Learn everything you need to manage and handle your systems with ease with Ansible 2 using this comprehensive guide About This Book Simplify the automation of applications and systems using the newest version of Ansible Get acquainted with fundamentals of Ansible such as playbooks, modules, and various testing strategies A comprehensive, learning guide that provides you with great skills to automate your organization’s infrastructure using Ansible 2 Who This Book Is For The book is for sys admins who want to automate their organization’s infrastructure using Ansible 2. No prior knowledge of Ansible is required. What You Will Learn Set up Ansible 2 and an Ansible 2 project in a future-proof way Perform basic operations with Ansible 2 such as creating, copying, moving, changing, and deleting files, and creating and deleting users Deploy complete cloud environments using Ansible 2 on AWS and DigitalOcean Explore complex operations with Ansible 2 (Ansible vault, e-mails, and Nagios) Develop and test Ansible playbooks Write a custom module and test it In Detail Ansible is an open source automation platform that assists organizations with tasks such as configuration management, application deployment, orchestration, and task automation. With Ansible, even complex tasks can be handled easier than before. In this book, you will learn about the fundamentals and practical aspects of Ansible 2 by diving deeply into topics such as installation (Linux, BSD, and Windows Support), playbooks, modules, various testing strategies, provisioning, deployment, and orchestration. In this book, you will get accustomed with the new features of Ansible 2 such as cleaner architecture, task blocks, playbook parsing, new execution strategy plugins, and modules. You will also learn how to integrate Ansible with cloud platforms such as AWS. The book ends with the enterprise versions of Ansible, Ansible Tower and Ansible Galaxy, where you will learn to interact Ansible with different OSes to speed up your work to previously unseen levels By the end of the book, you’ll able to leverage the Ansible parameters to create expeditious tasks for your organization by implementing the Ansible 2 techniques and paradigms. Style and approach This book is a step-by-step learning guide on the all new Ansible 2, which is an ideal configuration management tool.

Over 30 life-changing recipes to help you create cutting edge, hybrid apps with Ionic 2 About This Book Leverage Ionic 2 and its exciting new features to create cutting edge real-time apps Work through simple recipes to address your problems directly and solve them effectively Get examples at each step to guide you on your learning curve Who This Book Is For This book is for front end JavaScript developers who know the basics of JavaScript programming. No prior knowledge of Ionic is required to get the most of this book. What You Will Learn Create custom UIs using Angular 2 directives Make the best use of REST APIs to submit forms Create beautiful animations and graphics in the application Embed videos and other media into the app Access native device functionalities such as a camera and maps using ngCordova Theme the application based on the various platform styles available Publish your application to a variety of platforms Leverage Angular 2 events and Ionic-specific events to communicate In Detail Developing real-time apps is the need of the hour, and apps that deal with humongous amounts of user data and real-time information that needs to be updated frequently are in high demand. Currently, one of the most popular frameworks for this task is Ionic Framework, which is undergoing a major makeover. This book will get you started with Ionic and help you create Angular 2 components that interact with templates. From there, you’ll work with Ionic components and find out how to share data efficiently between them. You’ll discover how to make the best use of the REST API to handle back-end services and then move on to animating the application to make it look pretty. You’ll learn to add in a local push notification in order to test the app. You’ll work with Cordova to support native functionalities on both iOS and Android. From there, you’ll get to grips with using the default themes for each platform as well as customizing your own. Finally, you’ll see how best to deploy your app to different platforms. This book will solve all your Ionic-related issues through dedicated recipes that will help you get the best out of Ionic. Style and approach This book is a recipe-based solution to all your Ionic 2 related problems and will help you create cutting edge real-time apps with ease through simple-to-understand step-by-step recipes.

