The Pragmatic Bookshelf

Create Mobile Games with Corona

Develop cross-platform mobile games with Corona using the Lua programming language! Corona is experiencing explosive growth among mobile game developers, and this book gets you up to speed on how to use this versatile platform. You’ll use the Corona SDK to simplify game programming and take a fun, no-nonsense approach to write and add must-have gameplay features. You’ll find out how to create all the gaming necessities: menus, sprites, movement, perspective and sound effects, levels, loading and saving, and game physics. Along the way, you’ll learn about Corona’s API functions and build three common kinds of mobile games from scratch that can run on the iPhone, iPad, Kindle Fire, Nook Color, and all other Android smartphones and tablets.

2013-12-02

Crafting Rails 4 Applications

Get ready to see Rails as you’ve never seen it before. Learn how to extend the framework, change its behavior, and replace whole components to bend it to your will. Eight different test-driven tutorials will help you understand Rails’ inner workings and prepare you to tackle complicated projects with solutions that are well-tested, modular, and easy to maintain.

This second edition of the bestselling Crafting Rails 4 Applications has been updated to Rails 4 and discusses new topics such as streaming, mountable engines, and thread safety.

2013-11-01

Test iOS Apps with UI Automation

If you’re an iOS developer or QA professional tapping through an app to reproduce bugs or performance issues you thought were solved two releases ago, then this is your book. Learn how to script the user interface, assert correct behavior, stub external dependencies, reproduce performance problems, organize test code for the long haul, and automate the whole process so the machine does the work. You’ll walk through a comprehensive strategy with techniques using Apple’s tools that you can apply to your own apps.

2013-10-16

Programming Erlang (2nd edition)

A multi-user game, web site, cloud application, or networked database can have thousands of users all interacting at the same time. You need a powerful, industrial-strength tool to handle the really hard problems inherent in parallel, concurrent environments. You need Erlang. In this second edition of the bestselling Programming Erlang, you’ll learn how to write parallel programs that scale effortlessly on multicore systems.

2013-10-16

Functional Programming Patterns in Scala and Clojure

Solve real-life programming problems with a fraction of the code that pure object-oriented programming requires. Use Scala and Clojure to solve in-depth problems with two sets of patterns: object-oriented patterns that become more concise with functional programming, and natively functional patterns. Your code will be more declarative, with fewer bugs and lower maintenance costs.

2013-10-15

Programming Elixir

You want to explore functional programming, but are put off by the academic feel (tell me about monads just one more time). You know you need concurrent applications, but also know these are almost impossible to get right. Meet Elixir, a functional, concurrent language built on the rock-solid Erlang VM. Elixir’s pragmatic syntax and built-in support for metaprogramming will make you productive and keep you interested for the long haul. This book is the introduction to Elixir for experienced programmers.

Maybe you need something that’s closer to Ruby, but with a battle-proven environment that’s unrivaled for massive scalability, concurrency, distribution, and fault tolerance. Maybe the time is right for the Next Big Thing. Maybe it’s Elixir.

Check out the short video on Elixir at youtu.be/hht9s6nAAx8, or the 30 minute, more detailed video at youtu.be/a-off4Vznjs and enjoy.

2013-10-15

Modern C++ Programming with Test-Driven Development

If you program in C++ you’ve been neglected. Test-driven development (TDD) is a modern software development practice that can dramatically reduce the number of defects in systems, produce more maintainable code, and give you the confidence to change your software to meet changing needs. But C++ programmers have been ignored by those promoting TDD—until now. In this book, Jeff Langr gives you hands-on lessons in the challenges and rewards of doing TDD in C++.

2013-10-01

Agile Web Development with Rails 4

Rails just keeps on changing. Both Rails 3 and 4, as well as Ruby 1.9 and 2.0, bring hundreds of improvements, including new APIs and substantial performance enhancements. The fourth edition of this award-winning classic has been reorganized and refocused so it’s more useful than ever before for developers new to Ruby and Rails.

Rails 4 introduces a number of user-facing changes, and the ebook has been updated to match all the latest changes and new best practices in Rails. This includes full support for Ruby 2.0, controller concerns, Russian Doll caching, strong parameters, Turbolinks, new test and bin directory layouts, and much more.

(Looking for earlier versions? Rails 3.2 Edition is still available in ebook and paper).

