Average customer rating:
- A must read for value investors!
|
Benjamin Graham Classic Collection
Benjamin Graham
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill Companies
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 Business
| Professionals & Academics
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Popular Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Investing
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0071348107 |
Book Description
An elegantly boxed set of the seminal works by the dean of Wall Street.
The late Benhamin Graham was the father of modern security analysis. He invested value investing and has directly influenced such contemporary investing legends as Warren Buffett, Michael Price, and even the Motley Fools. While investment fads come and go, Graham's bedrock approach is proven more solid with every passing year, and his calm wisdom rings especially true in today's wild market.
Graham's legion of fans will treasure this beautiful collection, which contains three of his financial classics plus an exclusive excerpt of Benjamin Graham's autobiography and personal photos. Security Ananlysis: The Original 1934 Edition, still considered the value investing bible; Storage and Stability, Graham's timeless 1937 study on production and consumption; World commodities and World Currency, his visionary 1944 work on the emerging global economy.
Customer Reviews:
A must read for value investors!.......2000-03-30
Benjamin Graham's ideas formed a framework of thinking about the stock market that has inspired the investment community for nearly a century." Graham's method of investing is as relevant today as it was when he first espoused it during the Roaring Twenties. For the first time investors have the opportunity to collect together Graham's seminal works on value investing, supply and demand, production and consumption, and cyclical inflation and deflation, as well as global economic structures. Ben Graham's autobiography and rarely seen personal photos allow readers to get a complete picture of the personal and professional life of Graham. Graham ranks as this century's (and perhaps history's) most important thinker on applied portfolio investment. Graham's theories are fully explained and illustrated in these three seminal works.
Book Description
As Tiger Woods broke down in tears on the 18th green at Royal Liverpool Golf Club, legions of spectators strained their eyes to read the emotion on his face. Like the millions watching on television, they knew that Tiger had just won the British Open, and that his father had recently died. Beyond that, however, they knew precious little -- only that he played with a Nike golf ball, carried an American Express card in his wallet, and, presumably, drove a Buick. They were hungry for more, but everything else about his off-course life, and those of his fellow pros, was forbiddingly well-guarded.
Until now. In The Scorecard Always Lies veteran Sports Illustrated golf correspondent Chris Lewis reaches past the results, stats, and sound-bites to focus on the personalities and personal lives of the sport's top players. While embracing all the drama and excitement of the 2006 PGA Tour season, he takes us inside the locker rooms, hotel rooms, and private planes to deliver an unrivaled, behind-thescenes look at the Tour and the men who play it.
Lewis spent thirty weeks of the 2006 season on the road with the best golfers in the world, exploring their backstories, motivations, and preoccupations, and collecting telling, character-revealing tales. He bore witness to both the hard work and the privilege that frame their lifestyles. But he also discovered a Tour that to this point remained largely unknown -- one where a player while pursuing dreams of glory might also be suing his agent, going through a messy divorce, or looking to throw down in the locker room with one of his peers.
There's John Daly trying to explain how his wife has just been taken off to jail. There's Chris Couch making a midnight, barefoot run through a derelict district of New Orleans, fearing he was about to be kidnapped, and taking refuge in a tattoo parlor.
We watch as Tiger Woods tries to deal with losing his father to cancer, while refusing to abandon his fondness for blue humor. We see Phil Mickelson hanging with rock stars, sharing a Masters victory gift with a national championship-winning college football coach, and hooking up a sportswriter with a would-be groupie's phone number. All in all, we get a rare glimpse of the off-course lives of the Tour's stars and their supporting cast.
At turns humorous, touching, and insightful, the book sheds new light on every aspect of Tour life, from easygoing Tuesday practice rounds to feverpitch Sunday showdowns, always taking care to show how their off-course concerns inform their every swing.
Fans will savor the fullest portrait yet of a group of players who, throughout their successes and struggles, remain unfailingly smart, funny, and engaging, and make up the most intriguing subculture in all of sports.