Master over 80 incredibly effective recipes to manage the day-to-day complications in your infrastructure About This Book Immediately apply Devops techniques and methods, then combine them with powerful Chef tools to manage and automate your infrastructure Address the growing challenges of code management, cloud, and virtualization with Chef quickly Explore and implement the important aspects of Chef Automate using this recipe-based guide Who This Book Is For This book is for system engineers and administrators who have a fundamental understanding of information management systems and infrastructure. It is also for DevOps Engineers, IT professionals, and organizations who want to automate and gain greater control of their infrastructures with Chef. No experience with Chef is needed, but may help. What You Will Learn Test your cookbooks with Test Kitchen Manage cookbook dependencies with Berkshelf Use reporting to keep track of what happens during the execution of chef-client runs across all of the machines Create custom Ohai and Knife plugins Build a high-availability service using Heartbeat Use a HAProxy to load-balance multiple web servers In Detail Chef is a configuration management tool that lets you automate your more cumbersome IT infrastructure processes and control a large network of computers (and virtual machines) from one master server. This book will help you solve everyday problems with your IT infrastructure with Chef. It will start with recipes that show you how to effectively manage your infrastructure and solve problems with users, applications, and automation. You will then come across a new testing framework, InSpec, to test any node in your infrastructure. Further on, you will learn to customize plugins and write cross-platform cookbooks depending on the platform. You will also install packages from a third-party repository and learn how to manage users and applications. Toward the end, you will build high-availability services and explore what Habitat is and how you can implement it. Style and approach This book follows a recipe-based approach and covers all the important topics you need to know. If you don't want to dig through a whole book before you get started, this book is for you, as it features a set of independent recipes you can try out immediately.

Master the world of financial management with Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2016 About This Book Familiarize yourself with Dynamics NAV and get up to date with the latest release – this is an invaluable tool for financial management Learn how to use reporting tools that will help you to make the right decisions at the right time Explore features inside the sale and purchase areas as well as functionalities including payments, budgets, cash flow, fixed assets, and business intelligence Who This Book Is For This book will appeal to financers and accountants who are using Dynamics NAV as their ERP and financial management system. Dynamics NAV consultants and project managers will find it useful for their daily work. What You Will Learn Handle complete business processes for purchases and sales in Dynamics NAV. Use the banking features and the reconciliation process to gain greater insights into a company’s financial status. Report data in a meaningful way that provides the company with insightful analysis. Set up dimensions and link them with master tables and journals. Work with multi-currency and intercompany postings. Receive and send documents electronically. Manage complete Fixed Asset by Setup, transactions, budgets, and Fixed Asset Reporting. In Detail Microsoft Dynamics NAV is a global Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution that provides small and mid-size businesses with greater control over their finances and a way to simplify their supply chain, manufacturing, and operations. Microsoft Dynamics NAV Financial Management explains all you need to know in order to successfully handle your daily financial management tasks. This book walks you through all the improvements in the latest release and shows you how to apply them in your workplace. You will learn about functionalities including sales and purchase processes, payments, bank account management, reporting taxes, budgets, cash flow, fixed assets, cost accounting, inventory valuation, workflows, sending and receiving electronic documents, and business intelligence. This book comprehensively covers all the financial management features inside the latest version of Dynamics NAV and follows a logical schema. By the time you’re finished this book you will have learned about budgets, cash flow management, currencies, intercompany postings, and accounting implications in areas such as jobs, services, warehousing, and manufacturing. Style and approach This book is an in-depth, practical tutorial demonstrating both the basic and more advanced concepts of financial management in Dynamics NAV.

