Hibernate: A Developer's Notebook Review

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(More customer reviews)This book is not intended as a comprehensive/blow-by-blow tutorial. It is a part of o'reilly's new 'notebook' series which is intended as a VERY brief intro to a new technology for experienced developers.
This book is for folks who are pretty experienced with Java and databases, and its intention is to provide a very high-level fast-paced into to hibernate.
In my opinion, it does these things well. I've got about 9 years experience with Java, and about 15 years with SQL/databases, and about 15 years commercial development experience. I've never used hibernate, and I decided to use it in a project. I'm in a HUGE hurry, and I needed to get up to speed FAST. This book got me there. In this sense, I think the book succeeds very well.
There are plenty of spots where I needed additional help, and a quick web search or a quick jump out to hibernates reference documentation (hibernate.org) was all that was required.
This book does what it intends. If you need hand-holding, detailed instructions, or in-depth tutorials, find another book. (And as far as I know, there aren't any).
:)

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Do you enjoy writing software, except for the database code? Hibernate:A Developer's Notebook is for you.

Database experts may enjoy fiddling with SQL, but you don't have to--the rest of the application is the fun part. And even database experts dread the tedious plumbing and typographical spaghetti needed to put their SQL into a Java program. Hibernate: A Developers Notebook shows you how to use Hibernate to automate persistence: you write natural Java objects and some simple configuration files, and Hibernate automates all the interaction between your objects and the database.You don't even need to know the database is there, and you can change from one database to another simply by changing a few statements in a configuration file.

Hibernate: A Developer's Notebook walks you through the ins and outs of using Hibernate, from installation and configuration, to complex associations and composite types. Two chapters explore ways to write sophisticated queries, which you can express either through a pure Java API, or with an SQL-inspired, but object-oriented, query language. Don't let that intimidate you though: one of the biggest surprises in working with Hibernate is that for many of the common real-world application scenarios, you don't need an explicit query at all.

If you've needed to add a database backend to your application, don't put it off.It's much more fun than it used to be, and Hibernate: A Developer's Notebook shows you why.

Here's what a few reviewers had to say:

"I'm sitting on an airplane after finishing Hibernate: A Developer's Notebook.It's rare to find a book on a new Java technology that you can get through on a domestic flight.That this notebook effectively and succinctly tackles object-relational mapping makes it, and Hibernate, even more impressive.Many books in this category would need to be checked luggage.With this book, you travel first class." --Mike Clark

"A simple persistence framework deserves a simple book, and this one delivers. The examples are well described and easy to understand, yet sophisticated enough to demonstrate Hibernate in a real-world context. Jim, I'm a new fan."--Bruce Tate

About the new Developer's Notebook Series from O'Reilly: Developer's Notebooks are a new book series covering important new tools for software developers.Developer's Notebooks stress example over explanation and practice over theory. They are about learning by doing; by experimenting with tools and discovering what works."All lab, no lecture," with a thoughtful lab partner to guide the way.

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Skin Deep: Inside the World of Black Fashion Models Review

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(More customer reviews)I loved this book from front to back. It gave me an inside perspective on how black models are treated in the fashion industry. After being brain washed and white washed by dozens of "Vogue," "Glamour," and "Cosmo" magazines, I had lost sight of how beautiful and elegant black models/women are. This is unfortunate but true and can only account for the racist attitudes and standards that Western society (especially America) has against ethnic (African, Asian, Latin, and Native American Indian) beauty. Ethnic beauty is copied and exploited. You can see it in every page of the most popular fashion magazines. I also read Eileen Ford's comment about this book. She was wrong wasn't she. Thank you for writing this book Ms. Summers. It is unquestionably a work of art.

