Anne O’Brien’s new novel, Queen of the North, is available to pre-order now England’s Forgotten Queens ‘Anne O’Brien has joined the exclusive club of excellent historical novelists.’ - Sunday Express ENGLAND'S MOST RUTHLESS QUEEN. July, 1137. In the baking sunshine of Bordeaux, Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine, eagerly awaits her first meeting with the prince who will become her husband. But Louis Capet is no fit match for educated, independent Eleanor. When he inherits the throne of France, it becomes clear that his monastic ways and indecisive rule could cost him his country – and his marriage. Determined to rule her own lands, Eleanor leads the men of Aquitaine on Crusade. The march to Outremer will make her the most scandalous woman in all of Christendom. And one chance meeting between Eleanor and Henry Plantagenet will change the fate of England – forever… Hers is a story of power, political intrigue, passion and love. Praise for Anne O’Brien: ‘One of the best writers around…she outdoes even Philippa Gregory’ The Sun ‘Her writing is highly evocative of the time period… O’Brien has produced an epic tale’ Historical Novel Society ‘Anne O’Brien’s novels give a voice to the “silent” women of history’ Yorkshire Post ‘Once again O’Brien proves herself a medieval history magician, conjuring up a sizzling, sweeping story’ Lancashire Evening Post ‘An exciting and intriguing story of love and historical politics. If you enjoy Philippa Gregory and Alison Weir you will love Anne O'Brien’ We Love This Book ‘A brilliantly researched and well-told story; you won’t be able to put this book down’ Candis ‘A fast paced historical drama that is full of suspense.’ Essentials

‘I was gripped immediately’ KATERINA DIAMOND, author of THE TEACHER ‘Terrific characterisation, great writing and twists to leave you dizzy.’ TERESA DRISCOLL, author of I AM WATCHING YOU Do you really know your friends? ** THE TOP 10 KINDLE BESTSELLER** On the afternoon of Nick and Lisa’s wedding, their close friend is found poised on a hotel window ledge, ready to jump. As the shock hits their friendship group, they soon realise that none of them are being as honest with themselves – or with each other – as they think. And there are secrets lurking that could destroy everything. Tense, disturbing and clever, My Husband’s Lies is a breath-taking read, perfect for fans of Lucy Clarke and Erin Kelly.

From the author of Neverness comes a powerful new epic fantasy series. The Ea Cycle is as rich as Tolkien and as magical as the Arthurian myths. The world of Ea is an ancient world settled in eons past by the Star People. However, their ancestors floundered, in their purpose to create a great stellar civilisation on the new planet: they fell into moral decay. Now a champion has been born who will lead them back to greatness, by means of a spiritual – and adventurous – quest for Ea’s Grail: the Lightstone. His name is Valashu Elahad, and he is destined to become King. Blessed (or cursed?) with an empathy for all living things, he will lead his people into the lands of Morjin, into the heart of darkness, wielding a magical sword called Alkadadur, there to recover the mythical Lightstone and return in triumph with his prize. But Morjin is not to be vanquished so easily…

Spirited, elegant, fun, with an enchanting authorial voice, For Matrimonial Purposes is a remarkable achievement, an original in the contemporary women’s market. The main character, Anju, born and raised in Bombay, is now a fashion journalist in New York. But twinned with her enjoyment of the American scene, her single, glamorous life and the fashion perks it brings, is her determination to remain true to her Indian roots and her love of her extensive family. Marriage is the most important role for an Indian woman, and arranged marriages are still the custom: ‘I am not working for your happiness, but for you to be married,’ says Anju’s mother. Anju is 30, old in Indian terms, and her mother and aunt fear that her independent ways might make her less acceptable to other family’s eyes. They set about organising possible contacts in their home town, Bombay. But now a prospective bride or groom, or their families, can decline the suggested marriage after a meeting. For Matrimonial Purposes is the hilarious, poignant, loving story of Anju’s journey, the rare selection of men and their families that she meets, and the choices that she must make while trying to remain true to herself and satisfy her family and tradition.

