Modeling

IDEF1X is by far the most used DB modeling language today. Books and papers, however, rarely approach it. Bruce's book is a fine piece of work. Excellent on the details of modeling - for instance, his discussion on the adoption of surrogate (artificial) keys is enlightening. Even the less technical stuff is excellent (the text on the ANSI-SPARC architecture is the best I ever read). Great book for someone who wants to develop modeling expertise.

This book is the best-written database design book I have come across. It should be part of every database designer and application developer's library.

This book focuses on information models using the IDEF1X information modeling technique. This text presents a very practical approach for modeling data and relational database design. Although this isn't a database administration book, DBA's would benefit from understanding how the databases they support are designed. This is a book for the masses.

Whether or not you support or practice IDEF 1X as your data modelling religion (after all, it WAS developed for the military), Tom Bruce's 1991 edition can increase the effectiveness of your data modelling by giving you the opportunity to examine your beliefs and standards.

This text covers topics from introductory information modelling concepts , normalization, and reverse engineering, to more advanced data modelling issues. Mr. Bruce's text also includes chapters on conducting modelling sessions, John Zachman's Framework, setting up Data Administration functions within your organization, CASE tools and the IBM Repository (this section is obsolete, of course), a case study, and review exercises with answers.

Best suited for those who have participated in IRM activities and wish to build on that experience. Seasoned IRM practictioners will probably skip the introductory material and head right to the sections on abstractions, resolution of typical data modelling issues, and other advanced topics. Even though "Design" is used in the title, this text is weak on database design topics.

This text is a good one to have on hand when you're looking for justification of following a specific data modelling approach or technique.

This is an excellent book for beginning and intermediate modelers. I found it to be engaging, practical, and easy to understand. Dynamic modeling has become an essential tool to facilitate understanding developments in our increasingly complex and interdependent world, to communicate ideas across disciplinary boundaries, and to help solve problems. This book is a great place to begin. It offers a hands-on introduction to dynamic modeling.

The authors start with an easy to understand, step-by-step description of the modeling process, key principles of modeling, and general methods of modeling. This is followed-up with and numerous examples from chemistry, genetics, ecology, economics, and engineering. But this is not just a book to read. The book comes with run-time versions of the easy to learn STELLA and Madonna software as well as copies of the various models developed in each of the 37 chapters.

The authors encourage readers to build the models themselves as they work through the chapters, and then explore the dynamics by experimenting with the models. This is an active, fun way to learn. It definitely helped me to expand my systems thinking capability. Although my substantive interest is organizations, I learned a great deal by analogy from working through models of problems from other disciplines. Basic systems principles apply across disciplines, and useful insights can be gleaned from recognizing similar dynamic structures underlying different systems.

I particularly liked the instruction by example that is used throughout this book. I learned so much from this book because the reading and modeling, modeling and reading formed a positive feedback loop. The reading provided direction and engaged me in the modeling, and the modeling clarified and reinforced the concepts in the reading. Drawing from my experience with this book, I think it is ideal for those who are just getting started in dynamic modeling or have been learning for several years but want to sharpen and expand their systems thinking and modeling skills.

I have been involved in static data modeling as part of database design throughout my career, and because of that know very well that to really learn how to model, you have to do more than listen to lectures or read a text. This book, along with the accompanying STELLA modeling tool, is an excellent blend of concept and practice.

The book begins with a short tutorial of the STELLA tool, a run-time version of which is included. (STELLA is very easy to use, and although the math underlying it relies heavily on differential equations, the user can be completely removed from that and still model effectively.) The early chapters gradually develop an understanding of dynamic modeling by building on basic concepts. The following chapters work through models in various areas, such as genetics, economics, and ecology, and provide exposure to modeling in these disciplines, as well as introducing some very interesting aspects of models, such as chaos, randomness, and non-predictable results.

By way of introduction to modeling concepts, case studies are presented clearly and concisely. These are followed by an explanation of a basic model of the system being examined. There are always additional questions that lead to expansion of the ideas being presented, so that the reader can increase their understanding and have opportunities to practice the skills presented.

