1 comments about MySQL 5.1 Cluster DBA Certification Study Guide.

1. This is the comprehensive guide to the MySQL 5.1 Cluster Certification. The book is well formatted, written, and provides lots of guidelines that are hard to pick up by just RTFM-ing the manuals. The book starts with a discussion of what is high availability and what is not that is great for those new to the subject. Then it gets very heavily into the NDB aspects of MySQL Cluster.
   
   This is not a book for those wanting to start administering MySQL databases as it is very cluster specific. But many of the general topics would be of value to any DBA.

5 comments about Upgrading to PHP 5.

1. This is a fantastic book. I frequently find that when an existing developer buys a book, he/she has to sort through all the garbage review in the beginning. This book assumes you are a competent PHP4 programmer. Then it takes you step by step through new PHP5 syntax and features that are unique to PHP5. It reviews and explains Object Oriented Programming (OOP), then discusses a variety of PHP5-only concepts, like SimpleXML and SQLite.
   
   I recently installed a PHP5 server and this book has been by my side since. All PHP4 developers who expect to use PHP5 within the next year or so should really have a copy of this book handy.



2. Being fairly proficient on PHP 4 but looking for more info on version 5, the idea of getting books on PHP 5 that, once again, starts from scratch wasn't exciting at all. This book instead was exactly what I needed, it assume you know PHP 4 and covers only the new features with a good amount of details and a bunch of useful suggestions for code migration. The only reason I don't give it 5 stars is that in the chapters covering OOP and DOM the author try to explain the new functionalities but also attempt to throw in the mix more generic info on this two topics. The end results are somewhat mixed, the coverage of PHP 5 is, in my opinion, very good, but the material about OOP and DOM instead aren't up to the rest and does more harm than good.



3. A very good choice. PHP5 is a new wave in dynamic web development. It dramaticly improved the handeling of classes and objects. This little book is your quick and easy to use refference of objects, methods, variables, scopes, functions. At Procreative Designs (procreative.ca), the company I work for this one was distributed all over our web development department at the beginning of last month. I personally find this book really handy and useful. Previously I owned PHP4 Refference and it always served me well. Overall its a great choice for quick refference.



4. The author does a great job summarizing common PHP characteristics and elaborating on PHP 5 improvements, with plenty of well-chosen code examples. Well suited for the established PHP programmer making the transition to PHP 5. For those starting out, use "Learning PHP 5" instead.



5. I own a sizable collection of O'Reilly books and have found them to in general be very well written and useful. "Upgrading to PHP 5" continues this tradition superbly.
   
   This book is _not_ for new PHP coders; the vast majority of the text assumes good familiarity with PHP 4.x. If you have this familiarity then you will find this book to be a thorough and well-organized primer on the many new features in the new PHP.
   
   The first chapter merely lists the major areas that have changed in the latest PHP, each of which roughly corresponds to a chapter in the book.
   
   Major enhancement to the OOP facilities of PHP are appropriately discussed in the next chapter. Unfortunately, this is probably the most clumsily written chapter due a strange desire to educate the reader in OOP basics (about the only place in the book where this mistake is committed). The result is a schism that imposes redundancy in the material while simultaneously making it unduly hard to locate specific topics.
   
   Thankfully the subsequent two chapters (on the new MySQL interface and the SQLite database) are uniformly well-written. Especially useful is a (perhaps oddly-situated) section on migration strategies from a PHP 4/MySQL 4.0 platform to a PHP 5/MySQL 4.1 platform.
   
   A chapter on XML follows, but I did not read it in great detail since my applications tend to not require it, so other reviewers are likely to provide greater insights here.
   
   Iterators, yet another feature completely new to PHP 5, are covered next. Unlike much of the conventional PHP fare (even OOP) this topic really does require understanding of rather abstract concepts (especially when debugging the RecusrsiveIterator interface). For this reason, while clearly written it may take hobbiests some time to take this material to heart.
   
   The new error-handling functions are introduced next. I think that the chapter could have benefited from a little more discussion; Trachtenberg seems to think providing code samples is almost self-explanatory. At the end of the day, though, the chapter does its job.
   
   The chapter on streams and filters is another one that I barely perused, so I defer to other reviewers on this topic.
   
