5 comments about Java For Dummies (Java for Dummies).

1. What can i say, if you ever want to learn JAVA then this is your book. For some time i have found it hard to understand the basics in java, most of the books i have read gave me headaches they are just to complex but this book by Proff Barry Baud is an absolute knockout. The intresting thing about the book is the manner in which he wrote the book its very easy to undestand complex topics are broken down into bits and pecies that you can undestand.



2. I am a mature University student studying Web Development and Programming.I needed a gentle introduction to Java, and this book has provided just that.It takes the reader by the hand and introduces all of the basic concepts in an informative and uncomplicated manner (not an easy task).
   The author is also very accesible.I had a problem with some code and he responded to my email within hours.(He pointed me to a posting on his Weblog which did just the trick).
   I approached Java with some trepidation but thanks to Mr Burd I am now feeling very confident about tackling the more complicated issues.
   I am also more than holding my own at University.I can`t thank the author enough.
   An introduction to Java that I would highly recommend to anyone.



3. This was a gift for a friend. She really finds it a good resource



4. I needed a book that would explain the important concepts of java, but also introduce them to me from scratch. This book did exactly that. The writing is great, and easily understood, even if java itself seems to give me headaches! There are examples of pretty much everything that is explained, and whenever I had a moment where I looked at a code and said "what is that?" it would be explained a few pages later. All around good book.
   
   The only reason I don't give it five stars is because there were no exercises for the beginner. This is a major oversight since reading about something and understanding it is so different from actually doing it. I had to go to another book for exercises and found they didn't always line up with what I was learning. The explanations themselves, however, were great.



5. I recommend Barry Burd's book. It is a good starting book with humor and illustrations. The material is clearly explained and not overwhelming. Perhaps more important is the author himself who will answer email questions. The programs can be typed into notebook and compiled and run using the Windows run feature or with an IDE provided on download. Ralph Fullwood

5 comments about EJB 3 in Action.

1. This is THE BOOK for EJB 3.0. Covers everything about EJB 3.0.
   Also outlines migration from EJB 2 and integration with ORM tools.
   It's a highly organized and well written book.



2. I have been working with Enterprise Javabeans for many years. This really is by far the best resource to date on Enterprise Javabeans. One of the many strengths of this book is to show how the Springframework blends into the EJB framework. I have had a lot of success in blending these frameworks. The authors really believe in the EJB framework unlike another major author of EJB books.



3. This is my third book on EJB 3.0 and in my opinion the best one. I'd recommend it to anyone who wants to learn Enterprise Java Beans and Java Persistence API.



4. I was not that enthusiastic about EJB at all during the EJB 2 era. Then I knew about the EJB 3 specifications and that made me read this book. I have to admit that after reading the book I became very much interested in EJB 3 mainly because of its removal of legacy EJB2 boilerplate mechanisms and the introduction of "Spring" like features. The book is very cleverly written and easy to read. The authors make every effort to make the readers completely engaged on the topic. Although I don't use EJB3 for my day to day work, this book clearly gave me new perspectives on how Java EE is driven going forward.



5. My company's library basically gives me access to all books I want, so I used to have a big stack of big EJB3 books on my desk. But during 2 months of daily work with EJB3 I often found this book helpful where others weren't and almost never found it the other way 'round. Only exception: Enterprise JavaBeans 3.0 (5th Edition) That book sometimes just has a broader coverage, delivering details that "EJB3 in Action" doesn't. But still, "EJB3 in Action" remains the best-understandable EJB3 book with (almost) the best coverage of topics. I have now returned all other books than the 2 mentioned here to the library, and I always look in this book first.
   
   While I agree with Rob on the language issue, what counts is the result, and that is usually the best with this book.

No comments about Pro Spring 2.5.

5 comments about Head First EJB (Brain-Friendly Study Guides; Enterprise JavaBeans).

1. This is a absolutely easy going book. You can read it for hours and not feel any stress. The methods they have used are so good that you will never forget the concepts.



2. This book is out-of date. It does not cover EJB 3 which is the current paradigm. For EJB 1 & 2 it is a good book, but these are not used. If you are preparing for SCBCD this is not the book to use



3. This was a great book for me, ( had to use wrath of EJB 2.1 in several projects =( ). So when EJB 3 came out and i went through EJB 3 ( via Oreilly's book ) i was amazed, pleased and overjoyed.
   
   The new Exam covers EJB3. However if you are still planning to give EJB 2.X exam, this is BEST book you'll buy. It guides you step by step towards steep learning curve that EJB comes with and makes it real easy to remember things.
   