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Purely Functional Data Structures Review

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(More customer reviews)Okasaki's slim volume is one of the best expositions on implementing data structures & algorithms in a functional language. After taking an introductory course on functional programming, this would be the book which tells you where to go next.
This book doesn't just present a rehash/rewrite of imperative data structures, only written in a functional language. Instead, Okasaki makes sure to emphasize benefits which only functional programming can bring to the table. For example, many functional data structures can compactly represent not just their current state, but all of their past states as well--a feature called "Persistence". Also, functional newbie programmers might be wondering why lazy vs. strict programming is a big deal, and Okasaki shows clearly where data structures can benefit from either being lazy or being strict.
For the advanced reader, Okasaki also presents several powerful techniques for analyzing the runtime of algorithms, including the so-called "Banker's Method" and the "Physicist's Method" for analyzing amortized algorithms.
I hope that Okasaki comes out with a 2nd edition of this book; there is one missing piece in particular which I really wish he would have included: Although he presents an EXTREMELY lucid description of how to implement Red-Black trees in a functional language, he only presented algorithms for insertion and querying. Of course, deletion from a red-black tree is the hardest part, left here, I suppose, as an exercise to the student. If you want to supply this missing piece yourself, check out a paper by Stefan Kars, "Red-black trees with types", J. Functional Programming 11(4):425-432, July, 2001. It presents deletion routines, but you'll still want to read Okasaki's book first, for unless you're very much smarter than me you won't be able to understand Kars' paper until you read Okasaki's exposition of red black trees.
Finally, this book is not just useful for programmers in functional languages; logic programmers, using prolog or a varient, will also find this book very helpful, because most of the techniques (all of the techniques, really, with the exception perhaps of the lazy programming stuff) can be directly applied in a prolog programming setting as well.
After reading this book and implementing some of the data structures for yourself, you'll be amazed at how fast algorithms can run, even when written in a functional language!

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Most books on data structures assume an imperative language such as C or C++.However, data structures for these languages do not always translate well to functional languages such as Standard ML, Haskell, or Scheme.This book describes data structures from the point of view of functional languages, with examples, and presents design techniques that allow programmers to develop their own functional data structures.The author includes both classical data structures, such as red-black trees and binomial queues, and a host of new data structures developed exclusively for functional languages.All source code is given in Standard ML and Haskell, and most of the programs are easily adaptable to other functional languages. This handy reference for professional programmers working with functional languages can also be used as a tutorial or for self-study.

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Marketing ROI : The Path to Campaign, Customer, and Corporate Profitability Review

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(More customer reviews)With Marketing ROI, Jim Lenskold has introduced a very useful level of financial rigor into what the typically imprecise process of targeting investments in marketing and then measuring their impact on company profits. Two key concepts introduced are how Marketing ROI is correctly calculated (many companies do it wrong), and more importantly, how the Marketing ROI informantion is used to manage marketing investments, looking at the incremental investment in marketing, and its incremental effect on sales and profitablity. Jim covers the subject from a big company perspective, focusing on multi-product, multi-customer segment environments, but the concepts in the book can also be applied to small companies concerned with spending marketing dollars most effectively.
This is a key text to be used along with the latest in customer relationship management techniques and customer information technology to manage the profitability of a company's demand chain.

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ROI (Return on Investment) is today's key business tool for measuring how effectively money was spent--yet few marketing managers receive any ROI training at all. Marketing ROIchanges all that, showing marketing pros at every level how to use ROI and other financial metrics to support their strategic decision making.

This comprehensive book details how an accurate working knowledge of ROI is essential for using the latest marketing measurements, and provides insights for gaining the greatest competitive advantage from the skilled use and understanding of ROI concepts.

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Web Mapping Illustrated: Using Open Source GIS Toolkits Review

