Beta

This book covers everything from basic C programming to IA32 assembly language to the ridiculously mundane IEEE representation of floating point numbers to threads.

This is a great resource for engineers who are interested in comprehensive, hands-on, and rigorous understanding of system-level programming.

Finally someone has finally written a book that integrates software and hardware. A brilliant holistic approach. This book answered many lingering questions I had from previous classes. I beg professors to have mercy on their students by using this book.

OK, I haven't actually read this book, but I took Bryant and O'Hallaron's course in 1998 (the first semester it was offered, I think) and was a TA for it a year later. They saw the need for a new course for CS undergrads who were coming in and learning C++ and Java without really understanding the guts of the machine. Their course taught things like bit-level representation of numbers (including two's complement and IEEE floating-point), assembly language, virtual memory, memory allocation, caching and its effect on performance, and the basics of TCP/IP. It was a great course--very informative and a lot of fun--and since there was nothing else like it out there, they had to write this book to go along with it.

I'm sure the book lives up to the course--and if not, you can rate this review "very unhelpful!" (I did read drafts of the chapters while I was a TA, so I hope I know what I'm talking about!)

Book one of the "Beta 3" series, Soldier Of The Legion by Marshall S. Thomas is an epic science fiction novel. Set in the far-flung future, Soldier Of The Legion chronicles the struggles of a brave squad of Legionnaires who must fight to survive horrific battles against a corrupt, slave-raiding empire -- and a far worse force of inhumans. A perilous, exciting space saga, Soldier Of The Legion is enthusiastically recommended reading for fans of the science fiction action/adventure genre.

Beta 3, called "Thinker," because others see his capacity to reason even though he has been trained to react instantly as a part of a military team, is sent with his detachment to Andrion 2 to secure the planet. He is part of "The Legion," an army sworn to protect to the death. And death is the price a soldier of the Legion must be willing to pay to defend the Confederation of Free Worlds against the "System." Although an uneasy truce exists between "ConFree" and the System, unusual activity on Andrion 2 leads the Legion to speculate about possible illegal actions from the "Systies." Thinker is part of a unit. Each soldier has a unique personality. Some, Thinker is convinced, are insane. But in the Legion, they are brothers. One mind - one heart - and one life.

The planet is inhabited by a people the soldiers refer to rather derisively as "Scalers." These people, actually called the "Taka," attack the Legion. But, when they are saved by the soldiers from the disgusting exosegs, horrible, deadly creatures that aren't supposed to be on Andrion 2, the Taka declare their loyalty to the Legion.

What is happening on the planet? Are the Systies there? How did the exosegs get to Andrion 2? Nothing makes sense. Thinker's sense of alarm is muted by his desire for another soldier, Priestess - and the conflict he feels when a past love from his training days on Planet Hell shows up and declares that she and Thinker are tied together for eternity. Where is his heart? Does it belong to Priestess or Valkyrie? Is this emotional battle compromising his ability to sense danger? Thinker needs all of his wits and training - because there is a surprise on Andrion 2. One more diabolic and dangerous than any of the soldiers have prepared themselves for.

SOLIDER OF THE LEGION is a deep, rich story that captures the heart of Sci-fi while bringing the elements of suspense, mystery, horror, and romance together and blending them into a perfect story that everyone will enjoy. Thomas's talent as a writer shines through the action, making the dialogue captivating, and in many passages, moving. His protagonist, Thinker, may be involved in a life that few of us have experienced, but Thomas keeps Thinker so human that we are able to experience the joy, the pain, and the fear that a soldier of the Legion endures while putting his or her life on the line without question.

I highly recommend SOLDIER OF THE LEGION, one the best books I've read this year! Watch for the next books in this exciting series!

Book one of the "Beta 3" series, Soldier Of The Legion by Marshall S. Thomas is an epic science fiction novel. Set in the far-flung future, Soldier Of The Legion chronicles the struggles of a brave squad of Legionnaires who must fight to survive horrific battles against a corrupt, slave-raiding empire -- and a far worse force of inhumans. A perilous, exciting space saga, Soldier Of The Legion is enthusiastically recommended reading for fans of the science fiction action/adventure genre.

I read this whole book in my own doctor's waiting room. Every page of this book had me wanting to turn to the next one. The actual thought of this twisting and realistic plot brings a chill to my spine.

A medical thriller which keeps a hold on reality while weaving a suspense-filled story. This book was a powerful page turner. Dr. Kloner was able to combine his medical expertise with exciting plot twists.

