5 comments about DOM Scripting: Web Design with JavaScript and the Document Object Model.

1. I've had time lately to do a lot more reading and Jeremy Keith's DOM Scripting book is another one that belongs on your shelf if you're trying to learn any amount of JavaScript. I've hated and avoided JavaScript for years, mostly because I started my career during the browser wars and quickly grew tired of having to write different code for different browsers. Thankfully, those days are now mostly over and this book has made me love JavaScript again.
   
   The Document Object Model (DOM) is a standard for conceptualizing and representing the contents of an HTML or XML type document. Mr. Keith's book teaches how to use JavaScript to manipulate the DOM so that you can dynamically add or remove content from a page, change the way things look, or move things around. Similar to how CSS allows you to control the presentation of your content, DOM scripting allows you to control behaviors and events.
   
   There are lots of great JavaScript frameworks available like jQuery, Script.aculo.us, or Dojo which allow you to easily enhance your websites. In order to fully take advantage of them though, you need to have a fundamental understanding of how things like the DOM and JavaScript event handling work. That's where this book really excels. It's written primarily for web standards developers fluent in XHTML/CSS who're looking to branch into more client-side scripting.
   
   This book is full of useful lessons and real world examples on how to make JavaScript and the DOM work in your applications. It also places a heavy focus on fundamentals and best practices such as graceful degradation which will help you make sure that your sites still function well even without the fancy JavaScript enhancements. JavaScript has long been thought to make things inaccessible but it doesn't have to be. This book stresses how to use these technologies in an efficient, unobtrusive way.
   
   What I liked most about this book was the voice in which it was written. I've read dozens of boring hard-to-follow tech manuals over the years but this book felt more like a friend standing over your shoulder and walking you through the process. That does somewhat limit the amount of information the book can cover and it definitely doesn't go very far into advanced techniques. If you've been doing standards development and basic JavaScript for a while though, and you really want to get started on increasing your scripting skills, this book makes an excellent primer. For me it turned my impression of JavaScript from an overly-complex annoyance to an easy-to-use yet incredibly powerful tool for improving my websites.
   
   [...]



2. Great book, no available in France. Basic Dom description but clever and useful. Jeremy Keith is a very good "teatcher". Grâce à ce livre tout devient plus facile et clair. Vraiment dommage qu'il n'existe pas de developpeurs en france qui écrivent des livres aussi bien. La collection friendsof est vraiment incontournable. Bravo et bonne suite à cette collection. FiendsOf is a very top book's edition.



3. One can't rely on a book to be good enough to explain things the way they should be explained. Many people give up trying to learn something because they blame themselves for not getting it. The key, I've learned, is to keep on looking until you find the resource that will. I've learned this lesson by going through a many books on JavaScript to finally end up with one that hits the nail directly on the head. That book is Jeremy Keith's DOM Scripting.
   
   I recommend starting with this book and then following it up with Christian Heilmann's beginning JavaScript book.



4. This book is perfect for front end developers with little to no JavaScript or DOM experience. Jeremy Keith is one of the top proponents for unobtrusive, semantic, and gracefully degrading JavaScript in the world. A must buy for anyone who ever needs to use or learn JavaScript and the Document Object Model.



5. This book gots it all together well. I love the way the author writes and the way he presents a concept. Its so easy to follow and understand. This book isn't fit for a total beginner..you're going to need at least some experience with Javascript, CSS, and HTML to be able to implement DOM in your javascript.
   
   I've never written a review before but after reading 10 chapters of this book, I purposely had to come on here to write this review. you really should check out some of the stuff Mr. Keith demonstrates in here. This is one of the best programming books I've read. The stuff he teaches sticks to you..they are real life programming techniques that can be used to spice up your website.
   
   Seriously, if you want to get deep into javascript, you ought to get this book. Very easy to read with very useful techniques being taught. A+ for this author. Next time I buy programming books, I will look for this author, Jeremy Keith.

5 comments about Learning SQL (Learning).

1. Being an IT Professional i have seen many books till now and this is one of the best books i have seen. Price is not a matter if you get worth of the book and the way the author explains is impressive. Definitely a must have book for SQL Developers.



