5 comments about Java & XML for Dummies.

1. I have 18 years exp. with IBM BAL and I'm also doing some work with modern technologies. I have looked through many JAVA/XML books and this is definitely the best book for both beginners and advanced users. Author presents in good depth a vast array of present technology, samples are working like that!! It has helped me a lot to get a grip of advanced matter such as SAX, DOM, JDOM, schema, SOAP and so on... Some other nice features of this book is a good readable style and more than usual coverage of the main subject.
   I am grateful to the author for the enormous scope of what has been accomplished. And, of course, I'll try to follow the recommendation to buy another books by Barry Burd in two copies: one for my home, and another for my office.



2. If you're a Java developer looking to get up to speed on how XML/Java/XSLT/Web Services, and lots of other topics, then this book is a great place to start.

   The book doesn't pretend to (and says so) teach every topic it covers (XSL, for example is presented in context but not really taught -- that would take a MUCH bigger book). Still, with some familarity with the topics, the code presented is great. XML (part of the book's title) is covered quite nicely.

   It's assumed that you're somewhat familiar with Java.

   In my case, I needed to find some clear explanations of how to create an XML file and then read that XML file along with an XSL stylesheet (I was learning XSL using Java/XSLT by O'Reiley at the same time). Barry's JDOM chapter and the chapter on putting data on the Web solved both these issues.

   Don't get put off that this is a "Dummies" book. I have found it useful for at least two projects (the most recent I wrote about above).

   Also, when there was a minor problem with the code where IE 6 wouldn't recognize the stylesheet processing instruction when it was at the bottom of the XML file, the author was extremely helpful and responsive to this issue. He helped me research the problem and wrote me back with his findings.

   To put my review in perspective: I'm the kind of developer who likes to learn to walk before I learn to run. If you like to just jump into a complex book and wade your way though the material, then this book might not be for you. But, if you like to get a feeling for the technology and get relatively straightforward examples *working* first, then check out this book.

   Barry explains topics clearly and simply.

   All in all, I found this book to be completely refreshing compared to most of the books out there.




3. I am not sure what book the other two readers have read but it sure is not this one, I have been in the business for a number of years and the author offers trite remarks and even worse idioms to pad the book out. If you are interested in XML or Java I would suggest another book such as Mastering Java which actually tells you what Java and XML are for.



4. This was one of the gifts my son wanted for Christmas. He was so thrilled to add it to his "library". When I browsed through it, I discovered that it's even simple enough for me to understand!..ha ha
   Keep the Dummies books coming.



5. I'm a big fan of Barry Burd's books. This is the third book I've read from him. I bought it in 2008 and it was written several years earlier. This makes some of the material dated, but throughout most of the book, the examples compile fine. Before this book, I knew nothing about XML but knew how to program in Java. And by the time I was about a third of the way through the book, I had one of my Java programs pulling in an XML feed and displaying the results. I would recommend this book after you read Barry's Java for Dummies.

5 comments about Professional JSP 2nd Edition.

1. This book is awesome. The one thing I truly love about this book is the layout. I had zero experience in JAVA/J2EE and after the first chapter it all made sense. I Actually make time to read this book.

   The one thing this book does that no other I have read is tech the low level nuts and bolts along with top level syntax and make it make sense. For instance, the chapter on Servlets rocks. It teaches Servlets on both "Here are Servlets" and "How to use them".

   I highly recommend this book for anyone wanting to learn JSP/Servlet environment. It is a great book to learn the big picture and be able to use all know features in the technology.




2. Wrox Press continues their time-honored tradional of piling as many authors into one 1200 page volume that they can in the hopes that they will end up with a definitive treatment of the subject. The authors range from seasoned professionals with real-world experience to people with nothing but a year or two of college computer science courses behind them. I must confess that I am not sure what I was expecting in these chapters but since JSP Tag Libraries seemed to be one of the more challenging and interesting areas of JSPs I was hoping for some more meaningful, 'meaty' content.

   The assembly of these 18 (yes, 18!) authors wind up generating a book that essentially could have been put together with more precision and continuity if it had 15 fewer authors. It very much comes off as a rushed effort, without any tightness whatsoever. The writing style of this second edition can only be described as amateurish. This, fortunately, can be a little easier to swallow if you accept the spirit of the book (in Wrox's words 'Programmer to Programmer'). Take the text as quickly put-together material from programmers that have been through it (even if it was brief or only in school) and you should be fine.