Familiarize yourself with all of Kotlin’s features with this in-depth guide About This Book Get a thorough introduction to Kotlin Learn to use Java code alongside Kotlin without any hiccups Get a complete overview of null safety, Generics, and many more interesting features Who This Book Is For The book is for existing Java developers who want to learn more about an alternative JVM language. If you want to see what Kotlin has to offer, this book is ideal for you. What You Will Learn Use new features to write structured and readable object-oriented code Find out how to use lambdas and higher order functions to write clean, reusable, and simple code Write unit tests and integrate Kotlin tests with Java code in a transitioning code base Write real-world production code in Kotlin in the style of microservices Leverage Kotlin’s extensions to the Java collections library Use destructuring expressions and find out how to write your own Write code that avoids null pointer errors and see how Java-nullable code can integrate with features in a Kotlin codebase Discover how to write functions in Kotlin, see the new features available, and extend existing libraries Learn to write an algebraic data types and figure out when they should be used In Detail Kotlin has been making waves ever since it was open sourced by JetBrains in 2011; it has been praised by developers across the world and is already being adopted by companies. This book provides a detailed introduction to Kotlin that shows you all its features and will enable you to write Kotlin code to production. We start with the basics: get you familiar with running Kotlin code, setting up, tools, and instructions that you can use to write basic programs. Next, we cover object oriented code: functions, lambdas, and properties – all while using Kotlin’s new features. Then, we move on to null safety aspects and type parameterization. We show you how to destructure expressions and even write your own. We also take you through important topics like testing, concurrency, microservices, and a whole lot more. By the end of this book you will be able to compose different services and build your own applications. Style and approach An easy to follow guide that covers the full set of features in Kotlin programming.

Build powerful and fast applications with F# About This Book· Explore the advanced concurrency support in F# and .NET TPL·Covers major optimization techniques in F# to improve the performance of applications·Use Struct, Class and Record model, Interop with C# and VB without sacrificing performance. Who This Book Is For This book is for F# developers who want to build high-performance applications. Knowledge of functional programming would be helpful. What You Will Learn· Understand how the execution of functions in F# works·Identify common performance bottlenecks·Implement best practices to optimize performance·Use the available tooling to help measure performance·Combine the best practice of asynchronous and synchronous·Optimize further using various F# language constructs In Detail F# is a functional programming language and is used in enterprise applications that demand high performance. It has its own unique trait: it is a functional programming language and has OOP support at the same time. This book will help you make F# applications run faster with examples you can easily break down and take into your own work. You will be able to assess the performance of the program and identify bottlenecks. Beginning with a gentle overview of concurrency features in F#, you will get to know the advanced topics of concurrency optimizations in F#, such as F# message passing agent of MailboxProcessor and further interoperation with .NET TPL. Based on this knowledge, you will be able to enhance the performance optimizations when implementing and using other F# language features. The book also covers optimization techniques by using F# best practices and F# libraries. You will learn how the concepts of concurrency and parallel programming will help in improving the performance. With this, you would be able to take advantage of multi-core processors and track memory leaks, root causes, and CPU issues. Finally, you will be able to test their applications to achieve scalability. Style and approach This easy-to-follow guide is full of hands-on examples of real-world multithreading tasks. Each topic is explained and placed in context, and for the more inquisitive, there are also more in-depth details of the concepts used.

Learn the techniques and math you need to start making sense of your data About This Book Enhance your knowledge of coding with data science theory for practical insight into data science and analysis More than just a math class, learn how to perform real-world data science tasks with R and Python Create actionable insights and transform raw data into tangible value Who This Book Is For You should be fairly well acquainted with basic algebra and should feel comfortable reading snippets of R/Python as well as pseudo code. You should have the urge to learn and apply the techniques put forth in this book on either your own data sets or those provided to you. If you have the basic math skills but want to apply them in data science or you have good programming skills but lack math, then this book is for you. What You Will Learn Get to know the five most important steps of data science Use your data intelligently and learn how to handle it with care Bridge the gap between mathematics and programming Learn about probability, calculus, and how to use statistical models to control and clean your data and drive actionable results Build and evaluate baseline machine learning models Explore the most effective metrics to determine the success of your machine learning models Create data visualizations that communicate actionable insights Read and apply machine learning concepts to your problems and make actual predictions In Detail Need to turn your skills at programming into effective data science skillsPrinciples of Data Science is created to help you join the dots between mathematics, programming, and business analysis. With this book, you’ll feel confident about asking—and answering—complex and sophisticated questions of your data to move from abstract and raw statistics to actionable ideas. With a unique approach that bridges the gap between mathematics and computer science, this books takes you through the entire data science pipeline. Beginning with cleaning and preparing data, and effective data mining strategies and techniques, you’ll move on to build a comprehensive picture of how every piece of the data science puzzle fits together. Learn the fundamentals of computational mathematics and statistics, as well as some pseudocode being used today by data scientists and analysts. You’ll get to grips with machine learning, discover the statistical models that help you take control and navigate even the densest datasets, and find out how to create powerful visualizations that communicate what your data means. Style and approach This is an easy-to-understand and accessible tutorial. It is a step-by-step guide with use cases, examples, and illustrations to get you well-versed with the concepts of data science. Along with explaining the fundamentals, the book will also introduce you to slightly advanced concepts later on and will help you implement these techniques in the real world.

