Learning UML 2.0

The Only Official RUP® Certification Prep Guide and Compact RUP Reference

The IBM® Rational Unified Process® has become the de facto industry-standard process for large-scale enterprise software development. The IBM Certified Solution Designer - IBM Rational Unified Process V7.0 certification provides a powerful way for solutions developers to demonstrate their proficiency with RUP.

The first and only official RUP certification guide, this book fully reflects the latest versions of the Rational Unified Process and of the IBM RUP exam. Authored by two leading RUP implementers, it draws on extensive contributions and careful reviews by the IBM RUP process leader and RUP certification manager.

This book covers every facet of RUP usage. It has been carefully organized to help you prepare for your exam quickly and efficiently--and to provide a handy, compact reference you can rely on for years to come.

Coverage includes

• A full section on RUP exam preparation and a 52-question practice exam
• Core RUP concepts, the new RUP process architecture, and key principles of business-driven development
• RUP’s architecture-centric approach to iterative development: practical issues and scenarios
• Patterns for successful RUP project implementation–and “anti-patterns” to avoid
• The Unified Method Architecture (UMA): basic content and process elements
• RUP content disciplines, in depth: Business Modeling, Requirements, Analysis and Design, Implementation, Test, Deployment, Project Management, Change and Configuration Management, and Environment
• Essential RUP work products, roles, and tasks
• RUP phases, activities, and milestones
• RUP tailoring and tools for your organization--including introductions to IBM Rational Method Composer (RMC) and MyRUP

The Only Official, Best-Practice Guide to Qt 4.3 Programming

Using Trolltech's Qt you can build industrial-strength C++ applications that run natively on Windows, Linux/Unix, Mac OS X, and embedded Linux without source code changes. Now, two Trolltech insiders have written a start-to-finish guide to getting outstanding results with the latest version of Qt: Qt 4.3.

Packed with realistic examples and in-depth advice, this is the book Trolltech uses to teach Qt to its own new hires. Extensively revised and expanded, it reveals today's best Qt programming patterns for everything from implementing model/view architecture to using Qt 4.3's improved graphics support. You'll find proven solutions for virtually every GUI development task, as well as sophisticated techniques for providing database access, integrating XML, using subclassing, composition, and more. Whether you're new to Qt or upgrading from an older version, this book can help you accomplish everything that Qt 4.3 makes possible.

• Completely updated throughout, with significant new coverage of databases, XML, and Qtopia embedded programming

• Covers all Qt 4.2/4.3 changes, including Windows Vista support, native CSS support for widget styling, and SVG file generation

• Contains separate 2D and 3D chapters, coverage of Qt 4.3's new graphics view classes, and an introduction to QPainter's OpenGL back-end

• Includes new chapters on look-and-feel customization and application scripting

• Illustrates Qt 4's model/view architecture, plugin support, layout management, event processing, container classes, and much more

• Presents advanced techniques covered in no other book—from creating plugins to interfacing with native APIs

• Includes a new appendix on Qt Jambi, the new Java version of Qt

Whether you own a small business or work for a large corporation–whether you are looking for help making financial and business decisions–this book is for you.  Business Analysis with Microsoft® Excel, Third Edition, provides in-depth information that will streamline your use of the tools within Excel. Professional advice and guidance from an experienced author provide the answers to your most pressing questions:

     •    What’s the relationship between my cost of goods sold and my inventory?

     •    How do I get Excel to keep these values up-to-date on my income statement and my balance sheet?

     •    I have to track service quality over time. How can I automate that using Excel charts?

     •    How can I forecast future demand for my products, based on prior sales results?

     •    What’s the difference between financial leverage and operating leverage? How do I calculate them using my financial records?

     •    I need to project my financials for next year. Does Excel have a tool for that? What do I need to know to use it effectively?

     •    How do I do all these things using the new Ribbon in Excel 2007?

     •    What are the best ways to automate a connection between Excel and an external database?