   Many unnecessary forward references exist throughout the text and, because of the unusually large number of authors, there is a large amount of repetition in the body of most chapters. The book's page count could also have been greatly reduced had the authors not consistently given condensed introduction to material that ends up being the subject matter for entire chapters later in the book. For example, two early chapters describe the basics of Tag Libraries, only to have them surface as the primary topic of chapters 8 - 11.

   The code included throughout the book is variable in quality, as you might expect. The book doesn't pretend to be an academic tome of best practices or a showcase for some top-flight, brilliant programming but you end up thinking that many of the examples could have been made much more effective with more thought put into them. As with many other programming books out there, this one is definitely not without its errors. You'd hope, however, that with the 21 technical reviewers and 3 editors that worked on this book that it would have fared better than most.

   In summary, if you take the text for what it is and skip over the segments of fluff and numerous poor code examples I think that most professional programmers new to this technology will find enough material to make the hefty price tag almost worth it (especially if you share it with others on your team!).




3. I have never read such an excellent book before. No wonder the JavaRanch community rates this book 10 horseshoes!



4. Explains one aproach then rejects it in favor of another then yet another. By the end you discover that you should have bought a book on Jakarta Struts if you want to develop real JSP sites because someone has already done lots of work for you.



5. I thought to learn JSP just by reading this book. I read several review comments on this book and other books. Fairly thougt to buy this one on hope of better explanation.
   Though I am new to JSP, but working on programming for 13 years.
   1. I did not get a streamline explanation to start the first program. Someplaces exaplanation is too much, I was lost.
   2. Explanation on Tomcat installation won't be helpful because of older versions.
   
   Those have already known JSP TAG, Bean etc. it may be helpful for them. But purely it is not for beginners.

5 comments about Java: A Beginner's Guide, Third Edition (Beginner's Guide).

1. It was OK, but I wasn't overly impressed with it. I would not buy it again and the only reason I bought it in the first place was because it was a required text book.



2. im only 13 years old but i understude this book perfectly it covers all the basics of the two subjects and some of the advanced studys. anyone new or old to these subjects need to ave this but becouse nothing is perfect i give it a four



3. I think that this book is a great place to start with Java. I have been reviewing books to replace Head First Java as a text at a local community college. To me the vast majority of texts out there do not deal with objects soon enough and spend too much time with GUI's and Applets without giving a good foundation in the language first. This book gives a broad perspective of the language without cluttering it up with a bunch of eye candy. It is the first that I have seen that deals with generics, threading, and enums and does so in a manner that will not cause the new user to choke. In addition to providing clear examples and explanations, the author also gives real world usages of the material taught. There are examples of when to use and not to use certain features, and what the pitfalls and potential traps are that a new coder might not be aware of. All in all this is going to make a great text.



4. I love this book! I had to buy a $60+ book for my java class and I was so lost. I spent $30 on this book and it has saved my grade! I no longer even bother reading my required text. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn java. It doesn't bother me that it doesn't go into great detail about applets. It says on the cover that its for beginners. The applets come later.



5. this book is awesome, it is a little hard for a beginner, but this book and a class should be enough. i looked over TONS of java books, including headfirst java and thinking in java, and this was the best I could find. It beats all the most popular ones, if you buy the book, the author has a website, and i called his number from there. He actually spoke to me for 20 minutes answering my questions, and he answered my email as well. This guy is awesome. Like i said, it would be good to have a class in addition to this book.

5 comments about Java: The Complete Reference (Complete Reference Series).

1. Awesome book, organized in the same way as "C - the complete reference". If you are a C/C++ programmer who wants to learn java - this is the book for you. Shildt seems to know what you want to know, and definitely knows how to present it. (Damn ugly cover though :)



2. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the Java programming language. This book not only acts as a very good reference, it also acts as a great tutorial. So, whether you have never programmed in Java before or you are experienced in it, this is a must-read. I know this book has brought my Java programming to whole new level. I give it a 9 becuase some of the things I really wanted to be totally informed about weren't in there. I.E.- the FileDialog class. Other than that, it's just great.



3. Hello, I am Johnathan Mark Smith from the Staten Island Java Group and I think this book would've been a 9 but I rated it a 6. This book is pack with great example and thing you would not find in alot of book. The only thing is that it is base on jdk 1.0.2 and not JDK 1.1



4. I've got more than a dozen JAVA tutorial and reference books from a wide variety of authors, but when I'm really stuck ... this is the one I reach for. As a matter of fact, all the best programming reference books on my shelf are Schildt's.



