Few parts of our British islands can compare with our sea coasts as plant hunting ground. Flowers of the Coast takes us on a search across sand dune, cliff, shingle and rock. This edition is produced from an original copy by William Collins.

The ingredients, cooks, techniques and tools that have shaped our love of food. We all love to eat and most of us have a favourite ingredient or dish. In today's world we can get the food we want, when we want it, but how many of us really know where our much-loved recipes come from, who invented them and how they were originally cooked? In this book William Sitwell, culinary expert on BBC2's 'A Question of Taste' and editor of Waitrose Kitchen magazine, takes us on a colourful, whirlwind journey as he explores the fascinating history of cuisine. This book is a celebration of the great dishes, techniques and above all brilliant cooks who have, over the centuries, created the culinary landscape we now enjoy. Any lover of fine food who has ever wondered about the origins of the methods and recipes we now take for granted will find A History of Food in 100 Recipes required reading. As well as shining a light on food's glorious past, there are contributions from a glittering array of stars of British cuisine, including Marco Pierre White, Delia Smith, Heston Blumenthal, Nigella Lawson and Jamie Oliver. In an incisive and humorous narrative, Sitwell enters an Egyptian tomb to reveal the earliest recipe for bread and discovers the greatest party planner of the Middle Ages. He uncovers the extraordinary and poetic roots of the roast dinner and tells the heart-rending story of the forgotten genius who invented the pressure cooker. And much, much more.

The epic story of the beginning of life on Earth from the much loved and respected naturalist, writer and broadcaster, Sir David Attenborough. Spanning billions of years, Attenborough's time-travelling narrative brings the reader face to face with the first animals that ever existed. By using the latest technology, we are finally able to see for ourselves how these early animals would have looked like and how they would have lived. Attenborough also shows us how some of the evolutionary features of these most primitive creatures are alive today in modern animals, including us humans. Attenborough shows us how the evolution of the first eyes, the first solid body parts and the first feet and backbones came to be. Looking at global ice ages and volcanic eruptions he also shows how evolution is heavily connected with the history of the planet. In this groundbreaking investigation, Attenborough travels the world, from Canada to Australia and Morocco to unearth the secrets hidden in prehistoric fossils, providing a deeper understanding of the first living creatures and the origins of our evolutionary traits.

An epic social history of steamship travel from the 19th-century to the ‘Lusitania’, the ‘Mauretania’ and the ‘Titanic’. The great transatlantic steamships became emblems of an age, of a Victorian audacity of spirit-cathedrals to man's harnessing of new technology. Through the innovations and designs of key engineers and shipping magnates – Samuel Cunard, Isambard Kingdom Brunel and Edward Knights Collins – ‘the largest movable objects in human history' were created. To the wealthy, steamships represented glamorous travel, but to most they offered cheap passage out of Europe to the New World. At their peak, steamships delivered one million new Americans each year, transforming the world’s oceans from barriers into highways. In this fascinating history, Stephen Fox chronicles the tragedies that marked the evolution of the ocean liner, including the 1852 sinking of the ‘Arctic’, with the loss of three hundred and twenty-two lives, and the early 20th-century losses of the ‘Lusitania’ and the ‘Titanic’. Using contemporary records, diaries and writing, he penetrates the experience of transatlantic passage and examines the societies created on the vast floating cities, ‘a kind of third human environment, neither land nor sea but partaking of each, and bridging them in unprecedented ways’.

Please note that some images were unavailable for the electronic edition. The highly praised biography of an archetypal great house and the family who lived there for over 250 years. ‘The Big House’ is the biography of a great country house and the lives of the Sykes family who lived there, with varying fates, for the next two hundred and fifty years. It is a fascinating social history set against the backdrop of a changing England, with a highly individual, pugnacious and self-determining cast, including: ‘Old Tat’ Sykes, said to be one of the great sights of Yorkshire (the author’s great-great-great-grandfather), who wore 18th-century dress to the day of his death at ninety-one in 1861. His son was similarly eccentric, wearing eight coats that he discarded gradually throughout the day in order to keep his body temperature at a constant. He was forced to marry, aged forty-eight, eighteen-year-old Jessica Cavendish-Bentick – a lively and highly intelligent woman who relieved the boredom of her marriage by acquiring a string of lovers, writing novels and throwing extravagant parties (her nickname became ‘Lady Satin Tights’), all the while accumulating debts that ended in a scandalous court case. Their son, Mark, died suddenly whilst brokering the peace settlement at the Paris Peace Conference at the end of World War I; Sledmere was destroyed by fire shortly afterwards. But the rebuilt Sledmere rose from the flames to resound again with colourful, brilliant characters in the 1920s and 1930s including the author’s grandmother, Lily, who had been a celebrated bohemian in Paris. ‘The Big House’ is vividly written and meticulously researched using the Sykes’ own family’s papers and photographs. In this splendid biography of place and time, Christopher Simon Sykes has resuscitated the lives of his ancestors and their glorious home from the 18th- through to the 20th-century.

