Software Engineering and Programming Books

Introduction

On this page are a range of books to which are recommended for software development.

Select from programming books on :-

Software Engineering

Software Engineering: A Practitioner's Approach

For over 20 years, Software Engineering: A Practitioner's Approach has been the best selling guide to software engineering for students and industry professionals alike. The sixth edition continues to lead the way in software engineering. A new Part 4 on "Web Engineering" presents a complete engineering approach for the analysis, design, and testing of Web Applications, increasingly important for today's students. Additionally, the UML coverage has been enhanced and significantly increased in this new edition. The pedagogy has also been improved in the new edition to include sidebars. They provide information on relevant software tools, specific work flow for specific kinds of projects, and additional information on various topics. Additionally, Pressman provides a running case study called "Safe Home" throughout the book, which provides the application of software engineering to an industry project. New additions to the book also include chapters on the Agile Process Models, Requirements Engineering, and Design Engineering. The book has been completely updated and contains hundreds of new references to software tools that address all important topics in the book. The ancillary material for the book includes an expansion of the case study, which illustrates it with UML diagrams. The On-Line Learning Centre includes resources for both instructors and students such as checklists, 700 categorized web references, Powerpoints, a test bank, and a software engineering library-containing over 500 software engineering papers.
 

Software Engineering (International Computer Science Series)

The 8th edition of the best-selling introduction to software engineering is now updated with three new chapters on state-of-the-art topics. New chapters in the 8th edition are: security engineering, showing you how you can design software to resist attacks and recover from damage; service-oriented software engineering, explaining how reusable web services can be used to develop new applications; and aspect-oriented software development, introducing new techniques based on the separation of concerns. The key features are: includes the latest developments in software engineering theory and practice, integrated with relevant aspects of systems engineering; extensive coverage of agile methods and reuse; integrated coverage of system safety, security and reliability - illustrating best practice in developing critical systems; two running case studies (an information system and a control system) illuminate different stages of the software life cycle. Online resources include resources for students and instructors. In addition, a rich collection of resources, including links to other web sites, teaching material on related courses and additional chapters is available. Ian Sommerville is now Professor of Software Engineering at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.
 

Agile Management for Software Engineering: Applying the Theory of Constraints for Business Results

This book is certainly about software development management, but it is also a book about business. Managers can no longer afford to discuss these two topics independently. This book is meant to eliminate the seat-of-the-pants intuition and rough approximations that have been far too prevalent in software development management. The growing popularity of agile methods has shown that a healthy balance between strict process and individual flexibility can be achieved. David Anderson takes it a step farther, and explains how the healthy balance of agility can help businesses become more profitable. The result is a book that will allow managers to foster teams that produce better software, less expensively, on time, and with fewer defects.
 

C++

C++ Coding Standards : Rules, Guidelines, and Best Practices

Consistent, high-quality coding standards improve software quality, reduce time-to-market, promote teamwork, eliminate time wasted on inconsequential matters, and simplify maintenance. Now, two of the world's most respected C++ experts distill the rich collective experience of the global C++ community into a set of coding standards that every developer and development team can understand and use as a basis for their own coding standards. The authors cover virtually every facet of C++ programming: design and coding style, functions, operators, class design, inheritance, construction/destruction, copying, assignment, namespaces, modules, templates, genericity, exceptions, STL containers and algorithms, and more. Each standard is described concisely, with practical examples. From type definition to error handling, this book presents C++ best practices, including some that have only recently been identified and standardized-techniques you may not know even if you've used C++ for years. Along the way, you'll find answers to questions like: What's worth standardizing - and what isn't?; What are the best ways to code for scalability?; What are the elements of a rational error handling policy?; How (and why) do you avoid unnecessary initialization, cyclic, and definitional dependencies?; When (and how) should you use static and dynamic polymorphism together?; How do you practice "safe" overriding?; When should you provide a no-fail swap?; Why and how should you prevent exceptions from propagating across module boundaries?; Why shouldn't you write namespace declarations or directives in a header file?; Why should you use STL vector and string instead of arrays?; How do you choose the right STL search or sort algorithm?; and What rules should you follow to ensure type-safe code?. Whether you're working alone or with others, C++ Coding Standards will help you write cleaner code - and write it faster, with fewer hassles and less frustration.
 

C++: A Beginner's Guide

Essential skills made easy! Written by Herb Schildt, the world's leading programming author, this step-by-step book is ideal for first-time programmers or those new to C++. The modular approach of this series, including sample projects and progress checks, makes it easy to learn to use C++ at your own pace.
 