5. A complete book to get introduction to in-depth information about Java. When I had to quickly deliver a prototype in Java (I was a C/C++ programmer then), this book came to my help and ever since, it became a bible for me.

   The language is simple, the style is good and the approach is fantastic. Since the authors come from both the backgrounds, the treatment is very different.

   I would strongly recommend to anyone who wants dive into Java. (I should say special thanks to my colleague who suggested this book)

4 comments about BEA WebLogic Server 8 for Dummies.

1. I've been using BEA WebLogic since version 5.0. I reviewed this book in anticipation of recommending it to new employees on my project. I read it from cover to cover.

   Unfortunately, all of the code was written using BEA WebLogic 7.0 and not BEA WebLogic 8 as stated in the title. There are some drastic differences between the 2 versions. For instance, on page 196 the 'jwscompile' command is mentioned. This does not exist in WebLogic 8.1.

   Also, many of the screenshots and corresponding text are for WebLogic 7.0.

   I cannot recommend this book if someone has never used BEA WebLogic before and is looking to learn it.

   Also, I can't recommend this book if you want to learn what new features WebLogic 8.1 contains since the code in the book is WebLogic 7 code.

   The publisher should retitle the book: BEA WebLogic Server 7 for Dummies or else pull it from the market until the title represents the contents.




2. This book really does not cover WebLogic 8.1 !!!



3. If you are new to Weblogic, do not get into trouble by buying this book as no code works at all. If you buy I can promise you that you will NOT reach to chapter 4.
   
   I need the authors address to send my copy back for refund.
   
   Good luck !



4. Having already been a user of Weblogic 7.0, I was looking to move to 8.0 and wanted a ref that would just give me the high points of the differences between the two versions. This book fails miserably. It is inconsistant, unclear, out of date, full of coding errors, screen shot errors, and is just a bad investement. The only "dummy" this book is for is the author and any sucker that gets tricked into buying it.
   
   Don't waste your time with this book. You'd do better to go to the BEA website and read the on-line docs for Weblogic Server 8.0.

1 comments about Thin Clients Clearly Explained.

1. This book is pretty new in thin-client field. I got the general(not too technical) concept and information from this book. If you are a freshman in thin client field, this book is a good start. After this book, you may try the "Windows NT Thin Client Solutions" from Todd W. Mathers & Shawn P. Genoway or "Windows NT Terminal Server and Citrix MetaFrame" from Ted Harwood. From the two books, you can get more detials about thin client computing.

5 comments about Java and XSLT (O'Reilly Java).

1. This book chooses to forgoe some of the more standard tools for XSL translation that are on the market. The author instead uses alternate opensourced implementations (JDOM vs DOM). The problem with this is that in the real world, constraints often exist on your project such that you cannot use alternatives (oh no!). So instead of getting a robust book that explains how to implement DOM and translate, you get a book that wallows in the use of alternate methods and focuses on one thing: creating dynamic HTML. Honestly, this is a rahter tired subject in the XML world. I am more interested in how to translate XML to PDF or RTF or XL. I am not asking for a plain answer, but I was at least hoping for a very beginner approach.

   I have spent a week trying to get an implementation going and there is so much that I do not understand. I was hoping that this book would remedy that. It, sadly, does not. The example code is too specific to really help with a real world (constrained) application (I am developing for Oracle systems and they include the standard parsers from org.wc3.dom and org.xml.sax, using others requires server updates that are not recommended). I cannot recommend other titles as I have not read many others and the ones I have read are not too helpful.

   Good luck, but steer clear of this one, unless you don't mind losing fifteen dollars.




2. This book is definitely showing it's age. It covers XSLT as it was in 2001. It's all about having a flexible front-end and serving XML out as HTML and WML, or using it for internationalization. It's coverage of code generation is very, very minimal. There is also very little in the way of advice about increasing processing efficiency. There are also small mistakes; for example the misstatements about CGI and Servlets, which is a common error in Java articles and books.

   That being said, the examples are well annotated and the XML is highlighted for readability. The code is loosely annotated, which is the O'Reilly style, but it still makes some of the larger code fragments had to follow.

   As long as you know that this book is a little dated you will find reasonable material in here about XML, XSLT and how to get it into Java. It could use a second edition with more topical material.




3. I am very much impressed with the content of the book and the examples in particular. The book covers the breadth of using java and XSLT and also gives a nice case study using MVC architecture.



