Explore the powers of Raspberry Pi and build your very own projects right out of the box About This Book From robotics to gaming, this Learning Path will unlock your creativity! Build your own impressive IoT projects to transform your home Featuring some of Packt’s very best Raspberry Pi content, this Learning Path doesn’t just get you to your destination – it opens up a whole horizon of possibilities! Who This Book Is For Want new ideas for your next Raspberry Pi projectGot one lying around gathering dustThis Learning Path gets you straight into the creative dirty work of programming and playing with your pi. Whether your new to Raspberry Pi, or an experienced maker, we think this Learning Path will inspire you and get your creative juices flowing! What You Will Learn Discover an aweome range of Raspberry Pi projects Bridge the gap between software and hardware through your Pi and find out how to make an operating system interact with cameras and other hardware Find out how to use your Raspberry Pi for gaming Secure your home with this tiny computer! Make science fiction a reality – build a walking robot In Detail Looking for inspiration for your next Raspberry Pi projectNot sure where to beginThis Learning Path is the perfect place to begin, providing you with an accessible yet comprehensive journey through Raspberry Pi. Following three modules, you’ll soon be confident and prepared to get creative with your microcomputer. Raspberry Pi by Example is the first module in this Learning Path – and it does exactly what it says. It doesn’t just teach, it shows you how to go and build some awesome Raspberry Pi projects immediately. Build and play your own games with the Pi, build a complete Internet of Things home automation system that controls your house through Twitter… let your imagination run wild! In the next module we’ll look in more depth at building a home security system. You’ll be using some of the skills you devoped through the first module, but apply them to something more intricate and impressive. Using a Linux based operating system as the foundations, you’ll gradually build up an entire security infrastructure adding cameras, remote controls, and even intrusion alerts! In the final module, we’ll take you into the world of Raspberry Pi robotics. By the end of it, you’ll have built a biped robot that can interact with its environment! This Learning Path combines some of the best that Packt has to offer in one complete, curated package. It includes content from the following Packt products: Raspberry Pi By Example by Ashwin Pajankar and Arush Kakkar Building a Home Security System with Raspberry Pi by Matthew Pole Raspberry Pi Robotics Essentials by Richard Grimmett Style and approach It’s not every day you build a home automation system. It’s not every day you build a walking robot. But with this Learning Path you’ll do just that. So get started and let this tiny computer expand your imagination.

Enhance your JavaScript skills by venturing into the domain of developing mobile applications About This Book .Extend your JavaScript skillset to build, test, and launch mobile apps with confidence .Follow three sample projects to experience Ionic’s impressive capabilities .Extend the power of Apache Cordova by creating your own Apache Cordova cross-platform mobile plugins Who This Book Is For This Learning Path is for JavaScript web developers looking to develop mobile applications using various JavaScript descendent technologies. It is for anyone who wants to learn how to build fast and stylish native mobile app using the skills they already have. If you are already using React on the web, we’re confident you’ll be able to quickly get up and running with React Native for iOS and Android. See Ionic in action, and find out how it can transform the way you build mobile apps. What You Will Learn .Develop, build, run, and deploy great cross-platform mobile applications using Apache Cordova .Create complete mobile apps using Apache Cordova that runs on Apple iOS, Google Android, and Windows Phone .Create a neat user interface for your mobile application using jQuery Mobile .Gain an in-depth understanding of how React Native works behind the scenes .Write your own custom native UI components .Develop native modules in Objective-C and Java that interact with JavaScript .Get to know Ionic by creating three complete mobile applications In Detail A great mobile app is rapidly becoming crucial for a huge range of businesses. With a great app, your customers or your readers don’t come to you – you go with them, just a few clicks and swipes away. This Learning Path shows you how to build awesome mobile apps with some of the best tools currently being used by some of the smartest developers in the industry. Taking you through JavaScript impressive development ecosystem – from jQuery Mobile to React, through to Ionic – we’ll show you how to put your skills into practice so you can build your next mobile apps with confidence and style. In this Learning Path, from jQuery to React, to Ionic, we’ll cover everything you need to start In the first module you’ll learn how to get stuck into Apache Cordova and find out how to use it as the key platform for developing your mobile app. It offers an efficient way to develop hybrid apps, which means you won’t have to connect to platform specific APIs or use their UI framework, and can instead harness your JavaScript web development skills. Make sure you have your HTML, CSS and jQuery skills at the ready. In Module 2 we’ll show you how to take advantage of React Native. It has a reputation for having a steep learning curve, but we’ll make it easy for you, making sure you make full use of your existing knowledge and getting you up and running with a sample application. You’ll also learn how to create components, how to create multiple screens, as well as using native UI components and accessing native APIs. In the third and final module you’ll get started with Ionic. With three practical projects you can build yourself, we’ve made sure that you’ll be learning by doing – which means you’ll not only develop new skills much more quickly, but you’ll have produced something tangible at the end of it! This Learning Path combines some of the best that Packt has to offer in one complete, curated package. It includes content from the following Packt products: .JavaScript Mobile Application Development by Hazem Saleh .Getting Started with React Native by Ethan Holmes and Tom Bray .Ionic Framework By Example by Sani Yusuf Style and approach This Learning Path course provides a simple and easy way to build mobile applications in JavaScript descendent technologies such as jQuery, ReactJS, and Ionic.