Beginning C++ Game Programming

Unlike any other on the market, this book approaches C++ from a game programming perspective. Offering a thorough and modern introduction to C++, this book has everything you need in order to learn the fundamentals of C++ and game programming basics. While you should have some familiarity with programming, there is no C++ or game programming experience necessary -- the book starts you off right at the beginning of C++ and game programming. You'll glide through small, but complete programs, that are usually game-related, for each new concept, and a complete game program at the end of each chapter. Finally, at the end of the book, you'll be presented with a game project that combines most of the major topics covered. Skillfully written in an easy-to-understand manner, this book is a great place to get started with game programming!
 

Developing C++ Software

Teaches C programmers making the transition to C++ and complete novices not only how to produce robust, quality software but also how to use templates in the C++ language. Features a problem solving approach to problems; treats C++ as a language separate from C; and places emphasis on the foundations and basics of the C++ language. Topics include abstraction in programming, primitive data types, construction, control flow, functional abstraction, arrays, classes, overloading, pointer types and inheritance.
 

PHP

PHP in a Nutshell

Now installed on more than 20 million Internet domains around the world, PHP is an undisputed leader in web programming languages. The database connectivity, powerful extensions, and rich object-orientation are all reasons for its popularity, but nearly everyone would agree that, above all, PHP is one of the easiest languages to learn and use for developing dynamic web applications. The ease of development and simplicity of PHP, combined with a large community and expansive repository of open source PHP libraries, make it a favorite of web designers and developers worldwide. PHP in a Nutshell is a complete reference to the core of the language as well as the most popular PHP extensions. This book doesn't try to compete with or replace the widely available online documentation. Instead, it is designed to provide depth and breadth that can't be found elsewhere PHP in a Nutshell provides the maximum information density on PHP, without all the fluff and extras that get in the way. The topic grouping, tips, and examples in this book complement the online guide and make this an essential reference for every PHP programmer. This book focuses on the functions commonly used by a majority of developers, so you can look up the information you need quickly. The topics include: object-oriented PHP; networking; string manipulation; working with files; database interaction; XML; Multimedia creation; and Mathematics. Whether you're just getting started or have years of experience in PHP development, PHP in a Nutshell is a valuable addition to your desk library.
 

Programming PHP

Co-authored by its creator, Programming PHP is a nitty-gritty guide to PHP development. PHP is an open-source scripting language used to build dynamic Web sites. In this title, the authors go step-by-step through the language, including brief coverage of common applications such as graphics or database work.

The first six chapters explain PHP essentials, including data types, functions, string manipulation, arrays and objects. Next comes a look at basic Web techniques, followed by an introduction to database access. There is a chapter on generating graphics with the GD extension library and another on creating Adobe PDF documents. The authors then show how to parse XML, and there is a section on security with some handy tips for protecting PHP sites. A chapter on application techniques looks at code libraries, performance tuning and handling errors. Next there is an explanation of how to build extensions to PHP using C, followed by a look at Windows issues such as COM and ODBC. Finally, there is a complete reference to the standard functions in PHP 4.0.

This is not an advanced programming book, but even experienced coders will discover new things about the language and get a clearer understanding of how PHP works. The specialist chapters such as those on XML or PHP extensions tend to be introductory, so readers will need further resources.
 

PHP and MySQL Web Development

The definitive best-selling book on combining these two open source tools to create dynamic Web sites - updated for PHP 5 and MySQL 5. A new, updated, and revised edition of the best-selling #1 book on any open source programming topic. New edition updates the material and code to MySQL 5 and PHP 5, and includes new coverage of PHP's object model and validation.
 

Visual Basic

Visual Basic in Easy Steps

Guide for beginner starting off in Visual Basic. Begins from a basic level described in an easy to follow manner.
 

Visual Basic 2005 Programmer's Reference

Visual Basic 2005 adds new features to Visual Basic (VB) that make it a more powerful programming language than ever before. This combined tutorial and reference describes VB 2005 from scratch, while also offering in-depth content for more advanced developers. Whether you're looking to learn the latest features of VB 2005 or you want a refresher of easily forgotten details, this book is an ideal resource. Well-known VB expert Rod Stephens features the basics of Visual Basic 2005 programming in the first half of the book. The second half serves as a reference that allows you to quickly locate information for specific language features. It's a comprehensive look at programming using the increased set of language options offered with the VB 2005 release, confirming that there has never been a better time to learn Visual Basic than now. What you will learn from this book: t he fundamental concepts of object-oriented programming with Visual Basic, including classes and structures, inheritance and interfaces, and generics; how an application can interact with its environment, save and load data in external sources, and use standard dialog controls; the syntax for declaring subroutines, functions, generics, classes, and other important language concepts. Who this book is for: This book is for programmers at all levels who are either looking to learn Visual Basic 2005 or have already mastered it and want some useful tips, tricks, and language details.
 

Looking For Something Else?