Customer Reviews:
The Page Never Lies.......2007-10-14
I echo the sentiments of the past reviewers of this book. I have been watching the PGA tour religiously for 12+ years since my childhood and thoroughly enjoying recapping each season with friends and family. Naturally, when I saw this book I thought what a great source for some information/highlights that I mayb have missed from the '06 season. Well, the joy of reading the Kings English was sucked out of this book from the start. I wont take the time to reiterate all the spelling, grammatical and factual errors that have already been pointed out in past reviews. But I will point out two errors that I don't believe have been mentioned:
Page 234" "Off the 16th tee Mickelson hit another foul ball, this one a pull left." Chris, this may come as a shock to you, but Phil Mickelson is left handed. A pull for a left handed golfer goes to the right.
Page 252: "Other players were now wielding longer, graphite-shafted drivers with heads the size of toasters, while Woods stubbornly clung to his small-headed, 53-and-three-quarter-inch steel-shafted driver." Come on Chris, 53 and 3/4" driver shaft? Are you kidding me? Tiger's driver shaft was 43 and 3/4". How could you have made that mistake? No tour player (or amateur for that matter) plays a 53" driver shaft....unless, of course, they are over 7'2" in height.
The question has been asked in other reviews, but how could this book get published? And by S&S nonetheless, it just doesn't make sense. Regardless how quickly they wanted to get the book to press someone should have read it and checked for facts and spelling errors. One final error I would like to point out: Page 309: "Back at the office, Rick Lipsey unfailingly helped erase my mistakes. Farrell Evans did that, too..." Rick and Farrell, I don't know you but clearly you do not do as Chris suggests. This is an embarrassment to the author, to the publisher and more importantly, to the game of golf.
Too many errors.......2007-10-03
There were a few stories I hadn't heard before, but they were overshadowed by the numerous factual/ typographical errors. In addition to those noted in other reviews:
- The ACE club is not in Lancaster, PA. And, Lancaster is not just outside of Philadelphia.
- Payne Stewart's putt to win the US Open at Pinehurst was not a "40 foot bomb".
- Tiger Woods' shot at the Canadian Open was out of a fairway bunker, not "heavy rough"
Too many more to list.
good but horribly edited.......2007-09-01
as a rabid golf fan, i enjoyed the book. but i have to say it is the most poorly edited book i have ever read. in addition to well over 50 spelling and grammatical errors, i counted numerous factual errors. examples, in addition to the ones pointed out by other reviewers:
pg 105 - author says the players in 2007 moved from april to may - it was moved from march to may
pg 168 & 214 - he states goosen's 2005 us open final round score as 81 on one page and 80 on the other
pg 160 - mentions 2000 us open at southern hills, that was '01, '00 open was at pebble
pg 179 - mentions tigers famous 6 iron at canadian open. calls it a shot out of thick rough - it was out of a fairway bunker
does simon and schuster not have fact checkers? its embarassing, thats, what, seven factual errors?....in response to another review the author states he had to fact check quickly to get the book out...thats BS and no excuse, i read it in a day and could have cleaned it up for him in that time. its not 'obvious' as he says, every author i've ever read manages to not to get facts wrong every 30 pages.
in short, only the fact that i love the PGA tour makes this readable. c.l. needs to step up his game to challenge john feinstein....he's playing dicky pride to feinstein's tiger woods right now.
Okay, not great.......2007-08-23
The stories were about what you would expect. The heavy political slant along the way is out of place in a sports book.
Only the errors kept me awake.......2007-07-13
This is probably the most boring sports book I have ever read.
Wow, I didn't know Phil Mickelson's golf shoes have only five spikes, each of which is eight millimeters in length, while Darren Clarke's seven spikes per shoe are only six millimeters long! Fascinating! That nugget of inside-the-ropes knowledge really set my heart racing and had me begging for more!
