Developing Android based application is like any other development. You have to get tools, learn basics and explore the details of the API. Learning Android covers first two topics.

First of all, you can get the overview of Android, what it does, who develops it and so forth. You can call it an overview from 9K feet height. After that you are explained how Android is organized and how all the system layers are organized. This is quite useful part because you can get the feeling what to expect when it comes to the API. Then you will be guided through the initial setup that allows you to develop Android based applications. This part is quite useful, because it allows you to get all the information required for preparing development environment. You will be, literally, lead step by step how to configure everything (at this point you can tell that Marko has some experience when it comes to providing people with tutorials ' you are simply not able to go wrong here). One remark here. Marko doesn't mention that you have to set-up Android's SDK location before you proceed with 'Hello world' example. In order to do this, you have to go to: Eclipse -> Preferences -> Android -> SDL Location and set proper SDK location. He also forgets to mention that after setting up ADT you have to go to: and install all the packages that are required for Android development.

After you are ready to go with coding, there is a place for getting familiar with Android's API. Here, Marko provides you with information related to Various aspects of Android related development. In general, it's fine, but there is one drawback. Marko tries to provide you with the knowledge related to Android by conducting you basing on hypothetical application (Yamba). It means, that through out the book you will be hooked to this application and you will try to approach it from various perspectives: UI, database, services, etc. This kind of approach ha it's pros and cons. Pros are that you can get the feeling of real application being developed using technology you are interested in. Cons are: you are stick to example project through out whole book, you can't jump between topics without the overview of the example of application. I generally prefer 'Cookbook' series where you are presented a solution for particular issue.

What I have missed most in this book are: HTTP communication within Android apps, Web Service calls within Android based applications, description of Android Market.

In general, this book is OK, but definitely not perfect. I missed lots of topics to be covered here. On the other hand, it has quite well prepared introduction to Android, initial set up and Android's basics. This way, you are provided everything that allows you to start developing Android applications.

Stay tuned, I will update this post as soon as I read some other books on Android. I'll tell you then, whether this book can compete with others or not.

Programming iOS 4 is one of the publications available on market that are devoted to iOS related programming. And I was quite impressed when I was reading it. First of all, it is based not only on iOS 4 but on XCode 4 as well. This is huge advantage because you don't have to think about transition between XCode 3 and XCode 4 while reading the book. Not only book is based on the XCode, but Matt provides you with an introduction to the tool. This way you can get familiar with it fairly easy. You will find information regarding how to access documentation, how to deal with code snippets, how to deal with code completion (BTW ' if you are moving from any other IDE I suggest replacing Esc with Ctrl+space for code completion being invoked), static analysis of the code. It's a pity that this is another book where Instruments are not explained in greater details.

iOS development is based on Objective-C, which means that you have to get familiar with it when you move on from Java/C# world. Matt provides you with an introduction to the language. This section contain basic information related to C and Objective-C. Be warned here. I'd definitely suggest to buy some solid C guide ' like a classic 'C Language' by K&R. The same situation relates to Objective-C, go and buy something that is entirely devoted to language itself ' Programming in Objective-C by G. Kochan would be good idea. However, this is not mandatory. If you need just a brief overview of the language, Matt provides all you need here. However, there are small issues in C introduction. Matt refers to 'nil' which is not C standard ' it is introduced by Objective-C. The same refers to NSString object. As far as I recall, you can't use them in pure C.

After making you familiar with development environment Matt goes over features of iOS API and presents various aspects of iPhone programming. You won't get here complete solutions, instead he focuses on what's most important in each case. This way you can briefly go over the topics and focus on what's most important for you. At some point it might be irritating, because it looks like not much more than API description from the documentation, but in most cases it's something more than that.

In general, I find it quite useful. I have found few topics that I was not aware of after moving to XCode 4. I think the book is worth reading.

Have you ever wondered whether R can utilize regular expressions? Have you been forced to download data from particular source before you start using it within R? Or maybe you were not quite sure how to deal with XML within R scripts. Well, thats what Data Mashups are all about. Jeremy and Xiao-Yi show you how to deal with all these aspects. They show it in very condense way, but still, you can get the feeling what's R and scripting is all about. You will find here regular expressions, XML parsing, how to use PBSmapping package and description of how to combine all of this within single project.

The book is quite interesting ' in terms of the topic. However, it looks little bit messy. I would expect that you get the idea of the problem we want to solve before you start solving it. Well, not this time. Jeremy and Xiao-Yi skip this part and jump straight into solution. It complicates the process of getting through the ideas presented in the book. I prefer to be offered problem before I start looking for a solution. Question here is ' maybe for this kind of topic, essay is really enough. I don't know. I am still getting through R and it's 'traps', and honestly, I choose other R related titles from O'Reilly over Data Mashups. If you start your adventure with R choose 'R Cookbook' or '25 Recipes for Getting Started with R'. If you are already familiar with R, and you want to go beyond what can be called standard, go ahead with Data Mashups.

