The Limits of Software

The Limits of Software
Author: Robert N. Britcher
Publisher: Addison Wesley Longman
Total Pages: 246
Release: 1999
Genre: Computers
ISBN:

"Looking at the current software development environment, The Limits of Software explores how technology changes methods and how today's market demands affect software development. This book also examines the many forces behind the current push for the development of the "one great system."" "In this extraordinary book, Britcher offers a long-standing insider's perspective on the past and present of the computer industry, complete with its many foibles and achievements. He looks to the future with both optimism and trepidation, hoping that the industry can accomplish real gains while reaching for worthwhile goals."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Beyond the Limits

Beyond the Limits
Author: Paul E. Ceruzzi
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 290
Release: 1989
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780262031431

Computers and flying machines are two dominant technologies of our time. "Beyond the Limits" shows the ways in which they interact, clearly illustrating the complex issues and devices involved in their mutual evolution. It describes and illustrates how computer technology has affected the theory and practice of the engineering and operations of aircraft and spacecraft from 1945 to the present. Paul Ceruzzi points out that the "revolution" in aerospace technology has been going on for at least forty years. For the first time, he tells how modern flight depends on computers, how this came about, and what its consequences are. He brings to light new facets of the individual stories of aerospace and computing, while also revealing more general themes about the dynamics and evolution of these modern technologies. Spacecraft and fighters make use of leading-edge computer technologies in their design, testing manufacture, navigation and operation; moreover pilots and astronauts rely on computer simulations throughout their training. Ceruzzi describes these technologies and their history. In separate chapters he focuses on Northrop ("midwife of the computer industry"), missile tracking, Whirlwind, Apollo, Minuteman, and the software involved. An appendix discusses the role that on-board and ground computers played in the explosion of the space shuttle "Challenger. Paul Ceruzzi is Associate Curator at the National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution. "Beyond the Limits" was written to accompany the opening of a major new gallery devoted to the subject at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum.

Overcomplicated

Overcomplicated
Author: Samuel Arbesman
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 258
Release: 2016
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 1591847761

In "Overcomplicated," complexity scientist Samuel Arbesman offers a fresh, insightful field guide to living with complex technologies that defy human comprehension. As technology grows more complex, Arbesman argues, its behavior mimics the vagaries of the natural world more than it conforms to a mathematical model. If we are to survive and thrive in this new age, we must abandon our need for governing principles and rules and accept the chaos. By embracing and observing the freak accidents and flukes that disrupt our lives, we can gain valuable clues about how our algorithms really work. What's more, we will become better thinkers, scientists, and innovators as a result.

Coders at Work

Coders at Work
Author: Peter Seibel
Publisher: Apress
Total Pages: 619
Release: 2009-12-21
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 1430219491

Peter Seibel interviews 15 of the most interesting computer programmers alive today in Coders at Work, offering a companion volume to Apress’s highly acclaimed best-seller Founders at Work by Jessica Livingston. As the words “at work” suggest, Peter Seibel focuses on how his interviewees tackle the day-to-day work of programming, while revealing much more, like how they became great programmers, how they recognize programming talent in others, and what kinds of problems they find most interesting. Hundreds of people have suggested names of programmers to interview on the Coders at Work web site: www.codersatwork.com. The complete list was 284 names. Having digested everyone’s feedback, we selected 15 folks who’ve been kind enough to agree to be interviewed: Frances Allen: Pioneer in optimizing compilers, first woman to win the Turing Award (2006) and first female IBM fellow Joe Armstrong: Inventor of Erlang Joshua Bloch: Author of the Java collections framework, now at Google Bernie Cosell: One of the main software guys behind the original ARPANET IMPs and a master debugger Douglas Crockford: JSON founder, JavaScript architect at Yahoo! L. Peter Deutsch: Author of Ghostscript, implementer of Smalltalk-80 at Xerox PARC and Lisp 1.5 on PDP-1 Brendan Eich: Inventor of JavaScript, CTO of the Mozilla Corporation Brad Fitzpatrick: Writer of LiveJournal, OpenID, memcached, and Perlbal Dan Ingalls: Smalltalk implementor and designer Simon Peyton Jones: Coinventor of Haskell and lead designer of Glasgow Haskell Compiler Donald Knuth: Author of The Art of Computer Programming and creator of TeX Peter Norvig: Director of Research at Google and author of the standard text on AI Guy Steele: Coinventor of Scheme and part of the Common Lisp Gang of Five, currently working on Fortress Ken Thompson: Inventor of UNIX Jamie Zawinski: Author of XEmacs and early Netscape/Mozilla hacker

