REVIEWS: Advance Praise for CUDA Application Design and Development

November 7, 2011  [MK] Todd

Early reviewers are excited about Rob Farber’s CUDA Application Design and Development, which is now available. See for yourself below, and learn more about the book at mkp.com/news/cuda-application-design-and-development and let us know what you think by leaving a comment. We look forward to your feedback!

CUDA Application Design and Development is required reading for anyone who wants to understand and efficiently program CUDA for scientific and visual programming. It provides a hands-on exposure to the details in a readable and easy to understand form.” – Jack Dongarra, Innovative Computing Laboratory, EECS Department, University of Tennessee

“As an academic, I turned to Dr. Farber’s CUDA: Supercomputing for the Masses series in Dr. Dobb’s to teach my students about CUDA.  I am ecstatic to see that he has transformed the series into a book where CUDA can be taught to the masses.  This book is a must-read for anyone wanting to ‘stay current’ in the fast changing and increasingly ubiquitous world of parallel computing. With GPU computing promising to transform the way that we innovate, join Dr. Farber on an insightful ride of discovery in designing the CUDA applications of tomorrow.” – Professor Wu Feng, Synergy Laboratory, Department of CS and ECE, Virginia Tech

“GPUs have the potential to take computational simulations to new levels of scale and detail. Many scientists are already realising these benefits, tackling larger and more complex problems that are not feasible on conventional CPU-based systems. This book provides the tools and techniques for anyone wishing to join these pioneers, in an accessible though thorough text that a budding CUDA programmer would do well to keep close to hand.” – Dr. George Beckett, EPCC, University of Edinburgh

“With his book, Farber takes us on a journey to the exciting world of programming multi-core processor machines with CUDA. Farber’s pragmatic approach is effective in guiding the reader across challenges and their solutions.   Farber’s broader presentation of parallel programming with CUDA ranging from CUDA in Cloud and Cluster environments to CUDA for real problems and applications helps the reader learning about the unique opportunities this parallel programming language can offer to the scientific community. This book is definitely a must for students, teachers, and developers!” – Michela Taufer, Assistant Professor, Department of Computer and Information Sciences, University of Delaware

“Rob Farber has written an enlightening and accessible book on the application to CUDA for real research tasks, with an eye to developing scalable and distributed GPU applications.  He supplies clear and usable code examples combined with insight about why one should use a particular approach.  This is an excellent book filled with practical advice for experienced CUDA programmers and ground-up guidance for beginners wondering if CUDA can accelerate their time to solution.” – Paul A. Navrátil, Manager, Visualization Software, Texas Advanced Computing Center

“The book provides a solid introduction to the CUDA programming language starting with the basics and progressively exposing the reader to advanced concepts through the well annotated implementation of real-world applications. It makes a first-rate presentation of CUDA, its use in the implementation of portable and efficient applications and the underlying architecture of GPGPU/CPU systems with particular emphasis on memory hierarchies. This is complemented by a thorough presentation both of the CUDA Tool Suite and of techniques for the parallelisation of applications. Farber’s book is a valuable addition to the bookshelves of both the advanced and novice CUDA programmer.” –  Francis Wray, Independent Consultant and Visiting Professor at the Faculty of Computing, Information Systems and Mathematics at the University of Kingston

“At a brisk pace, CUDA Application Design and Development will take one from the basics of CUDA programming to the level where real-time video processing becomes a stroll in the park. Along the way, the reader can get a clear understanding of how the hybrid CPU-GPU computing idea can be capitalized on, and how a 500-GPU configuration can be used in large scale machine learning problems.  Wasting no time on obscure issues of little relevance, the book provides an excellent account of the CUDA execution model, memory access issues, opportunities to increase parallelism in a program, and how advanced profiling can squeeze performance out of a code.  Rob provides a snapshot of everything that is relevant in CUDA based GPU computing in a style honed through a long series of Dr. Dobb’s articles that have delighted scores of CUDA programmers.  His followers will be delighted once again.” – Dan Negrut, Associate Professor, University of Wisconsin-Madison, NVIDIA CUDA Fellow

CUDA Application Design and Development

ISBN: 9780123884268

Rob Farber

REVIEWS: Glowing Review for Analyzing Social Media Networks with NodeXL

September 19, 2011  SteveH

Analyzing Social Media Networks with NodeXL has just received a glowing review by informationr.net. Here’s a taster of what they had to say…

“This is a niche book that is also multi-discliplinary. NodeXL has involved experts in information studies, computer science, sociology, human-computer interaction and cultural studies and this book has contributions from researchers in all these fields and more. It is however highly practical and will motivate readers to use this tool for their own research.”

Read the full review

Analyzing Social Media Networks with NodeXL
ISBN: 9780123822291
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REVIEWS: Positive Reviews for Engineering A Compiler Are In

February 10, 2011  [MK] Andrea

Positive reviews for the second edition of Engineering A Compiler by Keith Cooper and Linda Torczon have begun mounting. This highly anticipated revision just published. Some of the reviews are listed below. Let us know what you think by leaving a comment. We look forward to your feedback!