Learn to build fast and robust applications on the Linux platform with Swift About This Book Create robust applications by building a strong foundation in the Swift Language Utilize Swift 3 on the embedded Linux platform for IoT and Robotic projects Build more flexible and high-performing applications on desktop, server, and embedded Linux platforms Who This Book Is For This book is for Linux developers who are interested in quickly learning how to use Swift to create exciting applications on Linux platforms. What You Will Learn Install Swift on the Linux platform Explore the power of the Swift language Get to know the proper design techniques Understand Swift’s new Core Library Implement popular design patterns with Swift Integrate C libraries with Swift Using Swift on Single-Board Computers Learn how to add concurrency to your application with Grand Central Dispatch Learn how to work with Swift Generics Learn how to use the Protocol-Oriented design paradigm In Detail Swift is a modern, fast, and safe programming language created by Apple. Writing Swift is interactive and fun, the syntax is concise yet expressive, and the code runs lightning-fast. Swift’s move to open source has been embraced with open arms and has seen increased adoption in the Linux platform. Our book will introduce you to the Swift language, further delving into all the key concepts you need to create applications for desktop, server, and embedded Linux platforms. We will teach you the best practices to design an application with Swift 3 via design patterns and Protocol-Oriented Programming. Further on, you will learn how to catch and respond to errors within your application. When you have gained a strong knowledge of using Swift in Linux, we’ll show you how to build IoT and robotic projects using Swift on single board computers. By the end of the book, you will have a solid understanding of the Swift Language with Linux and will be able to create your own applications with ease. Style and approach This easy-to-follow, code-rich guide is filled with examples that demonstrate how to put the concepts into practice. You’ll also get design patterns and best practices to get you writing better applications on the Linux platform.

Create reliable, robust, and efficient Android apps with industry-standard design patterns About This Book Create efficient object interaction patterns for faster and more efficient Android development Get into efficient and fast app development and start making money from your android apps Implement industry-standard design patterns and best practices to reduce your app development time drastically Who This Book Is For This book is intended for Android developers who have some basic android development experience. Basic Java programming knowledge is a must to get the most out of this book. What You Will Learn Build a simple app and run it on real and emulated devices Explore the WYSIWYG and XML approaches to material design provided within Android Studio Detect user activities by using touch screen listeners, gesture detection, and reading sensors Apply transitions and shared elements to employ elegant animations and efficiently use the minimal screen space of mobile devices Develop apps that automatically apply the best layouts for different devices by using designated directories Socialize in the digital word by connecting your app to social media Make your apps available to the largest possible audience with the AppCompat support library In Detail Are you an Android developer with some experience under your beltAre you wondering how the experts create efficient and good-looking appsThen your wait will end with this book! We will teach you about different Android development patterns that will enable you to write clean code and make your app stand out from the crowd. The book starts by introducing the Android development environment and exploring the support libraries. You will gradually explore the different design and layout patterns and get to know the best practices of how to use them together. Then you’ll then develop an application that will help you grasp activities, services, and broadcasts and their roles in Android development. Moving on, you will add user-detecting classes and APIs such as gesture detection, touch screen listeners, and sensors to your app. You will also learn to adapt your app to run on tablets and other devices and platforms, including Android Wear, auto, and TV. Finally, you will see how to connect your app to social media and explore deployment patterns as well as the best publishing and monetizing practices. The book will start by introducing the Android development environment and exploring the support libraries. You will gradually explore the different Design and layout patterns and learn the best practices on how to use them together. You will then develop an application that will help you grasp Activities, Services and Broadcasts and their roles in Android development. Moving on, you will add user detecting classes and APIs such as at gesture detection, touch screen listeners and sensors to our app. You will also learn to adapt your app to run on tablets and other devices and platforms, including Android Wear, Auto, and TV. Finally, you will learn to connect your app to social media and explore deployment patterns and best publishing and monetizing practices. Style and approach This book takes a step-by-step approach. The steps are explained using real-world practical examples. Each chapter uses case studies where we show you how using design patterns will help in your development process.