Explore the features of Unity 5 for 2D game development by building three amazing game projects About This Book Explore the 2D architecture of Unity 5, and the tools and techniques for developing 2D games Discover how to use Unity’s 2D tools, including Sprites, physics, and maps, to create different genres of games Practical tutorial on the intermediate and advanced development concepts in Unity 5 to create three interesting and fully functional games Who This Book Is For If you've got the basics of 2D development down, push your skills with the projects in this hands-on guide.Diversify your portfolio and learn the skills needed to build a range of awesome 2D game genres. What You Will Learn Explore and understand the vital role of sprites in 2D games Move, animate, and integrate sprites into a 2D platform game Set up User Interfaces (UIs) to keep track of the progress through the games Apply 2D Physics to improve gameplay believability Learn the foundation of Level Design and how to quickly create 2D Maps Discover NPC design, event triggers, and AI programming Create an epic strategy game, challenging all the skills acquired in the book In Detail Flexible, powerful, and full of rich features, Unity 5 is the engine of choice for AAA 2D and 3D game development. With comprehensive support for over 20 different platforms, Unity boasts a host of great new functions for making 2D games. Learn how to leverage these new options into awesome 2D games by building three complete game projects with the Unity game tutorials in this hands-on book. Get started with a quick overview of the principle concepts and techniques needed for making 2D games with Unity, then dive straight in to practical development. Build your own version of Super Mario Brothers as you learn how to animate sprites, work with physics, and construct brilliant UIs in order to create a platformer game. Go on a quest to create a RPG game discovering NPC design, event triggers, and AI programming. Finally, put your skills to the test against a real challenge - designing and constructing a complex strategy game that will draw on and develop all your previously learned skills. Style and approach This is a practical and easy-to-follow guide that starts with the basics and gradually delves into the process of creating 2D games. With step-by-step instructions on how to build three games, followed by a detailed explanation of each example, you will understand the concepts not just in theory, but also by applying the knowledge you gain in practice.