Build applications and infrastructures that leverage Function-as-a-Service and Docker About This Book ? Implement containerization in Serverless/FaaS environments ? Utilize Docker as a functional unit of work for Serverless/FaaS platforms ? Use Docker as a portable infrastructure for Serverless Applications Who This Book Is For If you are a Developer, a Docker Engineer, a DevOps Engineer, or any stakeholder interested in learning the use of Docker on Serverless environments then this book is for you. What You Will Learn ? Learn what Serverless and FaaS applications are ? Get acquainted with the architectures of three major serverless systems ? Explore how Docker technologies can help develop Serverless applications ? Create and maintain FaaS infrastructures ? Set up Docker infrastructures to serve as on-premises FaaS infrastructures ? Define functions for Serverless applications with Docker containers In Detail Serverless applications have gained a lot of popularity among developers and are currently the buzzwords in the tech market. Docker and serverless are two terms that go hand-in-hand. This book will start by explaining serverless and Function-as-a-Service (FaaS) concepts, and why they are important. Then, it will introduce the concepts of containerization and how Docker fits into the Serverless ideology. It will explore the architectures and components of three major Docker-based FaaS platforms, how to deploy and how to use their CLI. Then, this book will discuss how to set up and operate a production-grade Docker cluster. We will cover all concepts of FaaS frameworks with practical use cases, followed by deploying and orchestrating these serverless systems using Docker. Finally, we will also explore advanced topics and prototypes for FaaS architectures in the last chapter. By the end of this book, you will be in a position to build and deploy your own FaaS platform using Docker. Style and approach A practical guide that offers a simple way to easily understand Serverless Applications utilizing Docker as the development environment.

Witty and irreverent, this is the first in an irresistible crime series set in Tsarist Russia in the 1890s from the award-winning Michael Pearce. Tsarist Russia in the 1890s. Dmitri Kameron, a young lawyer, must deal with the disappearance of a well-connected young woman. She has been shipped off to Siberia, in one of the prison wagons outside the Court House. But is this a bureaucratic bungle or something more calculated? On a journey to the furthest outposts of Russia, Dimitri’s search becomes horribly complicated. To unearth the truth in a treacherous world of Russian officialdom he is forced to make some strange allies, not least among them the redoubtable Milk-Drinkers…

Owning a dog is a huge responsibility but extremely rewarding. When you decide to welcome a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel into your home, you have to consider not only how he will fit into your lifestyle but also what you can offer him in return. He will need regular exercise, feeding, games and companionship as well as daily care.As a good owner, it is your responsibility to keep your Cavalier King Charles Spaniel fit and healthy. If you follow the basic guidelines in this book and socialize him, feed a nutritious diet, exercise him adequately, groom and play with him, you can prevent many common health problems. However, it is important that you learn to recognize the warning signs of problems and diseases so that you can treat them yourself or seek professional help from your vet before they get worse. Prevention is always preferable to cure, and a healthy, contented dog will become your trusted companion for many years.

Building efficient Python applications at minimal cost by adopting serverless architectures About This Book ? Design and set up a data flow between cloud services and custom business logic ? Make your applications efficient and reliable using serverless architecture ? Build and deploy scalable serverless Python APIs Who This Book Is For This book is for Python developers who would like to learn about serverless architecture. Python programming knowledge is assumed. What You Will Learn ? Understand how AWS Lambda and Microsoft Azure Functions work and use them to create an application ? Explore various triggers and how to select them, based on the problem statement ? Build deployment packages for Lambda functions ? Master the finer details about building Lambda functions and versioning ? Log and monitor serverless applications ? Learn about security in AWS and Lambda functions ? Scale up serverless applications to handle huge workloads and serverless distributed systems in production ? Understand SAM model deployment in AWS Lambda In Detail Serverless architectures allow you to build and run applications and services without having to manage the infrastructure. Many companies have adopted this architecture to save cost and improve scalability. This book will help you design serverless architectures for your applications with AWS and Python. The book is divided into three modules. The first module explains the fundamentals of serverless architecture and how AWS lambda functions work. In the next module, you will learn to build, release, and deploy your application to production. You will also learn to log and test your application. In the third module, we will take you through advanced topics such as building a serverless API for your application. You will also learn to troubleshoot and monitor your app and master AWS lambda programming concepts with API references. Moving on, you will also learn how to scale up serverless applications and handle distributed serverless systems in production. By the end of the book, you will be equipped with the knowledge required to build scalable and cost-efficient Python applications with a serverless framework. Style and approach The book takes a pragmatic approach, using a real-world example to demonstrate building efficient, secure, and scalable serverless applications.