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(More customer reviews)I found this book a "tough call" when I came to writing a review.
I have to admit to not being a big fan of a lot of the technology showcased this book (PostGIS aside). I have professional reasons for saying this that do not concern us in this review but should be admitted up front.
Firstly I want to be clear that we should thank Tyler because he has done a very good job in weaving a consistent and useful thread through all the technologies in the book.
However, I had to think about why he chose these particular technologies and why the book was laid out the way it is because it was not initially clear to me what relevance a lot of them had to the book's title - Web Mapping. To me the title implied a richer potential content wrt "web mapping" per se, so that when I opened the book I was surprised to see that quite a bit of it was really about GIS basics such that a title more like "Getting started with MapServer" or "MapServer for GIS Dummies" (not an O'Reilly title I grant) might have been more appropriate!
I also don't know if this book accurately targets its audience. If you expect a real treatise on the University of Minnesota's MapServer then this book will not fill all your needs. If you want to see a set of open source technologies put together in a logical and coherent way so that you can start on understanding Web Mapping from one view point only then this book is useful.
On to the book itself.
He has also highlighted some important features of some of the technologies in a way that good training courses often do. The lights definitely go on and you will hear yourself say: "Ahh, so that's what this does!". That is what this book did for me across a number of technologies: in particular the OGR and GDAL command line tools. (Thanks, Tyler, for this alone.) He also does what all good trainers should do: he clearly demonstrated software functionality via concrete examples. It is my view that, except for university, most people learn by doing and this book works well in supporting those who find manuals and technical documents opaque when trying to assess software usefulness.
I really wasn't sure if the technical detail with respect to things like command line actions for installing, compiling and installing some software was that useful: I admit to skim reading this stuff. Is this Web Mapping for the uninitiated gun programmer? Or is this something that less technical geospatial professionals whose only world is that of the mainstream "pay per license" software products (on Windows) would get excited over? Unless command line computing is coming back and becoming mainstream again (and I am of that vintage), most people today expect the initial heavy lifting decisions to have been done for them so they can start "value adding" immediately. I think all the configuration decision making that is involved with open source technologies is still a big put off: I know it is to me, and I have 20+ years in the IT/GIS industry!
I also thought that the technologies described in the book showed what I can only describe as a North American (perhaps even Canadian) bias in the choice of technologies. Look, this is a bit of a quibble because I really can understand a lot of the choices precisely because the main distribution of the tools in the book (except PostGIS) is via FWTools which contains OpenEV, GDAL, MapServer & PROJ.4: all core technologies to the book. Yet I really don't think it is all that obvious. (I had to double check when writing this review.) Even so, my view is that more coverage should have been given to other open source technologies rather than a particular group. So, for example, why not cover the really big database of the open source community: MySQL (not just PostGIS)? And this oversight is strange given that the book mentions OGR/GDAL support for Oracle Spatial and ArcSDE which are of little interest (in one sense) to the open source people and are not accessible unless the company you work for has them. Also, why doesn't the book give more airtime to the excellent GeoServer WFS (and WMS) than just MapServer's read-only WFS? Why not hightlight the actively developed European managed Deegree WMS/WFS? Sure, MapServer has both WMS/WFS capabilities so let's concentrate on one rather than confuse people with others (just reference them instead - yet Deegree doesn't even get a mention in the book).
But all this musing gets me back to the title. Is it really "Web Mapping Illustrated"? Not really. Perhaps it should have been called "Getting started with MapServer". Too long? "FWTools Illustrated". Certainly not eye catching in terms of elucidating interest from browsers of bookshops and Amazon.
All in all, a good book and very useful. It certainly helped me and because of it I have decided to use some of the supporting technologies in it in my day job. Well done Tyler.

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With the help of the Internet and accompanying tools, creating and publishing online maps has become easier and rich with options. A city guide web site can use maps to show the location of restaurants, museums, and art venues. A business can post a map for reaching its offices. The state government can present a map showing average income by area.

Developers who want to publish maps on the web often discover that commercial tools cost too much and hunting down the free tools scattered across Internet can use up too much of your time and resources. Web Mapping Illustrated shows you how to create maps, even interactive maps, with free tools, including MapServer, OpenEV, GDAL/OGR, and PostGIS.It also explains how to find, collect, understand, use, and share mapping data, both over the traditional Web and using OGC-standard services like WFS and WMS.

Mapping is a growing field that goes beyond collecting and analyzing GIS data. Web Mapping Illustrated shows how to combine free geographic data, GPS, and data management tools into one resource for your mapping information needs so you don't have to lose your way while searching for it.