   I am usually critical of Head First "Kids" like format, but this book justifies that because of the subject being such. EJB 2.x deserved this kind of book, where one go one step at a time to understand things.
   
   Book Covers :
   
   1. ) Transaction Management
   2. ) All kinds of Beans ( what you do, what container does etc etc. )
   
   What it does not Cover :
   1.) EJB 3
   2.) Deployment to JBOSS container ( these days with EJB 3 more and more people are adopting JBOSS AS ), neither does it cover deployment specifics of Websphere. ( And in reality Why should it ever do that? this book is only for certification etc. )
   
   If you want to earn SCBCD ( old one ) or if you are working for EJB 2.X project, do yourself the favor of buying this book
   
   Regards
   Vyas, Anirudh



4. This book helped me to understand what is enterprise how they fit together how to create EJB 2.0 actually it let you have a strong understanding of J2EE concepst.the authors are very experienced and their books are really the best and should be best ev er selling



5. Had high hopes for the book, with cartoons and all. But they got into lots of agonizingly boring technical detail without putting it into a clear context. The explanations could have been much clearer by providing that context.

1 comments about Beginning Groovy and Grails: From Novice to Professional (Beginning from Novice to Professional).

1. I come from a strong Django background and when I recently inherited the role of Lead Developer I had the power to make decisions for a small start-up. There were two requirements for the product the customer needed: database independence and it must be based on a java framework. Additionally, the team would be fairly small and we would have less than 4 month to deploy. Needless to say I felt Grails would make my life livable.
   
   This book does a wonderful job introducing you to the Grails framework. To be honest, its hard to pick up Grails based on the documentation out on the net unless you already have experience with a similar framework. I had several members on my team that failed miserably with Grails who came from a Spring/Struts background. However, those who had Rails and Django experience could hit the ground running.
   
   If this book came out earlier, I'm sure the 'other' developers could've had less headaches. The book holds you hand and introduces you to the simplicity this technology offers. Give Grails a shot and get this book! Yes, the framework and language isn't quite mature yet and does have a number of 'gotchas.' But with its glowing community I can see it easily improve and become a very popular choice in the job market.

5 comments about Pro JavaScript Design Patterns (Recipes: a Problem-Solution Ap).

1. Harmes and Diaz bend, twist, fold and stretch the Javascript language in ways that it wasn't probably intended to ever be used and, in doing so, demonstrate just how flexible and dynamic Javascript is. They actually cover topics such as Interfaces, encapsulation, inherittance, the singleton pattern, the factory pattern, the bridge pattern, the composite pattern, the adapter pattern, the proxy pattern, the lightweight pattern and the command pattern.
   
   Early on in the book when looking at the interface pattern, when it was suggested an implementation of this pattern with comments, I actually thought that this just wasn't going to work for me. They do, however, show a much more credible implementation of this and other patterns and, in the process, cover some of the deeper and more powerful features of the language. The examples are highlighted against specific applications. For instance, the benefits of the singleton pattern are explained through the process of creating an XHR object (an instance of the XMLHttpRequest).
   
   I haven't finished the book yet, but it is clear that this is one to keep going back to. As someone else has already mentioned, this is not a showcase of UI tricks and will be appreciated by someone developing or extending web development frameworks or someone who just wants to write better and more extensible Javascript.
   
   I would have liked to have seen some examples of how the patterns are used in frameworks such as Prototype/Scriptaculous and jQuery in the same vein that Olsen's "Design Patterns in Ruby" (an excellent book if you are into Ruby) illustrates patterns with code used in Rails, Ruby and other applications in the wild. Also, I found that I needed to brush up on my Javascript (bigtime) in order to keep up with this one (Resig's "Pro Javascript Techniques" and Crockford's "JavaScript: The Good Parts" are highly recommenced to that end). Then again, the Authors might have then struggled to keep this at just under 270 pages.
   
   Highly recommended!



2. The authors of this book, being recognized web experts in Google and Yahoo circles, are sharing an array of javascript design patterns that will empower your applications and widen horizons of all web developer levels.



3. Back in the early days Design Patterns examples mostly used C++ as language. This day Java is the typical choice, with an increasing amount of C#. Usually if you are familiar with any of those languages, porting the sample code to a different platform isn't that hard. Unfortunately JavaScript is quite a different beast, first of all is not class based, it's loosely typed, it doesn't support interfaces etc. JavaScript has a whole bunch of peculiarities that make it really hard to translate those Java/C# samples. That's why this book is really welcomed. The authors stick with mainstream, well-know patterns, nothing new, but they "translate" those patterns in JavaScript, offering working samples. I tend to disagree with them whenever they pretend to add interface-like functionality to JavaScript; yet, I think they made an excellent job, a book that can be really valuable if you do non-trivial work with JavaScript



4. To begin with this is not a book for the person new to JavaScript. The authors assume some knowledge of JavaScript and object oriented programming right from the start. This is more of an advanced text for those who already can get things done in JavaScript and want to advance their knowledge, write code that is easier to maintain, and exploit the flexibility of JavaScript to its fullest extent.
   
