction between game development and character animation, and will broaden your understanding of the rich animation toolset within Unity. Style and approach A comprehensive guide, featuring step- by- step practical tutorials using sample assets, showing you how to build fully controllable characters and non-player characters/enemies.

Unleash the power of computer vision with Python using OpenCV About This Book Create impressive applications with OpenCV and Python Familiarize yourself with advanced machine learning concepts Harness the power of computer vision with this easy-to-follow guide Who This Book Is For Intended for novices to the world of OpenCV and computer vision, as well as OpenCV veterans that want to learn about what's new in OpenCV 3, this book is useful as a reference for experts and a training manual for beginners, or for anybody who wants to familiarize themselves with the concepts of object classification and detection in simple and understandable terms. Basic knowledge about Python and programming concepts is required, although the book has an easy learning curve both from a theoretical and coding point of view. What You Will Learn Install and familiarize yourself with OpenCV 3's Python API Grasp the basics of image processing and video analysis Identify and recognize objects in images and videos Detect and recognize faces using OpenCV Train and use your own object classifiers Learn about machine learning concepts in a computer vision context Work with artificial neural networks using OpenCV Develop your own computer vision real-life application In Detail OpenCV 3 is a state-of-the-art computer vision library that allows a great variety of image and video processing operations. Some of the more spectacular and futuristic features such as face recognition or object tracking are easily achievable with OpenCV 3. Learning the basic concepts behind computer vision algorithms, models, and OpenCV's API will enable the development of all sorts of real-world applications, including security and surveillance. Starting with basic image processing operations, the book will take you through to advanced computer vision concepts. Computer vision is a rapidly evolving science whose applications in the real world are exploding, so this book will appeal to computer vision novices as well as experts of the subject wanting to learn the brand new OpenCV 3.0.0. You will build a theoretical foundation of image processing and video analysis, and progress to the concepts of classification through machine learning, acquiring the technical know-how that will allow you to create and use object detectors and classifiers, and even track objects in movies or video camera feeds. Finally, the journey will end in the world of artificial neural networks, along with the development of a hand-written digits recognition application. Style and approach This book is a comprehensive guide to the brand new OpenCV 3 with Python to develop real-life computer vision applications.

Harness the power of Redis to integrate and manage your projects efficiently About This Book Learn how to use Redis's data types efficiently to manage large data sets Scale Redis to multiple servers with Twemproxy, Redis Sentinel, and Redis Cluster A fast-paced guide, full of real-world examples to help you get the best out of the features offered by Redis Who This Book Is For If you are a competent developer with experience of working with data structure servers and want to boost your project's performance by learning about features of Redis, then this book is for you. What You Will Learn Build analytics applications using Bitmaps and Hyperloglogs Enhance scalability with Twemproxy, Redis Sentinel, and Redis Cluster Build a Time Series implementation in Node.js and Redis Create your own Redis commands by extending Redis with Lua Get to know security techniques to protect your data (SSL encryption, firewall rules, basic authorization) Persist data to disk and learn the trade-offs of AOF and RDB Understand how to use Node.js, PHP, Python, and Ruby clients for Redis Avoid common pitfalls when designing your next solution In Detail Redis is the most popular in-memory key-value data store. It’s very lightweight and its data types give it an edge over the other competitors. If you need an in-memory database or a high-performance cache system that is simple to use and highly scalable, Redis is what you need. Redis Essentials is a fast-paced guide that teaches the fundamentals on data types, explains how to manage data through commands, and shares experiences from big players in the industry. We start off by explaining the basics of Redis followed by the various data types such as Strings, hashes, lists, and more. Next, Common pitfalls for various scenarios are described, followed by solutions to ensure you do not fall into common traps. After this, major differences between client implementations in PHP, Python, and Ruby are presented. Next, you will learn how to extend Redis with Lua, get to know security techniques such as basic authorization, firewall rules, and SSL encryption, and discover how to use Twemproxy, Redis Sentinel, and Redis Cluster to scale infrastructures horizontally. At the end of this book, you will be able to utilize all the essential features of Redis to optimize your project's performance. Style and approach A practical guide that offers the foundation upon which you can begin to understand the capabilities of Redis using a step-by-step approach. This book is full of real-world problems and in-depth knowledge of the concepts and features of Redis, with plenty of examples.