Remember the fun you had exploring the world with maps? Experience the fun again with Web Mapping Illustrated. This book will take you on a direct route to creating valuable maps.

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Creative Engineering Graphics: A Workbook for Prospective Engineers Featuring Autocad, Sketching and Solid Modeling Review

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(More customer reviews)Even though this ended up being an earlier edition. I was still able to use it for my class

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Object-Oriented Discrete-Event Simulation with Java - A Practical Introduction (SERIES IN COMPUTER SYSTEMS (previously: The Plenum Series in Computer (Series in Computer Science) Review

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(More customer reviews)Some of the concepts were new to me and some were not. The old ideas were the ones that I came across in a first Java programming course or in a discrete-event simulation course. Book is easy to read, concise, not a textbook. Useful for someone that has not studied anything about discrete-event simulation.

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This book introduces the application of the Java programminglanguage in discrete-event simulation. In addition, the fundamentalconcepts and practical simulation techniques for modeling differenttypes of systems to study their general behavior and their performanceare introduced. The approaches applied are the process interactionapproach to discrete-event simulation and object-oriented modeling.Java is used as the implementation language and UML as the modelinglanguage. The first offers several advantages compared to C++, themost important being thread handling, graphical user interfaces (GUI),and Web computing. The second language, UML (Unified ModelingLanguage), is the standard notation used today for modeling systems asa collection of classes, class relationships, objects, and objectbehavior. The book concentrates on object-oriented modeling andimplementation aspects of simulation models using Java and practicalsimulation techniques. In addition, the book illustrates the dynamicbehavior of systems using the various simulation models as casestudies.

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Microsoft Access 2010 Inside Out (Inside Out (Microsoft)) Review

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(More customer reviews)The book is very comprehensive. I have not read through the complete book as yet, however, the big advantage is that you can go to any section/subject and get the in depth information you require at any particular time. The information is also very clear and delves in great depth into each subject.
I especially like the complete samples of various database(s) as well as samples and code where applicable on the companion CD. With the CD you have the ability to load all these items onto your computer and make the references available at all times.
The greatest asset on the companion CD for me is the PDF file of the complete book. As I get older my eyesight is not like it used to be and I have trouble reading many books and periodicals. Having the book on PDF format makes it very easy for me to read.
Overall, I am very pleased with this purchase.

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You're beyond the basics, so dive right in and really put your database skills to work! This supremely organized reference is packed with hundreds of timesaving solutions, troubleshooting tips, and workarounds. It's all muscle and no fluff. Discover how the experts tackle Access 2010 -- and challenge yourself to new levels of mastery!

Master essential data management and design techniques
Import and link to data from spreadsheets, databases, text files, and other sources
Use action queries to quickly insert, update, or delete entire sets of data
Create custom forms to capture and display data
Design reports to calculate, summarize, and highlight critical data--and learn advanced techniques
Automate your application with macros and Visual Basic® for Applications (VBA)
Use Access Services to extend your database application to the Web
A Note Regarding the CD or DVD The print version of this book ships with a CD or DVD. For those customers purchasing one of the digital formats in which this book is available, we are pleased to offer the CD/DVD content as a free download via O'Reilly Media's Digital Distribution services. To download this content, please visit O'Reilly's web site, search for the title of this book to find its catalog page, and click on the link below the cover image (Examples, Companion Content, or Practice Files). Note that while we provide as much of the media content as we are able via free download, we are sometimes limited by licensing restrictions. Please direct any questions or concerns to booktech@oreilly.com.

