OSGi life cycle

OSGi is a tried and true modularity standard for Java. It has in recent years gained a lot of traction and tooling; becoming frequently used in Enterprise containers and distributed software systems

In this article by Jamie Goodyear and Johan Edstrom the authors of Instant OSGi Starter [Instant] , we'll explore the various states involved in an OSGi life cycle.

Getting Started with GeoServer

GeoServer can be installed on many different operating systems, since it's a Java application. You can run it on any kind of operating system for which exists a Java virtual machine. It takes advantage of multi-threaded operations, and supports 64-bit modern operating systems.

This article by Stefano Iacovelle and Brian Youngblood, authors of GeoServer Beginner's Guide, will cover, in detail, the steps that will bring you to a successful installation. Though we will explain the whole process in detail, don't be afraid. As soon as you finish reading it, you will have your running copy of GeoServer. The steps will be illustrated in two scenarios, an Ubuntu 12.04 machine and a Windows 7 machine. We chose these two as they cover the majority of users. Besides Ubuntu being a Debian derivative, the installation process can be easily reproduced on other similar distributions, for example, Debian or Linux Mint.

Creating Virtual Landscapes

Tools are everything in game development today. Modern three-dimensional games are several orders of magnitude more complex than Sandy White's 1983 Ant Attack on the Sinclair ZX Spectrum. To create lush visuals expected from current games, we rely on a host of tools to generate content at different stages of production. Quite often, terrain is the canvas on which content is painted, if you think about it, while you might play a game and think how great the scenery looks, you're not necessarily looking at the terrain but rather the textures, vegetation, buildings and everything else that artist has constructed around it. Before we dive into using GROME we're going to cover some common caveats that apply to most game engines.

In this article by Richard A. Hawley, author of Grome Terrain Modeling with Ogre3D, UDK, and Unity3D, we're going to look at:

• Describing a world in data

• Texture sizes

• Game world scales

• Starting a new GROME project

Miscellaneous Gameplay Features

Torque 3D is a complete game engine. It supports graphics, sound, user input, networking, and gameplay. Gameplay are the rules for your game that make it unique. These are the challenges the player must overcome.

In this article by David Wyand, the author of Torque 3D Game Development Cookbook we will be looking at various parts of Torque 3D that help you expand on the gameplay rules that are already available, and help you build your own.

Integrating Microsoft Dynamics GP Business Application fundamentals

This article by Leslie Vail, author of Developing Microsoft Dynamics GP Business Applications, will present a series of questions developers should ask themselves, and answer, before beginning development. You will learn about the various tools available for customizing Dynamics GP along with the skills required to use them. You will learn what you should have in your development-tool arsenal and where to get it.

The key topics in this article include:

• Defining the project

• Overview of available tools

Installing, Removing, and Upgrading Software

In this article by Arturo Fernandez Montoro, author of Linux Mint System Administrator's Beginner's Guide you're going to learn one of the most important and basic tasks done by system administrators. These tasks are related to software, specifically how to install, remove, and keep your operating system up-to-date.

In this article we will cover:

• Installing software

• Removing installed software

• Applying upgrades