Surreptitious Software

Surreptitious Software
Author: Jasvir Nagra
Publisher: Pearson Education
Total Pages: 939
Release: 2009-07-24
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 0132702037

“This book gives thorough, scholarly coverage of an area of growing importance in computer security and is a ‘must have’ for every researcher, student, and practicing professional in software protection.” —Mikhail Atallah, Distinguished Professor of Computer Science at Purdue University Theory, Techniques, and Tools for Fighting Software Piracy, Tampering, and Malicious Reverse Engineering The last decade has seen significant progress in the development of techniques for resisting software piracy and tampering. These techniques are indispensable for software developers seeking to protect vital intellectual property. Surreptitious Software is the first authoritative, comprehensive resource for researchers, developers, and students who want to understand these approaches, the level of security they afford, and the performance penalty they incur. Christian Collberg and Jasvir Nagra bring together techniques drawn from related areas of computer science, including cryptography, steganography, watermarking, software metrics, reverse engineering, and compiler optimization. Using extensive sample code, they show readers how to implement protection schemes ranging from code obfuscation and software fingerprinting to tamperproofing and birthmarking, and discuss the theoretical and practical limitations of these techniques. Coverage includes Mastering techniques that both attackers and defenders use to analyze programs Using code obfuscation to make software harder to analyze and understand Fingerprinting software to identify its author and to trace software pirates Tamperproofing software using guards that detect and respond to illegal modifications of code and data Strengthening content protection through dynamic watermarking and dynamic obfuscation Detecting code theft via software similarity analysis and birthmarking algorithms Using hardware techniques to defend software and media against piracy and tampering Detecting software tampering in distributed system Understanding the theoretical limits of code obfuscation

Software Estimation Without Guessing

Software Estimation Without Guessing
Author: George Dinwiddie
Publisher: Pragmatic Bookshelf
Total Pages: 325
Release: 2019-12-19
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 1680507419

Estimating software development often produces more angst than value, but it doesn't have to. Identify the needs behind estimate requests and determine how to meet those needs simply and easily. Choose estimation techniques based on current needs and available information, gaining benefit while reducing cost and effort. Detect bad assumptions that might sink your project if you don't adjust your plans. Discover what to do when an estimate is wrong, how to recover, and how to use that knowledge for future planning. Learn to communicate about estimates in a healthy and productive way, maximizing advantage to the organization and minimizing damage to the people. In a world where most developers hate estimation and most managers fear disappointment with the results, there is hope for both. It requires giving up some widely held misconceptions. Let go of the notion that "an estimate is an estimate" and estimate for the particular need you, and your organization, have. Realize that estimates have a limited shelf-life, and reestimate frequently if it's important. When reality differs from your estimate, don't lament; mine that disappointment for the gold that can be the longer-term jackpot. Estimate in comparison to past experience, by modeling the work mathematically, or a hybrid of both. Learn strategies for effective decomposition of work and aspects of the work that likely affect your estimates. Hedge your bets by comparing the results of different approaches. Find out what to do when an estimate proves wrong. And they will. They're estimates, after all. You'll discover that you can use estimates to warn you of danger so you can take appropriate action in time. Learn some crucial techniques to understand and communicate with those who need to understand. Address both the technical and sociological aspects of estimation, and you'll help your organization achieve its desired goals with less drama and more benefit. What You Need: No software needed, just your past experience and concern for the outcomes.

The Promise And Limits Of Computer Modeling

The Promise And Limits Of Computer Modeling
Author: Charles Blilie
Publisher: World Scientific
Total Pages: 285
Release: 2007-07-26
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 9814475009

Many books deal with the techniques of designing, building and testing computer models and simulations, but few have seriously examined what models are based on, their inherent limitations, and their essential role in extending human knowledge. This book fills this need.It focuses on computer models throughout, yet its exposition of the nature and limits of modeling is entirely general. A chapter on the development of celestial mechanics models illustrates how models progress and are essential to natural science. Chapters on models of global climate, population, economics and warfare, illustrate both the possibilities and limits of modeling nature and similar deterministic processes in human affairs.The book also discusses the serious limitations placed on the simulation of human societies and their histories, since models must deal with both cultural and natural forces. The concluding chapter explores virtual realities as systems of interactive images generated by computer models.