Natural history, perhaps more than any other pursuit or study, has always relied heavily on books. Without their basic function of enabling the different kinds of animals and plants to be described in adequate detail, the subject could never have come into being and gone on to thrive as it does today. In displaying nature's colourful diversity, books have stimulated attempts to capture the wonders of the natural world with the pencil or in paint. They have challenged their readers to seek out and record what the countryside has to offer, and they have enabled naturalists to convey to unknown fellow spirits the excitements of 'the chase' and of unexpected discoveries. In this latest book in the highly-acclaimed New Naturalist series, David Elliston Allen explores the often complicated ways in which books on the flora and fauna of these islands have been published through the years, from the earliest days of printing through to the era of the computerised distribution atlas and the giant multinational compendium. Difficult to free from market constraints, publication in book form would have remained an elusive aim for all too many naturalists but for the regular trickle of individual publishers who have shared their delight in the subject and leant over backwards to assist it. The important role played by these allies, the colourful backgrounds of many of the authors and the sometimes fraught relationship between the partners in a process in which the aims of business and learning do not necessarily coincide are among the many themes woven together into a fascinating account, which also breaks new ground.

Dragonflies are among the most ancient of living creatures – few insect groups fascinate as much or are more immediately recognisable. In this seminal new work, Philip Corbet and Stephen Brooks examine the behaviour, ecology and distribution of dragonflies in Britain and Ireland, placing emphasis on the insects' habitats and also on measures needed to conserve them. Published in 1960 – with Philip Corbet as contributing author – volume 41 of the New Naturalist series provided the first in-depth study of the biology of British dragonflies, helping to inspire many people to take an interest in these intriguing insects. In this new volume, Corbet has teamed up with Stephen Brooks, offering a fascinating new outlook on the natural history of dragonflies. The authors have combined their knowledge and experience to help illuminate the relevance of British dragonfly species, placing them in the overall context of natural history from a broader, worldwide perspective. Illustrated with beautiful photography throughout, New Naturalist Dragonflies explores all aspects of the biological significance of dragonfly behaviour, thus revealing the beauty and hidden complexity of these powerful, agile, flying predators.

Stephen Davis’s brilliantly-written personal account of criss-crossing America with Led Zeppelin on their 1975 tour. A warts-and-all snapshot of the world’s biggest hard-rock band at their peak. As a young rock writer Stephen Davis landed the ultimate commission – touring America with Led Zeppelin. This is a personal account by Davis of his journey, which saw him crossing the country with the band on board the Starship, their famous Boeing passenger jet, complete with deep shag purple carpet, electric pianos, girlfriends and star-struck hangers-on. This is also the story of one of the hardest-living bands in the world at their peak. For Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and John Bonham, the most beautiful women in America tear their spangled jackets from them and riots start outside their gigs. LZ-75 captures a few perfect months in rock, when Led Zeppelin epitomised the free-living rock dream, but, like Icarus, their wings were already beginning to melt. It wouldn't be long before John Bonham died of a vodka overdose, and punk killed their brand of monumental rock. With it's up-close-and-personal accounts of band members, managers, groupies, fans and drug-dealers, there's a lot of Almost Famous about this book – Led Zep's 1975 tour is in fact the very one on which Cameron Crowe's film was based. Stephen Davis was barely twenty in 1975, but now he is recognised as one of the best rock writers in the world. He is the author of the mega-selling Hammer of the Gods – a biography of Led Zeppelin. He recently unearthed his notebooks of the 1975 tour – which he didn't use for Hammer of the Gods – to write LZ-75. LZ-75: Across America with Led Zeppelin is a wonderful and unique thing – a beautifully succinct account of a single moment in rock, when no lyric was too far-fetched, no drink went undrunk and no expense was ever, ever spared. It's a moment that will never be repeated.