Improve the speed of your code and optimize the performance of your apps About This Book ? Understand the common performance pitfalls and improve your application’s performance ? Get to grips with multi-threaded and asynchronous programming in C# ? Develop highly performant applications on .NET Core using microservice architecture Who This Book Is For This book is for .NET developers looking at improving the speed of their code or simply wanting to take their skills to the next level. Basic C# knowledge is assumed. What You Will Learn ? Measure application performance using BenchmarkDotNet ? Explore the techniques to write multithreaded applications ? Leverage TPL and PLinq libraries to perform asynchronous operations ? Get familiar with data structures to write optimized code ? Understand design techniques to increase your application’s performance ? Learn about memory management techniques in .NET Core ? Develop a containerized application based on microservices architecture ? Learn tools and techniques to monitor application performance In Detail While writing an application, performance is paramount. Performance tuning for realworld applications often involves activities geared toward fnding bottlenecks; however, this cannot solve the dreaded problem of slower code. If you want to improve the speed of your code and optimize an application's performance, then this book is for you. C# 7 and .NET Core 2.0 High Performance begins with an introduction to the new features of what?explaining how they help in improving an application's performance. Learn to identify the bottlenecks in writing programs and highlight common performance pitfalls, and learn strategies to detect and resolve these issues early. You will explore multithreading and asynchronous programming with .NET Core and learn the importance and effcient use of data structures. This is followed with memory management techniques and design guidelines to increase an application’s performance. Gradually, the book will show you the importance of microservices architecture for building highly performant applications and implementing resiliency and security in .NET Core. After reading this book, you will learn how to structure and build scalable, optimized, and robust applications in C#7 and .NET. Style and approach This book will be a step by step easy to follow guide with focused examples to increase performance of applications and provide optimization techniques.

Leverage the power of Python and its de facto GUI framework to build highly interactive interfaces About This Book ? The fundamentals of Python and GUI programming with Tkinter. ? Create multiple cross-platform projects by integrating a host of third-party libraries and tools. ? Build beautiful and highly-interactive user interfaces that target multiple devices. Who This Book Is For This book is for beginners to GUI programming who haven’t used Tkinter yet and are eager to start building great-looking and user-friendly GUIs. Prior knowledge of Python programming is expected. What You Will Learn ? Create a scrollable frame via theCanvas widget ? Use the pack geometry manager andFrame widget to control layout ? Learn to choose a data structurefor a game ? Group Tkinter widgets, such asbuttons, canvases, and labels ? Create a highly customizablePython editor ? Design and lay out a chat window In Detail Tkinter is a modular, cross-platform application development toolkit for Python. When developing GUI-rich applications, the most important choices are which programming language(s) and which GUI framework to use. Python and Tkinter prove to be a great combination. This book will get you familiar with Tkinter by having you create fun and interactive projects. These projects have varying degrees of complexity. We'll start with a simple project, where you'll learn the fundamentals of GUI programming and the basics of working with a Tkinter application. After getting the basics right, we'll move on to creating a project of slightly increased complexity, such as a highly customizable Python editor. In the next project, we'll crank up the complexity level to create an instant messaging app. Toward the end, we'll discuss various ways of packaging our applications so that they can be shared and installed on other machines without the user having to learn how to install and run Python programs. Style and approach Step by Step guide with real world examples