4. I found this book to be a very helpful introduction to the use of XSLT in Java. The text is well written and easy to follow, with examples that truly illuminate the concepts being demonstrated. While other reviewers have found the author's focus on transformations from XML to HTML to be a limitation, I found that this approach helped me focus on XSLT concepts without getting bogged down in discussions of other languages simply for the purpose of illustration.
   
   I found the first chapter synopsis of XML in Java to be very helpful in navigating my way through the "alphabet soup" of SAX, JAXP, DOM, JDOM, etc. I also appreciated that the book did not devote substantial space to reference information, which quickly becomes dated and is more easily searched online.



5. This is a very good compliment to the O'Reilly Java and XML book. It gives a good combination of theory and practical application. It also serves as a good quick reference if you need to deal a good deal with Java and XSLT. May not be the book for you if you are trying to learn XSLT, but does a good job of showing how Java fits into the world of XSLT.

3 comments about Creating Content Management Systems in Java (Charles River Media Programming).

1. When the web began it was intended as a medium where scientific papers could be shared among research institutions around the world. The web was designed to be easy to use, easy to put up a document (all you had to know was a simple scripting language called HTML), and easy to view it (all you needed was a browser). The number of web sites was low (a hundred or so) and the number of visitors was also low. Getting information up to the web was not difficult if all you are putting up are scientific papers.
   
   Needless to say, the times have changed. Now the need to put information up on the web has grown exponentially. And the need for non-programmers; secretaries and (shudder) managers to be able to put information on the site has caused the creation of Content Management Systems to make it even easier.
   
   This book is on the creation of CMS systems using Java to take advantage of the power in the PC accessing the web site by using Java applets running in the PC to do some of the work. It presumes that the reader is familiar with the Java language but not with web technologies. As such, I would rate it intermediate level. The CD with the disk includes a collection of open source software, various documents, Java source code examples and more.
   
   With so many open source CMS systems out there, this book might be more useful as a way to understand the differences between them and perhaps changes you might want to make in them to suit your own needs.



2. Arron Ferguson's CREATING CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS IN JAVA offers a fast yet detailed introduction to CMS, which offers an open source for customizing a data system. Web developers and software developers - Java in particular - will find this an excellent book which moves beyond the basics into the more advanced Web programmer's world, though an understanding of XML or CSS isn't necessary to use it. Topics are geared to real-world situations and needs and thus programmers will find plenty of solid application examples here.



3. I usually try to find books that are focused on some specific topic, but in this book there was not much of about Content Management Systems. Most of chapters contained info about other topics: licensing, XML, XSLT, CSS. They where connected to building CMS, but I have very good knowledge in these topics, so there wasn't much to gain from this book for me, I should have chosen some other book.
   
   But don't get me wrong, there is probably nothing wrong with this book. It is about creating content management system in Java, as is the name of the book. I spent half a day with this book and didn't find anything generally wrong with it, text was clearly written, there isn't much that is unexplained for novice user, an example CMS is on the accompanied CD, etc.
   
   
   So the main point is:
   *If You looking for advanced information about (Enterprise) CMS, then this book is not for You
   *If You look to get some information on how to build a CMS system and learning related technologies, then this would be a good option.
   
   
   About my rating (3 stars): if I would have put rating according to how much this book was useful to me or how much I enjoyed it, my rating would have been 1 or 2. But I feel this would have been too harsh, because I didn't find anything wrong with the book. I must pay more attention to the books I choose to buy in the future, more pre-work before sending an order. So I think 3 is fair rating.

5 comments about Logging in Java with the JDK 1.4 Logging API and Apache log4j.

1. As a developer looking for a more detailed reference/guide to technical usage and programming practices, this book falls short. My focus was log4j, and I found that most of the information is freely available from apache. No real value was added here. I expected at least an in depth compare-contrast between log4j and jdk logging, but this section was very terse. What would be a nice add would be a technical reference that would be one stop shop for syntax. The book didn't even provide a PatternLayout key of codes for logging items, that would be useful.

   What we really need is a practical bridge between javadocs and this book, which is a high level academic overview.

   I should have just gotten "The complete log4j manual", but I thought this might have been more extensive. I was wrong.




2. I bought this book based on the review of Thomas Paul, who has supposedly read it. If he had read this book then he would still be suffering migranes like I am. Without a doubt the worse book on logging I have read. I really wanted to get into this book and write some of my own logging programs. My advice to anyone who wants to do the same is to go to the Jakarta website where they have much better documentation and its free! Save your money. don't buy this book unless you like to read to help you sleep.