This edition does not include illustrations. A wartime romance, survival saga and murder mystery set in rural France during the First World War. From the Number 1 bestselling author of ‘Agent ZigZag’ and ‘Operation Mincemeat’. Four young British soldiers find themselves trapped behind enemy lines at the height of the fighting on the Western Front in August 1914. Unable to get back to their units, they shelter in the tiny French village of Villeret, where they are fed, clothed and protected by the villagers, including the local matriarch Madame Dessenne, the baker and his wife. The self-styled leader of the band of fugitives, Private Robert Digby, falls in love with the 20-year-old daughter of one of his protectors, and in November 1915 she gives birth to a baby girl. The child is just six months old when someone betrays the men to the Germans. They are captured, tried as spies and summarily condemned to death. Using the testimonies of the daughter, the villagers, detailed town hall records and, most movingly, the soldiers’ last letters, Ben Macintyre reconstructs an extraordinary story of love, duplicity and shame – ultimately seeking to discover through decades of village rumour the answer to the question, ‘Who betrayed Private Digby and his men?’ In this new updated edition the mystery is finally solved. This edition does not include illustrations.

In the early days of Cubism, when writers and painters led bohemian lives in Montmartre, a familiar figure in the studios and cafes was a young journalist named Roland Dorgelès. With high brow, long straight nose, lean face and steady blue eyes, smartly turned out, often in a long black coat with astrakhan collar, he was well liked for his cheerful manner, vein of poetry and adventurousness.Dorgelès came of petit bourgeois parents. The father, a travelling textile salesman, was often absent and did not get along with his wife, who transferred her affection to her only son without however becoming possessive. She gave him a Catholic upbringing and encouraged him to read good authors, his favourites being Molière and Courteline. After an unsuccessful spell at the Ecole des Arts décoratifs he decided on a literary career. He became a journalist of the Paris scene, had two short plays put on and indulged in light-hearted practical jokes: calling the fire brigade to extinguish a nonexistent fire in the flat of a rival in love and, on another occasion, to protest against the thick glass on certain paintings in the Louvre, installing himself in front of one such painting, producing razor, cream and brush, soaping his face and calmly shaving as though in front of a mirror.

Ficino's commentary on Plato?s Timaeus offers the English reader, for the first time, an opportunity to share the insights of this highly influential Renaissance philosopher into one of Plato's most important and controversial works. Here are discussed the perennial questions which affect us all: What is the nature of the universeHow did it beginDoes it have a cause outside itselfWhat is our place in itWhat is the nature of mind, soul, matter and timeThe central portion of the work, focusing on number, harmony, and music, has exerted a strong influence on the history of Western musical theory. Ficino added an appendix which amplifies and elucidates Plato?s meanings and reveals fascinating detail about Ficino himself. This volume provides rich source material for all who are interested in philosophy, the history of cosmic theory, and Platonic and Renaissance studies. This completes the four volume series, including Gardens of Philosophy, 2006 (ISBN 9780856832406), Evermore Shall Be So, 2008 (9780856832567) and When Philosophers Rule, 2009 (9780856832574), which contain all Ficino?s commentaries not previously translated into English.