2. I needed a book to get one started with SQL programming from the basics to professional use of the language. After reading a few books (thanks to our great Public Libraries system), I concluded that this book is the one.
   It has the right size (size is important not to scare people off), makes the right assumptions about the reader, gives lots of examples (cases) and it is, mainly, DB agnostic.
   
   Get it and READ it.



3. I bought this book thinking I could learn SQL as a true novice. This book is not intended for a real beginner, but for developers/programmers that probably already know at least one language. For a real beginner's book see Forta's MYSQL Crash Course or Teach Yourself SQL. This book, Learning SQL, would probably be your next book.



4. Buy instead the excellent book by Ben Forta "SQL in 10 Minutes", which is a bit more simplistic but better.
   
   This book is geared towards an older version of MySQL, ver 4.x. Despite my best efforts, and I have several books on SQL and am not entirely a beginner, I could not entirely translate the MySQL script source code associated with this book to MS SQL Server 2005 SQL.
   
   Also, some of the "foreign keys" in the sample database have confusing names--a minor point but annoying.
   
   Avoid this book, unless you want to use it (as I do) as a training exercise (since I have other SQL books) rather than a book you can learn from.



5. I have been working with some fairly decent SQL from the past 3 years. I wanted to improve my basics and also learn some advanced topics.
   This book is good for real beginners and not somebody who is already into SQL.
   Apart from that, the content and explaining style of the author is good. I would recommed this book for beginners only.
   I wish O'Reilly would tag their books in terms of target readers. like beginner, intermediate, advanced, re-search, etc.
   I agree "learning" does indicate the same, but still.

5 comments about Visual Basic 2008 Programmer's Reference (Programmer to Programmer).

1. You might initially think that this is going to be one of those big books with a few examples and a lot of fluff; well, you'd be wrong. This is a big book because it's absolutely packed with really useful examples. Rod takes you through just about every feature of Visual Basic 2008 and he does it with examples. These aren't just the usual academic sort of examples either; you'll be able to use many of them as a source of code for your own applications.
   
   Of course, there are also books on the market that do have good examples, but the explanations stink. Rod takes time to thoroughly explain the examples and the explanations are clear, so you won't have any trouble understanding them. In short, this book has the best of everything.
   
   You probably won't need another book for common business programming needs. That said, some specialty items are missing. You won't find a lot about PInvoke in this book, but then again, most people don't need PInvoke for their business applications. The LINQ coverage is also a tad light, but this technology is only now taking off, so Rod is right in keeping the various coverages in perspective. Overall, this is the book to get if you want to know how to work with Visual Basic!



2. This is a great book. Starting for the simplicity and going strong describing in simple language the complicated topics for the beginner to the advanced programmer in VB 2008(VB 9).
   
   I enjoyed the reading and I am not done yet with the book. And after reading some paragraphs again, have been able to find new details that allow me to improve my routines.
   
   Thank you Rod for the book.



3. I'm experienced with VB.Net but needed a quick reference book for the new features (esp. LINQ) and that would also provide an overview for features I might not otherwise discover.
   
   My first project with VB 2008 sent me right to the book. I was able to easily adapt code lifted right off the page on the first task. However, different code from the book for a second task was less successful (LINQing on a data set table). The syntax (in the book) for the ORDER BY clause was erroneous and raised a perplexing error. (Perhaps the Wrox web site corrects this; I haven't checked.) Googling brought me to a Microsoft web site with an example with the correct syntax.
   
   I guess you should expect such issues when applying 15th century technology (i.e., printed paper) to a bleeding edge tool.
   
   All in all, however, the book was worth the modest investment. Make use of Amazon's excerpts to evaluate it for your own needs (I did).
   
   By the way, the (first) one I received was damaged (crumpled pages, torn backcover) in packaging, but Amazon redeemed themselves by promptly sending an intact replacement.



4. A weighty tome with substance to match the heft. Mr. Stephens knows his material and knows how to make his knowledge accessible. This book has become a necessary adjunct all of my VB projects.