Android Programming

Android Programming
Author: Erik Hellman
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 434
Release: 2013-11-04
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 1118717376

Unleash the power of the Android OS and build the kinds of brilliant, innovative apps users love to use If you already know your way around the Android OS and can build a simple Android app in under an hour, this book is for you. If you’re itching to see just how far you can push it and discover what Android is really capable of, it’s for you. And if you’re ready to learn how to build advanced, intuitive, innovative apps that are a blast to use, this book is definitely for you. From custom views and advanced multi-touch gestures, to integrating online web services and exploiting the latest geofencing and activity recognition features, ace Android developer, Erik Hellman, delivers expert tips, tricks and little-known techniques for pushing the Android envelope so you can: Optimize your components for the smoothest user experience possible Create your own custom Views Push the boundaries of the Android SDK Master Android Studio and Gradle Make optimal use of the Android audio, video and graphics APIs Program in Text-To-Speech and Speech Recognition Make the most of the new Android maps and location API Use Android connectivity technologies to communicate with remote devices Perform background processing Use Android cryptography APIs Find and safely use hidden Android APIs Cloud-enable your applications with Google Play Services Distribute and sell your applications on Google Play Store Learn how to unleash the power of Android and transform your apps from good to great in Android Programming: Pushing the Limits.

Artificial Unintelligence

Artificial Unintelligence
Author: Meredith Broussard
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 247
Release: 2019-01-29
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 026253701X

A guide to understanding the inner workings and outer limits of technology and why we should never assume that computers always get it right. In Artificial Unintelligence, Meredith Broussard argues that our collective enthusiasm for applying computer technology to every aspect of life has resulted in a tremendous amount of poorly designed systems. We are so eager to do everything digitally—hiring, driving, paying bills, even choosing romantic partners—that we have stopped demanding that our technology actually work. Broussard, a software developer and journalist, reminds us that there are fundamental limits to what we can (and should) do with technology. With this book, she offers a guide to understanding the inner workings and outer limits of technology—and issues a warning that we should never assume that computers always get things right. Making a case against technochauvinism—the belief that technology is always the solution—Broussard argues that it's just not true that social problems would inevitably retreat before a digitally enabled Utopia. To prove her point, she undertakes a series of adventures in computer programming. She goes for an alarming ride in a driverless car, concluding “the cyborg future is not coming any time soon”; uses artificial intelligence to investigate why students can't pass standardized tests; deploys machine learning to predict which passengers survived the Titanic disaster; and attempts to repair the U.S. campaign finance system by building AI software. If we understand the limits of what we can do with technology, Broussard tells us, we can make better choices about what we should do with it to make the world better for everyone.

The Handbook of Software for Engineers and Scientists

The Handbook of Software for Engineers and Scientists
Author: Paul W. Ross
Publisher: CRC Press
Total Pages: 1580
Release: 1995-10-25
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 9780849325304

The Handbook of Software for Engineers and Scientists is a single-volume, ready reference for the practicing engineer and scientist in industry, government, and academia as well as the novice computer user. It provides the most up-to-date information in a variety of areas such as common platforms and operating systems, applications programs, networking, and many other problem-solving tools necessary to effectively use computers on a daily basis. Specific platforms and environments thoroughly discussed include MS-DOS®, Microsoft® WindowsTM, the Macintosh® and its various systems, UNIXTM, DEC VAXTM, IBM® mainframes, OS/2®, WindowsTM NT, and NeXTSTEPTM. Word processing, desktop publishing, spreadsheets, databases, integrated packages, computer presentation systems, groupware, and a number of useful utilities are also covered. Several extensive sections in the book are devoted to mathematical and statistical software. Information is provided on circuits and control simulation programs, finite element tools, and solid modeling tools. Additional coverage is included on data communications and networking. Many appendices at the end of the book provide useful supplemental information, such as ASCII codes, RS-232 parallel port and pinout information, and ANSI escape sequences. This valuable resource handbook brings together a wide variety of topics and offers a wealth of information at the reader's fingertips.