With the publication of Arthur FWith the publication of Arthur Farndell’s Gardens of Philosophy (Shepheard Walwyn 2006), there remained only four of Ficino’s commentaries on Plato’s dialogues which had not yet been translated into English. With the publication of this volume there remain only three. Farndell’s translation of the commentaries on the Republic and the Laws will comprise the third volume under the title When Philosophers Rule (9780856832574 – due 2009) and the fourth, All Things Natural (9780856832581 – due 2010), will contain the Timaeus. As Carol Kaske of Cornell University wrote when reviewing Gardens of Philosophy in Renaissance Quarterly, these translations fill ‘a need. Even those Anglophone scholars who know Latin still need a translation in order to read quickly through a large body of material’ The central message of Parmenides, that everything depends on the One, resonates with the growing awareness around the world of the interrelatedness of all things, be it in the biosphere, the intellectual or spiritual realms. Philosophers in ancient Greece appreciated this unity and employed reason and dialectic to draw the mind away from its preoccupation with the material world and attract it towards contemplation of the soul, and ultimately of that Oneness which embraces, but is distinct from, the multifarious forms of creation. Thus Parmenides carefully instructed the young Socrates, and Plato recorded their dialogue in this work which he named after the elderly philosopher. Nearly 2000 years later, Marsilio Ficino made Parmenides available to the West by translating it into Latin, the language of scholars in his time. Ficino added a lengthy commentary to this translation, a commentary which Evermore Shall Be So puts into English for the first time, more than 500 years after its original composition. Ficino’s crucial influence upon the unfolding of the Renaissance and his presentation of Plato’s understanding of the One and the socalled Platonic Ideas or Forms make Evermore Shall Be So an important work in the history of thought. Though it will be an essential buy for Renaissance scholars and historians, its freshness of thought and wisdom are as relevant today as they ever were to inspire a new generation seeking spiritual and philosophical direction in their lives. ‘This is philosophy with a mystical dimension – one that is crucial to the original Socratic and Platonic teaching’ Tony Cross in Faith and Freedomarndell’s Gardens of Philosophy ( 2006), there remained only four of Ficino’s commentaries on Plato’s dialogues which had not yet been translated into English. With the publication of this volume there remain only three. Farndell’s translation of the commentaries on the Republic and the Laws will comprise the third volume under the title When Philosophers Rule (9780856832574 – due 2009) and the fourth, All Things Natural (9780856832581 – due 2010), will contain the Timaeus.As Carol Kaske of Cornell University wrote when reviewing Gardens of Philosophy in Renaissance Quarterly, these translations fill ‘a need. Even those Anglophone scholars who know Latin still need a translation in order to read quickly through a large body of material’ The central message of Parmenides, that everything depends on the One, resonates with the growing awareness around the world of the interrelatedness of all things, be it in the biosphere, the intellectual or spiritual realms. Philosophers in ancient Greece appreciated this unity and employed reason and dialectic to draw the mind away from its preoccupation with the material world and attract it towards contemplation of the soul, and ultimately of that Oneness which embraces, but is distinct from, the multifarious forms of creation.Thus Parmenides carefully instructed the young Socrates, and Plato recorded their dialogue in this work which he named after the elderly philosopher. Nearly 2000 years later, Marsilio Ficino made Parmenides available to the West by translating it into Latin, the language of scholars in his time. Ficino added a lengthy commentary to this translation, a commentary which Evermore Shall Be So puts into English for the first time, more than 500 years after its original composition. Ficino’s crucial influence upon the unfolding of the Renaissance and his presentation of Plato’s understanding of the One and the socalled Platonic Ideas or Forms make Evermore Shall Be So an important work in the history of thought. Though it will be an essential buy for Renaissance scholars and historians, its freshness of thought and wisdom are as relevant today as they ever were to inspire a new generation seeking spiritual and philosophical direction in their lives. ‘This is philosophy with a mystical dimension – one that is crucial to the original Socratic and Platonic teaching’ Tony Cross in Faith and Freedom

What made the Renaissance tickWhy had it such a force that its thinking spread from a small group of scholars in Florence, working in their own brilliant ways but coming together in a small villa on the Florentine hillside where Marsilio Ficino (143399) lived, to affect the thinking of the whole of Europe, and eventually of America, for five hundred years and is continuing to do soCosimo de?Medici, the virtual ruler of Florence, had been attracted to the philosophy of Plato by Gemistos Plethon during the Council Florence in 1439 and had instructed his agents to gather together Plato?s works before Constantinople fell to the Turks in 1453. In 1462 he commissioned Marsilio Ficino to translate them from Greek into Latin for the benefit of the Latin speaking world, a task he completed in under five years according to his biographer Giovanni Corsi. This, the first volume in a four volume series, provides the first English translation of the 25 short commentaries on the dialogues and the 12 letters traditionally ascribed to Plato. Later volumes will provide translations of his longer commentaries on the Parmenides (2008), the Republic and Laws (2009) and Timaeus (2010). Though this book will be an essential buy for Renaissance scholars and historians, its freshness of thought and wisdom are as relevant today as they ever were to inspire a new generation seeking spiritual and philosophical direction in their lives.