Build, process and analyze large-scale graph data effectively with Spark About This Book Find solutions for every stage of data processing from loading and transforming graph data to Improve the scalability of your graphs with a variety of real-world applications with complete Scala code. A concise guide to processing large-scale networks with Apache Spark. Who This Book Is For This book is for data scientists and big data developers who want to learn the processing and analyzing graph datasets at scale. Basic programming experience with Scala is assumed. Basic knowledge of Spark is assumed. What You Will Learn Write, build and deploy Spark applications with the Scala Build Tool. Build and analyze large-scale network datasets Analyze and transform graphs using RDD and graph-specific operations Implement new custom graph operations tailored to specific needs. Develop iterative and efficient graph algorithms using message aggregation and Pregel abstraction Extract subgraphs and use it to discover common clusters Analyze graph data and solve various data science problems using real-world datasets. In Detail Apache Spark is the next standard of open-source cluster-computing engine for processing big data. Many practical computing problems concern large graphs, like the Web graph and various social networks. The scale of these graphs - in some cases billions of vertices, trillions of edges - poses challenges to their efficient processing. Apache Spark GraphX API combines the advantages of both data-parallel and graph-parallel systems by efficiently expressing graph computation within the Spark data-parallel framework. This book will teach the user to do graphical programming in Apache Spark, apart from an explanation of the entire process of graphical data analysis. You will journey through the creation of graphs, its uses, its exploration and analysis and finally will also cover the conversion of graph elements into graph structures. This book begins with an introduction of the Spark system, its libraries and the Scala Build Tool. Using a hands-on approach, this book will quickly teach you how to install and leverage Spark interactively on the command line and in a standalone Scala program. Then, it presents all the methods for building Spark graphs using illustrative network datasets. Next, it will walk you through the process of exploring, visualizing and analyzing different network characteristics. This book will also teach you how to transform raw datasets into a usable form. In addition, you will learn powerful operations that can be used to transform graph elements and graph structures. Furthermore, this book also teaches how to create custom graph operations that are tailored for specific needs with efficiency in mind. The later chapters of this book cover more advanced topics such as clustering graphs, implementing graph-parallel iterative algorithms and learning methods from graph data. Style and approach A step-by-step guide that will walk you through the key ideas and techniques for processing big graph data at scale, with practical examples that will ensure an overall understanding of the concepts of Spark.

Illustrate your data in a more interactive and interesting way using Tableau Public About This Book Learn the basics of creating visualizations with Tableau using this concise reference book Understand how to join and aggregate your data sources using Tableau It is a step by step guide that uses examples to help you understand the key concepts and feature of Tableau Public Who This Book Is For This book is targeted at investigative journalists and bloggers with an interest in making rich and interactive data visualizations. Intermediate Tableau Public users and organizations can also use this book as a reference guide and teaching aid. Members of the media team, such as data specialists, web developers, editors, producers, and managers can also benefit from an understanding of the structure and challenges of writing an interactive and interesting data visualization using Tableau Public. What You Will Learn Connect to various data sources and understand what data is appropriate for Tableau Public Understand chart types and when to use specific chart types with different types of data Join and aggregate data for use in Tableau Public data stories Discover features of Tableau Public, from basic to advanced Involve calculations in Tableau Public Build geographic maps to bring context to data Create dashboards from one or more separate data visualizations Create filters and actions to allow greater interactivity to Tableau Public visualizations and dashboards Publish and embed Tableau visualizations and dashboards in articles In Detail Tableau Public is a very useful tool in anyone's data reporting toolbox that allows authors to add an interactive data element to any article. It allows investigative journalists and bloggers to tell a “data story”, allowing others to explore your data visualization. The relative ease of Tableau Public visualization creation allows data stories to be developed rapidly. It allows readers to explore data associations in multiple-sourced public data, and uses state-of-the-art dashboard and chart graphics to immerse the users in an interactive experience. This book offers investigative journalists, bloggers, and other data story tellers a rich discussion of visualization creation topics, features, and functions. This book allows data story tellers to quickly gain confidence in understanding and expanding their visualization-creation knowledge, and allows them to quickly create interesting, interactive data visualizations to bring a richness and vibrancy to complex articles. The book takes you from basic concepts in visualization creation, like connecting to data sources, cleansing data, chart types, common functions, map creation, and publishing to the Web, to more advanced functions. It is a great overview and reference guide for beginner to intermediate Tableau Public data story tellers, and covers creation of Tableau Public visualizations of varying complexities. Style and approach This book is a crisp, systematic, and tutorial-styled guide to building interactive Tableau visualizations.

