Agile project management is a proven approach for designing and delivering software with improved value to customers. Agility is all about self-directed teams, feedback, light documentation, and working software with shorter development cycles. The role of the project manager with agile differs significantly from traditional project management in that there is minimal up-front planning. Agile for Project Managers will help project managers from any industry transition to agile project management. The book examines the project management component of agility, concentrating on industry standards, certifications, and being agile. It also compares agile methods to traditional project management methods throughout to provide readers with a clear understanding of the differences between the two. The book's focus is in alignment with the Project Management Institute (PMI (R)) Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP (R)) credential-making it an ideal resource for anyone preparing for the PMI-ACP (R) exam. Coverage includes: Agile as a project management methodology Agile teams Agile tools and techniques Flavors of agile Agile principles Agile certifications The book provides readers with the understanding required to decide which projects will benefit from agile. It also includes information that can help readers to assess their organizations' readiness for agile methods. Complete with a list of agile training providers, the book will help certified project managers make a smooth transition to agile project management and will provide newcomers with the basic knowledge needed to pass the PMI-ACP (R) exam, the first time around.

A First Course in Aerial Robots and Drones provides an accessible and student friendly introduction to aerial robots and drones. Drones figure prominently as opportunities for students to learn various aspects of aerospace engineering and design. Drones offer an enticing entry point for STEM studies. As the use of drones in STEM studies grows, there is an emerging generation of drone pilots who are not just good at flying, but experts in specific niches, such as mapping or thermography. Key Features: Focuses on algorithms that are currently used to solve diverse problems. Enables students to solve problems and improve their science skills. Introduces difficult concepts with simple, accessible examples. Suitable for undergraduate students, this textbook provides students and other readers with methods for solving problems and improving their science skills.

Fully detailed game projects from scratch. Beginners can do the steps and create games right away. No coding experience is necessary. Numerous examples take a raw beginner towards professional coding proficiency in C# and Unity. Includes a thorough introduction to Unity 2020 All required software is professional quality and completely free to use for any purpose including commercial applications and games.

Is the Enterprise Information Portal (EIP) knowledge management's killer app? Leading expert Joseph M. Firestone, the first author to formulate the idea of the Enterprise Knowledge Portal, breaks new ground and looks to the future with a practical, but comprehensive approach to enterprise portals and their relationship to knowledge management. Providing a clear and novel overview, Firestone tackles a wide range of topics ranging from functional EIP applications, estimating costs and benefits of EIPs, variations in EIP technical architecture, the role of intelligent agents, the nature of knowledge management, portal product/solution segmentation, portal product case studies, to the future of the EIP space.
'Enterprise Information Portals and Knowledge Management' is the book on portals you've been waiting for. It is the only book that thoroughly considers, explores, and analyzes:
* The EIP orientation, outlook and evolution
* A new methodology for estimating EIP benefits and costs
* EIP and Enterprise Knowledge Portals (EKP) architecture
* The approaching role of software agents in EIPs and EKPs
* The current and future contribution of EIP and EKP solutions to Knowledge Management
* The role of XML in portal architecture
* A comprehensive, multi-dimensional, and forward-looking segmentation of EIP products accompanied by portal product case studies
* Where EIP sector companies are headed and the pathways they will follow to get there
* Comprehensive approach to enterprise portals and their relationship to knowledge management
* Groundbreaking author, Firestone was the first to formulate the idea of the Enterprise Knowledge Portal
* Tackles a widerange of topics from functional EIP applications, estimating costs and benefits of EIPs, variations in EIP technical architecture, the role of intelligent agents, the nature of knowledge management, portal product/solution segmentation, portal product case studies, to the future of the EIP space