Born and raised in Algeria with an active political life in the 70’s leading to his eventual emigration as a political refugee Elias Adam is the father of a family deeply affected by the new reality for economic and political migrants in Western Europe, victims of the new face of politics and some would say of Fear. This is his Book Of natural Rebellion

After her young nephew and two nieces’ parents are drowned in a tragic sailing accident off the coast of Cornwall, the beautiful red-headed Tamara is devastated by their loss and realises almost at once that she is the only person who can look after the three children as she loves them so much. She speaks to the local Solicitor, who tells her that there is no money left in her brother-in-law’s estate and so she has no choice but to take the three children to their uncle, the Duke of Granchester, who lives in splendid isolation in a vast sprawling but intimidating Castle in Gloucestershire. The prospect at once appals Tamara. Firstly because she despises the Duke for the way he had cut off all contact with her sister and brother-in-law as he disapproved of their marriage, thinking that she was an actress when in fact she was a renowned opera singer. Worse still, Tamara has written a somewhat scurrilous novel portraying the Duke as the vile character she believes him to be! And the novel is just about to be published in London! Arriving at Granchester Castle in the guise of the children’s Governess, she finds the Duke to be as arrogant, high-handed and annoyingly handsome as her fictional portrayal of him and she hates him even more bitterly. Until a touch of love intervenes and changes everything forever.

The beautiful Colena Dalton has inherited a great fortune following the untimely death of her enormously rich father, Sir Arthur Dalton, in Paris after a long illness. After overhearing the Comtesse de Lyons telling her charmless son, Pierre, that he must propose to Colena as they need the money, she decides that she wants to marry a man who really loves her for herself and not for her money It is then that she and her cousin, Elizabeth, who has been living with Colena and her father in France, decide to change places. The two girls return to London where they join the Social world and are at once invited to endless parties as Sir Arthur’s death has been widely reported in all the newspapers. And immediately the fortune-hunters start circling. One of them called Oliver Stone becomes particularly persistent and bombards Elizabeth, thinking that she is Colena, with attention and invitations, while ignoring Colena. As expected he proposes marriage and will not be shaken off whatever the girls try and in order to escape him they drive of Colena’s father’s house in the country. There they find they find that two famous paintings have been stolen and hearing that there is to be a sale of pictures and other treasures nearby, the girls go there to try to replace the pictures. It is then that they meet up again unexpectedly with the unpleasant Oliver Stone who tries to abduct Elizabeth and force into marrying him. Then an unfortunate accident occurs that changes everything. How Colena and Elizabeth meet the men of their dreams, who love them for themselves and not for their money, is told in this intriguing story by BARBARA CARTLAND.

Bring real business insights to your company through effective and engaging dashboards in QlikViewAbout This BookBuild outstanding dashboards that respond to your company’s information needsPresent the data in efficient and innovative ways to promote insightsUnleash the true power of QlikView by creating engaging visualizations Who This Book Is For This book is focused on QlikView developers with basic knowledge of *ing and layouts who want to improve their designing skills and build effective, eye-catching dashboards that deliver tangible value to their business.What You Will LearnBuild a comprehensive library of QlikView components to speed up your developmentsDefine a practical roadmap that will help you build business-driven dashboardsExplore the most effective and engaging ways to present dataApply the best practices in the field of data visualizationAvoid common pitfalls when creating bar, line and pie chartsCreate robust visualizations such as heat maps, histograms and scatter plots In Detail QlikView is one of the most powerful analytical tools in the market. Based on an in-memory associative model, it lets users freely navigate through the data, spot trends and make better decisions. This platform is capable of integrating a wide range of data sources like ERP systems, data warehouses or spreadsheets into a single application in order display dashboards with state-of-the-art visualizations. Creating Stunning Dashboards with QlikView is an easy to follow handbook that guides you through the process of creating an effective and engaging dashboard that delivers tangible value to the business. It starts with the identification of the business needs and the definition of the main KPIs, and takes you all the way to the application rollout. Throughout the book, you will learn how to apply some of the best practices in the field of data visualization, create a robust navigation schema, chose the best chart types for each scenario and many other things that will help you create effective dashboards that uncover all the stories behind the data.Style and approach This easy-to-follow compilation of best practices, tips, and tricks will help you leverage your QlikView developments. Each section presents practical guidelines to help you create dashboards that are not only functional, but also engaging and compelling.

