Syncfusion 'Succinctly' series of Free ebooks

Simon (darkside) Jackson
book review syncfusion

From the archive

This post was written in 2013. Technology has moved on a fair bit since then, so some of the tools, links and advice here may well be out of date. Treat it as a piece of history rather than a current guide.

The main reason I have been so quiet of late is because I have been focusing on entries for Nokia’s @DVLUP challenges in the hope to earn some XP and get some fantastic goodies. Just about finished on my last project and decided to have a breather (also they extended my current challenge, more time is always good for QA)

While up, I was looking at all the resources out there that are available to fellow programmers and developers (yes, there IS a difference so get off my back Smile with tongue out), more importantly those that are friendly to my family strained wallet. In other words FREE.

One of the biggest out there is Syncfusion’s “Succinctly” series, one of the largest free (and still growing) set of technical books covering everything from languages, to source control systems and beyond.

So let’s see what we got.

It feels an age ago when Syncfusion started sending out tweets about new ebooks they were giving away for free alongside their commercial offerings. Surprisingly it has only been just over a year. I got the first Succinctly book (JQuery Succinctly) back in May 2012 only a couple of months after grabbing the initial release of Metro Studio.

It was truly amazing that such a resource was being given out for FREE no less, they weren’t the longest books (averaging around 100 pages) or even bulging at the seams but they told you exactly what you needed to know to get the job done. For the price they were just out of this world.

The series has continued since that time with a staggering 19 books already out and the promise of much much more, it just goes to show how much Syncfusion value the community and it is a great business vehicle to get you interested in their commercial offerings.

The free stuff does not stop there as Syncfusion also offer an Icon repository tool with over 2500 icons called MetroStudio (or should that be ModernStudio now Smile with tongue out)

Here is a brief run through what all books are currently available and what to expect from them.

(excerpt from http://www.syncfusion.com/resources/techportal/ebooks)