5. For the novice user this book will take you by the hand, and guide you through VB.NET from the IDE, to basic principles and concepts of OO programing, and into concrete examples, covering a vast amount of information. There is an incredible 200+ page appendix.
   
   Like most other books on the subject, the sections that cover parts of VB that I work with daily (and thus understand well) offered few new insights. The other 75% of the book has proved to be extremely helpful!
   
   If you truly "know" VB.NET '08 inside and out, then you don't need this book (or any others for that matter!), for the rest of us the useful information abounds.

5 comments about Murach's Java Servlets and JSP, 2nd Edition.

1. Murach's Java Servlets and JSP 2nd Edition is a very good book for someone that would like to learn JSP & Servlet quickly and efficiently.
   
   The book content emphasizes on the important and commonly used features of JSP & Servlet and various aspects Java web-based applications.
   
   The writing style is a closer to Oreilly's cook book style than a conventional technical book. For me I really like it because I can just learn I need to know in order to get my job done.
   
   In addition to covering topics about JSP & Servlet, it also covers many important aspects of developing Java web-based applications like MySQL, Tomcat, and NetBean. This is absolutely critical for setting up a development environment quickly so you can try out the numerous examples provided in the book.
   
   Over all, I like this book and would have no problem recommending it.



2. The previous version of "Murach's Servlets and JSPs" was a good book, and this one is too.
   
   The book is described for use as "Training and reference", and while books tend to be good for one purpose or the other I found this one did manage to accomplish both objectives. The information is presented in small, distinct and incremental sections, and each block of code is clear and concise. It also contains all of the important information required to get a good start developing Servlets. I also found the same layout worked well when accessing the information as a reference.
   
   It was very amusing that the book managed to get through four whole chapters before addressing Servlets or JSPs in detail, but given that many people leap into Servlets while their other technical skills are still growing, this prelude will be valuable to many beginners. These chapters are spent introducing web programming with Java, setting up Tomcat and the Netbeans IDE, and a one chapter crash course in HTML.
   
   All of the required topics are covered elegantly, and enough room is left over to provide the same level of coverage for the next level of knowledge such as SSL, JavaMail, connecting to databases, container managed security and even some raw HTTP.
   
   While I would not usually consider 10 horseshoes for a programming resource, this one is less likely to be read and forgotten, and should be of use for the first few years of Servlet programming for the novice. Therefore it is easy to recommend adding this one to your bookshelf.



3. Hi guys, if you are looking for a book that guides you step by step thru servlets and jsp's this is the book you should buy, the method that is used in this book is learn and practice, for me this kind of studying is very proactive and it is better than just reading a bunch of pages with just a final example.
   So do not hesitate to buy this book, this is the only one you need.
   
   "Working hands are better than praying lips"



4. This book takes you through a well structured learning journey of JSP, Servlets and related technologies such as Netbeans, Tomcat and MySQL for developing complete web apps. The book has provided me with the skill and confidence to start building my own web-app. The book finishes with a completed e-commerce example that builds on the earlier work, and gives the reader a basis for their own future development.
   
   The book provides comprehensive details on how to set up the environment for developing and deploying web-apps, with the installation of Netbeans, MySQL, libraries etc covered in the appendices. The set up is generally a difficult part of learning a new computer concept and this book explains this very well.
   
   The material, the downloaded code, and exercises are well integrated and provide for a comprehensive learning experience. I was able to successfully complete the vast majority of exercises readily.
   
   I have ordered the Murach Java book as I found the JSP and Servlets book very useful.
   
   COMPARED TO HEAD FIRST
   ***********************
   I am a big fan of the Head First series, a series which has taught me everything I know about Java, XHTML, CSS, Design Patterns Ajax, OO Design etc. I love it. But as a novice, I found Head First Servlets and JSP: Passing the Sun Certified Web Component Developer Exam (SCWCD) difficult to get into. Mainly because the HF book is directed towards accreditation, and contains some curved balls to prepare for the exam that distracted me from learning.
   
   Instead, I did the Murach book from cover to cover, and skim read the HF book (partially because I am in love with that bossy HF girl!). The HF series is more fun and engaging, but for JSP and Servlets I found the Murach approach worked best for me. While the Murach book is as as well written and presented as can be expected of a more traditional text book, it is not as interactive as the HF series. I therefore found completing the exercises in the Murach book important for engaging with the content.
   