Design and develop advanced computer vision projects using OpenCV with PythonAbout This BookProgram advanced computer vision applications in Python using different features of the OpenCV libraryPractical end-to-end project covering an important computer vision problemAll projects in the book include a step-by-step guide to create computer vision applications Who This Book Is For This book is for intermediate users of OpenCV who aim to master their skills by developing advanced practical applications. Readers are expected to be familiar with OpenCV’s concepts and Python libraries. Basic knowledge of Python programming is expected and assumed.What You Will LearnGenerate real-time visual effects using different filters and image manipulation techniques such as dodging and burningRecognize hand gestures in real time and perform hand-shape analysis based on the output of a Microsoft Kinect sensorLearn feature extraction and feature matching for tracking arbitrary objects of interestReconstruct a 3D real-world scene from 2D camera motion and common camera reprojection techniquesTrack visually salient objects by searching for and focusing on important regions of an imageDetect faces using a cascade classifier and recognize emotional expressions in human faces using multi-layer peceptrons (MLPs)Recognize street signs using a multi-class adaptation of support vector machines (SVMs)Strengthen your OpenCV2 skills and learn how to use new OpenCV3 features In Detail OpenCV is a native cross platform C++ Library for computer vision, machine learning, and image processing. It is increasingly being adopted in Python for development. OpenCV has C++/C, Python, and Java interfaces with support for Windows, Linux, Mac, iOS, and Android. Developers using OpenCV build applications to process visual data; this can include live streaming data from a device like a camera, such as photographs or videos. OpenCV offers extensive libraries with over 500 functions This book demonstrates how to develop a series of intermediate to advanced projects using OpenCV and Python, rather than teaching the core concepts of OpenCV in theoretical lessons. Instead, the working projects developed in this book teach the reader how to apply their theoretical knowledge to topics such as image manipulation, augmented reality, object tracking, 3D scene reconstruction, statistical learning, and object categorization. By the end of this book, readers will be OpenCV experts whose newly gained experience allows them to develop their own advanced computer vision applications.Style and approach This book covers independent hands-on projects that teach important computer vision concepts like image processing and machine learning for OpenCV with multiple examples.

Over 40 recipes to help you create real-time JavaScript applications using the robust Socket.IO frameworkAbout This BookCreate secure WebSocket connections and real-time mobile applications using Socket.IODevise efficient messaging systems between the server side and the client sideA step-by-step implementation guide to help you create elements of Socket.IO application Who This Book Is For If you have some knowledge of JavaScript and Node.js and want to create awe-inspiring application experiences using real time communication, then this book is for you. Developers with knowledge of other *ing languages should also be able to easily follow along.What You Will LearnBuild rich and interactive real-time dashboards using Socket.IO to pipe in data as it becomes availableDesign chat and multiple-person interfaces that leverage Socket.IO for communicationSegment conversations to rooms and namespaces so that every socket doesn’t have to receive every messageSecure your data by implementing various authentication techniques, locking down the HTTP referrer and using secure WebSocketsLoad balance across multiple server-side nodes and keep your WebSockets in sync using Redis, RabbitMQ or MemcachedStream binary data such as audio and video in real-time over a Socket.IO connectionCreate real-time experiences outside of the browser by integrating Socket.IO with hybrid mobile applications In Detail Socket.IO is a JavaScript library that provides you with the ability to implement real-time analytics, binary streaming, instant messaging, and document collaboration. It has two parts: a client-side library that runs in the browser, and a server-side library for node.js. Socket.IO is event-driven and primarily uses the WebSocket protocol that allows us to emit data bi-directionally from the server and the client. Socket.IO This book is a complete resource, covering topics from webSocket security to scaling the server-side of a Socket.IO application and everything in between. This book will provide real-world examples of how secure bi-directional, full-duplex connections that can be created using Socket.IO for different environments. It will also explain how the connection vulnerabilities can be resolved for large numbers of users and huge amounts of data/messages. By the end of the book, you will be a competent Socket.IO developer. With the help of the examples and real-world solutions,you will learn to create fast, scalable, and dynamic real-time apps by creating efficient messaging systems between the server side and the client side using Socket.IO.Style and approach This book is written in a cookbook-style format and provides practical, immediately usable task-based recipes that show you how to create the elements of a Socket.IO application.