Enhance your software deployment workflow using containers About This Book ? Get up-and-running with basic to advanced concepts of Docker ? Get acquainted with concepts such as Docker containers, Docker images, orchestrators and so on. ? Practical test-based approach to learning a prominent containerization tool Who This Book Is For This book is targeted at system administrators, operations engineers, DevOps engineers, and developers or stakeholders who are interested in getting started with Docker from scratch. No prior experience with Docker Containers is required. What You Will Learn ? Containerize your traditional or microservice-based application ? Share or ship your application as an immutable container image ? Build a Docker swarm and a Kubernetes cluster in the cloud ? Run a highly distributed application using Docker Swarm or Kubernetes ? Update or rollback a distributed application with zero downtime ? Secure your applications via encapsulation, networks, and secrets ? Know your options when deploying your containerized app into the cloud In Detail Docker containers have revolutionized the software supply chain in small and big enterprises. Never before has a new technology so rapidly penetrated the top 500 enterprises worldwide. Companies that embrace containers and containerize their traditional mission-critical applications have reported savings of at least 50% in total maintenance cost and a reduction of 90% (or more) of the time required to deploy new versions of those applications. Furthermore they are benefitting from increased security just by using containers as opposed to running applications outside containers. This book starts from scratch, introducing you to Docker fundamentals and setting up an environment to work with it. Then we delve into concepts such as Docker containers, Docker images, Docker Compose, and so on. We will also cover the concepts of deployment, orchestration, networking, and security. Furthermore, we explain Docker functionalities on public clouds such as AWS. By the end of this book, you will have hands-on experience working with Docker containers and orchestrators such as SwarmKit and Kubernetes. Style and approach The simple end-to-end guide will help you learn everything about how to containerize, ship, and run both a traditional application and a modern microservice-based application on-premise or in the cloud.

Explore GIS processing and learn to work with various tools and libraries in Python. About This Book ? Analyze and process geospatial data using Python libraries such as; Anaconda, GeoPandas ? Leverage new ArcGIS API to process geospatial data for the cloud. ? Explore various Python geospatial web and machine learning frameworks. Who This Book Is For The audience for this book includes students, developers, and geospatial professionals who need a reference book that covers GIS data management, analysis, and automation techniques with code libraries built in Python 3. What You Will Learn ? Manage code libraries and abstract geospatial analysis techniques using Python 3. ? Explore popular code libraries that perform specific tasks for geospatial analysis. ? Utilize code libraries for data conversion, data management, web maps, and REST API creation. ? Learn techniques related to processing geospatial data in the cloud. ? Leverage features of Python 3 with geospatial databases such as PostGIS, SQL Server, and SpatiaLite. In Detail Python comes with a host of open source libraries and tools that help you work on professional geoprocessing tasks without investing in expensive tools. This book will introduce Python developers, both new and experienced, to a variety of new code libraries that have been developed to perform geospatial analysis, statistical analysis, and data management. This book will use examples and code snippets that will help explain how Python 3 differs from Python 2, and how these new code libraries can be used to solve age-old problems in geospatial analysis. You will begin by understanding what geoprocessing is and explore the tools and libraries that Python 3 offers. You will then learn to use Python code libraries to read and write geospatial data. You will then learn to perform geospatial queries within databases and learn PyQGIS to automate analysis within the QGIS mapping suite. Moving forward, you will explore the newly released ArcGIS API for Python and ArcGIS Online to perform geospatial analysis and create ArcGIS Online web maps. Further, you will deep dive into Python Geospatial web frameworks and learn to create a geospatial REST API. Style and approach The book takes a practical, example-driven approach to teach you GIS analysis and automation techniques with Python 3.

Practical, hands-on solutions in Python to overcome any problem in Machine Learning About This Book ? Master the advanced concepts, methodologies, and use cases of machine learning ? Build ML applications for analytics, NLP and computer vision domains ? Solve the most common problems in building machine learning models Who This Book Is For This book is for the intermediate users such as machine learning engineers, data engineers, data scientists, and more, who want to solve simple to complex machine learning problems in their day-to-day work and build powerful and efficient machine learning models. A basic understanding of the machine learning concepts and some experience with Python programming is all you need to get started with this book. What You Will Learn ? Select the right algorithm to derive the best solution in ML domains ? Perform predictive analysis effciently using ML algorithms ? Predict stock prices using the stock index value ? Perform customer analytics for an e-commerce platform ? Build recommendation engines for various domains ? Build NLP applications for the health domain ? Build language generation applications using different NLP techniques ? Build computer vision applications such as facial emotion recognition In Detail Machine learning (ML) helps you find hidden insights from your data without the need for explicit programming. This book is your key to solving any kind of ML problem you might come across in your job. You’ll encounter a set of simple to complex problems while building ML models, and you'll not only resolve these problems, but you’ll also learn how to build projects based on each problem, with a practical approach and easy-to-follow examples. The book includes a wide range of applications: from analytics and NLP, to computer vision domains. Some of the applications you will be working on include stock price prediction, a recommendation engine, building a chat-bot, a facial expression recognition system, and many more. The problem examples we cover include identifying the right algorithm for your dataset and use cases, creating and labeling datasets, getting enough clean data to carry out processing, identifying outliers, overftting datasets, hyperparameter tuning, and more. Here, you'll also learn to make more timely and accurate predictions. In addition, you'll deal with more advanced use cases, such as building a gaming bot, building an extractive summarization tool for medical documents, and you'll also tackle the problems faced while building an ML model. By the end of this book, you'll be able to fine-tune your models as per your needs to deliver maximum productivity. Style and approach This book is a step-by-step guide on how to develop machine learning applications for various domains. Each chapter of this book contains the practical guide on how to build specific machine learning applications from its base-line approach to the best possible approach. Basic necessary concepts, conman mistakes for every approach and optimization techniques are discussed for each application.