Only the typographical, grammatical, spelling and factual errors littered throughout the book kept me awake. Whoever edited this book should be ashamed of himself or herself.
Shall I offer an example? On page 106, Vijay Singh is cited as having been dogged by an allegation that he signed an incorrect scorecard at "the 1985 Malaysian Open in Jakarta". Er, Jakarta is the capital of Indonesia which, for the benefit of the author and editor, is an entirely different country. And, by the way, the missing word the author mysteriously fails to conjure up in describing the incident is "cheating".
What's more, why not tell the full story? The specific allegation was that Singh had deliberately overwritten his scorecard on one hole after his playing partner on Friday had signed the card, lowering his own score by one shot, thus allowing him to make the cut. It was only when his playing partner, who had shot the same 36-hole score as Singh and missed the cut by one shot, learned that Singh had advanced to the third round, that tournament officials were alerted. Allegedly, it was the actual physical evidence of the change in the scorecard that led to Singh being banned from the Asian tour.
Anyway, the author blithely tells us that Singh has always maintained "that the scorecard in question in Indonesia was kept by someone else." Golly, Chris, that's really holding his feet to the fire! Thanks a lot!
This is just one of the countless examples of the author's error-filled, soft-soap approach to the events and personalities covered in the book.
The book is terribly disappointing, or perhaps, disappointingly terrible. I feel like I deserve a refund.
Average customer rating:
|
History of the PGA Tour
Al Barkow
Manufacturer: Doubleday
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Golf
| Sports
| Subjects
| Books
Golf
| Biographies
| Sports
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Sports
| Subjects
| Books
Look Inside Sports Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
ASIN: 0385261454
Release Date: 1989-10-24 |
Book Description
Here is a rollicking, anecdotal history of golf's PGA tour--from one of golf's best writers.
Book Description
The Ultimate PGA TOUR Book of Trivia tests even the most committed golf fan's knowledge of the game. From little-known facts and figures to famous courses and players' quirks, this book provides insight into the archive of stories and stats of the PGA TOUR. Divided into six sections, it covers the basics of the game from equipment and general stats to rules and etiquette; the origins of golf, highlighting famous golfers throughout time, dates, and historical anecdotes; milestones in golf regarding players, courses, history, tournaments, and records; profiles of hundreds of professional golfers, both famous and lesser known, including nicknames, handicaps, triumphs, and gaffes; numbers on everything from wins and losses from the early 20th century to modern day stats; and specifics on dozens of courses, their various holes and course terrain, tournaments, and even clubhouses.
Book Description
The marquee players of the Professional Golfers' Association (PGA) Tour are a perennial source of fascination for golf fans, as one charismatic player after another strived to dominate the Tour-Walter Hagen and Bobby Jones through the 1920s and 1930s, Ben Hogan and Sam Snead in the 1940s and 50s, then Arnold Palmer who propelled the sport to unprecedented popularity in the 1960s before being overtaken by Jack Nicklaus. The following two decades saw the emergence of Tom Watson, Greg Norman and Tiger Woods. But over the years there have been many other fine touring professionals who helped contribute to the huge success of the PGA Tour. In this complete history of the Tour from the early 1900s to century's end, the careers of those golf pros are contrasted, with descriptions of the courses and equipment in each era, and a summation of who were the very best players irrespective of decade.
Book Description
This digital document is an article from The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR), published by The Register Guard on May 24, 2003. The length of the article is 612 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: SORENSTAM MISSED CUT, BUT MADE HISTORY.(Sports)(Local golfers swing in her favor in her try to challenge the men of the PGA Tour)
Publication:
The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR) (Newspaper)
Date: May 24, 2003
Publisher: The Register Guard
Page: A1
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
This book captures the sensitivities and struggles of African Americans in professional golf. It tells their stories from both historical and contemporary perspectives. Many questions are answered in response to why African Americans have remained virtually nonexsistent on the PGA Tour. In addition,social,psychological and business issues are addressed by those who are presently pursuing their tour-quest.Readers will come away with greater knowledge and understanding concerning the issues.This book is full of information and intelligent insight.