3. This book really helped me in terms of creating a logging strategy for the projects in my company. The author gives a very smooth ride through the different features of both the Logging APIs. Also it gives you ideas about how to extend the framework. Overall, I am very impressed with the book. The docs in the Apache website can be a starter but this book is required to decide a logging strategy for the organisation.

   Thanks to the author

   Pauline




4. This book does an excellent job to readers like me at intermediate level of programming. Step by step guide on both the logging APIS was good although I settled for Log4j finally. I was a bit surprised to see this book got a one star review from someone. This book certainly does better than that. Ihave not read the complete log4j manual (it is out of stock mostly) but apart from that I could not find any other material which does a better job!! My thanks to the author.
   
   The only reason it is a 4 star to me is that there can be more on practical application of logging such as in EJB and all.



5. I really *wanted* this book to be an excellent logging book, because I would benefit by such a book. More than that, I would like to be able to (figuratively) throw a good logging book at developers needing one. While possessed of the necessary physical characteristics to do some damage when thrown, the low quality of the content of this book makes it unsuitable for chucking at developers needing logging guidance.
   
   The prose is difficult to follow, the examples not-quite-lucid, the editing noticeably poor. The advice and analysis may not have ever made a lot of sense, but certainly by today's logging standards is off-base. (Treatment of Commons Logging is barely there, despite it being a prevalent logging framework API binding layer. Treatment of alternatives to Log4J addressing some of its classloader complexity is nonexistent. Logging considerations in application containers is absent.)
   
   As much as I despise the pay-for-documentation model of monetizing open source, I have no alternative but to recommend that persons looking for a logging book purchase the log4j PDF, which is more comprehensive, more useful, and better edited than this unhelpful little volume. The log4j PDF largely treats no topics other than log4j, but it treats log4j very effectively. The book reviewed here attempts and fails to treat a broader range of topics.

3 comments about Java Programming: Advanced Topics, Third Edition.

1. This is the kind of book that gives you a ton of useless classes to install on your system, along with about 50 pages of how to install the ... on your computer. If you don't watch it or read the fine print, one of the IDE's that the accompanying cd installs, will go and screw up your classpath during its install. The simple installing procedure to install some jar files is so complicated that you will spend a half a day getting it installed. And once it is installed the docs, make it impossible to generate the docs you need to use the stuff.

   From the beginning of the book, there is no smooth transition about how to use java, it just jumps all over the place. The examples you are suposed to do in chapter 2, ask you to do IO things which aren't even covered until chapter 8....? Why do people do that?

   The writer of the book did not take the end-user into account, but just wrote to get the job done.

   It is a terrible book.




2. As Java is my sixth programming language I have a fair bit of experience with these type of books, and all I can say is that this is the worst I have ever come across. It has no sense of progression and it does not seem to have the idea of learning in mind at all - ie progressing from simple to more complex... It seems to be written for people who already know Java entirely and are wanting some kind of refresher, but its not very good as a reference either, so I actually don't know who would find this book useful....whats particularly annoying is that its not actually an advanced book, but the authors manage to make simple concepts as obscure and complicated as possible, so you struggle for ages trying to understand, and once it finally clicks, you feel almost cheated.

   The writing is very repetitive too - by chapter 15 why are they still telling you that "the structure of the package mirrors the file system, so you can find the code for this example in ...."before EVERY single code example? It sounds like a stupid complaint, but I swear that sentence alone is responsible for about 5 pages of this book.

   If you are forced to buy this book by your uni or college as I was, my advice is that you read it cover to cover several times, and don't be too concerned with understanding it the first or second time... you need the later chapters to understand the earlier chapters properly. I think the best way to read it is to start with the chapter end summary, then try and figure out the code example and discussion, and only after that confuse yourself with the actual chapter. It is not comprehensive and you are likely to spend a lot of time on the net (your cash would be better spent printing out Suns java tutorial) and using other books instead.

   It is also horribly biased to IBM VisualAge for Java, as Wigglesworth was one of the developers, and the first bit of advice given to me by senior students at my uni was to rather use anything else, even javac, than that peice of...

   To be fair, the questions are quite good and challenging, but as others have said, its kinda pointless without access to the answers.

   The unfortunate effect of all this is that you end up frustrated with Java itself rather than just this badly put together book.




3. This is a book for those who have a solid base in java now. Don't even think about using it as a beginner. I used it in a senior level course and it was the first book I worked with that dealt adequately with threads. Use this to polish your java skills. If you want a beginner's book try one of the head first books. The books that develop progressive skills are a dime a dozen out there, few will bring you into the advanced topics like this one does.