This is an introductory textbook for those who want to learn Java 3D fast. It is packed with numerous examples and illustrations, including an 8-page colour section. The author takes readers through the different stages of writing a simple program in Java 3D and then shows how to modify and add features to the program. Indeed, one of the best way to learn any programming language is by writing programs. The examples in this book assume a working knowledge of Java and some background in 3D graphics. It is one of the first books to introduce Java 3D at an introductory level.

How to create dynamic web environments using the PHP language and the MySQL database! If you are familiar with the syntax for C, C++ and Java, then PHP will seem very familiar. Once you have got up to speed with this HTML embedded scripting language, you will soon be creating dynamic HTML database-enabled web pages quickly and easily. This quick and practical introduction explains: - how PHP works and what a dynamic web page is; - the software development environment; - the syntax and features of the language; - how PHP can be integrated with MySQL databases; - dynamic database applications. Clearly written, this book provides you with all the essential information you need to create your own dynamic web environments using PHP. Additional material is available from the Essential series web site: http://www.essential-series.com

Essential UML fast introduces the concepts of object-oriented analysis, design and programming, using the Unified Modeling Language (UML). UML is one of the best known modeling languages in the object-oriented software development world, and is fast becoming a standard amongst OO software developers. The book contains plenty of examples and detailed illustrations, making it easy for readers to get up and running with UML fast. In providing these examples the author relies on one of the well known use case tools, Select Enterprise. Advice is given on how to set up Select Enterprise as well as how to use it to speed up the modeling process of practical software.

A quick and practical introduction to the C# programming language. The text includes complete programing examples that highlight the core features of this language. In this book you will learn about: Using C# with a traditional compile run cycle, using C# within the Developer Studio environment, different data types supported in C#, control structures and input and output (i/o) in C#, key features of C# and their relationship to C, C++, Java and other programming languages.

XHTML is a flexible XML-based markup language for designing Web sites. In January 2000, the W3C announced that it was supporting the development of XHTML as a replacement to HTML. HTML will continue to be around for a while, but if you want to develop Web sites for the future you need to switch to XHTML. Designers who make the change find that they can develop faster, better sites using XHTML. Most Web sites are interactive, responding to the viewer. To do this you need to use a scripting language - JavaScript is the most popular scripting language and interfaces easily with XHTML. To develop powerful interactive Web sites you need to understand these technologies and how they work together. Essential XHTML fast gives you everything you need to develop great Web sites in XHTML, including an introduction to scripting with JavaScript so that you can create dynamic interactive Web pages. There are many step-by-step examples, which you can download from the series Web site. It covers key aspects such as: - The relationship between XML and XHTML - Cascading Style sheets for formatting layout - Using text, images and image maps as links - Creating and using tables - The new standard for frames - Interactive XHTML forms - The JavaScript language - Incorporating JavaScript into XHTML pages - Handling events in JavaScript The source code for the examples in this book is available at the Essential series web site http://www.essential-series.com.

RenderMan has long been associated with top-end film production and is an essential tool for creating many of the effects and images in recent animated films (such as Final Fantasy, Monsters, Inc., Stuart Little, Pearl Harbour and Dinosaur). RenderMan is widely available and, with the demand for higher quality images, is now used by computer-based artists at all levels of the graphics industry. Essential RenderMan fast is a practical introduction to producing images using a RenderMan renderer, and getting the most from RenderMan. You will gain access to the power of RenderMan, which has previously only been available to the elite of the Computer Graphics community! With plenty of illustrations and hands-on examples, Ian Stephenson: gives an overview of RenderMan.- explains how scenes are described.- illustrates (among other things) how to create surfaces; colour; lighting; shadows; and depth of field, using RIB and the C API.- introduces the techniques involved in creating and applying textures and shading. Additional material is available from the Essential series website: http://www.essential-series.com

Starting with an introduction to the development environment, Fiaz Hussain presents a quick and effective guide to the powerful components that make up Macromedia Director 8.5. using a hands-on approach and plenty of illustrations.

How to create dynamic web environments using the ASP .NET framework! The ASP .NET framework enables the development of dynamic web pages, which can interface to various database systems. Using the Visual Basic .NET language you will be able to begin to create your own web systems with ease. This quick and practical introduction explains: how to setup an ASP.NET development environment, and where to find the various software components.- the syntax and features of the language.- web-based user interaction using ASP .NET forms.- pre-defined ASP .NET objects.- how ASP .NET can interface with databases. Clearly written, this book provides you with all the essential information you need to create your own dynamic web environments using ASP .NET. Additional material is available from the Essential series web site: http://www.essential-series.com

Visual Basic .NET is part of the Visual Studio .NET family of products in addition to Visual C++ and the new programming language Visual C#. While the syntax and style of Visual Basic .NET is very similar to earlier versions of Visual Basic this version has many important improvements, which will ensure that Visual Basic remains as Microsoft's most popular Integrated Development Environment (IDE) for application development. Whether you want to develop applications for Windows or for the World Wide Web (WWW) Visual Basic .NET is an excellent tool for producing reliable, professional applications fast. Visual Basic has set the standard as one of the best development environments for Windows applications, but increasingly we want to create applications for the WWW which will run within a browser environment. This version of Visual Basic provides an excellent set of tools for doing this. The WWW is a part of the Internet and originally Web pages were written in simple HTML and were static, that is you could look at them and follow links to other pages but you could not do anything else. To develop a Web application which can respond to user requests, for example, reading a database, and updating the Web page, other tools apart from HTML are needed. Visual Basic .NET uses an extended version of ASP called ASP.NET for doing this.

Macromedia Dreamweaver 4.0 provides an exciting environment for creating and managing web pages and web sites. Fiaz Hussain gives a quick, but effective, introduction to the various key components and tools making up the development studio. Using a hands-on approach, with plenty of animated illustrations, Essential Dreamweaver 4.0 fast: - shows the simple and valuable steps necessary to design, develop, evaluate and publish a web site; - explains the essential components of building a web-site, through hand-coding HTML or JavaScript, or via the Visual Editor, or by means of both; - discusses how to include text, images, links, forms, frames, layers, HTML, JavaScript and style sheets. Essential Dreamweaver 4.0 fast gives an easy explanation of the basic tools needed to build and manage sophisticated web sites quickly. The source code for the examples in the book is available from the Essential Series web site: http://www.essential-series.com