Average customer rating:
|
Immortal Invisible: Lesbians and the Moving Image
Tamsin Wilton
Manufacturer: Routledge
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| Movies
| Entertainment
| Subjects
| Books
History & Criticism
| Movies
| Entertainment
| Subjects
| Books
Media Studies
| Mass Media
| Current Events
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Sociology
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Performing Arts
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
| Dance
| General
| Reference
| Theater
General
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Foreign Languages
| Reference
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0415107245 |
Book Description
Immortal, Invisible: Lesbians and the Moving Image is the first collection to bring together leading film-makers, academics and activists to discuss films by, for and about lesbians and queer women.
The contributors debate the practice of lesbian and queer film-making, from the queer cinema of Monika Treut to the work of lesbian film-makers Andrea Weiss and Greta Schiller. They explore the pleasures and problems of lesbian spectatorship, both in mainstream Hollywood films including Aliens and Red Sonja, and in independent cinema from She Must Be Seeing Things to Salmonberries and Desert Hearts.
The authors tackle tricky questions: Can a film such as Strictly Ballroom be both pleasurably camp and heterosexist? Is it OK to drool over dyke iconsw like Sigourney Weaver and kd lang? What makes a film lesbian, or queer, or even post-queer? What about showing sex on screen? And why do lesbian screen romances hardly ever have happy endings?
Immortal, Invisible is splendidly illustrated with a selection of images from film and television texts, and will a significant contribution to the areas of queer theory and film studies.
Average customer rating:
- Excellent book for reference/teaching about science
|
Silence of the Spheres: The Deaf Experience in the History of Science
Harry G. Lang
Manufacturer: Bergin & Garvey
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Popular Culture
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Disabled
| Special Groups
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Culture
| Sociology
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| History & Philosophy
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
All Titles
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
ASIN: 0897893689 |
Book Description
Prior to the publication of this book, there has been a complete absence of literature on the contributions of deaf men and women in science. Written by a deaf scientist, this book is one of the few syntheses of the issues facing deaf people in a particular field of professional endeavor. Because of the highly invisible nature of deafness, much of the information presented by Lang will be new to readers. His research represents six years of archival search among the historical documents of the deaf communities of Europe, Canada, and the United States. The prominent role that deaf scientists have played in history becomes apparent through Lang's presentation of the accomplishments of these talented and determined men and women. The study of deaf scientists is part of the study of other marginalized groups, and finds parallels in African American and women's studies. The issues surrounding technological development, eugenics, and disabilities in general are several of the important themes of this work.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent book for reference/teaching about science.......1999-10-17
This much needed book is a must for all teachers and future teachers of deaf students. It is imperative that these students are taught that others with hearing disabilities have succeeded in an area which has normally been off limits to the deaf. Dr. Lang writes with passion about something he feels strongly about, and gives wonderful examples of these people who succeeded in science despite all the odds and barriers against them. Many scientists and educators will be surprised at the discoveries and work done by these Deaf scientists, because many of these people may have been mentioned in other books but it was never advertised that these people had hearing disabilities. This book should be available in every classroom in which science is taught, just to show students that if these people could be successful in the world of science, that they can too in spite of whatever barriers they face. Science should be for everyone, as Dr. Lang so ably illustrates.
Average customer rating:
|
Sphere of silence broken: 40 selected poems
Lana Wolkonsky
Manufacturer: L. Wolkonsky
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
United States
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
| 18th Century
| 19th Century
| 20th Century
| African American
| Asian American
| Classics
| Collections & Readers
| Drama
| General
| Hispanic
| History & Criticism
| Humor
| Jewish American
| Letters & Correspondence
| Native American
| Poetry
| Short Stories
| Women Writers
ASIN: 0965330613 |
Average customer rating:
- Wealth is a state of mind.
