Author Posts

Claire Chung is a PhD student at the Chinese University of Hong Kong researching bioinformatics. She is also one of the authors of Matplotlib 2.0 by Example. We spoke to Claire about her experience in tech, and her book. She offered a unique perspective on gender issues in the industry as well as wider questions of accessibility and the future of research and how technology will continue to change the way we make scientific discoveries. Packt: What’s the most interesting thing/key take away from your book? Claire Chung: Good storytelling is crucial even for the best data crunching results. Data visualization determines whether you can actually get the message across in presentation. This is true not just for the Tech field, but in any workplace setting - to persuade your clients, your boss, or simply to communicate objective quantitative concepts to fellow scientists or even the general public. Many people around feel scared when it comes to the word ‘code’, or think that numbers alone can provide a complete picture, so sometimes they turn to unsuitable plots that are easily produced with common software, leaving them not customized. We want to tell everyone the right plot and refinement of your data graphics do matter, and it doesn’t take superb programming skills or expensive software to create brilliant data visualization. Packt: Tell us about your experience in the Tech sector, how did you get where you are today and how did you come to write your book with Packt? Did you experience any setbacks along the way? CC: How I went from a bioinformatics lab to writing a Packt book with a lab alumnae today is a bit like joining dots together. Computers have interested me since I was small, because the internet opened up a brave new world of unseen knowledge that was free for me to explore. Moreover, I find huge fun and satisfaction in using logic and creativity in problem solving. I remember persuading my mum at a younger age to let me replace the graphic card based on my own diagnosis, instead of paying double for just a check excluding repair fee, and solved the issue swiftly. Whenever there are technical problems, family, teachers and friends would usually come to me. I enjoy helping them fix the issues, with explanations so they understand how to deal with similar situations. At that time, I did not particularly aspire to be in the Tech field. Sometimes I think that if I wasn’t a scientist, I might have been a dancer or tour guide or anything else. However,  with my curiosity focused on exploring the fascinating deep mysteries of life, I chose to read Cell and Molecular Biology in college. During my undergraduate study, I saw that the Campus Network Support Team in the IT department of my college was recruiting student helpers. I took the opportunity to test self-learnt skills, and gratefully was accepted after the apt-test and interview. While most members naturally come from the Computer Science and Engineering faculty, and were mostly male, I observed a very good work culture there. Everyone was friendly with and willing to learn from each other, regardless of fields of study, education background, gender or anything else. We became good partners at work and good friends in life. Later, I had the privilege to be appointed as leader of the team, responsible for coordinating team effort, recruitment and training of new members, as well as communicating with senior staff and operators in providing support service. This friendly atmosphere and valuable experience play a part in giving me confidence to work in the Tech field and faith that a bias-free friendly environment is totally achievable. In pursuing my studies in life science, I found out that biological data plays a huge role in driving data science. Traditional approaches of genetic research, for instance, study gene actions one by one. Not only is this largely time and labour intensive, we can easily miss the big picture of the network of interactions between genes and different components in the multiple layers of regulations.  Like other Tech fields, technological advancement makes it much easier to generate data, computational power has also increased exponentially in recent decade to power, but data analysis is still at bottleneck. The amount of skilful analysts cannot keep up with the immeasurable data generated each day. While we do not replace traditional studies being of different scope and the basis of research in any scale, there is much more effort needed to innovate for better delineating biology, the workings of life. Packt: How has the industry changed since you started working? Do you think it is getting easier for people from different backgrounds to get into the Tech world? CC: I am working in bioinformatics and have met people in all walks of life getting into Tech. In my point of view, it is certainly evolving into a more open field. Decades ago, programming and data analysis skills used to be vocational expertise. Computer engineering students graduate into programmers in companies. They mostly work in technology-dedicated companies, or are appointed or sent to attach to existing departments on demand. This model still persists, but I have also observed a large paradigm shift nowadays. Companies are hiring more people from diverse background. Startups and new teams in large corporations with high degree of freedom keep emerging. I have friends with art training developing UX award entry apps. I met people with physics, chemistry and civil engineering education and various level of coding background in the same team when speaking in a Tech conference. Today, like how typists have almost disappeared entirely, office productivity software usage is expected as much as basic English writing and arithmetic, basic programming skills are gradually become some sort of literacy. In my case, I am working in a lab among the first established bioinformatics lab in Hong Kong. Not long before I enter the lab, there are so few bioinformaticians, that coming to our lab is one of the very few local options