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Mastering Revit Architecture 2008 Review

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(More customer reviews)The book covers allot of ground and shows a lot of impressive possibilities to dazzle you.
I'm a veteran Architecture 2008 user and am switching to Revit 2008. What's maddening is all the little nuances that the experienced users skip over that make all the difference...
As an example, I do a lot of remodel work and many of the existing structures and site features are at odd and sometimes slight angles. Revit will force any lines or objects that happen to be less than 1 or 2 degrees to snap back to 90 degrees or 0 degrees. Granted, those pesky slight angles can create some serious challenges when working in 3D, but there are circumstances that demand that level of accuracy. It took me 2 days of rummaging around the web on blogs and support sites, discussions with my VAR to finally figure out that it just requires a simple typed command "SO" which stands for" Snap Off" that has to be typed while in the command. None of the 3 books I bought mention that little tidbit and my VAR was clueless. Another example: To really make Revit do all the really useful 3D customization that is needed, it's heart and soul is the toolsets to make custom family objects and massing components. This is a very deep subject with a huge amount of special tricks. This book has some practical step by step instructions, but there is a awful lot of "isn't this cool!" and "Geez, wouldn't it be great to make Revit do tricks like these!" kind of examples with just some generalizations as to how to do them. What I'm finding is that the tools and tricks I learned so well in ADT do not translate into Revit. Another example: The drawing (line work) tools take more steps and operate in odd ways compared to the refined tools in ADT. Both this book and the "Introducing Revit" do not show how to use the basic drawing tools! So it was trial and error time. The book talks about roof extrusions but does not show the ins and outs. Roofs apparently extrude profiles not closed loop sketches. Other objects require closed loops "sketched" on a work plane. There isn't enough detail to show the basic steps and the presentation is a bit limited as to which types to use under what circumstances. There is a lot of strategy and important choices to make to work effectively and efficiently that the book does not get into.
This book struck me more like a travel guide than a nuts and bolts instructional manual. The level of detailed instructions are unevenly applied.


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Revit Architecture has revolutionized how architects design, develop, and deliver projects—and now you can join the revolution with this expert guide. Authored by a team of Revit aficionados and experts, this in-depth book uses clear explanations, detailed tutorials, and practical examples to show you how to best implement Revit in the real world. Starting with a focused look at the basics of Revit and Building Information Modeling (BIM), you'll move quickly into setting up and customizing your Revit tools, preparing your office/project templates and settings, creating your library of components, and much more.

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Object Modeling and User Interface Design: Designing Interactive Systems Review

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(More customer reviews)OM&UID is a book about developing new object-oriented methodologies for interactive software. Nine different methods are presented by an international team of software experts like Larry Constantine and Philippe Kruchten.
All the authors are trying to solve constraints or deficiencies in existing methods. Since these are all new or experimental techniques, each author explains exactly what problem s/he is trying to solve, where the new method might be best used, and how it worked in practice. Most of the sections work through a couple of cases, so you can see how the method works.
A couple of the writers have pointed out how difficult current heavy-weight methodologies are to use. The models generated, unless the modeler is extremely experienced, are usually not correct. What's more, as the first chapter notes, the modelers don't realize that their models are bad. A couple of writers have tried to deal with the problem that business customers can't understand UML-style notation, and don't mentally describe their jobs in terms of classes or windows. That cuts customers out of the system design process at exactly the point where they should be most engaged.
The editor repeats what is generally recognized: that very few people use a methodology as such. Most of us use a grab bag of techniques from a mix of methods, heavily customized to our own needs. Mark van Harmelen's book may be best addressed to those who use mixed methods, because it helps us to see how experienced architects decide which techniques to use in different circumstances and how we can determine whether we were successful.

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Object modeling with UML gives developers powerful tools for building software that meets the requirements of its users. Now, in this book, the field's leading experts extend UML to user interface design -- a breakthrough that will enable the creation of far more usable, productive software systems. This book introduces techniques for integrating today's best methods and modeling approaches from both the object technology and the user interface development communities -- ensuring a stronger focus on the user than ever before. The book's coverage encompasses four richly interconnected sources of user, domain, and system modeling information: participative design, task analysis, scenario-based design, and use case analysis. It also demonstrates exactly how UML object models can be used to record user interface design information -- giving developers practical information for designing and constructing software that responds more fully to user requirements and expectations. With contributions from Larry Constantine and other leading software design experts, this book combines theory, practice, and real world "advice from the trenches."