Develop powerful cross-platform applications with Xamarin About This Book Write native cross-platform applications with Xamarin Design user interfaces that can be shared across Android, iOS, and Windows Phone using Xamarin.Forms Practical cross-platform development strategies Who This Book Is For If you are a developer with experience in C# and are just getting into mobile development, this is the book for you. This book will give you a head start with cross-platform development and will be the most useful to developers who have experience with desktop applications or the web. What You Will Learn Apple’s MVC design pattern The Android activity lifecycle Share C# code across platforms and call native Objective-C or Java libraries from C# Create a real web service back end in Windows Azure using SQL Azure as database storage Set up third-party libraries such as NuGet and Objective Sharpie in many different ways, and port a desktop .NET library to Xamarin Use Xamarin.Mobile for camera, contacts, and location In Detail Xamarin is a leading cross-platform application development tool used by top companies such as Coca-Cola, Honeywell, and Alaska Airlines to build apps. Version 4 features significant updates to the platform including the release of Xamarin.Forms 2.0 and improvements have been made to the iOS and Android designers. Xamarin was acquired by Microsoft so it is now a part of the Visual Studio family. This book will show you how to build applications for iOS, Android, and Windows. You will be walked through the process of creating an application that comes complete with a back-end web service and native features such as GPS location, camera, push notifications, and other core features. Additionally, you’ll learn how to use external libraries with Xamarin and Xamarin.Forms to create user interfaces. This book also provides instructions for Visual Studio and Windows. This edition has been updated with new screenshots and detailed steps to provide you with a holistic overview of the new features in Xamarin 4. Style and approach This book offers a tutorial style approach to teach you the skills required to develop end-to-end cross-platform solutions with Xamarin.

Learn the art of regression analysis with PythonAbout This BookBecome competent at implementing regression analysis in PythonSolve some of the complex data science problems related to predicting outcomesGet to grips with various types of regression for effective data analysisWho This Book Is ForThe book targets Python developers, with a basic understanding of data science, statistics, and math, who want to learn how to do regression analysis on a dataset. It is beneficial if you have some knowledge of statistics and data science.What You Will LearnFormat a dataset for regression and evaluate its performanceApply multiple linear regression to real-world problemsLearn to classify training pointsCreate an observation matrix, using different techniques of data analysis and cleaningApply several techniques to decrease (and eventually fix) any overfitting problemLearn to scale linear models to a big dataset and deal with incremental dataIn DetailRegression is the process of learning relationships between inputs and continuous outputs from example data, which enables predictions for novel inputs. There are many kinds of regression algorithms, and the aim of this book is to explain which is the right one to use for each set of problems and how to prepare real-world data for it. With this book you will learn to define a simple regression problem and evaluate its performance. The book will help you understand how to properly parse a dataset, clean it, and create an output matrix optimally built for regression. You will begin with a simple regression algorithm to solve some data science problems and then progress to more complex algorithms. The book will enable you to use regression models to predict outcomes and take critical business decisions. Through the book, you will gain knowledge to use Python for building fast better linear models and to apply the results in Python or in any computer language you prefer.Style and approach This is a practical tutorial-based book. You will be given an example problem and then supplied with the relevant code and how to walk through it. The details are provided in a step by step manner, followed by a thorough explanation of the math underlying the solution. This approach will help you leverage your own data using the same techniques.