Python Packages introduces Python packaging at an introductory and practical level that's suitable for those with no previous packaging experience. Despite this, the text builds up to advanced topics such as automated testing, creating documentation, versioning and updating a package, and implementing continuous integration and deployment. Covering the entire Python packaging life cycle, this essential guide takes readers from package creation all the way to effective maintenance and updating. Python Packages focuses on the use of current and best-practice packaging tools and services like poetry, cookiecutter, pytest, sphinx, GitHub, and GitHub Actions. Features: The book's source code is available online as a GitHub repository where it is collaborated on, automatically tested, and built in real time as changes are made; demonstrating the use of good reproducible and clear project workflows. Covers not just the process of creating a package, but also how to document it, test it, publish it to the Python Package Index (PyPI), and how to properly version and update it. All concepts in the book are demonstrated using examples. Readers can follow along, creating their own Python packages using the reproducible code provided in the text. Focuses on a modern approach to Python packaging with emphasis on automating and streamlining the packaging process using new and emerging tools such as poetry and GitHub Actions.

This book uses automotive embedded systems as an example to introduce functional safety assurance and safety-aware cost optimization. The book explores functional safety assurance from the perspectives of verification, enhancement, and validation. The functional safety assurance methods implement a safe and efficient assurance system that integrates safety verification, enhancement, and validation. The assurance methods offered in this book could provide a reasonable and scientific theoretical basis for the subsequent formulation of automotive functional safety standards. The safety-aware cost optimization methods divide cost types according to the essential differences of various costs in system design and establish reasonable models based on different costs. The cost optimization methods provided in this book could give appropriate cost optimization solutions for the cost-sensitive automotive industry, thereby achieving effective cost management and control. Functional safety assurance methods and safety-aware cost optimization support each other and jointly build the architecture of functional safety design methodologies for automotive embedded systems. The work aspires to provide a relevant reference for students, researchers, engineers, and professionals working in this area or those interested in hardware cost optimization and development cost optimization design methods based on ensuring functional safety in general.

Working with Sound is an exploration of the ever-changing working practices of audio development in the era of hybrid collaboration in the games industry. Through learnings from the pre-pandemic remote and isolated worlds of audio work, sound designers, composers and dialogue designers find themselves equipped uniquely to thrive in the hybrid, remote, and studio-based realms of today's fast-evolving working landscapes. With unique insights into navigating the worlds of isolation and collaboration, this book explores ways of thinking and working in this world, equipping the reader with inspiration to sustainably tackle the many stages of the development process. Working with Sound is an essential guide for professionals working in dynamic audio teams of all sizes, as well as the designers, producers, artists, animators and programmers who collaborate closely with their colleagues working on game audio and sound.

It demonstrates how features such as animation and audio can be employed to ensure web sites are used to their full potential and therefore helps to create professional products that will secure a positive image of the company or product they are promoting. It is accessible and simplifies the authoring experience so that even those with little or no previous knowledge of creating web pages can develop and innovate stimulating and interactive features to enhance their content.

Nature-Inspired Optimization Algorithms, a comprehensive work on the most popular optimization algorithms based on nature, starts with an overview of optimization going from the classical to the latest swarm intelligence algorithm. Nature has a rich abundance of flora and fauna that inspired the development of optimization techniques, providing us with simple solutions to complex problems in an effective and adaptive manner. The study of the intelligent survival strategies of animals, birds, and insects in a hostile and ever-changing environment has led to the development of techniques emulating their behavior. This book is a lucid description of fifteen important existing optimization algorithms based on swarm intelligence and superior in performance. It is a valuable resource for engineers, researchers, faculty, and students who are devising optimum solutions to any type of problem ranging from computer science to economics and covering diverse areas that require maximizing output and minimizing resources. This is the crux of all optimization algorithms. Features: Detailed description of the algorithms along with pseudocode and flowchart Easy translation to program code that is also readily available in Mathworks website for some of the algorithms Simple examples demonstrating the optimization strategies are provided to enhance understanding Standard applications and benchmark datasets for testing and validating the algorithms are included This book is a reference for undergraduate and post-graduate students. It will be useful to faculty members teaching optimization. It is also a comprehensive guide for researchers who are looking for optimizing resources in attaining the best solution to a problem. The nature-inspired optimization algorithms are unconventional, and this makes them more efficient than their traditional counterparts.