Idea of the book is very good. The application, not the best one. I can value the solutions and the code snippets that are shown ' you can always reuse them at some point in your own projects, however, the way everything is bound and presented doesn't quite appeal to me.

If you want to came up with something you usually have two options. Either you go with some kind of process (this way is usually good one if you want to have your back covered) or you go with unconventional methods (if you have enough money to cover your expenses in case of failure). The second approach is what Gamestorming is all about. First of all, you get the explanation of what playing game is all about. This is very important part, because it will give you arguments when it comes to convince other people to play a little bit instead of just 'inventing' things through regular process of 'thinking'. It might be hard work to convince your co-workers to use this way of solving issues. Many people find 'playing games' a perfect example of wasting the time. That's why it is very good idea to show how playing games makes your brain work different way. After explaining the concept of gamestorming authors go through various examples of games that might help you solve your problems. The collection of games is really impressive. There are almost 100 different games presented within the book. Games are divided into sections that help you solve particular issues. Opening games help you produce ideas quickly, exploring games help you go through the ideas you came up with, closing games help you to get into the end of the innovation process. Reading the book really is fun, however, mind one thing. Not everybody likes to play. If your colleagues do not like to play RPGs, they don't know what RTS is, and board games are just a mean of wasting time, gamestorming is probably not good for you. I agree that pushing people into 'another worlds', with different rules might be good way of finding what hasn't been found yet, however ' not everybody is ready for that. Not everybody likes to play. People simply feel very uncomfortable in this kind of situations. I think that book should be read by people who either have their own company or have team of really open minded co-workers ' people who like to explore alternative ways of finding solutions. I find this book very inspiring, but, you know, I have graduated from philosophy (among the others) and studying philosophy is by itself similar to playing with ideas and exploring new worlds

iOS 4 Programming Cookbook was the first of cookbook series I have ever read. The idea of this series is to present recipes that will allow you to 'prepare' piece of code that does 'something'. Recipes are presented very consistent way through the description of the problem, answer for the particular problem and explanation of the given solution. Problems, that are discussed within the book, usually refer to issues that are elementary yet very commonly asked by introductory programmers. Book is divided into chapters that cover different aspects of iOS programming. You will find there answers to topics like view related issues, data management using Core Data, threading, multitasking, XML, and many other aspects of iOS 4 APIs. In general, I find this book interesting, however there are few drawbacks when it comes to details. First of all, you can't treat this book as the only source of knowledge when it comes to learning iOS programming. You should treat it as a reference for quite common problems that people encounter, but not as a complete guide to programming. I'd suggest here buying another book that describes topics in greater details (e.g. Learning iPhone Programming). Another issue here is that some topics may be very misleading. If you have never used Objective-C before you will probably find it difficult to understand it through 'Working with objects' chapter. I think that this section could be skipped at all. It doesn't cover the Objective-C programming related techniques deeply. Even more, most of the topics that are discussed in this section you will find in any 'programming in Objective-C' related title as well ' but better explained. I would recommend this book only to people who want to have a starting point for some of the common tasks that have to be performed while programming any complex application. As a starting point for learning iOS programming ' not really.

Simply put, one of the best R starters around. What you get here are recipes for most common problems you will face while working with R. This book is an extended version of 25 Recipes for Getting Started with R. However, the coverage of material is different. While 25 Recipes focus on getting started with R, R Cookbook penetrates the subject in greater details and goes beyond simple usage of R. You will find here not only how to load data, manipulate it and plot some graphic. You can find description of various statistical analysis as well.

This book, is not for a reading in bed just before you go to sleep. It is too pragmatic. Simple definition of the problem and just after that, simple solution ' that's what you get when it comes to each issue covered within the book. This is the strength of R Cookbook. On the other hand, it's weakness. If you cant find the question within table of contents it might be hard to get the answer for what you ask about. As I like pragmatic approach, I like the book as well. For me it's just perfect. Well, maybe just too short.