Over 80 hands-on recipes to improve your skills in project management, team management, process improvement, and Redmine administrationAbout This BookEfficiently install and customize Redmine for your own infrastructure, whether that be Microsoft or open sourceManage multiple projects with multiple teams across the globe in a standardized and effective wayCustomize Redmine to fit your organisation's specific and unique needsWho This Book Is ForThis book is for those who working in management or administrator positions who are already using Redmine or are willing to start using it for project management, tracking, collaboration, or process management. Additionally, individual developers or teams can benefit from recipes related to code repositories, bug tracking, and software project management.What You Will LearnMake Redmine run on Microsoft SQL Server with IISEnjoy the benefits of updating the code on a real-time basis and maintaining consistencyManage multiple projects and teams simultaneouslyLeverage Redmine features to enhance team's performanceUse Redmine for SCRUM and Agile methodologiesDeploy Redmine for Service DeskCustomize the user experience by manually tracking the ongoing projectsExtend Redmine through various pluginsIn DetailIn a variety of online project management tools, Redmine markets itself as offering flexibility. Choosing the right management tool can mean the difference between the success and failure of a project. Flexible project management tools bend themselves to fit your needs, whether that’s communication regarding a simple project, or collaboration, or more complex project methodology such as SCRUM, or an issue-code relationship, or the need of different methodology for your project.Whether you are project manager or system administrator, this book provides valuable recipes to get the best possible performance out of your team, organization, infrastructure, and Redmine itself. Through a series of carefully crafted recipes covering the nitty-gritty of Redmine, you’ll be guided through the installation of Redmine, as well as how to fine-tune and customize your Redmine installation. Finally, we walk you through integrating Redmine with other softwares and databases like Tortoise SVN and Visual Studio and troubleshooting Redmine.Style and approachThis book follows a step-by-step recipe-based approach. Detailed prerequisites make each recipe easy to follow and apply in practice in any kind of live environment.

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

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

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

Create complex websites quickly and easily using the building blocks of Drupal 8, the most powerful version of Drupal yetAbout This BookBuild complete, complex websites with no prior knowledge of web development entirely using the intuitive Drupal user interfaceFollow a practical case study chapter-by-chapter to construct a complete website as you progressEnsure your sites are modern, responsive and mobile-friendly through utilizing the full features available in Drupal 8Who This Book Is ForIf you want to learn to use Drupal 8 for the first time, or you are transitioning over from a previous version of Drupal, this is the book for you. No knowledge of PHP, MySQL, or HTML is assumed or requiredWhat You Will LearnSet up a local “stack” development environment and install your first Drupal 8 siteFind out what is available in Drupal 8 coreDefine content types and taxonomies—and find out when you should do soUse the powerful Views moduleGet hands-on with image and media handlingExtend Drupal using custom community modulesDevelop the look and feel of your website using Drupal themesManage site users and permissionsIn DetailDrupal 8 sets a new standard for ease of use, while offering countless new ways to tailor and deploy your content to the Web. Drupal 8 allows user to easily customize data structures, listings, and pages, and take advantage of new capabilities for displaying data on mobile devices, building APIs, and adapting to multilingual needs.The book takes you step by step through building a Drupal 8 website. Start with the basics, such as setting up a local “stack” development environment and installing your first Drupal 8 site, then move on to image and media handling, and extending Drupal modules. Push your knowledge by getting to grips with the modular nature of Drupal, and learning to extend it by adding new functionalities to create your new modules. By the end of the book, you will be able to develop and manage a modern and responsive website using Drupal.Style and approachThis is an absolute beginners’ guide, providing step-by-step instructions to help you learn Drupal 8 from scratch.