Statistics, big data, and machine learning for Clojure programmers About This Book Write code using Clojure to harness the power of your data Discover the libraries and frameworks that will help you succeed A practical guide to understanding how the Clojure programming language can be used to derive insights from data Who This Book Is For This book is aimed at developers who are already productive in Clojure but who are overwhelmed by the breadth and depth of understanding required to be effective in the field of data science. Whether you’re tasked with delivering a specific analytics project or simply suspect that you could be deriving more value from your data, this book will inspire you with the opportunities–and inform you of the risks–that exist in data of all shapes and sizes. What You Will Learn Perform hypothesis testing and understand feature selection and statistical significance to interpret your results with confidence Implement the core machine learning techniques of regression, classification, clustering and recommendation Understand the importance of the value of simple statistics and distributions in exploratory data analysis Scale algorithms to web-sized datasets efficiently using distributed programming models on Hadoop and Spark Apply suitable analytic approaches for text, graph, and time series data Interpret the terminology that you will encounter in technical papers Import libraries from other JVM languages such as Java and Scala Communicate your findings clearly and convincingly to nontechnical colleagues In Detail The term “data science” has been widely used to define this new profession that is expected to interpret vast datasets and translate them to improved decision-making and performance. Clojure is a powerful language that combines the interactivity of a *ing language with the speed of a compiled language. Together with its rich ecosystem of native libraries and an extremely simple and consistent functional approach to data manipulation, which maps closely to mathematical formula, it is an ideal, practical, and flexible language to meet a data scientist’s diverse needs. Taking you on a journey from simple summary statistics to sophisticated machine learning algorithms, this book shows how the Clojure programming language can be used to derive insights from data. Data scientists often forge a novel path, and you’ll see how to make use of Clojure’s Java interoperability capabilities to access libraries such as Mahout and Mllib for which Clojure wrappers don’t yet exist. Even seasoned Clojure developers will develop a deeper appreciation for their language’s flexibility! You’ll learn how to apply statistical thinking to your own data and use Clojure to explore, analyze, and visualize it in a technically and statistically robust way. You can also use Incanter for local data processing and ClojureScript to present interactive visualisations and understand how distributed platforms such as Hadoop sand Spark’s MapReduce and GraphX’s BSP solve the challenges of data analysis at scale, and how to explain algorithms using those programming models. Above all, by following the explanations in this book, you’ll learn not just how to be effective using the current state-of-the-art methods in data science, but why such methods work so that you can continue to be productive as the field evolves into the future. Style and approach This is a practical guide to data science that teaches theory by example through the libraries and frameworks accessible from the Clojure programming language.