to go when you want to analyse any sequencing data at all. Today we still present an obvious edge in being the most familiar with these techniques, to critically assess and provide solutions to different studies, and hence the most ready to further explore beyond basic analysis, so my supervisor continues to help us select collaboration to get the most interesting questions answered. On the other hand, with increasing availability of courses on bioinformatics and data science, user-friendly packages for data analysis, laboratories are able to hire students who are willing to learn from trial-and-error, or purchase commercial services for basic or routine analyses. While knowledge and techniques set the concrete foundation for anything to build on, I feel that there are no more technical skills that are irreplaceable life-long. Innovation, human-related and overall management skills make the difference. I was really a sidekick at the time I started; there were only two girls including myself. But guess what? We have more or less even males and females joining as regular students now. Packt: What are the biggest misconceptions about working in the Tech sector today? CC: I think the biggest misconceptions are “I am not …, I will never do/understand it”. But more specifically, there seems to be a belief that you must hold a degree in Computer Science or Engineering in order to start your career in the Tech sector today. However, this concept probably isn't as strong in the field as it is outside. Many people outside the field got extremely curious, how I am working in front of computers as a student under a biology programme. While formal major study is undeniably the most direct way to obtain solid foundation of knowledge and to enter the field, it is not a definite ticket to success in the industry. The reverse is true as well. The “Tech field” today is not a shrouded dome. It is a hub where people pass through in getting to their destination. You can start off with a strong computation background, and that can help you land on many different areas. Besides the low-cost learning materials around mentioned, more and more attachment programmes are welcoming aspiring apprentices to bring in new sparks. Think in the other way, starting with less releases you from high opportunity cost. You can also invest & publish your work on GitHub or app stores. Results speak it all. I believe fresher minds on holiday embarking today can probably come up with more brilliant ideas, than I can do with limited time outside my PhD study. We should not be intimidated by things like “I am not white”, “I am not a guy”, “I have not tried this before”, etc. Instead, think of “how you will work it out”. We also should not be bounded by stereotypes against ourselves or anyone else. Personal non-work related qualities and hobbies are irrelevant to ability. (I always wear dress or skirts around in campus or in tech conferences simply because I like it.) Of course, we never need the whole world to work in the same sector, which is not healthy for individuals and society at all. Just don’t set a limit for ourselves. If you want to dive in, be prepared. Then “knock, and the door will be opened.” Packt: What do you think the future looks like for people working in the Tech industry? Will larger companies strive to make it more accessible to everyone? CC: I think the future of the Tech industry will get ever more open and competitive. Will larger companies strive to make it more accessible to everyone? Sure. I think they are doing so even right now. Look at the moves taken at Google cloud platform, Mircosoft STEM resources and NVIDIA’s deep learning institute, just to name a few, including online courses they sponsored. The industry is always in thirst of talent. More open resources bring in more brilliant minds to keep advancement. As discussed, there will no longer be a clear gap set by hours spent or grades obtained in classroom, but willingness to learn and apply actively. Even for people with the strongest formal engineering training, this is the attitude that will push them forward towards far greater success. I am looking forward to seeing more vibrant energy in the field in coming future. Thanks for chatting with us Claire! Check out Matplotlib 2.0 by Example here. Or explore more data analysis resources here.

Christoph is the CTO of GESIM, a Swiss start-up company, where he is responsible for their simulation software and web interface built with Angular and D3. He is a passionate, self-taught, software developer and web-enthusiast with more than 7 years’ experience in designing and implementing customer-oriented web-based IT solutions. Curious about new technologies and interested in innovation Christoph immediately started using AngularJS and D3 with the first versions. We caught up with him to get his insights into writing with Packt. Why did you decide to write with Packt, what convinced you? Initially, I wasn’t sure about taking on such a big project. However after doing some research and discussing Packt’s reputation with my University colleagues, I was sure I wanted to go ahead. I was also really passionate about the topic, Angular is one of my favourite tools for frontend JavaScript. As a first-time Packt author, what type of support did you receive to develop your content effectively? I started off working independently, researching papers, developing code for the project and reading other books on similar topics, and I got some great initial feedback from my University colleagues. As the project progressed with Packt, I received a lot of valuable feedback from the technical reviewers and the process really provided a lot of valuable and constructive insights. What were your main aims when you began writing with us, and how did Packt in particular match those aims? I was aiming to help other people get started with an awesome front-end technology stack (Angular and D3). I love to look closely at topics that interest me, and enjoy exploring all the angles, both practical and theoretical, and helping