Hello (cruel) World

Disclosure: I received a review copy of this title from O’Reilly   Oh, Cheryl, what a tangled web we weave when we something-something on Christmas Eve - According to Jim For obvious reasons the above quote came into my head every time I picked up The Tangled Web by Michal Zalewski . It always makes me smile… In The Tangled Web Mr. Zalewski paints a grim picture of web security, explaining in some detail the confluence of conflicting standards, incomplete RFCs, inconsistent browser behaviors and other anomolies that lead to today's current (spoiler alert: not good) state of web security. This title is different than any other I've read on web security. It isn't a web security handbook by any means - it is more a descriptive history of the evolution of web standards and languages, focusing on decisions made that impact web security to this day. The author delves into every aspect of the web - HTML, HTTP, CSS, scripting languages, browers, plugins, etc. in a...

Disclosure: I received a review copy of this title from O’Reilly Over the Christmas break I finally had a chance to sit down and finish reading Programming Microsoft ASP.NET 4 by Dino Esposito. This has been on my bookshelf for quite some time (sorry O’Reilly blogger program…) for various reasons. Primarily, and despite protestations to the contrary, it feels as though webforms itself is teetering on the brink of irrelevance, if not oblivion and I naturally tend to gravitate towards titles related to newer and, perhaps, more relevant technologies. If you are like me, you probably want to know what is the point of reading this title, considering ASP.NET has been around for a decade and it looks to be loosing ground to it’s MVC sibling. Oddly enough, I’m more excited about the book after having read it than I was prior to reading it. There are two reasons why I suggest every (Microsoft-stack) web developer should read this title: 1. There is far more than ASP.NET programming her...

Disclosure: I received a review copy of Programming Amazon EC2 from O’Reilly. I read somewhere that Programming Amazon EC2 is a title for people looking to adopt Amazon’s cloud platforms while avoiding a large amount of trial and error. I’ve been wanting to play around on this platform for a long time but have been a little intimidated by the myriad of terms and acronyms used to describe the available tools and configurations at my disposal. I fit firmly into the demographic that wants to get up and running with Amazon but doesn’t have the time to learn in this manner. The book is a pretty quick read and is packed full of useful information. Despite a couple of issues this is the de facto guide to Amazon’s web offerings and should (and will) act as a bible for anyone embarking on such a project. This book will undoubtedly save me countless hours in my future endeavors with these services and will pay for itself in no time. I highly recommend it. While this book had a far narro...

Disclosure: I received a review copy of Conversion Optimization from O’Reilly. I didn’t really have any set expectations when reading this title. As a professional developer I continually strive to fill gaps in my knowledge and conversion optimization was (read: is no longer) something I didn’t know much if anything about. At less than 300 pages the book is a pretty quick read, but is packed full of useful information, lessons learned from real world conversion optimization and plenty of case studies. I read the book over the course of a weekend and highly recommend it for anyone involved in ecommerce or lead generation websites – from developers and designers all the way to marketing and business folk. There is a health balance of descriptive and prescriptive guidance and I feel like I learned a lot while thoroughly enjoying the read. Overview As the name suggests, Conversion Optimization by Khalid Saleh, Ayat Shukairy deals specifically with converting site visits into reve...

Disclosure: I received a review copy of Event Processing in Action from Manning. I started this reviewing kick a little while back with Manning’s Continuous Integration title and, enjoying the experience, decided to continue with additional reviews for the foreseeable future. To get the most out of the experience I’ve decided that wherever possible I should review titles that do not directly relate to the things I work on as part of my day job in order to broaden my horizons a little. The most recent title in my repertoire is Manning’s Event Processing in Action by Opher Etzion and Peter Niblett . Background Let me start by saying that, other than a rudimentary understanding of the base concepts, I began reading the title with a sum-total of zero knowledge of formalized event processing. I currently work in the healthcare industry and can see many practical applications of such a formal approach – from medical equipment monitoring patient health to reception of third party lab ...

Disclosure: I received a review copy of Continuous Integration in .NET from Manning. I don’t normally blog book reviews – mostly because it requires a specific skillset that I do not necessarily possess. However, due to some fortuitous timing I jumped on the chance to receive a review copy of Manning’s new title - Continuous Integration in .NET by Marcin Kawalerowicz and Craig Berntson. Background One of my many hats right now is version control manager of our team – a role I inherited rather than requested but one that nevertheless led to a deep interest in all things VC and build related. Due to the restructuring of MSDN’s licensing tiers our team is finally in the position to utilize Team Foundation Server as our version control repository. Having successfully sold the migration to the powers-that-be, and having previously started the team down the path to TDD, I’m interested in leveraging a number of incorporated technologies – at the very front of the pack is Continuous In...