Build robust and scalable iOS and Mac OS X game applicationsAbout This BookLearn to use and implement the 23 Gang of Four design patterns using Swift 2Design and architect your code for Swift application developmentUnderstand the role, generic UML design, and participants in the class diagram of the pattern by implementing them in a step-by-step approach Who This Book Is For This book is intended for competent Swift developers who want to apply enduring design patterns with Swift to structure and scale their application code.What You Will LearnChoose the appropriate pattern depending on the problem to be solvedUnderstand the generic class diagram of each of the 23 GoF patterns and how each object participates in the patternUse Swift to implement these patterns even though the language doesn’t provide all of the object-oriented programming concepts such as abstract class, interface, and so onArchitect your software to avoid the overuse of memory, time spent on calculations, or high network trafficFind the best way to organize your code to make it more secure from the outside worldPrepare your code to make it more flexible when the consumer changes or the third-party component hidden code changesStructure your code to change the algorithm to apply at runtimeDeliver Flyweight responsibility to your objects In Detail Swift is a multi-paradigm language. It has expressive features familiar to those used to work with modern functional languages, while also keeping the object-oriented features of Objective-C. It remains compatible with Apple’s legacy codes and frameworks. A design pattern systematically names, motivates, and explains a general design that addresses a recurring design problem in object-oriented systems. It describes the problem, the solution, when to apply the solution, and its consequences. It also gives implementation hints and examples. Knowledge about design patterns is also one of the best ways to make you different compared to other low-level developers. This book shows you how to use Swift 2 to learn about 23 Gang of Four (GoF) design patterns, and is organized into three categories. The book will present you the five creational patterns, followed by the seven structural patterns, and finishing with the 11 behavioral patterns as defined by the GoF. Each chapter will introduce the pattern by defining its role, which common problems the pattern should be used for, its generic UML representation, how each objects presented in the class diagram participate in the pattern, and what the role of each of these objects is. The book then presents you with a concrete case as an illustration that will be used to implement the pattern using Swift.Style and approach A step-by-step tutorial completed with screenshots and code highlights wherever necessary. Each chapter discusses one or more patterns with its definitions and a simple-to-follow illustration case using a playground or XCText project to implement it with Swift.

Learn how to do more with the Android SDK with this advanced Android Application guide which shows you how to make even better Android apps that users will loveAbout This BookLearn how to design and build better Android apps to reach new usersExplore the latest features and tools in the Android SDK that will help you become a better developerFrom concurrency to testing – through to adding adverts and billing, this book ties together every element to help you deliver a high-quality Android application on Google Play Who This Book Is For Mastering Android Application Development is intended for Android developers that want insight on and guidance through the steps they need to take to give their creations the edge in a competitive market.What You Will LearnCreate an Android project with Android M featuresDesign the basic navigation for our app using the UI componentsSet up a cloud-based platform and store data on itImplement programming patterns such as Singleton and Observer to maintain your project code for future useDisplay lists and grids using Android RecyclerViewImplement user interface components and make your app look professionalHandle, download, and store images along with memory managementCreate the database and content providers to perform read-write operationsAdd notifications to the app and analytics to track the user’s usageShow a Google map view on your appConfigure minify to obfuscate the codeAdd adverts and create products for purchase in your app In Detail There are millions of Android apps out there for people to download – how do you make sure yours has the edgeIt’s not always about innovation and ideas – the most successful apps are those that are able to satisfy customer demands – they’re the ones that look the best, the fastest, and the easiest and most intuitive to use. This book shows you how to create Android applications that do precisely that – it has been designed help you consider and answer those questions throughout the development process, so you can create applications that stand out against the crowd. Learn how to create exemplary UIs that contribute to a satisfying user experience through the lens of Material Design, and explore how to harness the range of features within the Android SDK to help you. Dive deeper into complex programming concepts and discover how to leverage concurrency and navigate memory management and image handling. You’ll also find further guidance on testing and debugging so you can guarantee that your application is reliable and robust for users. Beyond this you’ll find out how to extend your app and add greater functionality, including notifications, location services, adverts and app billing (essential if you want to properly monetize your creation!). To make sure you have confidence at every stage in the process, the book also shows you how to release your app to the Play store – to make sure your maximising your efforts to create a popular Android application!Style and approach This is a step-by-step guide where theory and practice are merged in a way that helps you to put a new concept into practice with ease. By helping to focus on the end result, and showing all the technical steps you need to get there, you will be poised for development success!