Use PhoneGap to build cross-platform mobile applications quickly and efficiently About This Book Build native mobile phone applications with HTML5, JavaScript, and CSS Incorporate smartphone capabilities such as GPS, camera, accelerometer, and more into your apps for any mobile platform Use Cordova view to embed PhoneGap into native applications to either transit smoothly to PhoneGap or incorporate PhoneGap functionalities Who This Book Is For If you are a mobile application developer in iOS or Android, or a web application developer who wants to learn how to make cross-platform mobile applications using PhoneGap, this book is perfect for you. To make the most of this book, it will be helpful if you have prior knowledge of HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript. What You Will Learn Get to grips with the fundamentals of PhoneGap to get started Set up a development environment for Linux, Mac OS, and Windows Use Cordova CLI, workflows, and Plugman Plugin manager to create mobile applications efficiently Understand the development workflow to create native cross-platform mobile applications Embed plugin support to transition to PhoneGap or use it to enhance existing applications Improve your mobile development knowledge using object-oriented programming (OOP), reusable components, and AJAX closures Be empowered to build your own mobile apps quickly with ease Discover tips and tricks to make app development fun and easy In Detail PhoneGap is an open source framework that allows you to quickly build cross-platform mobile apps using HTML5, JavaScript, and CSS. PhoneGap Build is a cloud service that allows you to quickly develop and compile mobile applications without SDKs, compilers, and hardware. PhoneGap allows you to use its existing plugins or create new ones, as per your requirements, to enhance your mobile applications. Starting by installing PhoneGap, you’ll develop an app that uses various device capabilities through different plugins and learn how to build an app in the cloud with PhoneGap’s Build service. You’ll discover how to use PhoneGap to create an application view, along with how to use a camera, geolocation, and other device capabilities to create engaging apps. Next, you’ll augment applications with PhoneGap's plugins using minimalistic code. You’ll explore the app preparation process to deploy your app to the app store. By the end of the book, you’ll have also learned how to apply hybrid mobile UIs that will work across different platforms and different screen sizes for better user experience. Style and approach This is an example-based, fast-paced guide that covers the fundamentals of creating cross-platform mobile applications with PhoneGap.

Extend the capabilities of AngularJS and build dynamic web applications by creating customized directives with this selection of more than 30 recipes About This Book Learn how to extend HTML templates in new ways to build even better web applications with exceptional interface components Build reusable directives for large-scale AngularJS applications Create even sophisticated and impressive modern web apps with ease Who This Book Is For This book is for developers with AngularJS experience who want to extend their knowledge to create or customize directives in any type of AngularJS application. Some experience of modern tools such as Yeoman and Bower would be helpful, but is not a requirement. What You Will Learn Build and customize external HTML templates, and create simple, effective directives for common interface components Learn how to use Controller function and any Bootstrap UI directives to manipulate the DOM and how to transform any UI library into AngularJS directives Construct an AngularJS application to use shared components and validate your HTML5 Discover how to use jQuery events and manipulate the DOM using jQuery UI inside AngularJS applications Create custom directives for ongoing projects using Yeoman generators, and find out how to implement standalone directives Build reusable directives for Large AngularJS applications and extend directives to use dynamic templates Write unit test for directives using the Karma runner and Jasmine’s behavior-driven development framework In Detail AngularJS directives are at the center of what makes it such an exciting – and important - web development framework. With directives, you can take greater control over HTML elements on your web pages – they ‘direct’ Angular’s HTML compiler to behave in the way you want it to. It makes building modern web applications a much more expressive experience, and allows you to focus more closely on improving the way that user interaction impacts the DOM and the way your app manages data. If you’re already using Angular, you probably recognize the power of directives to transform the way you understand and build your projects – but customizing and creating your own directives to harness AngularJS to its full potential can be more challenging. This cookbook shows you how to do just that – it’s a valuable resource that demonstrates how to use directives at every stage in the workflow. Packed with an extensive range of solutions and tips that AngularJS developers shouldn’t do without, you’ll find out how to make the most of directives. You’ll find recipes demonstrating how to build a number of different user interface components with directives, so you can take complete control over how users interact with your application. You’ll also learn how directives can simplify the way you work by creating reusable directives – by customizing them with Yeoman you can be confident that you’re application has the robust architecture that forms the bedrock of the best user experiences. You’ll also find recipes that will help you learn how to unit test directives, so you can be confident in the reliability and performance of your application. Whether you’re looking for guidance to dive deeper into AngularJS directives, or you want a reliable resource, relevant to today’s web development challenges, AngularJS Directives Cookbook delivers everything you need in an easily accessible way. Style and approach This book easy-to-follow guide is packed with hands-on recipes to help you build modular AngularJS applications with custom directives. It presents tips on using the best tools and various ways to use these tools for front-end development.