   For each pattern discussed they provide background information on the problem to be resolved, example coding, and when to use it. I appreciated this detail in helping me to fully understand not only when a pattern could be used to benefit a project but also when it might not be the most appropriate way. While JavaScript has always been known for its flexibility these authors show how a creative person can exploit the language's flexibility.. The patterns themselves represent pretty common ones in other languages but the way they were implemented in JavaScript was enlightening.
   
   This is an excellent guide and reference for high-level JavaScript programming on large projects maintained by multiple programmers. Pro JavaScript Design Patterns is highly recommended for experienced object oriented programmers who want to add this to their knowledge base.



5. it's a great book to learn more.....it's missing practical examples for real life.....lot of theory. If you don't know Object Oriented Principles, it will be (very) hard(er). (ActionScript 3.0 book can help, or Java book ).
   
   It's not begginer book........It's great for large projects, applications.
   This is great for frontend engineers and software engineers.
   I would recommend JavaScripts Good Parts in addition to this, it could help with coding standards....
   
   Unfortunatelly, there is no single Javascript book.
   
   Many of them are old and lousy......
   
   As UI/Front End Developer, it's nice to have a book like this. it's very helpfull for sure.
   
   What's missing, HOW TO - the connection to real Javascript frameworks, like YUI, JQuerry, Mootools, Prototype, Dojo, etc, etc, etc.
   
   

5 comments about Java/J2EE Job Interview Companion - 400+ Questions & Answers.

1. It is really a great book and have many good interview questions. When I was done with this book it improved my theoritical knowledge and boosted my confidence for interviews.



2. All J2EE technologies that came until 2007 in one book. It helped me gain real good understanding on issues related to performance. Author has very good knowledge on issues related to J2EE.
   Cons are the price. Maybe book is a little bit overpriced. Maybe should reduce by 5$ to get more buyers. But there is good content.



3. I was looking for a book on J2EE that would help me get through a job interview. I know programming, but I have no J2EE experience. I was looking for a quick overview that would teach me some vocabulary and concepts ... enough to not sound like a total dope on the interview.
   
   This book COMPLETELY failed to meet my expectations. It was poorly written and assumed you already knew everything about J2EE. J2EE terms were used and never defined or explained.



4. There are many glaring grammatical and sentence construction errors. Anybody would expect quality work for a book that is priced $$. Sure one can swallow some mistakes of this kind given the fact its a technical book, but not when it interferes with your reading and wastes your time. 3 stars are for the subject matter covered.



5. Great, but intense brush up on Java/J2EE for those interviewing with Google, Microsoft, Amazon or any of the other "rigorous interview" tech companies.

5 comments about Sams Teach Yourself Java 6 in 21 Days (5th Edition) (Sams Teach Yourself).

1. My closest experience to Java was C++ coding some 7 years ago. Then I got a job requiring Java.
   After reading this book, I had all the confidence I needed to jump in and do well.
   Great examples and up to date. Highly recommended!



2. This is a good, quick introduction or review of Java. Also good as a reference.



3. Great book, i was migrating from DBXL (dont laugh) to Java 6 and this was the first book i read. The structure is sometimes out of whack and i found myself reading chapters out of order on 2 occasions but asside from this i found it to be an EXCELLENT way to upgrade my knowledge!



4. The book does a pretty good job introducing the fundamentals of Java. It took me about 4 days to go through it. It's not very good as a reference, but then again there are the Java docs at Sun which are comprehensive.



5. I am a certified programmer for java 1.4, and I bought this book on the title alone to get me up to date with the upgrades to version 6. What a disappointment to find that annotations are not covered at all, and generics only partially. Furthermore the collections framework is largely ignored. I looks like a java 1.3 book with some added examples to make it look like a version 6 book, but it is NOT. So if you need a book to study for the certification exam, this book is definitely NOT the one to get.
   I found it a complete waste of money.

5 comments about Groovy in Action.

1. This book is fantastic. Very well done, easy read. It was the first tech book that I read cover-to-cover -without getting bored- in a long time. The author does a good job of explaining how Groovy works under the covers and does a great job of detailing how to make effective use of it.
   