   Murach does a better job than HF on the MySQL and IDE side of things. HF probably covers the nuances of the Servlets more comprehensively.
   
   I recommend both, depending on what you need.



5. This is a very good text for a beginning JSP/Servelet developer. Very clearly laid out, with copious examples, well orgranized, slanted to a novice Servlet developer. You cant go wrong with this text. Additional benefit is a chapter on how to use the NetBeans IDE.

No comments about MCITP Self-Paced Training Kit (Exams 70-640, 70-642, 70-646): Server Administrator Core Requirements (PRO-Certification) (PRO-Certification).

5 comments about Learning Perl, 5th Edition.

1. I learned Perl from the second edition of this book a few years ago, and was very impressed. After a few years without writing a single line of Perl, I needed to learn it again, so I bought the most current version of this book, the fourth edition. I was not as impressed with the fourth edition, it seems that a lot of the more advanced, and useful, stuff has been moved out of this book into the intermediate book. This book is missing a lot of the features that makes Perl a productive language. I'd try a few online tutorials first and then see if the intermediate book would work. Or, if you can find an older edition give that a shot.



2. This book is a gives a gentle introduction to Perll; by the time you have gone through this book, you would have touched on some very simple operations and common language idioms found in Perl. This is not a comprehensive guide; on the contrary the book is selective about covering only those constructs and issues that one is most likely to face early on in programming with Perl.
   
   This does not collect any of the more powerful feature in Perl like Reference; Data Structures; Manipulating lists of list.
   
   I would not recomend this book.



3. I recommend this book to anyone who is new to perl. The only thing I thought could have been better though was add more examples after each chapter. But other than that the book explains the basics very good.



4. Well laid out, easy to follow for a beginner. Serious coders will need a more detailed and in depth book after completing this one.



5. This is the book which led me into the Perl world. It's not the first Perl book I read. Before came to this book, I read some other books, took online lessions, etc. but it's this easy reading book did the work. I also bought the cookbook but never touch it. The knowledge from this book is quite enough for routine use of Perl for basic but useful scripting. If you're new to Perl, this is the right book for you.

5 comments about Head First Software Development (Brain-Friendly Guides).

1. Head First Software Development is another home run from the Head First series. I have bougth the HTML/CSS, Design Patterns, Object-Oriented Analysis & Design, and now this book. These "Brain-Friendly Guides" are such wonderful learning tools packed with great information, and so much fun to read. Keep them coming!



2. The way this book is writen is just fantastic. Wonderful book to LEARN how to develop GOOD software.



3. I've been eyeballing the Head First books for a while, specifically the Java and Object-Oriented Analysis & Design. I don't program in Java and I think I understand OOP very well. Because of this, the Head First structure looks to offer a bit less structure - so a good "read as you can" book.
   
   I got this title in a raffle. I'm glad I did. It whetted my appetite for more Head First. Not so much for the content (Which I will review further down) but because it's almost like reading a comic book. Easy, entertaining and something my busy dizzy mind could readily grasp in small chunks. I will probably get another Head First book in the future. Probably more than one.
   
   As for the content of this book, it was well laid out and for someone new to the concepts of formal software design, it was nice to see all the little pieces come together. I did have a hard time with the Java specific environment, but I guess it would be a much larger book if they covered other systems. The steps were clear, some of them a smidge corny, but most of them logical.
   
   After having read this, I was inspired to put it to use. That's when it hit me. I can't see this working unless the entire development group reads the book - or they were all newbies. Well I can see it, just not in the places I've worked.



4. Although I was initially put off by the non-serious cover and gimmicky premise, I decided to trust to O'Reilly and give this book a try. That turned out to be a great decision!
   
   Be forewarned that the real title should be "Head First AGILE Software Development," so don't expect other methodologies, but it definitely delivers. Whether you're just beginning to take the plunge into agile development, or you've been sort of trying to do it for a while but don't have a real clear picture of your goal, this is a great book for you.
   