others understand it. My book experience was great and Packt allowed me to explore all the theory and practical concepts that the target reader will find really interesting. What was the most rewarding part of the writing experience? The most rewarding part of writing is getting constructive, critical feedback – particularly readers who leave comments about the book as well as the comments from my reviewers. It was a pleasure to have such skilled, motivated and experienced reviewers on-board who helped me develop the concepts of the book. And of course, holding your own book in your hands after 6 months of hard work is a fantastic feeling. What do you see as the next big thing in your field, and what developments are you excited about? The next big thing will be Angular 2.0 and Typescript 1.5; and this will have a big impact on the JavaScript world. Combining – for example – new Typescript features such as annotations with D3js, opening up a whole new world of writing visualizations using annotations for transitions or styling – which will make the code much cleaner. Do you have any advice for new authors? Proper planning is the key, it will take time to write, draw graphics and develop your code at the same time. Don't cut a chapter because you think you don't have time to write it as you wanted – find the time! And get feedback as soon as possible. Experienced authors and users can give very good tips, advice and critique. You can connect with Christoph here: Github: https://github.com/chaosmail Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChrisiKrnr LinkedIn: https://ch.linkedin.com/in/christophkoerner Blog: http://chaosmail.github.io/ Click here to find out more about Christoph’s book Data Visualization with D3 and AngularJS

Heather Mahalik is currently Principle Forensic Scientist and Program Manager at Oceans Edge, Inc, and the course lead for the SANS mobile device and advanced smartphone forensics courses. With over 11 years' experience in digital forensics, she currently focuses on mobile device investigations, forensic course development and instruction, and research on smartphone forensics. As a prolific forensics professional, Heather brought a great deal of expertise and knowledge to Packt, helping to make Practical Mobile Forensics a great success, and we caught up with her to get some thoughts on her experiences as an author. Why did you decide to write with Packt, what convinced you? Packt approached me with the idea and introduced me to the other authors, who ended up being co-authors of the book. I was lucky to be sought out and not have to seek a publisher. As a first-time Packt author, what type of support did you receive to develop your content effectively? Packt provided our team an editor and others to support our efforts on the book. Our Acquisition Editor was fantastic and always responded immediately. I never felt that any question was unanswered or that I didn’t have the support I needed. They were also very flexible with us submitting chapters out of order to allow the normal flow of writing. What were your main aims when you decided to write a book, and how did Packt, in particular, match those aims? I wanted to release a book quickly on mobile forensics that emphasized the use of open source tools. Packt allowed us to progress quickly, update as needed and get the book out. What was the most rewarding part of the writing experience? Working with my co-authors. Seeing their perspectives on each topic was eye opening. What do you see as the next big thing in your field, and what developments are you excited about? Handling smartphone security – device security, encryption, and application obfuscation. Do you have any advice for new authors? Stay positive, write a little bit every day and hang in there. Follow Heather on Twitter (@HeatherMahalik) or take a look at her blog. If you have been inspired to write, get in touch with our experienced team who are always open to discussing and designing potential book ideas with talented people. Click here for more details.

School of Code is a company on a mission to help more people benefit from technology. And Packt are delighted to support the initiative. Empowering people to master code and feel confident developing software is central to Packt's mission, so it is fantastic to partner with an organization doing just that in the West Midlands.  We were lucky enough to speak to Nazia Choudrey who has been involved with the School of Code bootcamp. She told us about her experience with the initiative, and her perspective on what tech is like today for women and people of color.  Packt: Hi Nazia! Tell us a little about yourself. Nazia Choudrey: I am a person who is trying to re-invent myself. Just over a year ago I walked away from my so-called life to start afresh. I am not a person who looks back or has regrets, because everything that has happened is what has made me the person I am today – a person who has no fears and who is willing to try new things.  What were you doing before you enrolled for School of Code and what made you want to sign up? I was a probation court officer for 8 years, where I dealt with the day to day running of things especially focused on breaches. Even though I was on a computer every day I knew very little about how they worked, and more importantly, why they crashed on me. I guess that pursuit is what lead me to school of Code. What are you looking to gain from studying at School of Code in the long run? I’m looking to make computers my friend and, to be honest, to make a career in coding. With these new-found skills, I’ll hopefully be able to help others, develop products and software to help others gain a good standard of living which we are all entitled to. Do you think there is a diversity issue in the tech sector? Has it affected you in any way? I do think there is a diversity issue, as when most think about tech, they think of a white male person, an introvert, not a female from a minority group. Even I had that impression and therefore thought that this sector was not