Category Archives: Language Reviews

Book reviews related to languages

Review of Enterprise Data Workflows with Cascading

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Enterprise Data Workflows with CascadingEnterprise Data Workflows with Cascading by Paco Nathan (O’Reilly Media) is a great summarization of using the Cascading API.  Paco spends a sufficient amount of time providing a solid overview of Cascading along with an explanation of related extensions such as Pattern and Lingual. Test cases provided allow a novice user to quickly understand the basics of Cascading though some of the test cases followed along the same flows as the Cascading online documentation site.

Enterprise Data Workflows with Cascading is a great resource for beginning users that need to quickly come up to speed on using Cascading.  The book works the reader through evolutions of exercises such as setting up and loading files into Hadoop to using different types of joins along with finally reaching the point of integration points with the different languages and a larger case study based on the City of Palo Alto Open Data.

I’d recommend Enterprise Data Workflows with Cascading as a good entry point and base work to build upon as the reader gains more experience.

Review: Metasploit – The Penetration Tester’s Guide

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Metasploit: The Penetration Tester's GuideMetasploit: The Penetration Tester’s Guide by David Kennedy, Jim O’Gorman, Devon Kearns, and Mati Aharoni (O’Reilly Media) is very detailed and extremely valuable in demonstrating how penetration testing can be done using Metasploit along with having the great side-benefit of being able to learn about general methods and processes a pentester will go through during the testing cycle (PTES methodology).

The initial chapters deal with introducing the reader to the PTES methodology and Metasploit as a testing product.  As the chapters progress the authors pushes the reader deeper and deeper into the Metasploit product’s features along with how to use those features to complete the penetration test processes.  In the appendix, the authors have provided instructions on how to configure test environments that can support your exploits without sending the Feds to your front door.

Overall, this book is an good resource for those people that have good technical skills in Ruby and are comfortable in a Linux environment that want to understand penetration testing and the Metasploit product.

Disclaimer: I received a free electronic copy of this book as part of the O’Reilly Blogger Program

Review: Version Control with Git

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A Review of Version Control With GITAlready having a background in advanced usage of ClearCase, CVS, and SVN, I picked up Version Control with Git by Jon Loeliger and Matthew McCullough (O’Reilly publisher) to understand how Git could help me solve some of the feature challenges I have been working through with other VCSs.  This book certainly was able to deliver to my expectations.

The authors work through the processes to setup and configure Git step-by-step.  In addition, they also spends a great deal of time delving into the more important topics required to work with Git as a power user.  The examples were useful and the diagrams where acceptable to convey the points needed.  There is no doubt that that the authors understand Git.  The time they take in explaining why to “do something” is important in moving the reader from a simple user of Git into becoming a power user.  The “Submodule Best Practices” chapter was helpful in solving some of my current challenges while the “Tips, Tricks, and Techniques” chapter gave me some quick wins.

While there are many ways to solve the same problem when using any VCS, I felt like the authors worked hard to provide an honest and open view of their approaches.  I highly recommend Version Control with Git to the reader that wants to understand more about a VCS like Git than simply a small number of quick commands via an IDE.  While this book is not a definitive reference guide in all things Git, it provides a solid foundation that allows the reader to head in the right path as they learn more about Git’s inner workings.

Disclaimer: I received a free electronic copy of this book as part of the O’Reilly Blogger Program

Review: Introducing Regular Expressions

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Regular Expressions Reviewed by Jason ArmstrongI read Introducing Regular Expressions by Michael Fitzgerald (O’Reilly Media) to gather deeper insights into the details behind regular expressions.  Fitzgerald does not disappoint.  The reader should sit back and prepare to drink from the fire hose as Fitzgerald drives through regular expressions in many of their entry level flavors and styles.  Introducing Regular Expressions is not for the faint of heart as the reader must navigate lots of regex simulator tools and platforms in order to practice the examples that Fitzgerald fires at the reader without mercy.

If the reader is prepared for a no fluff introduction into regular expressions, then this book is for them.  The reader must be prepared for the technical hurdles needed to execute the samples provided in the book.  Fitzgerald has the reader execute regex in toolsets such as sed, grep, perl, Cygwin, vi, ack, vim, and even more regex simulation tools.  The tool setups can quickly become a distraction to the reader as they spend more time bouncing between tools than actually understanding at depth the reasons behind the samples themselves.  However, as long as the reader takes the time to work through the tools and samples, they will not only gain knowledge in regular expressions, but also many common toolsets.  At its heart, this toolset requirement demonstrates to the astute reader an understanding that unlike many IT “languages” there is no single regular expression structure or behavior.  Demonstrating that you may have to customize your use based on the tools you choose.

Overall, I’d recommend this book for two main reader types.  The first is for the reader that is looking to understand the overall behaviors and traits of regular expressions without a 500 page manual with lots of fluff.  The second is for the reader that has a basic understanding of regular expressions but would like a quick reference on why the expressions work the way they do in many cookbook and internet examples.

Disclaimer: I received a free electronic copy of this book as part of the O’Reilly Blogger Program