Get certified as an Azure architect by acing the 70-535 Architecting Microsoft Solutions (70-535) exam using this comprehensive guide with full coverage of the exam objectives About This Book ? Learn to successfully design and architect powerful solutions on the Azure Cloud platform ? Enhance your skills with mock tests and practice questions ? A detailed certification guide that will help you ace the 70-535 exam with confidence Who This Book Is For This book is for architects and experienced developers, who are gearing up for the 70-535 exam. Technical architects interested in learning more about designing Cloud solutions will also find this book useful. What You Will Learn ? Use Azure Virtual Machines to design effective VM deployments ? Implement architecture styles, like serverless computing and microservices ? Secure your data using different security features and design effective security strategies ? Design Azure storage solutions using various storage features ? Create identity management solutions for your applications and resources ? Architect state-of-the-art solutions using Artificial Intelligence, IoT, and Azure Media Services ? Use different automation solutions that are incorporated in the Azure platform In Detail Architecting Microsoft Azure Solutions: Exam Guide 70-535 will get Azure architects and developers up-to-date with the latest updates on Azure from an architecture and design perspective. The book includes all the topics that are still relevant from the previous 70-534 exam, and is updated with latest topics covered, including Artificial Intelligence, IoT, and architecture styles. This exam guide is divided into six parts, where the first part will give you a good understanding of how to design a compute infrastructure. It also dives into designing networking and data implementations. You will learn about designing solutions for Platform Service and operations. Next, you will be able to secure your resources and data, as well as design a mechanism for governance and policies. You will also understand the objective of designing solutions for Platform Services, by covering Artificial Intelligence, IoT, media services, and messaging solution concepts. Finally, you will cover the designing for operations objective. This objective covers application and platform monitoring, as well as designing alerting strategies and operations automation strategies. By the end of the book, you'll have met all of the exam objectives, and will have all the information you need to ace the 70-535 exam. You will also have become an expert in designing solutions on Microsoft Azure. Style and approach This book offers clear and crisp explanations of the exam objectives that will help you with all the information needed to pass the 70-535 exam. The detail oriented approach will make you an expert on designing solutions on Microsoft Azure.

Unleash the power of the Raspberry Pi 3 board to create interesting IoT projects About This Book ? Learn how to interface various sensors and actuators with the Raspberry Pi 3 and send this data to the cloud. ? Explore the possibilities offered by the IoT by using the Raspberry Pi to upload measurements to Google Docs. ? A practical guide that will help you create a Raspberry Pi robot using IoT modules. Who This Book Is For If you're a developer or electronics engineer and are curious about the Internet of Things, then this is the book for you. With only a rudimentary understanding of electronics, the Raspberry Pi, or similar credit-card sized computers, and some programming experience, you will be taught to develop state-of-the-art solutions for the Internet of Things in an instant. What You Will Learn ? Understand the concept of IoT and get familiar with the features of Raspberry Pi ? Learn to integrate sensors and actuators with the Raspberry Pi ? Communicate with cloud and Raspberry using communication protocols such as HTTP and MQTT ? Build DIY projects using Raspberry Pi, JavaScript/node.js and cloud (AWS) ? Explore the best practices to ensure the security of your connected devices In Detail This book is designed to introduce you to IoT and Raspberry Pi 3. It will help you create interesting projects, such as setting up a weather station and measuring temperature and humidity using sensors; it will also show you how to send sensor data to cloud for visualization in real-time. Then we shift our focus to leveraging IoT for accomplishing complex tasks, such as facial recognition using the Raspberry Pi camera module, AWS Rekognition, and the AWS S3 service. Furthermore, you will master security aspects by building a security surveillance system to protect your premises from intruders using Raspberry Pi, a camera, motion sensors, and AWS Cloud. We'll also create a real-world project by building a Wi-Fi – controlled robot car with Raspberry Pi using a motor driver circuit, DC motor, and a web application. This book is a must-have as it provides a practical overview of IoT’s existing architectures, communication protocols, and security threats at the software and hardware levels—security being the most important aspect of IoT. Style and approach Internet of Things with the Raspberry Pi 3 contains the tools needed to design, sense the environment, communicate over the Internet, and visualize the results.