for me, but then I love to challenge sterotypes. I thought why not, let’s give it a try as I have nothing to lose. Why do you think making technology accessible to all is important? This is very important as, technology is taking over the world. Within the next 10-15 years all the jobs will be in this sector. Therefore, we all need to be ready to accept tech beyond our everyday lives. What do you think the future looks like for people working in the tech industry? Will larger companies strive to diversify their workforce, and, why should they? I think there is a bright future for people in the tech industry, I also think that all jobs will have some sort of tech that is needed. So therefore, this will need to be a diverse place where people from all sectors of life can come together. If large companies don't strive to be diverse they will be losing out on a large resource of social skills, of soft skills that diverse people can bring to the work place, putting them in positions to be global companies. School of Code encourages the honing of soft skills through networking, team work and project management. Do you think these skills are vital for the future of the Tech industry and attracting a new generation, shaking off the stereotype that all coders are solitary beings? Why? SoC helps and encourages people to work as a team, without the rat race to the finish. Find out more about School of Code  Download some of the books the Bootcampers found useful during the course: Thinking in HTML Thinking in CSS Thinking in JS series  MEAN Web Development React and React Native Responsive Web Design

John O'Nolan took some time out of his busy schedule to talk to Packt Publishing about the meteoric rise of Ghost - the stripped back blogging platform. What were the biggest issues you faced/continue to face in the development phase? Open source development is always a challenge. You’re taking a group of people from entirely different backgrounds, with widely varying skillsets, from all over the world, who’ve never met each other before - and trying to get them to work together in a way which is both functional and cohesive. Organising such a large project tends to attract an even larger group of developers, so managing that whole process is generally one of the biggest challenges which we face on a day to day basis. It’s incredibly rewarding when it all comes together and works correctly, but it takes a lot of time and attention to get right. We’ve learned a tremendous amount about this process in the last 12 months, and I’m sure we’ll learn just as much in the next 12 months. Would you recommend Kickstarter for other software devs? Are there any lessons other open-source developers could take away from it? Crowdfunding is something I’d recommend to anyone - but whether or not you use Kickstarter is a really hard one to answer, and I’ve gone back and forth on it a few times. I think these days my answer is more or less: “It depends” - as there are both advantages and drawbacks to each approach. On the plus side, Kickstarter gives a project a certain degree of credibility, puts in in front of people who might not necassarily have seen it otherwise, and gives you quite a lot of tools to manage the campaign. On the downside, they take quite a large chunk of the money you raise, you have to play by their rules, and the tools for managing the campaign are good - but not great. I think if you have an existing network or audience, independent crowdfuning might be a more compelling proposition. What are your views on the situation with Express.js, and the questions is raises overall about the OpenSource movement? The situation with Express.js was interesting, but realistically, things like this happen in Open Source all the time. It’s not a new paradigm, and to some degree it’s a bit of a storm in a teacup. I don’t think it raises any new questions about the Open Source Sofware movement - in fact in some way it points to the very strength of it. Had Express been a closed project which got sold, everyone would’ve been left high and dry. With Open Source, there is always the option to fork and create a new project if the original branch loses its way. It’s not a perfect solution (it’s often not even a good one), but in the face of the alternative: no solution at all - it’s a significant step in the direction of freedom. What's your biggest hope for the future of Ghost? Mass adoption? An increase in dialog about how we distribute our blog content? Mass adoption is always a hope, of course, but I’m definitely more passionate about quality than quantity. I would rather have 5 respected major news organisations running on Ghost than 10,000 cat blogs. I think that for journalism to continue to remain relevant it needs to continue to be free and open, both in the tools being used as well as in the organisations behind the content being created. I hope that Ghost can move the needle on independent publishing, as opposed to venture-backed click-bait. Besides a different use philosophy (just blogging!) Ghost is notable for its embrace of Node.js. Do you think more CMS systems will start to make the transition to Node.js? Yes and no. I don’t believe many (if any) existing systems are going to start transitioning to Node.js. There are far too many reasons for why it doesn’t make much sense. But I do think that we’re already starting to see a definite transition in the technologies chosen for building new platforms. Node.js is certainly towards the front of the pack, but it’s by no means the only player. There are a great deal of exciting new technologies which are lining up to power the next generation of the web, and I’m pretty excited to see where they all go. With Ghost(Pro), and fairly easy going third-party hosting, Ghost's more accessible than many open-source blogging/CMS platforms. What do you think Ghost offers over and above more packaged blog solutions? The choices right now are beautiful and closed, or clunky and open. We’re trying to combine the best of both worlds and create something really special.