Discover the power of Java (TM) for developing applications today when you trust the engaging, hands-on approach in Farrell's JAVA PROGRAMMING, 9E. Even if you're a first-time programmer, JAVA PROGRAMMING can show you how to quickly start developing useful programs, all while still mastering the basic principles of structured and object-oriented programming. Unique, reader-friendly explanations and meaningful programming exercises emphasize business applications and game creation while useful debugging exercises and contemporary case problems further expand your understanding. Additional digital learning resources within MindTap provide interactive learning tools as well as coding IDE (Integrated Development Environment) labs for practicing and expanding your skills.

The Game Music Toolbox provides readers with the tools, models and techniques to create and expand a compositional toolbox, through a collection of 20 iconic case studies taken from different eras of game music. Discover many of the composition and production techniques behind popular music themes from games such as Cyberpunk 2077, Mario Kart 8, The Legend of Zelda, Street Fighter II, Diablo, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, The Last of Us, and many others. The Game Music Toolbox features: Exclusive interviews from industry experts Transcriptions and harmonic analyses 101 music theory introductions for beginners Career development ideas and strategies Copyright and business fundamentals An introduction to audio implementation for composers Practical takeaway tasks to equip readers with techniques for their own game music The Game Music Toolbox is crucial reading for game music composers and audio professionals of all backgrounds, as well as undergraduates looking to forge a career in the video game industry.

This volume contains the proceedings of the conference Logical Foundations of Mathematics, Computer Science, and Physics-Kurt Godel's Legacy, held in Brno, Czech Republic on the 90th anniversary of his birth. The wide and continuing importance of Godel s work in the logical foundations of mathematics, computer science, and physics is confirmed by the broad range of speakers who participated in making this gathering a scientific event.

Welcome to the second volume of Game Audio Programming: Principles and Practices - the first series of its kind dedicated to the art of game audio programming! This volume features more than 20 chapters containing advanced techniques from some of the top game audio programmers and sound designers in the industry. This book continues the tradition of collecting more knowledge and wisdom about game audio programming than any other volume in history. Both audio programming beginners and seasoned veterans will find content in this book that is valuable, with topics ranging from extreme low-level mixing to high-level game integration. Each chapter contains techniques that were used in games that have shipped, and there is a plethora of code samples and diagrams. There are chapters on threading, DSP implementation, advanced middleware techniques in FMOD Studio and Audiokinetic Wwise, ambiences, mixing, music, and more. This book has something for everyone who is programming audio for a game: programmers new to the art of audio programming, experienced audio programmers, and those souls who just got assigned the audio code. This book is for you!

A deep dive into the programming language of choice for statistics and data With R All-in-One For Dummies, you get five mini-books in one, offering a complete and thorough resource on the R programming language and a road map for making sense of the sea of data we're all swimming in. Maybe you're pursuing a career in data science, maybe you're looking to infuse a little statistics know-how into your existing career, or maybe you're just R-curious. This book has your back. Along with providing an overview of coding in R and how to work with the language, this book delves into the types of projects and applications R programmers tend to tackle the most. You'll find coverage of statistical analysis, machine learning, and data management with R. Grasp the basics of the R programming language and write your first lines of code Understand how R programmers use code to analyze data and perform statistical analysis Use R to create data visualizations and machine learning programs Work through sample projects to hone your R coding skill This is an excellent all-in-one resource for beginning coders who'd like to move into the data space by knowing more about R.

