My Books

This is a listing of a portion of my personal library, these are mostly books I've found useful (or at least interesting). These are all technology books, the non-technical portions of my library will not be listed here. (Note: This page is still being updated, and may not be complete for some time.)

Reading Now:

Programming Microsoft Visual Basic 2005: The Language
By: Francesco Balena 

Brief: Get the expert insights, indispensable reference, and practical instruction needed to exploit the core language features and capabilities in Visual Basic 2005. Well-known Visual Basic programming author Francesco Balena expertly guides you through the fundamentals, including modules, keywords, and inheritance, and builds your mastery of more-advanced topics such as delegates, assemblies, and My Namespace. Combining in-depth reference with extensive, hands-on code examples and best-practices advice, this CORE REFERENCE delivers the key resources you need to develop professional-level programming skills for smart clients and the Web.

Comments: I'm about to start studying for the MCTS certification, and I'm planning on using this as my primary study material. Once I actually start reading it, I'll post some real comments.

Getting Soon:

Here's a list of what I'm after next. 

Recent Additions:

The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the CISSP and ISSEP Exams
By: Ronald L. Krutz, Russell Dean Vines

Brief: The Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) rating is difficult to earn and rare in the marketplace, which means you're a valuable commodity if you've proven your skills by passing the exam. The CISSP Prep Guide, one of only a handful of books on its subject, does a good job of giving readers a feel for the scope of the test and the style of its questions. It's ideal for use either as a preliminary survey of the CISSP subject areas (the test's publisher and the authors of this book call them "domains") for relative newcomers to computer security, or as a pure study guide to help more experienced professionals zero in on the weak spots in their knowledge. Don't expect to do well on the CISSP exam having only read this book. You'll want to have some practical experience and some specialized reading under your belt.

Comments:  This one I plan on reading soon, once the MCTS tests are over. A focus on security in needed, now more than ever, and this seems to be a leading certification. I'm looking forward to reading this, when time allows.

Software Requirements, Second Edition
By: Karl E. Wiegers

Brief: "Requirements" are essential for creating successful software because they let users and developers agree on what features will be delivered in new systems. Karl Wiegers's Software Requirements shows you how to define and get more out of software requirements with dozens of "best practices" and tips that make this book a valuable resource for both software project managers and developers.

Comments:  This is one I started to read, until I picked up the "Advanced .NET Programming" book – so far this seems to be a good book, but somehow has fallen to the end of my To-Read list.

Security for Microsoft Visual Basic .NET
By: Ed Robinson, Michael James Bond

Brief: This is the first book every Visual Basic .NET programmer should read on security. This is an end-to-end guide, with clear prescriptive guidance for best practices, application design, and coding techniques for Windows and Web-based applications. This book makes writing secure applications easier than ever before. It features plain-language explanations of security terms illustrated with step-by-step code walk-throughs and sample files for both Visual Basic .NET 2002 and Visual Basic .NET 2003. Programmers will learn how to use encryption, role-based security, code access security, authentication, authorization along with techniques to help protect against common exploits. Also covered in this end-to-end guide are techniques for locking down Microsoft Windows, Internet Information Services and Microsoft SQL server. Readers will learn how to perform a security audit, how to test for security, how to design with security in mind, and security techniques for deploying Windows and Web-based applications.

Comments:  This one just came, I'm looking forward to reading it, but it'll have to wait.

Web & Software Development: A Legal Guide
By: Stephen Fishman

Brief:  This book/CD ROM combination covers intellectual property from a developer's (and buyer's) perspective. It is both a tutorial in the basics and is filled with useful advice about all relevent issues, including employee and contractor agreements, trade secret protection, copyright rights (assignment, ownership and related issues), and how to protect all parties in a fair and equitable manner.It covers contemporary issues such as domain names, web content and multimedia, making it especially useful to technical and non-technical readers.

Older Items: 

Advanced .NET Programming
By: Simon Robinson

Brief: In this book, Simon Robinson – the author of the best-selling Professional C# 2nd Edition – fills in the holes with the topics that most .NET books don't cover. Because we assume that you're already a competent .NET programmer, this is one .NET book that doesn't waste time telling you what you already know. Instead, we dive straight into the details that you need to write applications that make the best use of the CLR, and also look at many aspects of .NET programming that aren't covered in introductory books.  

Comments: Review

(More Coming Soon…)