David Dossot is a highly experienced software engineer and architect of close to two decades. Armed with knowledge of RabbitMQ gathered since 2009, he has written a fantastic book called RabbitMQ Essentials, a fast-paced tutorial that covers the fundamentals of RabbitMQ when used in Message Queuing. As a renowned developer, we asked David to share with us his approach to and experience with authoring a technology book with Packt. We also asked him for some of his insights and running thoughts on the current state and future development of RabbitMQ and Message Queuing. You can see his answers below and find more information about his book here. Q. What initially attracted you to write your book for Packt Publishing? Packt Publishing approached me with a project for a RabbitMQ book. Since it's a technology I know quite well and appreciate a lot, and because the time was right, I decided to embark upon the adventure. Moreover, having never worked with Packt before, I was curious to experiment with a new publishing workflow. Q. When you began writing, what were your main aims? I wanted to produce a short book that would have a mix of high-level concerns, like architectural principles around messaging, and low-level concerns, like the technical details involved in dealing with RabbitMQ. I also wanted to make the book easy to read by telling the story of a fictitious company discovering RabbitMQ and rolling it out up to production. Q. What did you enjoy most and what was most rewarding about the experience of writing? I really enjoyed the pace at which the book was produced: three months of writing and an extra month of revisions and production was the fastest project I ever worked on. Progressing at such speed, without sacrificing the quality of the end product, was extremely rewarding. Q. Why, in your opinion, is RabbitMQ exciting to discover, read, and write about? RabbitMQ is an open source project with a very active community: I'm convinced that open source can use any coverage it can receive, so writing a book about it was a way for me to pay back a little for the great piece of software I have been using for free. Moreover, though there were already many excellent books written about it, none had the brevity and mix of high- and low-level concerns I was envisioning for my book. Q. What is different about RabbitMQ from other open source message queuing software? The richness and interoperability of the AMQP protocol is an important factor for RabbitMQ's success. Another important factor is the solid engineering and sound design decisions that have been made by RabbitMQ's creators. The fact that it's built on Erlang brings some extra guarantees in terms of stability. Finally, the RabbitMQ team is excellent at offering powerful and complex features in an easy package: this is far from the norm in our industry. Q. What do you see on the horizon for RabbitMQ and message queuing, as a whole? RabbitMQ's popularity will keep rising, especially via cloud offerings that relieve users from the tedium of maintaining their own servers. In general, the usage of message queuing is poised to increase as developers become more and more aware of the principles at play when building scalable applications. The recent Reactive Manifesto (http://www.reactivemanifesto.org/), which somewhat rehashes and refreshes old principles of software design, emphasizes the necessity to decouple application components: message queuing is one of the main ways to achieve this. Q. Any tips for new authors? Writing a book is a fractal process where you proceed in several passes, with a higher level of details each time. The following approach has worked very well for me so it may work for others too: Start with the table of contents (TOC): write down the main ideas for each chapter and pay attention to the overall narrative, making sure that ideas develop progressively and logically When you write a chapter, start by copy/pasting the ideas from the TOC and flesh them out a little: don't write sentences yet but instead drop in notes and ideas for figures Prepare the code samples and capture screenshots of executing applications at that time Now you're ready for the last pass: finalize the chapter by writing the complete text and creating any extra diagrams needed Here are a few extra tips: Do not write in order: write paragraphs and even chapters in the way you feel most inspired to. This can relieve you from author's block. The first chapter is the hardest to write: get ready to come back to it several times. Find some music that helps you write: sometimes when you’re be tired and have a hard time getting started, music can get you back on track.

