Wow! eBook – Blog

Book Description

The Developer’s Code isn’t about the code you write, it’s about the code you live by.

There are no trite superlatives here. Packed with lessons learned from more than a decade of software development experience, author Ka Wai Cheung takes you through the programming profession from nearly every angle to uncover ways of sustaining a healthy connection with your work.

You’ll see how to stay productive even on the longest projects. You’ll create a workflow that works with you, not against you. And you’ll learn how to deal with clients whose goals don’t align with your own. If you don’t handle them just right, issues such as these can crush even the most seasoned, motivated developer. But with the right approach, you can transcend these common problems and become the professional developer you want to be.

In more than 50 nuggets of wisdom, you’ll learn:

• Why many traditional approaches to process and development roles in this industry are wrong—and how to sniff them out.
• Why you must always say “no” to the software pet project and open-ended timelines.
• How to incorporate code generation into your development process, and why its benefits go far beyond just faster code output.
• What to do when your client or end user disagrees with an approach you believe in.
• How to pay your knowledge forward to future generations Download Now »

Book Description

Making video games is hard work that requires technical skills, a lot of planning, and—most critically—a commitment to completing the project. With this hands-on guide, you’ll learn step-by-step how to create a real 2D game from start to finish. In the process, you’ll use Impact, the JavaScript game framework that works with HTML5’s Canvas element.

Not only will you pick up important tips about game design, you’ll also learn how to publish Impact games to the Web, desktop, and mobile—including a method to package your game as a native iOS app. Packed with screen shots and sample code, this book is ideal for game developers of all levels.

• Set up your development environment and discover Impact’s advantages
• Build a complete game with core logic, collision detection, and player and monster behavior
• Learn why a game design document is critical before you start building
• Display and animate game artwork with sprite sheets
• Add sound effects, background music, and text
• Create screens to display stats and in-game status
• Prepare to publish by baking your game files into a single file

Table of Contents
Chapter 1. Introduction To Impact Download Now »

Book Description

Whether you develop web applications or mobile apps, the OAuth 2.0 protocol will save a lot of headaches. This concise introduction shows you how OAuth provides a single authorization technology across numerous APIs on the Web, so you can securely access users’ data—such as user profiles, photos, videos, and contact lists—to improve their experience of your application.

Through code examples, step-by-step instructions, and use-case examples, you’ll learn how to apply OAuth 2.0 to your server-side web application, client-side app, or mobile app. Find out what it takes to access social graphs, store data in a user’s online filesystem, and perform many other tasks.

• Understand OAuth 2.0’s role in authentication and authorization
• Learn how OAuth’s Authorization Code flow helps you integrate data from different business applications
• Discover why native mobile apps use OAuth differently than mobile web apps
• Use OpenID Connect and eliminate the need to build your own authentication system

Table of Contents
Chapter 1. Introduction
Chapter 2. Server-Side Web Application Flow
Chapter 3. Client-Side Web Applications Flow
Chapter 4. Resource Owner Password Flow
Chapter 5. Client Credentials Flow Download Now »

Book Description

In response to the success of the first edition of Foundation Game Design with Flash, Rex van der Spuy has revised and updated all the code to meet current programming best practices, and the focus is now on accurate ActionScript 3.0, regardless of the IDE that you use.

We’ve all sneaked the odd five minutes here or there playing the latest Flash game that someone sent around the office, but creating those games is trickier than it looks. The aim of Foundation Game Design with ActionScript 3.0 is to take you, even if you’ve minimal multimedia or programming experience, through a series of step-by-step examples and detailed case studies—to the point where you’ll have the skills to independently design any conceivable 2D game using Flash and ActionScript.

Foundation Game Design with ActionScript 3.0 is a non-technical one-stop shop for all the most important skills and techniques a beginning game designer needs to build games with Flash from scratch. Whether you’re creating quick blasts of viral amusement, or more in-depth action or adventure titles, this is the book for you.

• Focused and friendly introduction to designing games with Flash and ActionScript
• Detailed case studies of Flash games
• Essential techniques for building games, with each chapter gently building on the skills of preceding chapters
• Modern best practices and new content on ActionScript 3.0
• Also covers asset creation in Photoshop and Illustrator Download Now »

Book Description

PhoneGap is a growing and leading open-source mobile web apps development framework that lets developers build JavaScript and HTML5-based web applications with native wrappers for more than six mobile platforms, including iOS, Android, and BlackBerry. This framework lets you build HTML- and JavaScript-based apps and still take advantage of native mobile device capabilities like camera, localStorage, geolocation, storage and much more, irrespective of the mobile platform you target. It also lets you use more specialized JavaScript frameworks like jQuery Mobile and more.

Beginning PhoneGap is a definitive, one-of-a-kind book that teaches the fundamentals and strategies behind cross-platform mobile application development. Instead of learning languages like Objective-C, focus on building apps from day one for Android, iOS, Blackberry, WebOS and Symbian—without the complexities of these platforms.

This book shows how to build apps which makes use of Google Local Search to create a Restaurant finder apps (which uses Maps to layout locations and uses internal database to store your favorite restaurants. Furthermore, you’ll learn how to extend PhoneGap’s functionality by using PhoneGap plugins to write apps like Dropbox (syncing files in the background outside HTML/JavaScript code and in native code).

By the time you finish Beginning PhoneGap, you’ll know PhoneGap inside and out, and, consequently, be able to develop mobile web apps faster and more efficiently than ever before. Make more money in less time! Download Now »

Book Description

jQuery is one of the most popular and powerful JavaScript libraries available today. It’s widely used to create rich user experiences and to simplify website and application development. It is the tool of choice for web developers everywhere and sets the standard for simplicity, flexibility and extensibility.

In Pro jQuery, seasoned author Adam Freeman explains how to get the most from jQuery by focusing on the features you need for your project. He starts with the nuts and bolts and shows you everything through to advanced features, going in depth to give you the knowledge you need. Getting the most from jQuery is essential to truly mastering web development.

What you’ll learn

• Understand the capabilities of jQuery and why it is special
• Use the core of jQuery to enrich HTML, including tables, forms and data displays
• Use jQuery UI to create rich and fluid user experiences
• Use rich interactions such as drag and drop, sortable data and touch sensitivity
• Use jQuery Mobile to create touch-enabled interfaces for mobile devices and tablets
• Extend jQuery by creating custom plugins and widgets

Each topic is covered clearly and concisely, and is packed with the details you’ll need to learn to be truly effective with jQuery. The most important features are given a no-nonsense Download Now »