I can't wait for the movie on this one. Dr. Robert Kloner has certainly developed an intriguing and captivating thriller which made me believe in the possiblity of worldwide fatal infection. Deep in the heart of Antarctica, the military conducts virul experiments in a sealed living environment. Without giving away the story, the virus must be contained or civilization could be threatened. Dr. Kloner takes this somewhat standard recipe and uses his medical expertise to graphically portray the microscopic power of the Beta Virus. Kloner's descriptions of the search for a serum kept me page turning and rooting for the antedote. You will too

Do What Thou Wilt shall be the whole of the Law: This,is The Exemplified Commentary to the Book of the Law.The Book of the Law,Explains Existence, within itself,Dealing with Heriarchal Forces,of The Matriarchal.This is a Complement To My Studies.Anyone looking to get into studie's of Crowley. Look into the Book of the Law,itself,and even The Confessions.A Good solid Grounding would include Fremasonry and Rosicrucinism Any Thelemite's want to correspond.EMail. Love is the Law love under Will

"Equinox of the Gods" is, simply put, a wonder. A marvel that any Thelemite worth his/her salt should read and that any Occultist in general would find much of interest within. This book has within it's pages a complete copy of Liber vel Legis (The Book of the Law) as well as a facsimile of the handwritten MS. The commentaries on Liber vel Legis alone are worth the cost of admission, not to mention the value of the bits of Crowley's personal journals. Highly recommended!

In The Equinox of the Gods, Aleister Crowley offers an overview of the circumstances surrounding his reception of the threefold Book of Law in April of 1904. Includes a copy of the Book of the Law, Liber AL vel Legis, as well as a facsimile of the holotype manuscript L. Also included are excerpts from his diaries, color plates of the Stele of Revealing, and much enlightening commentary upon this most important Holy Book of Thelema. Highly recommended to anyone even remotely interested in Aleister Crowley's Magick of Thelema.

This is the book I read, over and over, at the demand of my word-infatuated seven-year-old. He may not have understood half the words, but he delighted in their sounds. When he tired of the book I put it on my bedside bookstand, and I still pull it out when I'm in the mood for some inspired, sophisticated nonsense. The best ABC book ever.

Although I bought my eight-year-old girl the book for Christmas, it's headed to my office. It is the funniest book I've read in a long time; my usual reading (teaching) matter is the classics. The Steigs' book is a welcome break, a breath of fresh air after all that high-mindedness and tragedy! Carrotina and her awful cadenza are hilarious, but Naomi, "nervy as a newt" with her "nitwit" parents, is all too recognizable. I appreciate the tiny moral tales and the deflating of pompous academics, as in the "exegesis of the sphinx".

This incredible little book is a collection of essays by John Whiteside "Jack" Parsons. Parsons was a little known but instrumental figure in the founding of the U.S. aerospace industry. He played a key role in the founding of the famous Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Aerojet General. Some of his work is still classified, and there are those who maintain that much of the work credited to Robert Goddard was really the work of Parsons.

He was also deeply involved in magick through Crowley's O.T.O. lodge in Pasadena. ("Magick" is Crowley's spelling used to differentiate between mystical/spiritual pursuit and stage entertainment trickery.)

This collection of essays is a sample of his writings before his untimely death in an explosion at his home workshop in 1952. It is not a complete work in the sense of being a book conceived by him, but rather pieces of writings that his widow, Cameron, and others involved in his magickal work collected into a reasonably coherent volume.

He speaks of freedom, of spirituality, of equality, of magickal ritual, and much more. His words are sometime profound and moving, other times merely thoughtful. Much of his work has the same sort of feel as that of people like Voltaire, Mill, Paine, and Franklin. He speaks to basic concepts of freedom, social responsibility, standing up for one's principles, and defending the rights of others. He also speaks of women's rights, sexual freedom, governmental responsibilities, censorship, truth, and dogma. He was way ahead of his time. His vision and insight in many areas are called prophetic, and rightly so. His discussions of the attacks on human rights are as relevant today as they were in the late 1940s when these works were written.

I discovered this book by chance in the late 1980s, and was deeply moved. His words drive right to the heart of issues that are important to me. In fact, some of my writings in my late teens (20 some years before seeing his work) are extremely similar to his, some nearly verbatim. That, combined with other unusual parallels and the proximity in time of my birth to his death, prompted me to seriously consider (for a short time) the possibility of my being his reincarnation.

If you like the subjects of Western mysticism, Hermetic magick, freedom in general, or interesting characters, give this book a read. There is another book, "Sex and Rockets," that is a biography of Parsons and gives more details about his life and contribution to the aerospace industry. It is also an interesting read.

This small collection of Essays and notes from a Rocket Scientist, who mysteriously perished in a lab "accident," while preparing this work, is an astounding and comprehensive dissertation on the Current lack of Freedom; in Thought, Religion, Sexuality and Lifestyle in America.

When this material was written, it was not only blasphemous, but dangerous Politically. This man was certainly ahead of his time....a Harbinger of a Thinking Age of Reason and Common Sense.

There is more Truth in this thin collection of Essays, than can be found in numerous stacks of books. I highly recommend this work to anyone and everyone. Any person who has ever thought for themselves, should read this book and add it to their philosophical library.

Freedom certainly is a "Two Edged Sword," that must be fought with and for, with zeal and courage. Parsons explains, rationally, why the False Morality predominant in America doesn't make a lick of sense and never has. He explains with poetic, scientific Reason, Logic and Mysticism why our society is dysfunctional and self-destructive.