- Your soul longs for you to pick up and use this book
- The only thing Constant/Static in life is CHANGE!
- knowledge i need, daily
- Knowledge and Duty
|
In the Sphere of Silence
Vijay Eswaran
Manufacturer: RYTHM House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Inspirational
| Spirituality
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
Spiritual
| Self-Help
| Health, Mind & Body
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 9719264721 |
Product Description
In this remarkably simple book, Vijay Eswaran shares the secret of his success, the Sphere of Silence, the single most powerful thing any person can do to succeed both in business and in life. In The Sphere of Silence is a one-hour reflection that teaches us how to be still and examine what is within ourselves. By the simple and regular practice of the Sphere of Silence, we acquire an intense insight into everything we do and are able to accomplish great things with our lives. A little book that you can carry everywhere, the Sphere of Silence is not just a practical guide to manage our daily lives, it is also a compelling journey towards God and our innermost selves.
Customer Reviews:
Wealth is a state of mind. .......2007-04-14
In The Sphere of Silence is a simple guide to reconnecting with one's spirituality through a process of one-hour quietude and reflection. In the Sphere of Silence does not immerse itself in technical terms but rather delivers its message through very simple instructions (for example, the second phase of pursuing the Sphere of Silence is to read an educational, vocational, or motivational book for 15 minutes, then spend 5 minutes writing down, reviewing, and remembering key points form it). Numerous short quotes, reflections, insights, and suggestions, such as "The man who is detached is not afraid to lose anything. We lose only what we cling to", enhance this basic guide to a spiritual practice focused upon knowing oneself better and opening oneself up to God. A set of questions and answers about the Sphere of Silence method conclude In the Sphere of Silence (Question 17: "How does this habit help you make more money?" Answer: "This does not help you make more money. Wealth is a state of mind. Being rich does not make you wealthy. The Sphere of Silence helps you understand this state of mind.") Highly recommended.
Your soul longs for you to pick up and use this book.......2007-02-11
A fresh exposition of perennial principles of how the mind and heart work in our inner search for truth, and outer search for contentment. I undertook the 21-day prescribed regime and discovered new powers i did not previously know, which persist today. I woke up earlier than usual, and became more conscious that most business and personal work takes place in the mind. The longing of your soul will impel you to pick up and use this book.
The only thing Constant/Static in life is CHANGE!.......2006-07-19
Simple! Read the book, then apply it (just like any instruction manual). Then re-read and apply (change and improvement is inevitable). Then re-read and apply. REPEAT PROCESS...
Read all the other reviews, WHY are they ALL 5 STARS?
Think about it!
If it is change you want in your life (for the better), this book is a must! Applying it's principles and instructions is not easy, but life was NOT MEANT TO BE EASY! But stick with it (for the rest of your life) and not only does your life change, your world changes also.
Every aspect of my life is better! At age 23 I've been given the gift of being able to LEAVE WORK! "RETIRE" in effect!
Take CONTROL of your life! FREE YOURSELF!
Mr Vijay, from the bottom of my heart, for everything you stand for and for every ideal you uphold and strive for, for the gift of giving us Qi, simply, Thank you.
~Leander from Down Under
knowledge i need, daily.......2006-05-02
This book is absolutely amazing. I have been practicing it for more than 3years now. It has put meaning into my life. It is a valuable treasure. It is the best gift i can offer and share to someone. Its knowledge is what i need, daily. This book is dearest to my heart and will always be. To Mr. Vijay who has always been very kind and tolerant with me, thank you. I offer my life to this Service.