Category  Spreadsheets

Covers    Applicable for versions of Microsoft Excel 97 to 2007

User Level    Intermediate–Advanced

More great stuff… is just a click away!

     •    Sample journals and ledgers; examples of trial balances, income statements, and balance sheets

     •    Custom functions, such as FIFO and LIFO, for inventory management

     •    VBA routines that automate the creation of forecasts, quality control charts, and sales and marketing analysis

     •    Statistical process control charts: P charts, X-and-S charts, X-and-MR charts

     •    Forecasting tools: Seasonal smoothing and ARIMA model identification

quote from the front cover

“Conrad takes the time to give the readers an easy-to-follow step-by-step understanding of the material, accompanied by clear illustrations, making this an excellent book to learn the material. I recommend this book to anyone wanting to gain more expertise in using and manipulating business data from within Excel.”

–Bob Umlas, Excel MVP

Are you …
-- Disenchanted with your current job?
-- Contemplating a career change?
-- Considering a "dream" gig?
-- Experiencing mid-life frustrations?
-- Planning to continue working in your later years -- whether you "want to" or "have to"?

"Follow Your Enthusiasm: How 12 Ordinary Men Discovered Extraordinary Encore Careers," by Larry Portzline, features a dozen fascinating men of varying ages and backgrounds who launched satisfying second careers, some of them much later in life.

Each of the book's 12 chapters is a first-person narrative of the guys' own heartfelt stories, exploring their life experiences and challenges, and why these factors -- for good or bad -- led them to pursue successful "encores."

Their quests contain themes that most men will have no trouble relating to:
-- job frustrations,
-- forgotten dreams,
-- family pressures,
-- societal expectations,
-- educational struggles,
-- middle-age angst,
-- twists of fate,
-- and an unending desire for personal fulfillment.

Through the example of these 12 intrepid gentlemen, the book encourages readers to take action and seek their own encore success stories.

Here are the guys you’ll meet in "Follow Your Enthusiasm":

-- Will Allen, a former pro basketball player and marketing rep who became an "urban farmer" in his 50s and started a non-profit to provide healthy foods to underserved populations in the Midwest.  (Since then he was named one of Time's 100 Most Influential People, appeared in the documentary "Fresh," and has twice been a guest at the White House.)

-- Lee Attix, a salesman who took a "gap year" in his 40s and wound up as a wildlife researcher and loon expert in Maine.

-- Warren Brown, a federal attorney who started the CakeLove bakery in Washington, DC and hosted the program "Sugar Rush" on the Food Network.

-- Ernie Bjorkman, a popular Denver anchorman who lost his job to downsizing in his 50s and fulfilled a lifelong dream of becoming a veterinary technician.  (His story landed him on "Oprah" and "Ellen" and in the New York Times.)

-- Thornton Dial, a sharecropper and welder from Alabama who became a world-renowned folk artist in his 60s.

-- Mark Goldsmith, a New York City marketing exec who came out of retirement to start a non-profit to help young men plan for life after prison.

-- Michael Greene, a former banking officer who became a nurse practitioner in his 50s and now works with HIV/AIDS patients in Palm Springs.

-- Ambrose Jones, a successful auditor who burned out at work, earned a PhD in his 50s and now teaches at a large southern university.

-- Mark Peffers, a frozen foods manager and homebrew enthusiast who risked everything at 39 to become a professional brewmaster.

-- Gid Pool, a former real estate agent who became a standup comedian in his 60s.

-- Todd Shea, a 40-something musician and recovering addict who was a front-line volunteer after 9/11, Hurricane Katrina and the Sri Lanka tsunami, and now runs a hospital he helped to open after the 2005 Pakistan earthquake.

-- Scott Taylor, a former convenience store owner who returned to his love of flying in his 40s and became an airline pilot.

Encore careers are a hot topic these days as more people pursue them and as the media continues to cover this encouraging trend.

"Follow Your Enthusiasm" is an informative, inspirational, easy-to-read and highly relatable account of 12 men, from all walks of life, who discovered brand new beginnings -- no matter how old they were.