   However, if you've been developing agilely for a while, then what you'll find here isn't much more than a refresher course or reminder of how you should be doing things.



5. I first lend this book from collage developer an have read with great enthusiasms and finally ordered my own copy of this book.
   The book gives detailed information on how to developing software from scratch, taken you by hand and leading you de hole way step by step.
   With the different way to present the information en with lot of illustrations its newer a boring read.
   
   Anders Kjaer
   
   [...]

5 comments about ASP.NET AJAX in Action.

1. Like many people who develop ASP.NET applications for a living, I was extremely interested in learning about ASP.NET AJAX. This is the only book I bought on the subject, and it has been extraordinary. I can't recommend it highly enough. Read this book and you'll be an expert.



2. Ok for me its a must have book.
   Why because I want to know all about what the micrsoft javascipt injection is actually doing, how I debug applications with it, how I make it leaner (versa using CSSQuery,JQuery and MooTools), how I wire up events and become articulate with this tecnology. You can use the MS Ajax framework on its own in say PHP.
   So this book is really all about the client side of MS Ajax. If you are familiar with javascript libs like prototype.js you can absorbe this book easy. If you are a UI/Frontend developer then this is a must have.
   If you are a PHP developer then why not use it to pick up a robust framework.
   If you are a C# UI developer this will allow you to go beyond stuff that all the other can only drag and drop from the toolbar.
   Worth while looking at writing control extenders in 3.5 as this would be the place to put the results of your ajax efforts (write one - use many).



3. WARNING: Examples are in C#
   I purchased this book due to the abundance of positive reviews. Unfortunately, the author/publisher fails to include in their description that the examples are based in C#. I was looking for VB. (Note to ALL publishers of technical books: Be VERY SPECIFIC in your Product Description as to what language your examples are based in. If you don't, then you are just pushing paper for the purpose of making a sale....) While I have some experience in C#, converting the examples to VB became a nightmare! And, even when I did try running the examples in their native C#, several failed.
   
   During the first chapter the author provides some quick and dirty examples of Ajax as implemented by Microsoft. In doing so, he gives you the code in well explained fragments, but, leaves out some key points. Mainly, the fact that the JavaScript (your code) to be used with MS/Ajax MUST come AFTER the asp:ScriptManager declaration. Which means that you cannot include your .js code in the "header" section of a web page (as many experienced JavaScript programmers would do...). When MS compiles a page, it adds it's own .js code AFTER it encounters the asp:ScriptManager tag. Therefore, any .js code you add, MUST come AFTER the asp:ScriptManage tag. This is a CRUCIAL point the author left out. If the author had mentioned this, I wouldn't have wasted an hour trying to figure out why his example kept blowing up on me. There are a number of examples that required you to add or include something that wasn't mentioned. Generally trivial things, but annoying to troubleshoot none the less.
   
   While the depth and coverage of the material is very good, giving plenty of under-the-hood information about AJAX and Microsoft's implementation of such, this is almost nullified by the fact that the code examples are continually presented out of order. A (very annoying) example of this is in chapter 5 where the author attempts to explain how to make cross domain calls to the Yahoo mapping API. The author provides the code to create a webservice (GeocodeService) that includes a reference to a class (Location) that isn't provided until later, which has a reference to another class (YahooProvider) that isn't explained until after that...(lather, frustrate, repeat, or should it be rinse, repeat, lather?) Had the examples been presented from inside-out it would have been easier to code and follow in a step-by-step manner. Instead, you are constantly required to read ahead, then code from back to front. Annoying to say the least.
   
   Had the examples been better organized, and more explicit on including that button, the onclick event, the assembly reference, etc., it would have been a four or five star book. Instead, the frustration factor made the attempt to learn-by-example impractical.



4. I really enjoyed this book. Not only does it explain things thoroughly but the author also gives very intelligent, practical examples to help flesh out the theory. It's really good.



5. I wonder why people who did not buy the book but are allowed to review the book. This opens the door for many dishonest reviews.

5 comments about Microsoft Visual C# 2008 Step by Step.