What initially drew you to write your book for Packt Publishing? Trying to bundle all the CryENGINE knowledge and everything we have learned over the past decade working with CryENGINE was something we wanted to do for a long time. With a publisher like Packt we felt confident we could deliver a comprehensive CryENGINE guide. When you began writing what were your main aims? What did you want the book to teach your readers? It was really about taking the readers' CryENGINE skills to the next level. There are plenty of beginner tutorials and articles out there that focus on getting to know the engine or on building simple examples. What was really missing was a book that focused on users who already have the basic experience and know their way around CryENGINE. This is why Mastering CryENGINE covers a lot of advanced topics and contains a lot of tips and tricks useful for people using the engine in a real production environment. What did you enjoy most about the writing process and what was most rewarding about the experience of writing? Seeing the book come together and grow larger and larger over the course of many months really felt good. And of course knowing that somewhere, someone will read it one day and improve their skills with this book is something that just makes you feel good about all the work it takes to finish a book. What parts of the writing process were the most challenging? How did you overcome the The single biggest problem was cutting down the content so that it would all fit within the scope of the book. There were many more chapters, examples, and images we would have liked to add to the book. It is easy to keep on adding more content and have the book lose its focus, so we had to take a lot of care to keep the book streamlined and on topic. Why, in your opinion, is CryENGINE exciting to discover, read, and write about? CryENGINE is one of the most advanced 3D engines out there and it offers so many features and possibilities that it makes it hard to really discover everything. Even after having worked with CryENGINE for ten years I still sometimes discover new things and new best practices I didn't know about. And of course CryENGINE is always evolving. New features are being added and old features optimized. This means there are new things to discover on a regular basis that help you to build your games more efficiently. Why do you think interest in CryENGINE has continued to maintain such popularity? Today it is easier than ever to develop and publish games. You don't need to be a big company anymore to get your game published. CryENGINE gives you the tools to build amazing games in a short amount of time and release them to the public. More and more people are discovering that it is easy and fun to try to put their own games together. I think this is why CryENGINE continues to be that popular. What do you see on the horizon for CryENGINE? This year has been a busy year for Crytek and CryENGINE. A lot of features have been added. I think we will see even more features and optimization to the engine in the next months. Focus points of this development will be improvements to the ease of use of the SDK tools as well as to the pipeline and the steps necessary to actually get a release-ready game. Any tips or stories to share for aspiring/new technical authors? The beginning is always the hardest part. Once you start writing, it starts to flow. Especially with a great publisher by your side there is no need to be afraid of trying.

Jeremy, or Jay, is a Linux Administrator with over 12 years of experience and nine certifications. As a technologist, Jay enjoys all aspects of technology, and when not buried under a plethora of computer books, he enjoys music, photography, and writing. As well as tech books, Jay is also a published fiction author, having written his very own Sci-Fi novel, Escape to Planet 55. Jay's passion for open source software and its long term adoption led him to write Linux Mint Essentials for Packt. We asked Jay to discuss his experience of authoring a technology book with Packt and his insights on the future for open source technology. You can see his answers below and find more information about his books at LINKS. What initially drew you to write your book for Packt Publishing? When Packt approached me to write a book for Linux Mint, I was absolutely thrilled. I have always thought about how cool it would be to write a computer book, but never thought to actually attempt to do it. The thought of having a published book excited me. In addition, I also like very much how Packt donates proceeds back to the project being written about, so it felt good that I would help the Mint community in addition. When you began writing what were your main aims? What did you want your book to teach your readers? We've all been beginners at one point or another. For me, I started using Linux around 2002 when it was very difficult to get used to, and I didn't have much in the way of guidance or insight on how to use it. I stuck with it, and eventually became good at it. For my book, I wanted to make the process of getting accustomed to Linux as easy as possible, and for it to be the reference book I could have used at the time when I started. What did you enjoy most about the writing process and what was most rewarding about the experience of writing? The entire process was very rewarding, and fun. The experience I liked the most about writing was the fact that I was empowered to do it. For me, I like to teach others so I think the most rewarding part for me was the prospect of guiding others to enjoy using Linux as much as I have. If my book has this impact on others, then that will be the most rewarding part. What parts of the writing process were the most challenging and how did you overcome these challenges? The most challenging part of writing about open source software is how frequently it changes. During the writing process, two versions of Mint were released. This required going back to previous chapters and correcting things that were no longer true or had changed in some way. This was overcome by the rewrite phase of the project, where I had a chance to go back through the steps, provide new screenshots, and ensure the content was still compatible. Why, in your opinion, is Linux, or open source software, exciting to discover, read, and write about? Open source software, especially Linux, is extremely fun to learn and write about. I spend hours each day reading blogs, articles, and books, trying to keep up to date. Never does it feel tiring or laborious in any way. During my day job, I manage primarily Linux servers and workstations. When I get home, I read about open source and what's happening. While commuting, I listen to Linux-related podcasts (such as the Linux Action Show, Linux Unplugged, and so on) to keep current on upcoming trends. As I learn, I watch as my workflow changes and improves. While I initially found Linux difficult to learn back in 2002, nowadays I can't imagine my life without it! Why do you think interest in Linux, specifically Mint, is on the rise? I personally feel that Canonical (the makers of Ubuntu) are severely out of touch with what their users, or any user in general, wants and expects from a computing environment. I'm not saying that Ubuntu is a bad distribution, I actually like it. But the fact of the matter is that users have expectations of their computing environment. If these expectations are not meant (regardless of whether the expectations are logical or not) adoption will suffer. Linux Mint takes Ubuntu's base, improves on its weaknesses, and makes