   The language itself is also impressive and I hope Groovy gets the attention it deserves. I hope all Java developers read this to see what they're missing in Java-land. :-)
   
   Hindsight is 20/20, I'm sure the authors are sorry they included the last chapter on Grails as they did. But I don't fault them, as I'm sure the publisher was not uninvolved in that decision... ;-)
   
   I'm giving it 5 stars anyway. Good work!



2. While getting a little long in the tooth (GINA was released pre-Groovy 1.0, Groovy is now above 1.5), the material presented in the book is still very relevant and helpful. The biggest issue is that some of the newer (and cooler!) features, such as ExpandoMetaClass, of the language are not covered.
   
   That being said, this is still a great introduction to the a language that will likely become an important player in Java shops as developers migrate existing designs to take advantage of the power the dynamic programming provides. The authors do a great job of explaining the concepts and syntax of the language, making it easy to quickly begin writing code of your own.
   
   While books such as Groovy Recipes: Greasing the Wheels of Java are now available that cover the newest features in Groovy, a perusal of GINA can help to flatten the learning curve.



3. This book is totally awesome. The book makes it very easy to jump around and come back to previous chapters. The book's online forum is great too. The author(s) respond very quickly. It is well worth the money. Order it now and you will be programming in Groovy very quickly.



4. For those of you who haven't heard of Groovy, Groovy is a scripting language that is built on top of Java. Since it is written on top of Java, a Java developer can pick up pick Groovy in a snap.
   
   I first heard about Groovy In Action (also known as GINA) during a Groovy presentation almost a year ago, the presenter was referring to Groovy In Action as one of the best references out at the time, After reading GINA, I was not disappointed. The roadmap given at the beginning of the book is a great guide to see how the book is organized out. As an added bonus, the book includes some great reference information at the end of the book. It contains Groovy Language information, a GDK API quick reference, and several great cheat sheets for items such as closures, lists, etc.
   
   The book is full of great examples that you can use (some of the examples illustrate some of the finer points of the language).
   
   In fact someone recently asked about where to find a complete specification of the Groovy Language. Guillaume Laforge, Groovy Program Manager and co-author of Groovy In Action, responded that the most current information can be found in Groovy In Action (source user@groovy.codehaus.org mailing list 3/16/2008).
   
   Groovy in Action is one of the Groovy books that is a must have for anyone looking to get into Groovy Development.



5. I feel like Groovy is like a programming language "Eintopf", it aggregates some best characteristics of a variety of programming languages. No matter which programming style you prefer - procedural, functional, object-oriented, meta-programming, static typed, dynamic typed... - Groovy has much to offer. The most beautiful thing is, you can easily combine different programming styles in one language and write most concise and self-explanatory code to solve your problem. With Groovy, you suddenly have so much mind-freedom, you have the choice of expressing your algorithms as close to the nature of the problems as possible.
   
   There are languages having very concise syntax but the code is not easy for human to read. There are languages and APIs require more strikings on keyboard than thinking. Groovy is different. You have all kinds of syntax sugar while the code still tells a literal story in your problem domain.
   
   The only fields I think Groovy might not be suitable are the machine-level infrastructures and image/audio/video processing. C and assembly languages are not replaceable by Groovy. In most other application fields, using Groovy can dramatically boost programmers' productivity and reduce programming errors.
   
   I started off by simply renaming all .java files in my test packages to .groovy files. Worked. Then tried out it's closures and curry calls. For me there are a lot more to explore. Haskel fans will like Groovy. Smalltalk fans will like Groovy. Python fans will like Groovy. Lisp fans maybe too. Java folks? I for one, have already been conquered. If you program at all, by all means do yourself a favour and have a look at Groovy.
   
   Groovy in Action is an excellent book on Groovy and programming. Get this book and get the insight, you'll be glad you do.

2 comments about The Definitive Guide to Terracotta: Cluster the JVM for Spring, Hibernate and POJO Scalability (The Definitive Guide).

1. A must have book to buy to understanding Terracotta Best Practices,I personally was an early adopter and has had much success, Terracotta has proven over the years to help ease the development of HA systems, that scale from the start...this book has real world examples (not just Hello Worlds! Programs) ..to build and deploy systems backed by Terracotta for your enterprise.



2. This book really presents an in-depth coverage of the power of Terracotta, backed by real world how-to examples.
   
   The only thing that could be better is the language. Sometimes the concept is explained in a very dense language upfront, so by the time you get to the example, you get a little lost and need to go back and re-read some paragraphs.
   
   Besides that, it's one of those examples where the content compensates the shape. A must have if you are looking forward to turning you application into a clustered solution.