1. After trying to pickup programming again several times (after not doing well in the few undergrad classes I took years ago), I've just completed the rough-design/implementation of my first c# application after reading through 9 chapters in this book.
   
   John Sharp's book is laid out in fairly concise chapters, dealing with two or three concepts at a time. The text is clearly written, and has been fairly easy for me to understand.
   
   The only exception (and the reason for 4/5) was the discussion of private data structures in objects. He stated that the this data is available to the class, but only implied that meant every instantiation of the class can access any other instantiation's private data. A friend who's a programmer clarified the matter, and made it sound like I was misreading it, but for a "beginners guide," I think such a point should be spelt out a bit better.
   
   Great book: well laid out, easy to read, great examples (in the book and the code is on the CD).



2. This book is definately geared for beginners with no programming experience, which is fine. There are a few typo's but nothing to panic about. More importantly, there is little to keep you entertained and motivated to read it. An example, of the dryness is on page 241: Interface Restrictions...a bunch of "You-can-do-this-but-not thats". I am sure they are important points, but I think they are misplaced or better learned as you go along with each thing. I'm reading it and thinking "oh yeah, I'm going to remember all that." Nevertheless, if you can persist through the book, you will learn a lot and have a good foundation. But I recommend you buy "Head First C#" instead of this book.



3. I got this book because I wanted to learn Visual Studio 2008 and C# at the same time. It has certainly done the trick. I am currently at page 449, and I am amazed at how much information John Sharp has put in book. Even more amazing is that his teaching technique of a brief overview, and explaining while doing examples is surprisingly effective. If you are a Pro Developer familiar with C++ or java, then this book is probably not going to teach you anything interesting till part 4. I am very please and recommend to any novice who wants to learn.



4. unlike most books that may seem more entertaining-- this book makes you use c# for the common tasks you actually will be doing. The plan is that you program along with the author and learn "step by step" how to build many different essential programming building blocks using different net features. The section on wpf programming is wonderful'



5. I love programming, and this was a great book to have. I still use it to keep my programming skills up and up. The author has a great grasp of the material.

5 comments about Programming WPF.

1. The biggest strength of this book is that it focus on using WPF programatically, not just laying out XAML. This is extremely useful if you are writing an application for 3D data visualization or a database driven application. You get to learn to create event handlers, generate meshes... all programmatically. I also believe that this book is great, not just as a learning tool, but as a reference guide. It is the most comprehensive book on the subject and a must for the aspiring WPF developer.
   
   If you just want to focus on XAML, however, I will have to recommend "Windows Presentation Foundation Unleashed" by Adam Nathan.



2. I say to ignore those reviews because they do not refer to this book. This is the second edition published August 28, 2007 with 863 pages. Those reviews are based off of the first edition published nearly two years before (September 12, 2005) and with only 447 pages.
   
   Using Amazon's 'Search inside this book' takes you to the 2005 edition also. That shows only 10 chapters while this edition has 17. Most of the negative comments from the 2 and 3 star reviewers seem to have been resolved.



3. This book is the most in depth resource into WPF i have seen. And not just that, it gets to the good stuff that you'll actually use in your code and not just filler or lists of properties that you can get from intelisense. The examples are extremely useful.
   
   The other benefit of this book is that it doesn't just tell you how to do things, but why. This is incredibly helpful in finding the best solution to your specific problem.
   
   Thanks guys! great book!
   Ralph



4. There isn't much yet on the internet about WPF, so if you want to get started using it, you really need a guide.
   
   Not only is the book a well crafted introduction to WPF, I've just discovered that the downloadable source code makes an excellent companion to the book.
   
   Questions that were not answered in another top-rated WPF book I found answered here... so whatever else you buy, get this book!



5. I bought the first edition of this book called Programming Windows Presentation Foundation (AKA Avalon) at the PDC in 2005 and read it completely on the plane home.
   
   When I heard the second edition was released I didn't think much would have changed, but this is even better than the first edition. It's twice as big and covers all major (and not so major) topics in WPF (inc. an introduction to 3D and Silverlight).
   
   I think this book will proof to be for WPF what Programming Windows, Fifth Edition is for WIN32 programming.