Learn the fundamentals of vRealize Automation to accelerate the delivery of your IT servicesAbout This BookLearn to install the vRealize Automation product in a distributed architecture using a load balancerPlan backup and recovery strategies for every vRealize automation componentUse vRealize Automation to manage applications and improve operational efficiency using this simple and intuitive guideWho This Book Is ForThis book is for anyone who wants to start their journey with vRealize Automation. It is your one-stop instruction guide to installing and configuring a distributed setup using NSX load balancer. Regardless of whether or not you have used vRealize Automation before, following the steps provided in each chapter will get you started with the product.What You Will LearnUnderstand the basic building blocks of vRealize Automation before embarking on the journey of installationFamiliarize yourself with the requirements and steps that need to be performed during the first phase of the distributed installationCarry out a functional validation of the first phase of installation before completing the installationBuild a blueprint for vSphere endpoint, an essential step for a successful deployment of a service catalogCreate, configure, and deploy tenants, endpoints, blueprints, and the service catalogGet to grips with the failover process for all components in vRealize AutomationLearn to configure the NSX loadbalancer for vRealize Orchestrator for high availabilityLeverage ASD to develop XaaS (Anything as a Service) in vRealize Automation to deliver valuable competenceIn DetailWith the growing interest in Software Defined Data Centers (SDDC), vRealize Automation offers data center users an organized service catalog and governance for administrators. This way, end users gain autonomy while the IT department stays in control, making sure security and compliance requirements are met. Learning what each component does and how they dovetail with each other will bolster your understanding of vRealize Automation.The book starts off with an introduction to the distributed architecture that has been tested and installed in large scale deployments. Implementing and configuring distributed architecture with custom certificates is unarguably a demanding task, and it will be covered next. After this, we will progress with the installation. A vRealize Automation blueprint can be prepared in multiple ways; we will focus solely on vSphere endpoint blueprint. After this, we will discuss the high availability configuration via NSX loadbalancer for vRealize Orchestrator. Finally, we end with Advanced Service Designer, which provides service architects with the ability to create advanced services and publish them as catalog items.Style and approachThis book takes a step-by-step approach, is explained in a conversational and easy-to-follow style, and includes ample screenshots . Each topic is explained sequentially through planning, preparing, installing, configuring, and validating of all vRealize Automation’s components.

Harness the power of DevOps to boost your skill set and make your IT organization perform betterAbout This BookGet to know the background of DevOps so you understand the collaboration between different aspects of an IT organization and a software developerImprove your organization's performance to ensure smooth production of software and servicesDeploy top-quality software and ensure software maintenance and release management with this practical guideWho This Book Is ForThis book is aimed at developers and system administrators who wish to take on larger responsibilities and understand how the infrastructure that builds today's enterprises works. This book is also great for operations personnel who would like to better support developers. You do not need to have any previous knowledge of DevOps.What You Will LearnAppreciate the merits of DevOps and continuous delivery and see how DevOps supports the agile processUnderstand how all the systems fit together to form a larger wholeSet up and familiarize yourself with all the tools you need to be efficient with DevOpsDesign an application that is suitable for continuous deployment systems with Devops in mindStore and manage your code effectively using different options such as Git, Gerrit, and GitlabConfigure a job to build a sample CRUD applicationTest the code using automated regression testing with Jenkins SeleniumDeploy your code using tools such as Puppet, Ansible, Palletops, Chef, and VagrantMonitor the health of your code with Nagios, Munin, and GraphiteExplore the workings of Trac—a tool used for issue trackingIn DetailDevOps is a practical field that focuses on delivering business value as efficiently as possible. DevOps encompasses all the flows from code through testing environments to production environments. It stresses the cooperation between different roles, and how they can work together more closely, as the roots of the word imply—Development and Operations.After a quick refresher to DevOps and continuous delivery, we quickly move on to looking at how DevOps affects architecture. You'll create a sample enterprise Java application that you’ll continue to work with through the remaining chapters. Following this, we explore various code storage and build server options. You will then learn how to perform code testing with a few tools and deploy your test successfully. Next, you will learn how to monitor code for any anomalies and make sure it’s running properly. Finally, you will discover how to handle logs and keep track of the issues that affect processesStyle and approachThis book is primarily a technical guide to DevOps with practical examples suitable for people who like to learn by implementing concrete working code. It starts out with background information and gradually delves deeper into technical subjects.