Combine the power of ASP.NET Core with Bootstrap 4 to build elegant, responsive web apps About This Book Updated for Bootstrap 4 and ASP.Net MVC 6, this book shows how to take advantage of the latest new features introduced in both of these industry-leading frameworks Build responsive, mobile-ready apps by combining the power of ASP.NET MVC with Bootstrap Grasp the intricacies of Bootstrap and how to use it with ASP.NET MVC Build your own tools and helpers to assist you in creating ASP.NET MVC Bootstrap sites easily and quickly Master the use of Bootstrap components and plugins with ASP.NET MVC Who This Book Is For If you are an ASP.NET MVC developer and would like to know how to incorporate Bootstrap into your projects, then this book is invaluable to you. Developers with entry-level experience of ASP.NET MVC development and limited experience with Bootstrap will also benefit from this book. What You Will Learn Create a new ASP.NET MVC project that uses Bootstrap for its styling and learn how to include external libraries using the new package managers Learn to use the various Bootstrap CSS and HTML elements, and how to use the new Bootstrap 4 grid layout system Explore the different input groups and implement alerts, progress bars, and badges Explore JavaScript components by illustrating and walking through the process of using JavaScript/jQuery to add interactivity to Twitter Bootstrap components Build your own ASP.NET MVC helpers and tag helpers to reduce the amount of HTML needed to generate Bootstrap elements Convert a Bootstrap HTML template into a usable ASP.NET MVC project Use the jQuery DataTables plugin with Bootstrap and ASP.NET MVC In Detail One of the leading open source frontend frameworks, Bootstrap has undergone a significant change and introduced several features that make designing compelling, next-generation UIs much simpler. Integrating Bootstrap with ASP.NET's powerful components can further enhance its capabilities. This book guides you through the process of creating an ASP.NET MVC website from scratch using Bootstrap. After a primer on the fundamentals of Bootstrap, you will learn your way around and create a new ASP.NET MVC project in Visual Studio. You will move on to learn about the various Bootstrap components as well as techniques to include them in your own projects. The book includes practical examples to show you how to use open-source plugins with Bootstrap and ASP.NET MVC and guides you through building an ASP.NET MVC website using Bootstrap, utilizing layout and user-interface components. At the end of this book, you will find some valuable tips and tricks to help you get the most out of your Bootstrap-integrated and ASP.NET MVC-integrated website. Style and approach This is a compact, step-by-step guide that focuses on combining the power of Bootstrap with ASP.Net MVC to build next-generation web apps. With clear instructions, this book will show how to build a complete ASP.Net MVC-integrated web app from scratch using Bootstrap. It will also cover several tricks for integrating Bootstrap and ASP.Net MVC, and getting the most out of both frameworks.

Discover how to build your own smart Internet of Things projects and bring a new degree of interconnectivity to your world About This Book Learn how to extract and analyse data from physical devices and build smart IoT projects Master the skills of building enticing projects such as a neural network autonomous car, computer vision through a camera, and cloud-based IoT applications This project-based guide leverages revolutionary computing chips such as Raspberry Pi, Arduino, and so on Who This Book Is For If you are hobbyist who is keen on making smart IoT projects, then this book is for you. You should have a basic knowledge of Python. What You Will Learn Implement data science in your IoT projects and build a smart temperature controller Create a simple machine learning application and implement decision system concepts Develop a vision machine using OpenCV Build a robot car with manual and automatic control Implement speech modules with your own voice commands for IoT projects Connect IoT to a cloud-based server In Detail Internet of Things (IoT) is a groundbreaking technology that involves connecting numerous physical devices to the Internet and controlling them. Creating basic IoT projects is common, but imagine building smart IoT projects that can extract data from physical devices, thereby making decisions by themselves. Our book overcomes the challenge of analyzing data from physical devices and accomplishes all that your imagination can dream up by teaching you how to build smart IoT projects. Basic statistics and various applied algorithms in data science and machine learning are introduced to accelerate your knowledge of how to integrate a decision system into a physical device. This book contains IoT projects such as building a smart temperature controller, creating your own vision machine project, building an autonomous mobile robot car, controlling IoT projects through voice commands, building IoT applications utilizing cloud technology and data science, and many more. We will also leverage a small yet powerful IoT chip, Raspberry Pi with Arduino, in order to integrate a smart decision-making system in the IoT projects. Style and approach The book follows a project-based approach to building smart IoT projects using powerful boards such as the Raspberry Pi, Arduino, and the IoT chip.