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The Object Constraint Language: Precise Modeling With Uml (Addison-Wesley Object Technology Series) Review

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(More customer reviews)First, I like this book. I trust about every line of it. It is itself precise or at least as precise as possible. It summarizes things in a concise and complete way. Required prior knowledge is UML (of course). I'd recommend Fowler's beautiful UML distilled and also even more important a solid understanding of design by contract. I recommend the complete book of Bertrand Meyer "Object Oriented Software Construction". Yes I know its many month of reading.
The problem with this OCL book is the following: It is difficult to understand anything not prior understood. However once one has a grasp of understanding this book is really clarifying. So, it requires in many areas more maturity in the field than most of us including me have. So, I would wish a book, which starts of at a somewhat lower level, in a less dry diction.

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Probability Theory and Statistical Inference: Econometric Modeling with Observational Data Review

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(More customer reviews)This book is absolutely remarkable.
It presents the material traditionally taught in the second-year statistics (but actually goes well beyond, e.g. stochastic processes) and will be of interest to all people interested to (re-)learn statistics well, either undergraduates, or advanced students of any level. Professors should also read it maybe use it in class. Students will thank them.
The author took more than 14 years to polish it, and I would bet that scholars of pedagogy will put this book as an example of the highest possible level of their discipline. I would also bet that this book will have a long and brilliant career in statistical education. On gets the feeling that the author gave the same care and energy to the elaboration of this book as people commonly give to research.
The author is also a man with a mission. In his preface, one can read with pleasure and disbelief a passionate attack on the dumbing-down of undergraduate education in Europe and America. Having taught undergrads in commerce with the "predigested pap" he is talking about, I can really relate to the frustration of the author. There is no dilution of material or dumbing down here: all the ugly details are given, which makes that book not only a pedagogical tool but also a great reference.
There is no book on the market that is so polished in both presentation and discussion, that exposes intermediate stats at such an intelligent, comprehensive level, and finally that uses the historical development to project such clarity on the actual state of the science. I would say the closest competitor to this book is the great volume "Intermediate Statistics" by Dale Poirier, which has more econometrics and which might be a bit more comprehensive on the bayesian side, but the main focus of this one is on UNDERSTANDING and SYNTHESIZING. By the way, the focus of this book is statistics, not econometrics, despite the fact that the author has written extensively in econometrics.
I wish I would be an undergrad again and re-learn statistics with this book. Nevertheless, readers of all levels will learn something from it.
Ah, and the price is right. Value for your money!

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This major new textbook is intended for students taking introductory courses in probability theory and statistical inference. The primary objective of this book is to establish the framework for the empirical modeling of observational (nonexperimental) data. The text is extremely student friendly, with pathways designed for semester usage, and although aimed primarily at students at second-year undergraduate level and above studying econometrics and economics, Probability Theory and Statistical Inference will also be useful for students in other disciplines that make extensive use of observational data, including finance, biology, sociology and psychology.

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Animation and 3d Modeling on the Mac Review

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(More customer reviews)For the complete dummy to concepts in 3D, the full-color illustrations and explanations are top notch. If you're looking to get your feet wet on how 3D is handled by computers this IS the book for you. PC owners can benefit from it also (just disregard the Mac specific concepts located near the end of the book). It covers most of the big concepts found in virtually all 3D applications such as modeling, textures, shadows, lighting, and animation.Seasoned animators will want to look elsewhere unless unless you're in need of filling "holes" in your knowledge of the basics.

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This visual, instructional tool will guide novice and experienced animators through the exhilarating but often complex challenge of designing in 3D. More than 1,000 striking color illustrations show how the world's best modelers and animators create their work. The book also reveals how to use the best tools available in the leading software packages.

