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Resources - Book Bytes |
| by Stephen M.H. Braitman - NBMA Director of Communications Book Bytes announces new publications of interest to our members and community in multimedia, technology, business, and culture. First appearance of each Book Bytes column is in the NBMA email events newsletter. To subscribe, send a blank email message to: nbmaevents-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. If you have a recommendation for review — and, especially, if you have published a book — send the information to . |
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June 2002 Computer Graphics Dictionary Roger T. Stevens 460 pages, $49.95 Charles River Media www.charlesriver.com Do fat fractals cause you itching? Worried about your linear depth cueing? When was the last time you experienced spline tessellation? The immense field of computer graphics has spawned a parallel language, and we should be grateful to Roger Stevens for containing it all in this valuable reference. There it can stay and not cause any harm! Seriously, this should be on the bookshelf of any computer or Web graphics designer. You'll find yourself constantly pulling it down and reading (finally!) concise, understandable explanations for just about any word or phrase connected with visualized media. Over 4,000 definitions and 1,000 illustrations. The Painter 7 WOW! Book Cher Threinen-Pendarvis 404 pages, $49.99 Peachpit Press www.peachpit.com This lavishly produced, beautiful book revels in the creative mastery that Corel's latest "natural media painting" software tool, Painter 7, can give someone who is dedicated to learning its possibilities. Threinen-Pendarvis (but I'd like to just call her Cher) uses great illustrations and well-structured tutorials to teach most of the critical techniques necessary to produce cutting-edge graphics. Carrying a theme throughout the book, she makes a darn good case for Painter 7 expanding the limits of what we consider art and "mere" illustration. The Official Guide to Miva Merchant 4.X Pamela Hazelton 295 pages, $42.95 Wordware Publishers www.wordware.com Miva Merchant is proclaimed "the most affordable and customizable online store development system available." Although I can't vouch for the superlative, I do know that it is much more user-friendly and more streamlined a system than some of the more highly visible (i.e., marketed) products out there. Looking at this easy-to-read a-to-z on Miva Merchant, it's not too far a stretch to say that Hazelton has communicated the product's strengths and weaknesses with clarity, simplicity, and good humor. Anyone contemplating an e-commerce site on a scale somewhat less than, say, a big-box outfit like WalMart or Amazon should investigate the product. The book is a worthy introduction. C#: How to Program - Introducing .Net and Web Services Harvey M. Deitel and others 1,568 pages, $74 Prentice Hall www.prenticehall.com If you really believe that Microsoft's .Net is going to take over the world, then C# is your language. Beyond C, beyond C++, C# is a new general purpose programming language optimized for the range of Web applications coming down the pike. At over 1,500 pages, Dr. Deitel & Company's book is overwhelmingly detailed on how to develop multi-tier, client/server, database-intensive, Internet- and Web-based applications. But then, it had better be. Look, I'm not a programmer, but if I were going to start from scratch in the new paradigm, I'd close my eyes and cast my lot in with .Net and use this book to get a very good job. Building Scalable and High Performance Java Web Applications Using J2EE Technologies Greg Barish 392 pages, $44.95 Addison Wesley www.aw.com If you're a Web developer using Sun's Java platform for multi-tier server-oriented enterprise applications, this is a fine place to hang your hat and learn-or at least reference-all the cool apps. Barish is obviously an expert, but better than that, a literate one, too! His writing style is fluid and cogent, with the understanding that the reader is probably a peer programmer who shares his enthusiasm for code magic. The book is relatively linear, meaning that each chapter uses the preceding information to expand on its subject. Real meaning: If you're less than proficient with J2EE, don't expect to crack open the book anywhere and get it 100% right away. This is a book that respects the comprehensive, careful approach. |
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