Combine the incredible powers of Spark, Mesos, Akka, Cassandra, and Kafka to build data processing platforms that can take on even the hardest of your data troubles! About This Book This highly practical guide shows you how to use the best of the big data technologies to solve your response-critical problems Learn the art of making cheap-yet-effective big data architecture without using complex Greek-letter architectures Use this easy-to-follow guide to build fast data processing systems for your organization Who This Book Is For If you are a developer, data architect, or a data scientist looking for information on how to integrate the Big Data stack architecture and how to choose the correct technology in every layer, this book is what you are looking for. What You Will Learn Design and implement a fast data Pipeline architecture Think and solve programming challenges in a functional way with Scala Learn to use Akka, the actors model implementation for the JVM Make on memory processing and data analysis with Spark to solve modern business demands Build a powerful and effective cluster infrastructure with Mesos and Docker Manage and consume unstructured and No-SQL data sources with Cassandra Consume and produce messages in a massive way with Kafka In Detail SMACK is an open source full stack for big data architecture. It is a combination of Spark, Mesos, Akka, Cassandra, and Kafka. This stack is the newest technique developers have begun to use to tackle critical real-time analytics for big data. This highly practical guide will teach you how to integrate these technologies to create a highly efficient data analysis system for fast data processing. We’ll start off with an introduction to SMACK and show you when to use it. First you’ll get to grips with functional thinking and problem solving using Scala. Next you’ll come to understand the Akka architecture. Then you’ll get to know how to improve the data structure architecture and optimize resources using Apache Spark. Moving forward, you’ll learn how to perform linear scalability in databases with Apache Cassandra. You’ll grasp the high throughput distributed messaging systems using Apache Kafka. We’ll show you how to build a cheap but effective cluster infrastructure with Apache Mesos. Finally, you will deep dive into the different aspect of SMACK using a few case studies. By the end of the book, you will be able to integrate all the components of the SMACK stack and use them together to achieve highly effective and fast data processing. Style and approach With the help of various industry examples, you will learn about the full stack of big data architecture, taking the important aspects in every technology. You will learn how to integrate the technologies to build effective systems rather than getting incomplete information on single technologies. You will learn how various open source technologies can be used to build cheap and fast data processing systems with the help of various industry examples

Learn how to build an exciting 3D game with LibGDX from scratch About This Book Implement an exhaustive list of features that LibGDX unleashes to build your 3D game. Write, test, and debug your application on your desktop and deploy them on multiple platforms. Gain a clear understanding of the physics behind LibGDX and libraries like OpenGL and WebGL that make up LibGDX. Who This Book Is For If you are a game developer or enthusiasts who want to build 3D games with LibGDX, then this book is for you. A basic knowledge of LibGDX and Java programming is appreciated. What You Will Learn Learn the potential of LibGDX in game development Understand the LibGDX architecture and explore platform limitation and variations Explore the various approaches for game development using LibGDX Learn about the common mistakes and possible solutions of development Discover the 3D workflow with Blender and how it works with LibGDX Implement 3D models along with textures and animations into your games Familiarize yourself with Scene2D and its potential to boost your game’s design In Detail LibGDX is a hugely popular open source, cross-platform, Java-based game development framework built for the demands of cross-platform game development. This book will teach readers how the LibGDX framework uses its 3D rendering API with the OpenGL wrapper, in combination with Bullet Physics, 3D Particles, and Shaders to develop and deploy a game application to different platforms You will start off with the basic Intellij environment, workflow and set up a LibGDX project with necessary APIs for 3D development. You will then go through LibGDX’s 3D rendering API main features and talk about the camera used for 3D. Our next step is to put everything together to build a basic 3D game with Shapes, including basic gameplay mechanics and basic UI. Next you will go through modeling, rigging, and animation in Blender. We will then talk about refining mechanics, new input implementations, implementing enemy 3D models, mechanics, and gameplay balancing. The later part of this title will help you to manage secondary resources like audio, music and add 3D particles in the game to make the game more realistic. You will finally test and deploy the app on a multitude of different platforms, ready to start developing your own titles how you want! Style and approach A step by step guide on building a 3D game with LibGDX and implementing an exhaustive list of features that you would wish to incorporate into your 3D game