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formZ 4.0: 3D Modeling, Rendering, and Animation Review

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(More customer reviews)I had to learn formZ for my profession and I've gone to great lengths to do so. I had already taken two courses from different instructors and I was still feeling very unstable and was about to start a new job where I really needed the skills. Stressed-out and feeling at a loss, I did a search on the web and found this book for the new 4.0. While I already had a great understanding of the program, this book showed me so many ways to do things I had not yet been taught and I was able to do it on my own. The information is clearly laid out and easy to understand. Icons let you reference exactly where to go but the best part was the tutorials. I have not been able to find in any class or supporting material that came with the software, tutorials that let you practice. This was the most helpful as it's never enough to just know what everything does. You need to implement the info. This book saved my life (and probably my career!!)

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* A hands-on guide to form.Z--the most popular 3D software on the market--specifically geared towards architects and designers * Workshop approach focuses on the concepts, skills, and technologies needed to master form.Z* CD-ROM contains step-by-step tutorials

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Building and Painting Scale Figures (Scale Modeling Handbook) Review

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(More customer reviews)This book appears very readable and practical. I spent 2 hours reading the first third and felt my purchase was well worth it. Many quality color examples of scaled miniature soldiers from many historical eras, mostly pre WWI.

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Learning Maya 7: The Modeling and Animation Handbook Review

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(More customer reviews)These books are a spectacular edition. Alias has been good about teaching in their books, but these books actually have FUN projects! I have enough books that will tell me how to do something (and these are VERY easy to understand) but the only ones that I can actually have fun working with are the ones contained in this new series. Not for the advanced user though. If you want advanced, go for the Maya Tecniques series, not the Learning Maya series. Great books!

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This exceptional, full-color Maya Press title -- produced by Alias, the software's creators -- offers a brand-new approach to teaching modeling and animation using the characters from the Academy Award-winning short film The ChubbChubbs. You'll find instructor-led tutorials, scene files, artist interviews, and Maya Personal Learning Edition on the enclosed DVD.

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Financial Modeling Under Non-Gaussian Distributions (Springer Finance) Review

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(More customer reviews)This book is an outstanding a clear presentation of non-Gaussian financial modeling. In financial markets, the Gaussian curve or bell curve, is not accurate in that most markets are skewed (a predisposition to grow on average, not zero) and fat-tailed (rare events such as market crashes happen more often than a Gaussian curve would suggest). Therefore, non-Gaussian modeling is essential to make money in the market or assess risk. This book goes through all the new techniques of non-Gaussian modeling. It does an exceptional job discussing the GARCH generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity. This is but a fancy word for fluctuations in volatility over time pretty much dependent on recent fluctuations. It works very well I must say empirically, and has tripled the rationality and profitability of my portfolio - especially one of the versions of the GARCH over the others reviewed - but which one I'd rather not say, for obvious reasons ;) The book is weakest at page 183 or so, with the models and I was rather disappointed with the exclusion of the market crash of the 80s in the empirical analysis - wouldn't rare events be the main reason for improving non-Gaussian modeling? Anyway it's rather poor, but thorough, with additive and multivariate GARCHes but the fault lies with the faultiness of the theories not the authors, at least they're encyclopedic. The book picks up at the end with copulas, and a complete discussion of non-Gaussian option pricing. The review of BSM is appreciated and actually well-done, and a nice reminder of what we are trying to improve on exactly. I think this is a most incredible book, very clearly written, and at times, quite an enjoyable read for such a topic. All it takes is multivariate calculus and basic statistics, but more math ability will make the implications and comments breathtaking at times. I often find myself inspired by a passage or footnote to create a whole subroutine in R or python. I think avoiding Bayesian topics and Monte Carlo was disappointing, but wise in terms of focus. A great book for graduate mathematics in applications of statistics or stochastic calculus, or a good book for modeling fundamentals in economics or business management at the post-graduate level.


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This book examines non-Gaussian distributions. It addresses the causes and consequences of non-normality and time dependency in both asset returns and option prices. The book is written for non-mathematicians who want to model financial market prices so the emphasis throughout is on practice. There are abundant empirical illustrations of the models and techniques described, many of which could be equally applied to other financial time series.

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