Knowledge and Duty.......2006-04-18
Well,frankly speaking..I have not finished reading the book.But I managed to flip Chapter 8:Knowledge.I really believe in this phrase(I do also believe in the otha phrases.But I find that this phrase suits me best and that makes me like it!)."The depth of understanding is in the student,not in the master/teacher/mentor".It really fascinated me.All this while in my 12 years,I always stick to my principle that if the master/teacher/mentor is not up to standard,the student will not excel.Previously,when I thought that way,my studies did not improve.But after reding that Chapter,it changed the way my mind thinks,It is a miracle and that was very incredible!I improved drastically especially in my maths as well as Scince which is my favourite subject.
Another one.Chapter 7:Duty.I just flip through that page thinking it is about responsibility.I have a lot of tasks that needs to be completed one the time is right.Frst thing that flashed in my mind was"DUTY!My parents.How am I going to take care both of my parents with responsibility when I grow up later?"That was what I though Mr Vijay was going to talk about in that chapter.But it was more than that.It told me not in words,but spiritually.That ultimte phrase is"Today is all you have.Yesterday is gone.Tomorrow may never come.Today is always yours.Today builds tomorrow.Today takes you where you want to go.You can change the world by changing today.Today is a gift from God.It is why it is called being present."It made me think. That means I have to treasure today and the other 'today's that I still have with my parents.Hence,that told me spiritually that I have to make full use of my 'today's by being obedient to my parents and assisting them while they are in need.And also tell me not to procrastinate(to delay) as the proverb says 'Procrastination is the thief of time'.I do not want to pracrastinate any further fearing that there will never be a tomorrow for me to pay back all the love and care given by my parents all this while...
Average customer rating:
- Prima Games sucks.
- Don't buy it!
- Very nice!
- Don't buy this get the official one
|
Resident Evil 2: Unauthorized Game Secrets (Secrets of the Games Series.)
Kip Ward
Manufacturer: Prima Games
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
| Puzzles & Games
| Entertainment
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Role Playing & Fantasy
| Puzzles & Games
| Entertainment
| Subjects
| Books
Video & Electronic Games
| Puzzles & Games
| Entertainment
| Subjects
| Books
Video Games
| Games & Strategy Guides
| Computers & Internet
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Sports
| Subjects
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Resident Evil? Archives
ASIN: 0761510273
Release Date: 1998-01-28 |
Book Description
The evil is back. But Claire and Leon are here to fight the unearthly malevolence and send it back to where it came from. Playing as either character is a totally different experience, so expect every detail on self-healing, weapon-wielding, zombie-splattering action. Your goal is to find the Umbrella Laboratory in order to save the city. Good luck. And remember, for all evil there is good.
Complete walkthrough Detailed maps of all levels Essential item locations Lethal strategies for defeating every gruesome creature Deadly weapon secrets
About the Author
Kip Ward is the author of Tomb Raider II: The Official Strategy Guide, co-author of Rebel Moon Rising: The Official Strategy Guide, King's Field: Unauthorized Game Secrets, Quake Strategy Guide: Unauthorized, and other Prima game books.
Customer Reviews:
Prima Games sucks........1999-04-20
Prima Games did well on their Syphon Filter, Pokemon Game Boy, and Silent Hill strategy guides as well as their Breath of Fire III guide. However, they bombed on this one. It stinks! It has a crappy-crappy $$#@!^%$ guide for the "B" scenarios and lots of it are off. The walkthrough's good, but everything else sucks. $##@!&^%
Don't buy it!.......1999-03-30
It's unafficial, most of the cheats don't work, and it's an over all disapointment!Take my word for , it's not that great!
Very nice!.......1998-12-18
I felt that this strategy guide was great! It had great maps for all the areas, detailed item locations and descriptions, and even a breif though very helpful walkthrough for the B scenarios. I'm a die hard for anything with the Resident Evil name on it, and this strategy guide didn't dissapoint me. Anyone who says otherwise must need a complete-straight from the programmer strategy guide, because they can't be much of a player.
Don't buy this get the official one.......1998-05-27
Unofficial s.guides dont work, they have inadiquit and/or wrong information. Only get official s.guides trust me.