Illustrate your data in a more interactive way by implementing data visualization principles and creating visual stories using Tableau About This Book Use data visualization principles to help you to design dashboards that enlighten and support business decisions Integrate your data to provide mashed-up dashboards Connect to various data sources and understand what data is appropriate for Tableau Public Understand chart types and when to use specific chart types with different types of data Who This Book Is For Data scientists who have just started using Tableau and want to build on the skills using practical examples. Familiarity with previous versions of Tableau will be helpful, but not necessary. What You Will Learn Customize your designs to meet the needs of your business using Tableau Use Tableau to prototype, develop, and deploy the final dashboard Create filled maps and use any shape file Discover features of Tableau Public, from basic to advanced Build geographic maps to bring context to data Create filters and actions to allow greater interactivity to Tableau Public visualizations and dashboards Publish and embed Tableau visualizations and dashboards in articles In Detail With increasing interest for data visualization in the media, businesses are looking to create effective dashboards that engage as well as communicate the truth of data. Tableau makes data accessible to everyone, and is a great way of sharing enterprise dashboards across the business. Tableau is a revolutionary toolkit that lets you simply and effectively create high-quality data visualizations. This course starts with making you familiar with its features and enable you to develop and enhance your dashboard skills, starting with an overview of what dashboard is, followed by how you can collect data using various mathematical formulas. Next, you'll learn to filter and group data, as well as how to use various functions to present the data in an appealing and accurate way. In the first module, you will learn how to use the key advanced string functions to play with data and images. You will be walked through the various features of Tableau including dual axes, scatterplot matrices, heat maps, and sizing.In the second module, you’ll start with getting your data into Tableau, move onto generating progressively complex graphics, and end with the finishing touches and packaging your work for distribution. This module is filled with practical examples to help you create filled maps, use custom markers, add slider selectors, and create dashboards. You will learn how to manipulate data in various ways by applying various filters, logic, and calculating various aggregate measures. Finally, in the third module, you learn about Tableau Public using which allows readers to explore data associations in multiple-sourced public data, and uses state-of-the-art dashboard and chart graphics to immerse the users in an interactive experience. In this module, the readers can quickly gain confidence in understanding and expanding their visualization, creation knowledge, and quickly create interesting, interactive data visualizations to bring a richness and vibrancy to complex articles. The course provides a great overview for beginner to intermediate Tableau users, and covers the creation of data visualizations of varying complexities. Style and approach The approach will be a combined perspective, wherein we start by performing some basic recipes and move on to some advanced ones. Finally, we perform some advanced analytics and create appealing and insightful data stories using Tableau Public in a step-by-step manner.

Leverage benefits of machine learning techniques using Python About This Book Improve and optimise machine learning systems using effective strategies. Develop a strategy to deal with a large amount of data. Use of Python code for implementing a range of machine learning algorithms and techniques. Who This Book Is For This title is for data scientist and researchers who are already into the field of data science and want to see machine learning in action and explore its real-world application. Prior knowledge of Python programming and mathematics is must with basic knowledge of machine learning concepts. What You Will Learn Learn to write clean and elegant Python code that will optimize the strength of your algorithms Uncover hidden patterns and structures in data with clustering Improve accuracy and consistency of results using powerful feature engineering techniques Gain practical and theoretical understanding of cutting-edge deep learning algorithms Solve unique tasks by building models Get grips on the machine learning design process In Detail Machine learning and predictive analytics are becoming one of the key strategies for unlocking growth in a challenging contemporary marketplace. It is one of the fastest growing trends in modern computing, and everyone wants to get into the field of machine learning. In order to obtain sufficient recognition in this field, one must be able to understand and design a machine learning system that serves the needs of a project. The idea is to prepare a learning path that will help you to tackle the real-world complexities of modern machine learning with innovative and cutting-edge techniques. Also, it will give you a solid foundation in the machine learning design process, and enable you to build customized machine learning models to solve unique problems. The course begins with getting your Python fundamentals nailed down. It focuses on answering the right questions that cove a wide range of powerful Python libraries, including scikit-learn Theano and Keras.After getting familiar with Python core concepts, it’s time to dive into the field of data science. You will further gain a solid foundation on the machine learning design and also learn to customize models for solving problems. At a later stage, you will get a grip on more advanced techniques and acquire a broad set of powerful skills in the area of feature selection and feature engineering. Style and approach This course includes all the resources that will help you jump into the data science field with Python. The aim is to walk through the elements of Python covering powerful machine learning libraries. This course will explain important machine learning models in a step-by-step manner. Each topic is well explained with real-world applications with detailed guidance.Through this comprehensive guide, you will be able to explore machine learning techniques.