This book teaches you everything you need to know to create stunning Vaadin applications for all your web development needs. Deep dive into advanced Vaadin concepts while creating your very own sample Vaadin application. About This Book ? A one-stop book to enhance your working knowledge with Vaadin. ? Explore and implement the architecture of Vaadin applications. ? Delve into advanced topics such as data binding, authentication and authorization to improvise your application’s performance. Who This Book Is For If you area Software developer with previous experience with Vaadin and would like to gain more comprehensive and advanced skills in Vaadin web development, then this book is for you. What You Will Learn ? Modularize your Vaadin applications with Maven ? Create high quality custom components ? Implement robust and secure authentication and authorization mechanisms ? Connect to SQL databases efficiently ? Design robust CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) views ? Generate stunning reports ? Improve resource consumption by using lazy loading In Detail Vaadin is an open-source Java framework used to build modern user interfaces. Vaadin 8 simplifies application development and improves user experience. The book begins with an overview of the architecture of Vaadin applications and the way you can organize your code in modules.Then it moves to the more advanced topics about advanced topics such as internationalization, authentication, authorization, and database connectivity. The book also teaches you how to implement CRUD views, how to generate printable reports, and how to manage data with lazy loading. By the end of this book you will be able to architect, implement, and deploy stunning Vaadin applications, and have the knowledge to master web development with Vaadin. Style and approach This book follows a hands-on approach and takes the readers through practical examples of how to create and deploy Vaadin applications. This book teaches the readers about the Vaadin architecture. It then moves on to the more advanced topics about advanced topics such as internationalization, authentication, authorization, and database connectivity. This step by step guide equips the readers with all they need to know to use Vaadin for web development.

Leverage the power of PostgreSQL 10 to design, administer and maintain a high-performance database solution About This Book ? Obtain optimal PostgreSQL 10 database performance, ranging from initial design to routine maintenance ? Fine tune the performance of your queries and avoid the common pitfalls that can slow your system down ? Contains tips and tricks on scaling successful database installations, and ensuring a highly available PostgreSQL solution Who This Book Is For This book is designed for database administrators and PostgreSQL architects who already use or plan to exploit the features of PostgreSQL 10 to design and maintain a high-performance PostgreSQL database. A working knowledge of SQL, and some experience with PostgreSQL will be helpful in getting the most out of this book. What You Will Learn ? Learn best practices for scaling PostgreSQL 10 installations ? Discover the best hardware for developing high-performance PostgreSQL applications ? Benchmark your whole system – from hardware to application ? Learn by real examples how server parameters impact performance ? Discover PostgreSQL 10 features for partitioning and parallel query ? Monitor your server, both inside and outside the database ? Design and implement a good replication system on PostgreSQL 10 In Detail PostgreSQL database servers have a common set of problems that they encounter as their usage gets heavier and requirements get more demanding. Peek into the future of your PostgreSQL 10 database's problems today. Know the warning signs to look for and how to avoid the most common issues before they even happen. Surprisingly, most PostgreSQL database applications evolve in the same way—choose the right hardware, tune the operating system and server memory use, optimize queries against the database and CPUs with the right indexes, and monitor every layer, from hardware to queries, using tools from inside and outside PostgreSQL. Also, using monitoring insight, PostgreSQL database applications continuously rework the design and configuration. On reaching the limits of a single server, they break things up; connection pooling, caching, partitioning, replication, and parallel queries can all help handle increasing database workloads. By the end of this book, you will have all the knowledge you need to design, run, and manage your PostgreSQL solution while ensuring high performance and high availability Style and approach This book has been organized in such a manner that will help you understand basic PostgreSQL 10 performance tuning to an advanced-level configuration.