it much more convenient for the beginner user. In addition, Mint is scalable – it's perfect for a beginner, and is still very useful for when that beginner becomes an expert. People that care about how the internals of the distribution work will seek to learn about it, while those that don't care just want something that works. Whether you're a general user that just wants to check your Facebook account, or a developer writing the next big application – Mint fits just about every use case. What do you see on the horizon for Linux Mint, and Linux in general? In the short term, I think we'll continue to see Mint grow and expend its user base. Desktop environments, such as Cinnamon and MATE (featured heavily in Mint) will see quite a bit of expansion in the coming years, due to renewed developer focus. In the long term, I can see Mint splitting off into its own complete distribution, away from Ubuntu as its base. While there are no signs of that now, I can see Mint outgrowing its current base and moving off on its own in five years or so. Any tips/stories to share for aspiring/new technical authors? I think the best piece of advice is “yes, you can!” For me, I was very worried about whether or not I would even be good at this. When I sent my first chapter over, I thought the reaction would be that I was horrible and I would be excused from writing. I was really surprised to find out that Packt really liked what I was doing – even assuming that I had done this before! You never know what you're capable of until you give it a shot. I'm glad I did! Even if you're not the best writer in the world (I know I'm not) this is a valuable experience and you'll harness your writing skills as you go. Packt was there for me to work through the process, and it was very rewarding. Another piece of advice I can give is “just start writing.” Don't spend time worrying about how to write, what to say, or any of those bad things that can lead to writers block. Open up a word processor, or even a text editor, and just start writing something. You can always go back and correct/revise your sentences. The trick is to get your brain working, even if you don't plan on using what you're writing at that very minute. Just keep your mind busy and the rest will follow. Another important tip, which may seem like common knowledge to some, is to use some sort of versioning backup for your directory which includes your book files. A simple periodic copy to a flash drive or removable media isn't going to cut it, you want something that not only backs up your files but also allows you to go back to previous versions of a document in case you blow away content you didn't mean to. Examples of this include Dropbox, or Crashplan, though I'd recommend SpiderOak a bit more for its focus on security, a higher feature set, and the ability to sync between machines. All three are multi-platform.

Mario Casciaro is a software engineer and technical lead with a passion for open source. He began programming with a Commodore 64 when he was 12, and grew up with Pascal and Visual Basic. His programming skills evolved by experimenting with x86 assembly language, C, C++, PHP, and Java. His relentless work on side projects led him to discover JavaScript and Node.js, which quickly became his new passion. Mario now works in a lighthouse at D4H Technologies, where he led the development of a real-time platform to manage emergency operations (Node.js to save lives!). As Mario is at the cutting-edge of Node development, we asked him to share his thoughts on the future of his field, and also on what led him to want to write a book with Packt.   Why did you decide to write with Packt, what convinced you? I already knew Packt from some excellent books I read in the past and that was certainly a good start. As an author I was given a lot of freedom in the definition of the contents of my book and this was probably what I liked the most as it allowed me to leverage my knowledge and passion at its fullest. Besides that, Packt has one of the best royalties package out there, something to not overlook. As a first-time Packt author, what type of support did you receive? Packt provided me with some interesting education material, and besides the mandatory style guide, there were some articles with advice on how to organize the work and deal with the ups and downs of the writing process. However, what was most helpful was the patience of the editors in providing feedback and fixes, especially during the writing of the initial chapters. I think this is a make-or-break factor as the first 2/3 months are probably the toughest and it's important to have the support of an empathetic team to succeed. What were your main aims when you began writing? My main goal was to write a book worth reading, something that I would have bought and read myself if I wasn't the author. One of the things I wanted to avoid was to include trivial content, knowledge that could easily be found elsewhere, such as in a good free tutorial or in some official documentation. I wanted every topic to teach the reader something new, I wanted to 'wow' the reader with content and notions it was unlikely they knew before. What was the most rewarding part of the writing experience? Reading a message from a reader saying 'thank you' is probably the most rewarding part of being an author. It brightens up my day and reminds me that the time writing the book was well spent. In general, knowing that I helped somebody learn something new and valuable is an amazing feeling. What do you see as the next big thing in your field, and what developments are you excited about? JavaScript is taking over the world, it is spreading well beyond the browser and the web. This change is already happening, we can use JavaScript to implement server applications (node.js), in databases (couchdb), in connected devices (tessel), on mobiles (phonegap) and on desktops (nw.js). I'm also looking forward to the spreading of the new ES6 and ES7 standards which should add even more powerful features to the language. Do you have any advice for new authors? Dream big but keep it simple. If you want to explain complex topics always start from the basic notions and build on top of those as you move forward. Always assume there might be some reader that doesn't have a prior knowledge to completely grasp a concept or a code sample. Spend a few words on the background of a problem/solution, why the reader should learn it and what advantages it brings. No one likes to be fed with knowledge without knowing why. On the organizational side, I would say that the most important aspect is sticking with the schedule, no matter what. Build the habit of writing for the book at a given time of the day and move away from the computer screen only when you spent all your mental energy. For me, that was the most rewarding moment of the day, knowing that I’ve done my job and that I couldn’t have done more. Always focus on the current chapter, try to get it as much production-ready as you can (there will be little time to change things later), don’t think to the amount of work left to finish the book, one chapter at the time you will have achieved what you previously considered impossible. Follow Mario on Twitter, connect with him on Linkedin, or find him on Github. You can buy Mario’s book Node.js Design Patterns from packtpub or find out more about the book here: http://www.nodejsdesignpatterns.com If you have been inspired to write, get in touch with our experienced team who are always open to discussing and designing potential book ideas with talented people. Click here for more details.