Unlock the powers of functional programming hidden within JavaScript to build smarter, cleaner, and more reliable web apps About This Book Write powerful code with the high-level functions that JavaScript offers Discover what functional programming is, why it's effective, and how it's used in JavaScript Understand and optimize JavaScript's hidden potential as a true functional language Who This Book Is For If you are a JavaScript developer interested in learning functional programming, looking for the quantum leap toward mastering the JavaScript language, or just want to become a better programmer in general, then this book is ideal for you. This guide is aimed at programmers, involved in developing reactive frontend apps, server-side apps that wrangle with reliability and concurrency, and everything in between. What You Will Learn Get a run through of the basic JavaScript language constructs Code using the powerful object-oriented feature in JavaScript Master DOM manipulation, cross-browser strategies, and ES6 Understand the basic concurrency constructs in Java* and best performance strategies Harness the power of patterns for tasks ranging from application building to code testing Build large-scale apps seamlessly with the help of reactive patterns Explore advanced design patterns, including dependency injection Develop more powerful applications with currying and function composition Create more reliable code with closures and immutable data In Detail JavaScript is a high-level, dynamic, untyped, lightweight, and interpreted programming language and functional programming is a style that emphasizes and enables smarter code that minimizes complexity and increases modularity. It's a way of writing cleaner code through clever ways of mutating, combining, and using functions. And JavaScript provides an excellent medium for this approach. By learning how to expose JavaScript's true identity as a functional language, we can implement web apps that are more powerful, easier to maintain and more reliable. The java *: Functional Programming for JavaScript Developers course will take you on a journey to show how functional programming when combined with other techniques makes JavaScript programming more efficient. The first module Mastering JavaScript, stress on practical aspects of Java* development like—Functions and Closures, Runtime debugging techniques, project layout, events and DOM processing, build tools, Object-oriented patterns, isomorphism—everything that a modern Java* project would need. The second module, Mastering JavaScript Design Patterns - Second Edition, will explore how design patterns can help you improve and organize your JavaScript code. You’ll get to grips with creational, structural, and behavioral patterns as you discover how to put them to work in different scenarios. This updated edition will also delve into reactive design patterns and microservices as they are a growing phenomenon in the world of web development. It will also show you some advanced patterns, including dependency injection and live post processing. The third module, Functional Programming in JavaScript, will help you to write real-world applications by utilizing a wide range of functional techniques and styles. It explores the core concepts of functional programming common to all functional languages, with examples of their use in JavaScript. Style and approach This course will begin with providing insights and practical tips on advanced JavaScript features to build highly scalable web and mobile system and move on to some design patterns with JavaScript. Finally, the course ends with presenting the functional programming techniques and styles in JavaScript.

Untangle the complexity of OpenStack clouds through this practical tutorial About This Book Navigate through the complex jungle of components in OpenStack using practical instructions This book helps administrators, cloud engineers, and even developers to consolidate and control pools of compute, networking, and storage resources Learn to use the centralized dashboard and administration panel to monitor large-scale deployments Who This Book Is For This book is perfect for administrators, cloud engineers, and operators who want to get started with OpenStack, solve basic problems encountered during deployment, and get up to speed with the latest release of OpenStack. Familiarity with the Linux command line and experience with Linux system administration is expected. What You Will Learn Brush up on the latest release, and how it affects the various components Install OpenStack using the Packstack and RDO Manager installation tool Learn to convert a computer node that supports Docker containers Implement Ceph Block Device images with OpenStack Create and allocate virtual networks, routers and IP addresses to OpenStack Tenants. Configuring and Launching a Docker container. In Detail OpenStack is a widely popular platform for cloud computing. Applications that are built for this platform are resilient to failure and convenient to scale. This book, an update to our extremely popular OpenStack Essentials (published in May 2015) will help you master not only the essential bits, but will also examine the new features of the latest OpenStack release - Mitaka; showcasing how to put them to work straight away. This book begins with the installation and demonstration of the architecture. This book will tech you the core 8 topics of OpenStack. They are Keystone for Identity Management, Glance for Image management, Neutron for network management, Nova for instance management, Cinder for Block storage, Swift for Object storage, Ceilometer for Telemetry and Heat for Orchestration. Further more you will learn about launching and configuring Docker containers and also about scaling them horizontally. You will also learn about monitoring and Troubleshooting OpenStack. Style and approach This book offers step-by-step practical instructions to help you quickly navigate through the complexities of OpenStack