  • Unit Testing Succinctly by Marc Clifton. Formats: Amazon Kindle and PDF. Learn the basics of unit testing, different ways to implement it, and why it may not always be a good idea.
  • TypeScript Succinctly by Steve Fenton. Formats: Amazon Kindle and PDF. Jump into Microsoft’s open-source superset of JavaScript with TypeScript Succinctly.
  • WPF Succinctly by Buddy James. Formats: Amazon Kindle and PDF. Create applications with stunning UI while separating your front end from your business logic and data.
  • F# Succinctly by Robert Pickering. Formats: Amazon Kindle and PDF. If you’ve never tried your hand at functional programming, or are simply looking for a new tool to add to your skill set, F# Succinctly by Robert Pickering is the book you’ve been waiting for.
  • Windows Store Apps Succinctly by John Garland. Formats: Amazon Kindle and PDF. Make your transition to developing Windows Store apps as smooth as the Windows 8 UI.
  • GIS Succinctly by Peter Shaw. Formats: Amazon Kindle and PDF. Learn the ins and outs of geographic information systems.
  • Data Structures Succinctly Part 1 by Robert Horvick. Formats: Amazon Kindle and PDF. Learn different types of data structures and how to interact with them while being mindful of their operational and resource complexity.
  • Data Structures Succinctly Part 2 by Robert Horvick. Formats: Amazon Kindle and PDF. Round out your knowledge of data structures and how to work with them in the second volume of Data Structures Succinctly.
  • iOS Succinctly by Ryan Hodson. Formats: Amazon Kindle and PDF. The companion to Objective-C Succinctly, and your practical introduction to developing for iOS
  • Objective-C Succinctly by Ryan Hodson. Formats: Amazon Kindle and PDF. Learn Objective-C from the syntax up with code samples and detailed explanations of properties, methods, memory management, and much more.
  • Knockout.js Succinctly by Ryan Hodson. Formats: Amazon Kindle and PDF. The Knockout JavaScript library is an invaluable tool for building dynamic, data-bound web UIs with minimal code. Knockout uses the Model-View-ViewModel design pattern, allowing simplified communication between your data and views, and easier code maintenance.
  • C++ Succinctly by Michael McLaughlin. Formats: Amazon Kindle and PDF. Are you an experienced C# developer looking to ease your way into C++? Author Michael McLaughlin walks you through C++ from types and functions to lambda expressions and the standard C++ library while relating these concepts to their parallels in C#.
  • ASP.NET MVC 4 Mobile Websites Succinctly by Lyle Luppes. Formats: Amazon Kindle and PDF. The proliferation of mobile devices has forced developers into a mad rush to adapt their websites to function on any device in addition to the conventional desktop or laptop. With ASP.NET MVC 4 Mobile Websites Succinctly by Lyle Luppes, you’ll learn how to create mobile-friendly websites using the powerful MVC 4 framework while minimizing duplicate content, leveraging jQuery.Mobile and HTML 5, and enhancing performance.
  • LightSwitch Succinctly by Jan Van der Haegen. Formats: Amazon Kindle and PDF. Visual Studio LightSwitch may be one of the most under-utilized development tools available to professional and amateur developers alike. Designed specifically for creating data-centric business applications, LightSwitch alleviates some of the tedium involved in the development cycle by making the creation of screens, data entities, data relationships, queries, and more simpler and easier.
  • JavaScript Succinctly by Cody Lindley. Formats: Amazon Kindle and PDF. If you are an intermediate JavaScript developer and want to solidify your understanding of the language, or if you have only used JavaScript beneath the mantle of libraries such as jQuery or Prototype, JavaScript Succinctly is the book for you.
  • HTTP Succinctly by Scott Allen. Formats: Amazon Kindle and PDF. With HTTP Succinctly, you will learn all about something you use on a daily basis, perhaps without realizing what goes on behind the scenes. Equipped with the information in this book, you will be able to write better web apps and services, and debug them when something goes wrong.
  • PDF Succinctly by Ryan Hodson. Formats: Amazon Kindle and PDF. PDF Succinctly is your primer for understanding the components of PDFs, how text and graphics are added to them, and how the final PDF is compiled. This e-book also includes an introduction to iTextSharp, a C# library that provides an object-oriented wrapper for native PDF elements.
  • Git Succinctly by Ryan Hodson. Formats: Amazon Kindle and PDF. With Git Succinctly by Ryan Hodson, you can get up and running with one of the fastest-spreading revision control systems out there. Complete with vivid diagrams, clear code samples, and a careful walk-through of primary features, this free e-book is your quick guide to how Git operates, what its advantages are, and how you can incorporate it into your own workflow.
  • jQuery Succinctly by Cody Lindley. Formats: Amazon Kindle and PDF. jQuery Succinctly was written to express, in short-order, the concepts essential to intermediate and advanced jQuery development. Its purpose is to instill in you, the reader, practices that jQuery developers take as common knowledge. Each chapter contains concepts essential to becoming a seasoned jQuery developer.

You cannot argue with the price and the wealth of information in each book is just fantastic. Need I say more?

Pros:

  • Great range of books
  • Each book is aimed at the beginner, little or no foreknowledge is required
  • Available in PDF or Kindle so choose your reader

Cons:

  • Most books cover only one way of doing things, e.g. the GIT book talks about GIT command line (aka unix) but I am a UI guy
  • So hard to have Con’s when what you get is way more than you pay for it, by a mile Open-mouthed smile

You really cannot go wrong here, whether you want to learn more about the topics at hand or need Icons for your project it would seem Syncfusion is the place to look. If nothing else you have learned valuable lessons from known developers for the price of a click.

Happy hunting.

As if that were not enough, there is more. Seems Syncfusion are really in the giving spirit this month and in celebration for all their efforts and free ebooks they are also offering three lucky readers one of their premium essentials products for FREE ( excluding the Enterprise edition)

All you have to do (same as with the Succinctly books) is comment on my Dark Genesis blog leaving a mail address that Syncfusion can contact you on and THREE lucky winners will be chosen to receive an essentials package of their choice from the list below (one per winner) :

There is no rush in selecting should you be picked as a winner, check out the trials first and when you are happy let them know which one you want.

Free draw ends 2nd August 2013

Note – You don’t need to put your email in the comment, just post using one of the services where we will be able to contact you 😀

Good luck