Compilers are a rich area of study, drawing together the whole world of computer science in one, elegant construction. Cooper and Torczon have succeeded in creating a welcoming guide to these software systems, enhancing this new edition with clear lessons and the details you simply must get right, all the while keeping the big picture firmly in view. Engineering a Compiler is an invaluable companion for anyone new to the subject.
- Michael D. Smith, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, John H. Finley, Jr. Professor of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University

The Second Edition of Engineering a Compiler is an excellent introduction to the construction of modern optimizing compilers. The authors draw from a wealth of experience in compiler construction in order to help students grasp the big picture while at the same time guiding them through many important but subtle details that must be addressed to construct an effective optimizing compiler. In particular, this book contains the best introduction to Static Single Assignment Form that I’ve seen.
- Jeffery von Ronne, Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science, The University of Texas at San Antonio
Engineering a Compiler increases its value as a textbook with a more regular and consistent structure, and with a host of instructional aids: review questions, extra examples, sidebars, and marginal notes. It also includes a wealth of technical updates, including more on nontraditional languages, real-world compilers, and nontraditional uses of compiler technology. The optimization material—already a signature strength—has become even more accessible and clear.
- Michael L. Scott, Professor, Computer Science Department University of Rochester, Author of Programming Language Pragmatics

Keith Cooper and Linda Torczon present an effective treatment of the history as well as a practitioner’s perspective of how compilers are developed. Theory as well as practical real world examples of existing compilers (i.e. LISP, FORTRAN, etc.) comprise a multitude of effective discussions and illustrations. Full circle discussion of introductory along with advanced “allocation” and “optimization” concepts encompass an effective “life-cycle” of compiler engineering. This text should be on every bookshelf of computer science students as well as professionals involved with compiler engineering and development.
- David Orleans, Nova Southeastern University

ISBN: 9780120884780


REVIEWS: Positive Reviews for Computer Networks, 5th Edition

February 1, 2011  [MK] Andrea

Positive reviews for the fifth edition of Computer Networks: A Systems Approach by Larry L. Peterson and Bruce S. Davie have begun mounting. This highly anticipated revision is due out this March and has been improved with a new interior design and robust ancillaries, so it should be no surprise that professionals and professors alike are excited for its release. Some of the reviews are listed below. Learn more about the book at mkp.com/computer-networks and let us know what you think by leaving a comment. We look forward to your feedback!

I have known and used this book for years and I always found it very valuable as a textbook for teaching computer networks as well as a reference book for networking professionals. This Fifth Edition maintains the core value of former editions and brings the clarity of explanation of network protocols in the introduction of the most up-to-date techniques, technologies and requirements of networking. Beyond describing the details of past and current networks, this book successfully motivates the curiosity, and hopefully new research, for the networks of the future.

- Stefano Basagni, Northeastern University

Peterson and Davie have written an outstanding book for the computer networking world. It is a well-organized book that features a very helpful “big picture” systems approach.  This book is a must have!

- Yonshik Choi, Illinois Institute of Technology

The Fifth Edition of Computer Networks: A Systems Approach is well-suited for the serious student of computer networks, though it remains accessible to the more casual reader as well. The authors’ enthusiasm for their subject is evident throughout; they have a thorough and current grasp of the interesting problems of the field. They explain not only how various protocols work, but also why they work the way they do, and even why certain protocols are the important and interesting ones. The book is also filled with little touches of historical background, from the main text to the “Where Are They Now” sidebars to the papers described in each chapter’s “Further Reading” section—these give the reader a perspective on how things came to be the way they are. All in all, this book provides a lucid and literate introduction to networking.

- Peter Dordal, Loyola University Chicago

Read more …

REVIEWS: 5 5-Star Reviews for Interconnecting Smart Objects with IP

September 8, 2010  [MK] Andrea

Two of Morgan Kaufmann’s newest authors are growing increasingly more excited about all the buzz their book is getting, and for good reason!  Jean-Philippe Vasseur and Adam Dunkels really appreciate all the positive feedback Amazon readers have had so far.  Their book, Interconnecting Smart Objects with IP: The Next Internet, published in June and has already received 5 5-star and 1 4-star review on amzon.com.

James Mcritchie, Publisher of CorpGov.Net called the book “Today’s Version of Martin Waldseemüller’s 1507 Map of the New World” in this review:
“Just as Waldseemüller’s 1507 map of the New World set in motion the naming of America, Vasseur and Dunkels help today’s engineers, computer scientists and students explore the world of tomorrow. The new IPv6 protocol for access to the Internet of things, like our washing machines, provides for 340 trillion trillion trillion addresses. No, I didn’t write the word “trillion” by mistake three times.
The book should and, more importantly, CAN be read by technicians and policy makers alike… being as readable as it is.”
Another reviewer said:
“This guidebook provides an excellent overview and a fair amount of architectural detail of the underlying IPv6 Technologies that will make Ubiquitous Computing and the “Internet of Things” possible. With an approbation by Vint Cerf the TCP/IP and Internet Pioneer it introduces a mature technical discussion of the technologies that will make Internetworked Intelligent Objects a reality. It provides a good balance between technical architecture and a review of the issues that this technology will introduce in public policy. A variety of applications for this IPv6 Internet of Things is given including Smart Grid, Metering, and Smart Building Technologies.”
Interconnecting Smart Objects with IP can be purchased directly from Morgan Kaufmann or from Amazon.com.
All of the Amazon.com reviews are available here.
Interconnecting Smart Objects with IP

ISBN: 9780123751652

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Jean-Philippe Vasseur

Adam Dunkels