2013-09-15

Functional Programming in Java

Get ready to program in a whole new way. Functional Programming in Java will help you quickly get on top of the new, essential Java 8 language features and the functional style that will change and improve your code. This short, targeted book will help you make the paradigm shift from the old imperative way to a less error-prone, more elegant, and concise coding style that’s also a breeze to parallelize. You’ll explore the syntax and semantics of lambda expressions, method and constructor references, and functional interfaces. You’ll design and write applications better using the new standards in Java 8 and the JDK.

Print books will be available after the final version of Java 8 is released.

2013-09-01

Practical Programming (2nd edition)

This book is for anyone who wants to understand computer programming. You’ll learn to program in a language that’s used in millions of smartphones, tablets, and PCs. You’ll code along with the book, writing programs to solve real-world problems as you learn the fundamentals of programming using Python 3. You’ll learn about design, algorithms, testing, and debugging, and come away with all the tools you need to produce quality code. In this second edition, we’ve updated almost all the material, incorporating the lessons we’ve learned over the past five years of teaching Python to people new to programming.

2013-08-01

101 Design Ingredients to Solve Big Tech Problems

Tough technology and business challenges face you at every stage of a project. The one-page ingredients in 101 Design Ingredients show you how to solve problems using practical examples you can apply right away. Case studies explain how leading companies combined these ingredients into their own unique recipes to catapult their businesses, and how you can too.

2013-07-31

OpenGL ES 2 for Android

Android is booming like never before, with millions of devices shipping every day. It’s never been a better time to learn how to create your own 3D games and live wallpaper for Android. You’ll find out all about shaders and the OpenGL pipeline, and discover the power of OpenGL ES 2.0, which is much more feature-rich than its predecessor. If you can program in Java and you have a creative vision that you’d like to share with the world, then this is the book for you.

2013-07-30

Good Math

Mathematics is beautiful—and it can be fun and exciting as well as practical. Good Math is your guide to some of the most intriguing topics from two thousand years of mathematics: from Egyptian fractions to Turing machines; from the real meaning of numbers to proof trees, group symmetry, and mechanical computation. If you’ve ever wondered what lay beyond the proofs you struggled to complete in high school geometry, or what limits the capabilities of computer on your desk, this is the book for you.

2013-07-15

3D Game Programming for Kids

You know what’s even better than playing games? Creating your own. Even if you’re an absolute beginner, this book will teach you how to make your own online games with interactive examples. You’ll learn programming using nothing more than a browser, and see cool, 3D results as you type. You’ll learn real-world programming skills in a real programming language: JavaScript, the language of the web. You’ll be amazed at what you can do as you build interactive worlds and fun games.

2013-07-15

Programming Groovy 2.0

Groovy brings you the best of both worlds: a flexible, highly productive, agile, dynamic language that runs on the rich framework of the Java Platform. Groovy preserves the Java semantics and extends the JDK to give you true dynamic language capabilities. Programming Groovy 2.0 will help you, the experienced Java developer, learn and take advantage of the latest version of this rich dynamic language. You’ll go from the basics of Groovy to the latest advances in the language, including options for type checking, tail-call and memoization optimizations, compile time metaprogramming, and fluent interfaces to create DSLs.

2013-06-16

The Healthy Programmer

To keep doing what you love, you need to maintain your own systems, not just the ones you write code for. Regular exercise and proper nutrition help you learn, remember, concentrate, and be creative—skills critical to doing your job well. Learn how to change your work habits, master exercises that make working at a computer more comfortable, and develop a plan to keep fit, healthy, and sharp for years to come.

This book is intended only as an informative guide for those wishing to know more about health issues. In no way is this book intended to replace, countermand, or conflict with the advice given to you by your own healthcare provider including Physician, Nurse Practitioner, Physician Assistant, Registered Dietician, and other licensed professionals.

2013-06-01

Rapid Android Development

Create mobile apps for Android phones and tablets faster and more easily than you ever imagined. Use “Processing,” the free, award-winning, graphics-savvy language and development environment, to work with the touchscreens, hardware sensors, cameras, network transceivers, and other devices and software in the latest Android phones and tablets.

2013-04-05

Programming Ruby 1.9 & 2.0 (4th edition)

Ruby is the fastest growing and most exciting dynamic language out there. If you need to get working programs delivered fast, you should add Ruby to your toolbox.

This book is the only complete reference for both Ruby 1.9 and Ruby 2.0, the very latest version of Ruby. (If you’re still using Ruby 1.8, you’ll want to check out the original PickAxe.)

2013 marks the 20th anniversary of the Ruby language. We’re proud that throughout its history, we’ve continued to cover the latest version of Ruby.

2013-02-21