I used this book for a course in Dynamic Modeling, and found it to be great in presenting the basic concepts of dynamic modeling and in developing a heightened awareness that any system being studied is really a dynamic process. It took this understanding to the next step and showed how to model that process and how to run the model and watch the dynamics in action, while honing the skills of analyzing, refining, and looking for trends and unanticipated results. The book opened up a whole new way of viewing systems for me.

The book is extremely well written and is so far the best attempt by any author(s)to achieve the right mix of theory and practice in the field of system dynamics. The organization of contents of the book is unique and it highlights the potential use of system dynamics principles for modeling a variety of hydro, ecological, environmental and engineered systems. The principles of system dynamics modeling and the complexities of physical systems are clearly explained by the authors and real-world examples from a number of disciplines are provided. Modelers can benefit from the actual code/examples from the simulation modeling environment, STELLA. The book includes a CD-ROM with all the examples/models discussed in the text to enhance the learning experience of modelers.

Finding One's Way With Clay is a fresh as it was over 25 years ago when it was first written. It is both an eloquent how-to book as well as a provacative and inspirational look at the relationship between clay and the human being.

After 25 years working in clay, I finally read Paulus Berensohn's "Finding One's Way with Clay". He describes many techniques for pinching pots, and ways to experiment with clay to create new expressions. The steps in making simple or complex hand modeled pieces are clearly explained, and I found them useful in teaching elementary art classes. There's also a thorough chapter on building a simple sawdust kiln.

This artist is truly unique. He is the God of the pinch pots. Highly reccommended. There are neat excersizes to use in classes that beginners to experienced ceramists can enjoy.

This book does not focus exclusively on a single topic, but instead provides a well-rounded discussion on all things email-related. For example, it does not focus exclusively on any one messaging implementation, nor does it get bogged down on technical discussions of protocols and message boundaries, but instead it covers these topics (and more) as part of a comprehensive discussion on electronic mail in general.

Each chapter tackles a broad subject and then provides a studied discussion of several touchstone issues related to that discussion. For example, there is a chapter on sending email in an enterprise network which provides ample discussions on several subordinate topics, including an introduction to LDAP directories, a summary discussion on various gateways and integration services that are likely to be used in that kind of environment, and details for configuring popular messaging clients to take advantage of these services.

In this regard, Internet Messaging provides a well-rounded introductory discussion on the subject of Internet email at large, making it perhaps the best novice guide on the market. It is especially well-suited for people who are just stepping into messaging concepts, but advanced users and implementors will also find plenty of useful nuggets.

Having only read an excerpt, it's obvious the authors understand e-mail and the valuable role it plays in business-to-consumer communication. If you have customers online, e-mail is a critical part of your communication/marketing strategy. I'm sure this book will help you develop your winning strategy for e-mail. Like Lenny, I'm buying copies for my senior staff.

Important reading for anyone interested in the internet. REQUIRED reading for anyone involved with e-mail, the internet, or e-commerce. I have pre-ordered copies for all my senior staff !!

I am just starting out as a model and I had so many questions. Is modeling for you? was the perfect find. It gave me insight into the modeling business and helped me to understand the steps that are necessary to succeed. I feel much more conffident now that I have read this book. Every aspiring model should read it.

The fact that the majority of today's sucessful black models started at black agencies, and there's a listing of them in this book. It was helpful, but if you're already established as a model, it may seem redundant.

i recommend this book, because it gave me all the information i needed to get started in a modeling career.

I was very happy to find this book while working on my dissertation in cardiopulmonary mechanics simulation. While I didn't use ACSL like the author, I was able to implement solutions without much difficulty. I found the explanations fairly good and concise, although at times I felt that the author was telling me how much he knows rather than practical advice for creating models of our own.

I used some of his cardiovascular models for my work, but I found that his simpler models performed better, in some cases. In one case, I found that my implementation of his code had the heart valves opening and closing slightly in the wrong order. Could be my code, but I didn't think so.

While it is tempting to use this as a starting point for building your own cardiopulmonary simulations, it is NOT an introductory book. The reader who has some introduction already to biomedical system modeling will get the most from this, such as the excellent book by William Blesser, A Systems Approach to Biomedicine (1981). When I tried to read this book first, it didn't make sense, but afterwards, it made much more sense.