Design, develop, and publish your own mobile apps for iOS and Android using C# and Xamarin Studio About This Book Explore the exciting features of Xamarin Studio while learning to develop your own applications Develop a complete application from conceptualization through to publishing it on the app store The book walks you through the basics of cross-platform development with Xamarin using examples and best practices and tips for cross platform solutions. Who This Book Is For If you want to develop your own applications and want to explore the features of Xamarin Studio, then this is the book for you. It is expected that you have a basic understanding of technologies in mobile development, but prior knowledge of Xamarin is not required. What You Will Learn Understand the software development lifecycle for mobile applications Use Xamarin Studio and its wide range of features to write your programs in C# Use different options to create multi-platform applications using Xamarin and develop a cross-platform extension method Work with Xamarin forms and various UI controls Integrate synchronous and asynchronous communication module within your app Render images to work with Android and iOS Link a third-party application to your solution In Detail The mobile app market is increasing exponentially every year. Xamarin Studio with its modern and powerful IDEs makes creating applications a lot easier by simplifying the development process. Xamarin will allow you and your team to create native applications by taking advantage of one of the most evolved programming language in the world: C#. This book will provide you with the basic skills you need to start developing mobile apps using C# and Xamarin. By working through the examples in each chapter, you will gain hands-on experience of creating a complete app that is fully functional by all means. Finally, you will learn to publish the app you created on the app market. Each project in this book will take you one step closer to becoming a professional app developer. Style and approach The step-by-guide will walk you through the process of creating an application of with the help of small projects that will teach you everything you need to know to build a complete application of your own.

Achieve scalability and high availability without compromising on performance About This Book See how to get 100 percent uptime with your Cassandra applications using this easy-follow guide Learn how to avoid common and not-so-common mistakes while working with Cassandra using this highly practical guide Get familiar with the intricacies of working with Cassandra for high availability in your work environment with this go-to-guide Who This Book Is For If you are a developer or DevOps engineer who has basic familiarity with Cassandra and you want to become an expert at creating highly available, fault tolerant systems using Cassandra, this book is for you. What You Will Learn Understand how the core architecture of Cassandra enables highly available applications Use replication and tunable consistency levels to balance consistency, availability, and performance Set up multiple data centers to enable failover, load balancing, and geographic distribution Add capacity to your cluster with zero downtime Take advantage of high availability features in the native driver Create data models that scale well and maximize availability Understand common anti-patterns so you can avoid them Keep your system working well even during failure scenarios In Detail Apache Cassandra is a massively scalable, peer-to-peer database designed for 100 percent uptime, with deployments in the tens of thousands of nodes, all supporting petabytes of data. This book offers a practical insight into building highly available, real-world applications using Apache Cassandra. The book starts with the fundamentals, helping you to understand how Apache Cassandra’s architecture allows it to achieve 100 percent uptime when other systems struggle to do so. You’ll get an excellent understanding of data distribution, replication, and Cassandra’s highly tunable consistency model. Then we take an in-depth look at Cassandra's robust support for multiple data centers, and you’ll see how to scale out a cluster. Next, the book explores the domain of application design, with chapters discussing the native driver and data modeling. Lastly, you’ll find out how to steer clear of common anti-patterns and take advantage of Cassandra’s ability to fail gracefully. Style and approach This practical guide will get you implementing Cassandra right from the design to creating highly available systems. Through a systematic, step-by-step approach, you will learn different aspects of building highly available Cassandra applications and all this with the help of easy-to-follow examples, tips, and tricks.

Yancy Grey is slowly putting his life back together after serving time for petty theft. As he rebuilds an old house, he finally has a sense of stability, but he can t stop thinking of himself as just an ex-con. Until one night, he finds a mysterious dark-haired beauty hiding in his loft. But who is she, and what secret is she protecting?"

The tycoon she never forgot… Mila Molyneux had always harboured a secret crush on her childhood friend Sebastian Fyfe – until he married another woman. She buried her feelings and moved on, knowing it was best for everyone… Meeting Seb years later – now widowed and gorgeous as ever – their long-lost connection is as deep as ever. Only now difficult emotions challenge not only Seb but Mila as well. Dare she hope they can now find happiness – if she can confront the hold this brooding tycoon still has over her…?