Simple, straight to the point, and nicely composed introduction to R. This is the first impression after you go briefly through all the chapters. I am not regular R user ' I use R periodically when I have to perform server log analysis. However I remember my first experience with R. It was quite painful to do such simple tasks as loading data from input files, printing loaded data, plotting basic charts not to mention more complex data analysis. Paul guides you through R basics and provides you with gentle introduction to R ' powerful tool (or language if you want to be strict) for statistical analysis of data. What you get here is a description of tasks that every beginner will perform ' sooner or later. Book guides your through all the steps from the installation process to complex data analysis. After reading this book chapter by chapter you will most probably notice something ' it wasn't that hard to start working with R after all. What I really like in Paul's approach is that examples are really, really simple and straightforward. No messing around, just plain, clear, simple examples ' very often single liners. But don't think that this is all about. After each solution there is a time for a deeper analysis of the problem. This is the place, where you get detailed explanation of what really happens when you execute given example. Great benefit of the book is that it covers really basic issues related to R programing and it covers them at fairly small number of pages. This way, you get the knowledge, while at the same time you don't get bored. Must have for R beginners.

Microsoft Office 2011 is a big leap in Mac world. It is faster, more stable and filled with lots of new features. It has a new look and feel as well. If you are like me, you'd rather stay with old good interface you have gotten used to. On the other hand, world will not wait and you have to follow the trend. This is the place were Office 2011 for Macintosh comes in handy. It helps you adapt to new circumstances, to completely redesigned user interface. I will not discuss the whole book here, because I don't use Outlook and Power Point at all ' I simply don't belong to target group for these two products. However, when it comes to Word and Excel I can tell that Chris have done really good job. You will get basic information related to creating documents, templates, manipulating ribbon (quite useful), using style (believe me, I know people who format documents using Enter and space). Book discusses topics related to references and references management. This is really great feature that Pages '09 miss and makes Office better suited for scientific papers (unless you can not imagine anything else than LaTeX). Huge advantage of 2011 version is Visual Basic that was not available in 2008 edition for Mac. This is really, really huge step forward for Microsoft Office in Mac world. It makes this suite even more interesting. Chris touches slightly this topic, however you will be left unfulfilled. I'd recommend here Microsoft Office Excel 2007 Visual Basic for Applications Step by Step instead ' if you are interested in Visual Basic programming. However, it's nice of Chris that he touches this topic as it is definitely worth mentioning. What I have found really interesting was explanation of pivot tables. Pivot tables are the endless topic of miss understanding. Lots of people can not get used to use them. Chris explains this topic very clearly and covers it with lots of examples. After reading this chapter you should say that you don't understand pivot tables no more. I really enjoyed reading this book. I like the way material is presented ' nicely formatted content, lots of examples, simple language. Keep in mind, however, that book addresses beginners and it doesn't cover all the aspects of Microsoft Office 2011.

Microsoft Excel 2010 is typical FAQ/lecture like book. What you get is a list of issues that you probably encounter, sooner or later, during Excel programming. Each chapter is organized the same way. At first, you get the list of questions that are related to topics covered within chapter. Then, you get answers to questions explained by examples. This way you can easily find solutions for problems that you have recently encountered and want to have them solved by the Excel. What is a benefit here is that knowledge is not just a plain theory. Contrary, what you get is a purely pragmatic approach ' problem/solution. In order to check your knowledge, each chapter contains brain teasers that will force you to think a little bit. You are asked to solve a problem that can be solved using knowledge you have acquired while reading the chapter.

I have mixed feelings when it comes to this book. At one point you should have it in your own library as a reference. On the other hand, I don't like editorial side of the book at all. It's too simple and too plain. I know you can say that lecture script is not required to look fancy and nice, but I simply like well edited books. I know that judging book by it's cover might be very unfair by in case of this one, editorial side of the book took advantage over the content. However, if you don't pay that much attention to look over the content you should consider buying this one. You will find quite a loot of examples that will guide you through the mysteries of the Excel. And you don't have to know Visual Basic at all.

Patterns are present within IT industry for quite some time. Typically, books related to patterns application refer to particular language and present patterns either using either the language they refer to or using UML. Jenifer takes a different approach. Instead of providing reader with technology specific solution she shows how different UI related aspects can be organized and turned into reusable patterns. In first chapter, you will find description of various motives that drive users. This is the entry point for the rest of the book. How to react correctly to user's requirements (expectations) is a leading motive of the book. Following chapters focus on various aspects of UI design (e.g. navigating, retrieving user's input, presenting data, listing data). What is worth mentioning here is that Jenifer doesn't bind solutions to a particular technology or operating system. She tries to diversify and cover most common user environments. Of course, she shows examples that are based on real applications but these are used rather as an example instead of being one and only one proper solution.

What I like in the book is the way Jenifer presents the patterns. She goes with them, one by one, using structured schema: what will be covered by particular pattern, when is it used, why is it used, how should you use it, how does it look like (by example), and the reference to other sources mentioning given pattern. In general, this is good book, however I think that some conclusions are not solidly proven (especially related to user's behavior). On the other hand, UI efficiency is not something that you can easily prove.