Design and implement scalable and maintainable RESTful solutions with Node.js 10 About This Book ? Create rich and scalable RESTful API solutions from scratch ? Explore the new features of Node.js 10, Express 4.0, and MongoDB ? Integrate MongoDB in your Node.js application to store and secure your data Who This Book Is For If you are a web developer keen to enrich your development skills to create server-side RESTful applications based on the Node.js platform, this book is for you. Some knowledge of REST would be an added advantage, but is definitely not a necessity. What You Will Learn ? Install, develop, and test your own Node.js user modules ? Understand the differences between HTTP and RESTful applications ? Use self-descriptive URLs and set accurate HTTP status codes ? Eliminate third-party dependencies in your tests with mocking ? Implement automation tests for a REST-enabled endpoint with Mocha ? Secure your services with NoSQL database integration within Node.js applications ? Integrate a simple frontend using JavaScript libraries available on a CDN server In Detail When building RESTful services, it is really important to choose the right framework. Node.js, with its asynchronous, event-driven architecture, is exactly the right choice for building RESTful APIs. This third edition of RESTful Web API Design with Node.js 10 will teach you to create scalable and rich RESTful applications based on the Node.js platform. You will be introduced to the latest NPM package handler and understand how to use it to customize your RESTful development process. You will begin by understanding the key principle that makes an HTTP application a RESTful-enabled application. After writing a simple HTTP request handler, you will create and test Node.js modules using automated tests and mock objects; explore using the NoSQL database, MongoDB, to store data; and get to grips with using self-descriptive URLs. You’ll learn to set accurate HTTP status codes along with understanding how to keep your applications backward-compatible. Also, while implementing a full-fledged RESTful service, you will use Swagger to document the API and implement automation tests for a REST-enabled endpoint with Mocha. Lastly, you will explore some authentication techniques to secure your application. Style and approach Step-by-step practical guide to building RESTful applications

Develop, test, and deploy decentralized applications for Ethereum platform About This Book ? Build your first Ethereum Dapp with Truffle: the most popular Ethereum development framework ? Build, compile, and deploy smart contracts in your development environment ? Embrace Blockchains and utilize it to create new generation of secured and scalable apps Who This Book Is For This book is for web developers who are interested in the new world blockchain. Some basic understanding of JavaScript and web services is required. No prior knowledge of Decentralized applications or blockchain is required. What You Will Learn ? Understand the fundamentals of Truffle and Web3 ? Build a decentralized application with Truffle, while choosing the correct Ethereum client ? Connect your Dapp to Ethereum clients including Geth, Parity, and Ganache ? Migrate and test your Dapp with the correct networks such as Ropsten and Rinkeby ? Package a decentralized application into a user-friendly product by integrating Truffle with JavaScript frameworks such as Angular, React and Vue ? Explore tools including Ethereum Package Manager, the Registrar and browser wallets, and exploit third-party smart contract libraries. ? Evaluate the common migration pitfalls and how to mitigate them In Detail Truffle is a world-class development environment, testing framework and asset pipeline for Ethereum, aiming to make life as an Ethereum developer easier. If you are a web developer wanting to try your hand at developing Dapps with Truffle, then this is the book for you. This book will teach you to write smart contracts and build Dapps with Truffle. You will begin with covering the basics of Truffle, briefly explaining how it integrates Solidity and Web3, in orderto start building a mini decentralized application. Also, you will dive into migration, testing and integrating Truffle with the use of popular JavaScript frameworks. Lastly, you will ship your decentralized application and package it into a product. Moreover, you will go through the best practices in Truffle,so as to increase your proficiency in building Dapps with Truffle. By the end of the book, you will be able to write smart contracts and build decentralized applications with Truffle on Ethereum blockchains. Style and approach An intuitive, step-by-step and engaging guide that will teach you to build a real-world, decentralized application with Truffle.

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

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