Over 100 effective recipes to help you design, implement, and manage the software-defined and massively scalable Ceph storage systemAbout This BookImplement a Ceph cluster successfully and gain deep insights into its best practicesHarness the abilities of experienced storage administrators and architects, and run your own software-defined storage systemThis comprehensive, step-by-step guide will show you how to build and manage Ceph storage in production environmentWho This Book Is ForThis book is aimed at storage and cloud system engineers, system administrators, and technical architects who are interested in building software-defined storage solutions to power their cloud and virtual infrastructure. If you have basic knowledge of GNU/Linux and storage systems, with no experience of software defined storage solutions and Ceph, but eager to learn this book is for you.What You Will LearnUnderstand, install, configure, and manage the Ceph storage systemGet to grips with performance tuning and benchmarking, and gain practical tips to run Ceph in productionIntegrate Ceph with OpenStack Cinder, Glance, and nova componentsDeep dive into Ceph object storage, including s3, swift, and keystone integrationBuild a Dropbox-like file sync and share service and Ceph federated gateway setupGain hands-on experience with Calamari and VSM for cluster monitoringFamiliarize yourself with Ceph operations such as maintenance, monitoring, and troubleshootingUnderstand advanced topics including erasure coding, CRUSH map, cache pool, and system maintenanceIn DetailCeph is a unified, distributed storage system designed for excellent performance, reliability, and scalability. This cutting-edge technology has been transforming the storage industry, and is evolving rapidly as a leader in software-defined storage space, extending full support to cloud platforms such as Openstack and Cloudstack, including virtualization platforms. It is the most popular storage backend for Openstack, public, and private clouds, so is the first choice for a storage solution. Ceph is backed by RedHat and is developed by a thriving open source community of individual developers as well as several companies across the globe.This book takes you from a basic knowledge of Ceph to an expert understanding of the most advanced features, walking you through building up a production-grade Ceph storage cluster and helping you develop all the skills you need to plan, deploy, and effectively manage your Ceph cluster. Beginning with the basics, you’ll create a Ceph cluster, followed by block, object, and file storage provisioning. Next, you’ll get a step-by-step tutorial on integrating it with OpenStack and building a Dropbox-like object storage solution. We’ll also take a look at federated architecture and CephFS, and you’ll dive into Calamari and VSM for monitoring the Ceph environment. You’ll develop expert knowledge on troubleshooting and benchmarking your Ceph storage cluster. Finally, you’ll get to grips with the best practices to operate Ceph in a production environment.Style and approach This step-by-step guide is filled with practical tutorials, making complex scenarios easy to understand.

Discover exciting and fun projects by building brilliant applications for the Apple WatchAbout This BookExplore the opportunities opened up to developers by Apple’s latest device: the Apple WatchBe a crackerjack at developing software across a broad range of watch app categoriesFrom an eminent author, master all stages of development, from the first stage through to a completed projectWho This Book Is ForIf you have some basic knowledge of programming in Swift and are looking for the best way to get started with Apple Watch development, this book is just the right one for you!What You Will LearnUnderstand the concept of the Apple Watch as an autonomous device as well as it being paired with the iPhoneGet your app up and runningDesign exciting, inspiring, and attractive layouts for your appsMake your user interface more engaging using images and animationEnable your Watch and iPhone apps to transport and share dataLeverage the feature-rich set of WatchKit technologies provided by AppleConnect your apps to the InternetSubmit your app to the App StoreIn DetailWith Apple’s eagerly anticipated entry into the wearable arena, the field is wide open for a new era of app development. The Apple Watch is one of the most important technologies of our time.This easy-to-understand book takes beginners on a delightful journey of discovering the features available to the developer, right up to the completion of medium-level projects ready for App Store submission. It provides the fastest way to develop real-world apps for the Apple Watch by teaching you the concepts of Watch UI, visual haptic and audio, message and data exchange between watch and phone, Web communication, and finally Visual, haptic as well as audio feedback for users.By the end of this book, you will have developed at least four fully functioning apps for deployment on watchOS 2.Style and approachThis is a step-by-step guide to developing apps for the Apple Watch with the help of screenshots and fully coded working examples.

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