It takes courage to fall in love To everyone in her rural Ohio community, Jude Foster O’Leary’s dead husband is a war hero. Yet how can she forgive him for choosing the military over his family when they needed him most? And now the charitable foundation she established in his name is in danger of going belly-up, until Liam Manning comes to the single mother’s rescue. But the financial adviser’s arrival in Dancing Falls wasn’t happenstance. Despite her attraction to the driven professional in his three-piece suit—and Liam’s winning way with her young son—Jude has to protect herself from this caring, contradictory man who takes dangerous risks. And from the treacherous feelings Liam’s awakening.

IS THIS HOME? Single mom Annie Owen is so busy raising her twin girls, there’s no time to focus on the “single” part…until rugged Trace Delaney temporarily moves nearby. Annie’s interest in Trace is more than neighborly, but she can’t risk losing her heart to a bull rider on the move. Trace is a rolling stone. Or so he thought. Settling down suddenly seems a lot more appealing if it’s with smart, gorgeous Annie and her girls. But they deserve someone they can count on. Is Trace ready to be that man, or will he run from the only place, and the only woman, that ever felt like home?

COME HOME, COWGIRL Logan Slade is bringing his wife home for the holidays—but can he convince her to stay for good? Despite a four-year separation and a devastating loss, the Georgia rancher refuses to give up on their marriage…even if he has been served divorce papers. Amy misses Raintree Ranch and her beloved horses almost as much as she misses the man who was her best friend before he was anything else. But she's no longer a wild rebel determined to get her man at any cost. To win her back, the honour-bound cowboy will have to let go of the past and open his heart to a real future.

What do you want to be when you grow upIt's a familiar question we're all asked as kids. While seemingly harmless, the question has unintended consequences. It can make you feel like you need to choose one job, one passion, one thing to be about. Guess whatYou don't. Having a lot of different interests, projects and curiosities doesn't make you a "jack-of-all-trades, master of none." Your endless curiosity doesn't mean you are broken or flaky. What you are is a multipotentialite: someone with many interests and creative pursuits. And that is actually your biggest strength. How to Be Everything helps you channel your diverse passions and skills to work for you. Based on her popular TED talk, "Why some of us don't have one true calling", Emilie Wapnick flips the * on conventional career advice. Instead of suggesting that you specialize, choose a niche or accumulate 10,000 hours of practice in a single area, Wapnick provides a practical framework for building a sustainable life around ALL of your passions. You'll discover: Why your multipotentiality is your biggest strength, especially in today's uncertain job market. How to make a living and structure your work if you have many skills and interests. How to focus on multiple projects and make progress on all of them. How to handle common insecurities such as the fear of not being the best, the guilt associated with losing interest in something you used to love and the challenge of explaining "what you do" to others. Not fitting neatly into a box can be a beautiful thing. How to Be Everything teaches you how to design a life, at any age and stage of your career, that allows you to be fully you, and find the kind of work you'll love.

A new memoir from Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling author Cathy Glass. Eight-year-old Aimee was on the child protection register at birth. Her five older siblings were taken into care many years ago. So no one can understand why she was left at home to suffer for so long. It seems Aimee was forgotten. The social services are looking for a very experienced foster carer to look after Aimee and, when she reads the referral, Cathy understands why. Despite her reservations, Cathy agrees to Aimee on – there is something about her that reminds Cathy of Jodie (the subject of ‘Damaged’ and the most disturbed child Cathy has cared for), and reading the report instantly tugs at her heart strings. When she arrives, Aimee is angry. And she has every right to be. She has spent the first eight years of her life living with her drug-dependent mother in a flat that the social worker described as ‘not fit for human habitation’. Aimee is so grateful as she snuggles into her bed at Cathy’s house on the first night that it brings Cathy to tears. Aimee’s aggressive mother is constantly causing trouble at contact, and makes sweeping allegations against Cathy and her family in front of her daughter as well. It is a trying time for Cathy, and it makes it difficult for Aimee to settle. But as Aimee begins to trust Cathy, she starts to open up. And the more Cathy learns about Aimee’s life before she came into care, the more horrified she becomes. It’s clear that Aimee should have been rescued much sooner and as her journey seems to be coming to a happy end, Cathy can’t help but reflect on all the other ‘forgotten children’ that are still suffering…

Magician, available in ebook for the first time, is a masterwork of magic and adventure. The whole of the magnificent Riftwar Cycle, by bestselling author Raymond E. Feist, is now available in ebook