  How will System Center be used in the next 2 years? Samuel Erskine (MCT), experienced System Centre Admin and Packt author, talks about the future of Microsoft System Center. Samuel shares his insights on the challenges of achieving automation with the Cloud, and effective reporting to determine business ROI.

Lorenzo Bettini is an Assistant Professor in Computer Science at the Department of Informatics at the University of Turin, Italy, and the author of Implementing Domain-Specific Languages with Xtext and Xtend. You can learn more about Lorenzo here and here. You can also find him on Twitter: @lorenzo_bettini We spoke to him about his book and his experience of writing it, and found out a little more about his research and daily work… How will readers benefit from this book? Did you learn anything new while writing the book? At the time I started writing the book (and also currently) there was no other book on Xtext (at least in English). For this reason I hope that new users of Xtext can benefit from it: following it chapter by chapter they should be able to get acquainted with this cool and powerful framework. My intention was also to describe my own experiences with Xtext (I've been using it for several years, since version 0.7), in particular I tried to describe some programming techniques and best practices. My two favorite chapters are the one on Testing (Testing your software is truly crucial, and DSLs implemented in Xtext are definitely no exception; the whole book is based on tests) and the one on Scoping (Scoping is one of the most difficult concepts in Xtext, but it is also one of the most important; I hope I managed to describe scoping so that it is easier for readers to understand). For these reasons, I hope that also readers who are already familiar with Xtext can learn something new. Our authors usually have full-time jobs whilst writing for us. Was this the case for you and how did you manage your time? I am a full-time Assistant Professor (Researcher) in Computer Science; this might sound like I have lot of spare time but that's not the case: we too have lots of deadlines… However, since I've always used Xtext for implementing the languages I'm doing research on, the time I spent on the book has been a real scientific investment for me. During the writing process, did you come across any issues/ difficulties that affected your writing and how did you overcome these? Especially for the more advanced chapters I was kind of blocked at least on some example implementation. The authors of the Xtext framework were really available and they helped me solving such issues (not to mention that two of them, Jan Koehnlein and Sebastian Zarnekow, also reviewed the book). I'm really grateful to all of them (especially for creating Xtext) Was there anything interesting that happened during the writing of the book? Well, when I started to write the book, Xtext was version 2.3... After writing half the book, Xtext 2.4 was released. The new release created a new version of the projects (Xtext comes with project wizards that setup most of the things to get you started), in particular, Xtext 2.4 started to rely mostly on Xtend (a Java-like language, completely interoperable with Java and its type system). This meant that all the examples had to be rewritten, and also many parts of the chapters that had been already delivered. I think that this makes the code of the examples (also shown in the book) much more readable, and that's why the title has been changed so that “Xtend” appears in the title as well. How did you find the overall experience of writing your book for Packt? It was a lot of stress, but also a whole lotta fun in the end! What disturbed me most was that I had to use WYSIWYG editors like LibreOffice and Word... I use LaTeX type setting system all the time; LaTeX is so powerful once you learned it that it was a real shock (and nightmare) to fight against the rigidity of Word. What tools or configuration do you use for your workstation? I've been a Linux user for decades, and I've written the book on a very pleasant Linux Mint distribution. I only had to switch to Windows to deal with some problems in the files that required Word instead of LibreOffice. Thanks Lorenzo! If you want to learn more about Xtext and Xtend, you can buy Lorenzo’s book here. Packed with plenty of examples it’s been designed to give readers a practical and accessible insight into a complex area of development.

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