Terraform has become a key player in the DevOps world for defining, launching, and managing infrastructure as code (IaC) across a variety of cloud and virtualization platforms, including AWS, Google Cloud, Azure, and more. This hands-on third edition, expanded and thoroughly updated for version 1.0 and beyond, shows you the fastest way to get up and running with Terraform. Gruntwork cofounder Yevgeniy (Jim) Brikman walks you through code examples that demonstrate Terraform's simple, declarative programming language for deploying and managing infrastructure with a few commands. Veteran sysadmins, DevOps engineers, and novice developers will quickly go from Terraform basics to running a full stack that can support a massive amount of traffic and a large team of developers. Compare Terraform with Chef, Puppet, Ansible, CloudFormation, Docker, and Packer Deploy servers, load balancers, and databases Create reusable infrastructure with Terraform modules Test your Terraform modules with static analysis, unit tests, and integration tests Configure CI/CD pipelines for both your apps and infrastructure code Use advanced Terraform syntax for loops, conditionals, and zero-downtime deployment New to the third edition: Get up to speed on Terraform 0.13 to 1.0 and beyond Manage secrets (passwords, API keys) with Terraform Work with multiple clouds and providers (including Kubernetes!)

* need to creat and design your own Web pages that include both text and graphics * want your own Web page up and running quickly and efficiently * would like to know how to include Java applets on your Web pages * need a self-teaching approach * want results fast...then this book is for you!

In this book, veteran game developers, academics, journalists, and others provide their processes and experiences with level design. Each provides a unique perspective representing multiple steps of the process for interacting with and creating game levels - experiencing levels, designing levels, constructing levels, and testing levels. These diverse perspectives offer readers a window into the thought processes that result in memorable open game worlds, chilling horror environments, computer-generated levels, evocative soundscapes, and many other types of gamespaces. This collection invites readers into the minds of professional designers as they work and provides evergreen topics on level design and game criticism to inspire both new and veteran designers. Key Features: Learn about the processes of experienced developers and level designers in their own words Discover best-practices for creating levels for persuasive play and designing collaboratively Offers analysis methods for better understanding game worlds and how they function in response to gameplay Find your own preferred method of level design by learning the processes of multiple industry veterans

Developing today's complex systems requires "more" than just good software engineering solutions. Many are faced with complex systems projects, incomplete or inaccurate requirements, canceled projects, or cost overruns, and have their systems' users in revolt and demanding more. Others want to build user-centric systems, but fear managing the process. This book describes an approach that brings the engineering process together with human performance engineering and business process reengineering. The result is a manageable user-centered process for gathering, analyzing, and evaluating requirements that can vastly improve the success rate in the development of medium-to-large size systems and applications.
Unlike some texts that are primarily conceptual, this volume provides guidelines, "how-to" information, and examples, enabling the reader to quickly apply the process and techniques to accomplish the following goals:
* define high quality requirements,
* enhance productive client involvement,
* help clients maintain competitiveness,
* ensure client buy-in and support throughout the process,
* reduce missing functionality and corrections, and
* improve user satisfaction with systems.
This volume clearly details the role of user-centered requirements and knowledge acquisition within Scenario-Based Engineering Process (SEP) and identifies SEP products and artifacts. It assists project personnel in planning and managing effective requirements activities, including managing risks, avoiding common problems with requirements elicitation, organizing project participants and tools, and managing the logistics. Guidelines are provided for the following: selecting the right individual and group techniques to elicit scenarios and requirements from users; subject matter experts, or other shareholders; and ensuring engineers or analysts have the necessary skills.

Developing today's complex systems requires "more" than just good software engineering solutions. Many are faced with complex systems projects, incomplete or inaccurate requirements, canceled projects, or cost overruns, and have their systems' users in revolt and demanding more. Others want to build user-centric systems, but fear managing the process. This book describes an approach that brings the engineering process together with human performance engineering and business process reengineering. The result is a manageable user-centered process for gathering, analyzing, and evaluating requirements that can vastly improve the success rate in the development of medium-to-large size systems and applications.
Unlike some texts that are primarily conceptual, this volume provides guidelines, "how-to" information, and examples, enabling the reader to quickly apply the process and techniques to accomplish the following goals:
* define high quality requirements,
* enhance productive client involvement,
* help clients maintain competitiveness,
* ensure client buy-in and support throughout the process,
* reduce missing functionality and corrections, and
* improve user satisfaction with systems.
This volume clearly details the role of user-centered requirements and knowledge acquisition within Scenario-Based Engineering Process (SEP) and identifies SEP products and artifacts. It assists project personnel in planning and managing effective requirements activities, including managing risks, avoiding common problems with requirements elicitation, organizing project participants and tools, and managing the logistics. Guidelines are provided for the following: selecting the right individual and group techniques to elicit scenarios and requirements from users; subject matter experts, or other shareholders; and ensuring engineers or analysts have the necessary skills.