This book is also a Wonderful addition to any Feminist's library, or Witch's book shelf. Parsons was obviously well-ahead of his time on issues of Women's Rights, and the Rights of Minorities.

It's no wonder he had an "accident" in his laboratory, considering the lack of "Freedom of Speech" in America and the lack of intellectual thought in our country.

Basically, this book is a collection of Common sense.... However, he was viewed as a radical, by predominantly Patriarchal Society.

If I could, I would give a copy of this book to everyone I met, or communicated with. Parsons was, without question, a Genius and a Martyr for Freedom of Speech, Religion, Sexuality and Common Sense.

Jack Parsons is not merely talking about something, he has something to say about almost everything in life, and poses it from a deep perspective everyone can agree with. His words are hard to come by these days as the world today is all up in turmoil, he lets the dust settle and clears the path, or shows you how to find your own.
This little book is well worth (what some call) time.

This amazing compendium of essays, by the most occult scientist of the American space program, is worth all the magickal force you'll spend to find it. Written briefly before his 'accidental' death the ideals, emotions and symbolism conveyed become a sword he builds into your mind. The darker side is there as well, from the man who adored the novel 'Darker Than You Think' and 'Moonchild'. Robert Anton Wilson describes Parsons as "...one of the greatest libertarian philosophers of the 20th century." A founder of JPL and memorialized with a crater in his name on the dark side of the moon, this rare book is the proverbial 'end of the rainbow'. Find it if you can, and forget what you might have heard, Jack Parsons is deeper than you think.

Excellent comprehensive book about nuclear spectroscopy. A must for anybody serious about having a career in nuclear engineering.

This book is both technically excellent and very hot. It's a science fiction/fantasy blend, the story of Vanessa and Sarah, two outwardly normal (if extremely beautiful) women who each have a special secret. It's drawn in a very detailed and photorealistic style. The last 15 pages or so are panels in a single scene depicting a zero-gravity, multi-species orgy. The effect (especially when assembled into a poster-sized picture) is truly stunning. I recommend this book without reservation - extremely well-drawn and very erotic.

This book, which was made available on the Web for free, is here published in book form for those who prefer it that way. It is a great introduction to GNU Make for beginners who need to learn it, and a good reference for those more experienced.

After a brief overview of make in chapter 1, the authors move on to introduce makefiles in chapter 2 and 3. A general makefile consists of rules, with a target, dependencies, and commands. The authors do a great job of explaining makefiles and give a sample makefile explaining how an executable depends on object files, those depending themselves on C source files and header files. The use of 'make clean' is discussed also, along with the use of variables to simplify makefiles.

A more detailed discussion of rule writing is given in chapter 4, with the rule syntax outlined, and how to use wildcard characters in file names. The 'vpath' directive is discussed also. The authors show how to construct rules with multiple targets, and how to use dependencies that are not necessarily identical using static pattern rules. The chapter ends with a discussion of how to generate dependencies automatically.

The use of command echoing is explained in the next chapter on writing commands in rules, with the recursive use of 'make' as itself a command in a makefile. This is followed in chapter 6 by more details on the use of variables in makefiles. Readers knowing the shell very well will find this easy reading, but beginners will have to pay attention to the subtle uses of variable references and the difference between recursively expanded and simply expanded variables. The authors include an advanced section on variable reference for the more experienced reader. A detailed discussion on using conditional statements in makefiles is given.

The use of functions to do text processing is the subject of chapter 8 with the general syntax for function calls given. This is followed in chapter 9 by a discussion on how to actually execute a makefile.

The use of implicit rules to perform compilation in the usual way is discussed in chapter 10. This is my preference on how to use make and it is given a nice treatment here, with discussions on how to use implicit rules and introduces pattern rules.

Make can also update archive files, and this is discussed in chapter 11. The last chapters of the book give a list of features of GNU make as compared with other versions of make, and a list of incompatibilities of make with other versions. The conventions that must be respected in writing GNU make programs are discussed also.

I'll add to the positive remarks of other reviewers that this book will help you understand why features that work with one version of make do not work with another. The section "Features of GNU 'make'" contains information on which features came from which 'make' implementation; this gives the reader some historical context and information that not all 'make' programs are created equal. This information is especially valuable when working with a number of different 'make' utilities from different vendors (happily, GNU make runs on almost any platform most users are likely to encounter, and installing GNU make on a machine may be much easier than wrestling with the differences between 'make' implementations).

I refer to this book (or the info version from within emacs) regularly. I have found it extremely helpful while trying to figure out how another Makefile works, while trying to figure out how to accomplish a particular task with 'make', and just for general knowledge about the tool. I found the sections on suffix rules and pattern rules to be particularly informative.

One final note: by purchasing this book you are helping to support free software, as the book is published by GNU Press, the publishing department of the Free Software Foundation.

This is an excellent book for software developers who want to write Makefile seriously. I have read other make books, including "Managing Projects with make" and "Mastering Make". None of them present core of Makefile to readers. From newsgroup comp.unix.shell one can know that there are still a lot of people who are struggling for writting their own real Makefile. Richard and Roland are national outstanding experts in this area!