This book is an excellent starting point for those interested in computer simulation of Physiological systems. I used most of it as part of an introduction to bimedical systems and found it excellent.

Granted, I am a little biased because I am a student of professor Rideout, but in reality I am new to the biomedical and physsiological modeling.

earlier we had only mathematical models of the physiological system and now with the computer models it is very easy to analyse the behaviour of biological systems.

This book helped me learn to use this package in just a matter of days. The book is loaded with exercises that enabled me to learn by doing. I highly recomend this book.

This is one of the best technical books I have ever read. It helped me learn this complex topic in a short amount of time. The examples were clear and the provided exercises were great. I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn more about parametric solid modeling.

This book will take the ACAD expert 1 step beyond. If you are proficiant in ACAD, this book will easily transform you into a Mechanical Desktop Pro!!

This book is the best I have read on this subject. Its biggest asset is the fact it starts from the basics of NDS and builds on this information. It includes real world examples (which I found invaluable in both solving and understanding the problem) and all solutions are explained in "straight talking English". Can't wait for the next release !

If you are responsible for a production NDS environment, READ THIS BOOK! It is fully updated for the latest NDS changes, and provides a thorough understading of NDS processes and troubleshooting methods. The only resource on NDS that is more comprehensive is Novell's Logic Source for NDS II.

Peter Kuo and Jim Henderson are awesome! If you liked their NDS Troubleshooting book, you'll love this Guide to Troubleshooting NDS. An easy read, this book provides background information on the NDS and how it actually works...in plain English. It builds upon this background information to include troubleshooting techniques to help you successfully manage and repair a NetWare network. It also includes easy to read tables with NDS Error codes, as well as DSTRACE and DSREPAIR switches with explanations in one convenient manual. As a side benefit, it includes a significant amount of information to help prepare for Novell's Certified Directory Engineer tests. Thanks for my new Bible guys!

This book is a great resource for anyone wanting to learn how to design web sites. It's simple, easy to read, and (dare I say this about a computer software instruction book) fun. Once you learn the basics, the book is also a terrific reference guide, thanks to an amazingly useful index. I enthusiastically recommend it.

This book was very well written and fun to read, thanks to Phil James the author.It definitely explains the true power and versatility of this premium software package.Thanks again Netscape.

I was very pleased with the scope and detail of this book, and the author's style is humorous and non-technical. The book even comes with a *fully-licensed* copy of Netscape Communicator 4 and a hypertext chapter with links to all sorts of interesting sites! Even without the CD-ROM, this book would be a winner, but the software is the icing on the cake. I highly recommend it

Meyer's book starts with basic concepts of functional verification and gradually introduces you to more advanced topics such as constrained random testing and hardware/software co-simulation techniques. This is a very good book for design engineers and project managers who would like to quickly get up-to-speed on ASIC/SoC functional verification concepts and advanced techniques. For experienced ASIC/SoC verification engineers, this is a good book to refresh your memory on the topic.

Meyer jumps to the heart of advanced verification issues. I have 12 years experience in functional verification and this book provides good information about all the advanced verification topics haunting designers of SoCs today, like, verification reuse, coverage, assertions, testbench development, etc. We bought one for everyone in our group.

Instead of attempting to teach you the "howtos" of functional verification this book teaches you the "whys". This causes it to be much less like a textbook than many others on the same subject. Therefore reading this book cover to cover is relatively easy and useful. Examples given are at the appropriate level of complexity - neither too simple nor too complex.

Readers of this book could easily range from senior management to test coders. Senior management would learn the purposes behind various aspects of functional verification and why the cost and complexity continues to rise. Engineers would be exposed to the reasoning behind the use of some functional verification techniques.

Each chapter discusses the ideas behind some aspects of functional verification with examples of how this might be used in an actual system being verified. There are few code examples since that would not contribute to the purpose of the book. The examples are primarily system architectures and how a specific component of functional verification would be used in testing that architecture.

The list of subjects covered is complete relative to the current state of the art.

Overall this is a very useful book to read. I would suggest that most verification engineers and their managers would benefit from exposure to this book. Even if you know all of this already it is a good book to have available to explain to other people what you are doing.