Customer Reviews:
Interesting; over-complex.......2007-09-15
This book is mostly about what you COULD do with templates, but IMO probably wouldn't want to. The Loki library that it describes provides some uber-generic components using a lot of template meta-programming, but it's unclear if that's a good trade-off. You gain a small amount of code reuse (you don't have to write a singleton yourself, for example), but God help you if anything goes wrong, and you have to debug these things.
Great techniques, not for the normal programmer.......2007-05-19
Finally I picked up "modern C++ design". It was on my list for a long time. Last years I've been diving more in Java, Groovy, Ruby and other languages. So, this book was back to C++ for me.
I found the book well written, even almost funny at times. The code was clear and it was all easy to understand for me. So, well done since it's always difficult to explain fairly advanced concepts in simple language.
The book consists of 2 parts. The first part describes concepts like policy-based design and typelists. I liked the concept parts and this was my first encounter with typelists, thus I was quite amazed.
The second part of the book describes how to design generic patterns. I liked them, however, I felt that making some of these patterns generic is not really worth it. The amount of duplicate code removed, is not very high. The complexity added by the generic implementation, however is high.
An example is chapter 7, smart pointers. I've designed some libraries in the past and as library designer we agreed on 3 different types of smart pointers. We write three different classes and that's it. Is it worth making a generic implementation which can cover all of these three types. In my opinion, no. However, as an exercise of what you can all do with templates in C++, it was very interesting!
I'm now and then working with developers who develop in C++. They already struggle with the complexity of the language, the environment and the tools. Giving them generic programming in C++, would probably increase their struggle and wouldn't really gain much. Maybe a new language need to be created with better generic programming support instead?
Anyways, for any C++ fanatic or programming fanatic, this is a fantastic book. For "the normal developer" it's probably overkill.
Power of generic programming.......2007-05-13
This is an excellent book on the power of C++ templates. Even though I have been using templates for several years to create simple reusable code etc, this book has opened my eyes to new ideas and concepts using templates. Right from the first chapter this book takes you on a fascinating journey of learning that culminates in a library of powerful and useful templates.
As influencial as the Design Pattern book has been 10 years ago.......2007-05-03
I read a lot of programming books (maybe too much sometimes... :-) and I think that I am getting very hard to impress but I must confess that this book is very special. It is one of the rare book that did really open my eyes on new possibilities for programming. What the author is doing with templates are things that I have never imagined possible.
The basic concepts presented in this book are policy based class design mixed with some template metaprogramming tricks. The rest of the book consist of revisiting classic design patterns such as smart pointers, singletons and factories by implementing them by using policies and template metaprogramming. The result is, to my opinion, impressive. Implementing these classes may at some point add some complexity but customizing the end result classes is incredibly easy, flexible and requires minimal changes.
Some people did not like the book by arguing that they were not sure if they would be using the patterns presented in the book. I agree with their position and I am not sure that I would find a usage for all the patterns presented in the book or if I would just not want them in my code by fear of the added complexity but in my opinion this is not a good criteria to judge the book. It is not important to know if you are going to use the presented patterns or not. What reading this book will do for sure is to widening the horizon of what you know possible with C++ templates and bring new ideas on how some programming problems can be solved. How many C++ books can do that? For myself, they can be counted with one hand. If you retain the general concepts, it is not important to know if you will use the details.
template metaphysics.......2007-03-02
This is 300 pages of the hardest of hardcore template metaprogramming you could currently hope to read. As a result, there is a risk you may find more to admire and speculate upon from afar, than to actually use. Various factors will decide this, from the robustness of your compiler, your comfort with far-out template wackiness, and your confidence in debugging and maintaining the result.