Written by a AAA industry expert with over twenty years of experience, this book offers comprehensive coverage of the practical skills that all successful level designers need to know. It covers everything from practical production skills to the social and soft skills required to thrive in the games industry. The book begins with a theoretical and abstract approach that sets a common language for the later hard-skill applications and practical examples. These later chapters cover a wealth of practical skills for use during the concept phase, while creating layouts, scripting, and working with AI. The book includes essential chapters on topics such as social and soft skills, world building, level design direction, production, as well as how to gain a job in the industry. This book will be of great interest to all level designers, content leads and directors looking to enhance their skillset. It will also appeal to students of level and game design looking for tips on how to break into the industry.

Are you thinking about working in the board game industry? Here's what you need to know. There are so many jobs and roles that need to be filled in the board game industry. You might just have the right skills and experience to excel. But first you need to know what opportunities exist and what the hardest gaps are to fill! In this book, you'll discover * What jobs are really in demand * How you can get your foot in the door with a publisher * Jobs in the industry you've never even thought of * What other opportunities exist for people with skills just like yours With insights from over 40 industry pros, as well as the author's many years of experience, you'll be able to put your own skills and experience to great use in an amazing, growing industry.

Making a great board game and pitching it to publishers are two completely different things. If you've got a game that you want to share with the world but don't know what to do next, this book will help you navigate through exactly what steps to take. You'll discover: How to find the right publisher Exactly what publishers are looking for How to create a sell sheet that will actually sell your game How to negotiate the best deal and get paid more for your game What to look out for in contracts to make sure you don't get exploited You'll learn from Joe's experiences as a full-time board game designer and instructor, along with tips and stories from a dozen other published designers, plus the exact things that publishers want. Direct from 16 established publishers.

This volume offers an expansion of ideas presented at a recent conference convened to identify the major strategies and more promising practices for assessing technology. The authors -- representing government, business, and university sectors -- helped to set the boundaries of present technology assessment by offering perspectives from computer science, cognitive and military psychology, and education. Their work explores both the use of techniques to assess technology and the use of technology to facilitate the assessment process.
The book's main purpose is to portray the state of the art in technology assessment and to provide conceptual options to help readers understand the power of technology. Technological innovation will continue to develop its own standards of practice and effectiveness. To the extent that these practices are empirically based, designers, supporters, and consumers will be given better information for their decisions.

Become a Java wizard with this popular programming guide Consider Beginning Programming with Java For Dummies your indispensable guide to learning how to program in one of the most popular programming languages--Java! Java is an invaluable language to master, as it's widely used for application development, including Android, desktop, and server-side applications. Beginning Programming with Java For Dummies is written specifically for newbies to programming. The book starts with an overview of computer programming and builds from there; it explains the software you need, walks you through writing your own programs, and introduces you to a few of the more-complex aspects of programming in Java. It also includes step-by-step examples you can try on your own (and email the author if you need help). As you work through the book, you'll get smart about these Java features: Object-oriented programming (OOP), a Java mainstay IntelliJ IDEA, an integrated development environment (IDE), that gives you one place to do all your programming, including debugging code Loops, branches, and collections Variables and operators Expressions, statements, and blocks Beginning Programming with Java For Dummies translates all this foreign programming and computer syntax into plain English, along with plenty of helpful examples and tips. Learning a new language--and coding is definitely its own language--should be a fun endeavor. With this book as your handy interpreter, you'll be on your way to fluency, speaking the language of coders everywhere!