Wow! eBook – Blog

Book Description

Game jams are fun. They are a creative, exciting, social experience. The goal of a game jam is to design a video game, either alone or in teams, as fast as is humanly possible; usually in a single weekend.

The Game Jam Survival Guide, written to help you have more fun and achieve greater results at your next game jam by building a successful game without burning out, leads readers through each 12-hour phase of a 48-hour weekend game jam.

Weekend warriors: dominate your next game jam! If you follow the system shared in this book, you will be able to build an amazing game that you’re proud of and will entertain players, all in just one crazy 48-hour game jam weekend … and survive to tell the tale!

Embrace the best practices and techniques of past game jam winners and avoid common pitfalls along the way to the finish line. You too can survive a 48-hour game development marathon with your mind intact and an amazing game to show off to friends and family!

With The Game Jam Survival Guide you will learn the secret techniques that master game jammers use to create winning entries. It starts by showing you great ways to brainstorm and design a game based on a theme. It then moves on to highlight the best tools and techniques to finish a game in a weekend of coding. Anecdotes and advice from past winners and losers combined with humorous words of encouragement are sure to help you on your way. The author presents a list of game jams around the world Download Now »

Book Description

The first book on the shelf to cover Sitecore development

Sitecore is the leading provider of .NET CMS software and, as such, helps businesses increase revenue and decrease costs. This authoritative guide walks you through the process of creating a Sitecore web site. You’ll discover how to handle the initial installation, take a look at the .Net development process, learn how to use the APIs, and finally deploy the site. Using a linear approach, this book guides you through the entire Sitecore process from start to finish.

• Introduces you to the process of creating a Sitecore web site so you can help your business increase revenue and decrease costs
• Addresses installing and configuring Sitecore
• Discusses .Net development, including setting up the environment and creating layouts and sub-layoutsReviews using the content API and layers
• Touches on some of the more advanced features of Sitecore, including other APIs, pipelines, and configuration files
• Serves as the official Sitecore development book

If you’re looking for a solution for web content management, then Sitecore is your answer and this book will get you started using this valuable software today.

From the Back Cover Download Now »

Book Description

Use Windows debuggers throughout the development cycle—and build better software

Rethink your use of Windows debugging and tracing tools—and learn how to make them a key part of test-driven software development. Led by a member of the Windows Fundamentals Team at Microsoft, you’ll apply expert debugging and tracing techniques—and sharpen your C++ and C# code analysis skills—through practical examples and common scenarios. Learn why experienced developers use debuggers in every step of the development process, and not just when bugs appear.

Discover how to:

• Go behind the scenes to examine how powerful Windows debuggers work
• Catch bugs early in the development cycle with static and runtime analysis tools
• Gain practical strategies to tackle the most common code defects
• Apply expert tricks to handle user-mode and kernel-mode debugging tasks
• Implement postmortem techniques such as JIT and dump debugging
• Debug the concurrency and security aspects of your software
• Use debuggers to analyze interactions between your code and the operating system
• Analyze software behavior with Xperf and the Event Tracing for Windows (ETW) framework

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Book Description

With this digital Early Release edition of Getting Started with Metro Apps, you get the entire book bundle in its earliest form – the author’s raw and unedited content – so you can take advantage of this content long before the book’s official release. You’ll also receive updates when significant changes are made, as well as the final ebook version.

Get a head start on creating “Metro”-style apps for the approaching release of Windows 8. If you’re new to .NET programming, this introductory guide will quickly get you up to speed on the tools you need to build user interfaces with Microsoft’s new design language, code-named Metro. Learn how to use WinRT and the preview version of the upcoming Visual Studio release, and get tips and tricks for having your app published in the Windows Store.

Windows 8 brings some dramatic changes to the way users interact with computers and devices, and the Metro design language plays a key role. Whether you’re an experienced .NET developer, or build apps with HTML and Javascript, this book gets you in on the ground floor.

Table of Contents
Chapter 1. Windows 8: A Quick Tour
Chapter 2. Getting Started
Chapter 3. Application Architecture

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Book Description

For iOS 5 on iPad 2 and iPhone 4/4s

Discover hundreds of tips and tricks you can use with your iPad or iPhone to maximize its functionality as you use your iOS 5 mobile device as a powerful communication, organization, and productivity tool, as well as a feature-packed entertainment device.

In addition to learning all about the apps that come preinstalled on your iPhone or iPad, you learn about some of the best third-party apps currently available and discover useful strategies for how to best utilize them.

Using an easy-to-understand, nontechnical approach, this book is ideal for absolute beginners, as well as more experienced iPad or iPhone users who want to discover how to use the iOS 5 operating system with iCloud and the latest versions of popular apps.

Here’s just a sampling of what the tips, tricks, and strategies offered in this book will help you accomplish:

•  Update your iPad or iPhone with the iOS 5 operating system.
• Discover how to use the preinstalled apps on your iOS 5 device, including Notification Center and Reminders.
• Take advantage of built-in apps such as Contacts, Calendars, Safari, Mail, and Music.
• Learn how to best use Siri on the iPhone 4S.
• Find, download, and install the most powerful and versatile apps Download Now »

Book Description

Learning iPad Programming walks you through the process of building PhotoWheel (free on the App Store), a photo management and sharing app that leverages every aspect of iOS 5. With PhotoWheel, you can organize your favorite photos into albums, share photos with family and friends, view them on your TV using AirPlay and an Apple TV, and most importantly, gain hands-on experience with building an iPad app. As you build PhotoWheel, you’ll learn how to take advantage of the latest features in iOS 5 and Xcode, including Storyboarding, Automatic Reference Counting (ARC), and iCloud. Best of all, you’ll learn how to extend the boundaries of your app by communicating with web services. If you want to build apps for the iPad, Learning iPad Programmingis the one book to get.As you build PhotoWheel, you’ll learn how to

• Install and configure Xcode 4.2 on your Mac
• Master the basics of Objective-C, and learn about memory management with ARC
• Build a fully functional app that uses Core Data and iCloud for photo sharing and synchronization
• Use Xcode’s new Storyboard feature to quickly prototype a functional UI, and then extend that UI with code
• Create multitouch gestures and integrate Core Animation for a unique UI experience
• Build custom views, and use view controllers to perform custom view transitions
• Add AirPrint, email, and AirPlay capabilities to your app
• Apply image filters and effects using Core Image Diagnose and fix bugs with Instruments Prepare your app for submission to the app store Download Now »