One thing is not in doubt: C++ metaprogramming is devilishly clever. That's part of its appeal. It's also capable of producing flexible, efficient families of software. Modern C++ Design pushes the boundaries of TMP further than the more specialised matrix domain detailed in Czarnecki and Eisenecker's Generative Programming (a recommended prologue to this book). Here, the aim is implementing entire design patterns. This is a fairly bold claim, as the received wisdom on design patterns is that there isn't a canonical form that can be presented in code.
And that still holds true. Instead, the code in Modern C++ Design is metacode built on two big ideas: policies and typelists, which are described in the opening chapters, along with some other useful tools. The hard intellectual work is done here, especially the typelist chapter, although previous exposure to the likes of Generative Programming definitely softens the blow. Policies are what Java programmers know as Dependency Injection, except one level of abstraction up (the relationship between classes and objects in DI is done with templates and classes with policies), and with the template instantiation and specialisation rules of C++ providing an extra layer of flexibility. Typelists are exactly as the name suggests - a list of types, but they exist only at compile time. They're fed to the TMP machinery, which spits out a class hierarchy based on the supplied list.
With these tools in place, Andrei Alexandrescu then proceeds to show how they can be used to work some magic. Template versions of the command, visitor, abstract factory and factory method patterns are presented, along with other abstractions like smart pointers (perhaps the most orthodox chapter of the book), tuples, and multiple dispatch.
The latter topic provides a connection to James Coplien's Advanced C++, which also discussed multimethods, albeit before templates entered the language. The books share a certain similarity, not so much in content, but in the spirit of stretching the boundaries of C++, and perhaps also in stretching its readability and maintainability.
For all the virtuosity on display here (and in Coplien's book), I'm not sure if I'd to use these techniques in my own C++. This may just be down to my own mediocrity as a programmer, but TMP is more than just an idiomatic application of C++, it's really an entirely new language and not a very friendly one. When encoding error messages into class names is a best practice, you know you're pushing the envelope.
There's no discussion in this book of where these designs are appropriate - I suspect the most rococo code will end up hidden safely behind frameworks and libraries such as the Loki library described in this book. Some discussion of these bigger picture strategic and cultural issues would have been handy, otherwise, a title like 'Modern C++ Design' suggests that herein lie techniques to sprinkle liberally throughout your code, and I suspect that this is not the case.
If you, your co-workers, and any customers that need to look at your code are all template metagenii, this is going to be the most productive 300 pages you ever read. Lesser mortals will find much to wonder at, and a whole new perspective on design patterns, but perhaps less to put into practice.
Books:
- Beyond the Mine: A Steelworker's Story
- Beyond the Sky and the Earth: A Journey into Bhutan
- Both Sides of the Ocean: A Biography of Henry Adams, His First Life, 1838-1862 (Biography of Henry Adams)
- Buying & Selling a Home: Your All-In-One Guide for Success from America's Leading Personal Finance Authority (Buying & Selling a Home)
- Caught in the Web of Words: James Murray and the Oxford English Dictionary
- Chairman of the Fed: William McChesney Martin Jr., and the Creation of the Modern American Financial System
- Citadel on the Mountain A Memoir of Father and Son
- Cold War and The Income Tax: A Protest
- Confessions of an Enron Executive: A Whistleblower's Story
- Corporate Income Taxation and Foreign Direct Investment in Central and Eastern Europe (Foreign Investment Advisory Service Occasional Paper, No 4)
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Paths of Glory: The Life and Death of General James Wolfe
- Testing IT: An Off-the-Shelf Software Testing Process
- Soho: The Rise and Fall of an Artist's Colony
- Ramesses II, Royal Inscriptions
- Pimps, Hos, Playa Hatas, and All the Rest of My Hollywood Friends: My Life
- Mathematical Methods of Classical Mechanics
- Rethinking Tourism and Ecotravel
- Money Unmade: Barter and the Fate of Russian Capitalism
- Success 2000 : Moving into the Millennium With Purpose, Power, and Prosperity
- Mushrooms of Northeastern North America