   The penultimate chapter provides a very cursory evaluation of a handful of extensions to PHP. While certainly useful to the practicing PHP programmer they are covered in so brief a manner that you will need a separate text to implement them meaningfully. But this chapter does give enough information to at least evaluate the extensions' potential usefulness in an application.
   
   Trachtenberg concludes with an example PHP application. I do not like such examples in books - between space limitations and the complexity of real life this and other examples feel too... contrived... to be worthwhile. But I understand that it is included practically as canon, and do not fault the author for its inclusion.
   
   So, all things considered, this text covers the changes in PHP 5 in detail in a surprisingly brief 300 pages (and small page footprint). A worthy addition to a book collection, provided you already have general PHP reference available.

5 comments about MySQL and JSP Web Applications: Data-Driven Programming Using Tomcat and MySQL (Kaleidoscope).

1. If you are using the Tomcat, MySQL, JSP configuration, this book is the absolute perfect marriage of these technologies. It covers every aspect of the implementation. It is required, however, that you do have a little background in 1 or more of these technologies. The examples are excellent and at times the book is a lighthearted read. Kudos to the author.



2. I picked up this book as a reference for integrating our PHP and MySQL designs with JSP pages. However the author sticks to a single fundamental method of JSP development for MySQL which is using Apache's Jakarta Turbine classes. No information is given as to the other mechanisms available to utilize MySQL with Java such as MySQL Connector/J or Resin JDBC. I believe this book is a very shortsighted approach to the many tools available in the Java and JSP world. I think the Turbine approach is fine, but should maybe have been a later chapter not most of the book. We developed our entire web site without the use of Turbine.

   Some discussion is given to strategies with JNDI and LDAP, as well as EJB. There is also a healthy discussion of XML which I believe would be better suited for an XML book, but serves as nothing more than filler here, which could have been used to expand upon the other methods of JDBC.

   I would have given this book three stars, but several errors in the code examples always bring down quality by at least one star. I expect a book written by a developer for the purpose of instruction to be error free in all code examples.

   All in all the book appears to be a step by step tutorial to building a program according to the developer's linear scheme, rather than a comprehensive discussion of all the options available to a JSP/Servlet developer integrating with MySQL. Sadly this really is the only book available on the subject at this time.




3. I was encouraged when I first started reading this book, but soon I grew disappointed. The book is peppered with useful tips here and there, but in general it's too linear, as an earlier review mentioned. The book is more of a recipe for a web app than a general guide, and it wastes too much space on design process. But worse than that, it is fraught with errors, as if edited by someone who didn't understand the material. Letters have been dropped from words, referenced figures don't show what the referencing text says, there are errors in XML examples. A funny example is on the "In This Chapter" sidebar on the opening page of Chapter 2 where one of the bullet items is "Bean Resistence". More power to the beans! He meant "Bean Persistence", but hey, if you're going to get it wrong, at least spell it right. :)



4. I have read this book from cover to cover and used many of the examples in some of my development. There are errors in the editing to be sure. For the most part most are minor e.g. links that end with .htm instead of .html will not work or if you create the database in mySQL, in my case on a Linux platform there are errors you will run into. These errors are limited to making sure you observe the case of the letters in creating and quering your database. This book is not for the beginner. It teaches a systematic approach to building an ecommerce web site using jsp's and mysql. The reason for the 5 star rating is this book makes you go out of the box to learn ant, turbine and other opensource packages to build a working e-commmerce web site. Personally I do not like to put java code int an html page = jsp's ... but this book offers sound eamples and good advice. One of the better practical but certainly not perfect books I've bought.



5. This is without a doubt the worst technical book I have ever bought.
   
   Some of the problems stem from the fact that most of the packages used are now out of date. Case in point: the book walks through the installation & configuration of Turbine (which is used for connection pooling), unfortunately the connection pooling part of Turbine has now been branched off into another project (and Tomcat now includes standard J2EE connection pooling anyway).

   The other major problem is that a nearly every instance of example code is either sloppy and badly edited, or in some cases plainly doesn't even work without serious debugging.

   If you must buy this book, don't even think about trying to follow the core example application without first downloading the source-code from the authors website. You WILL be needing it, even if only to 'fill in the blanks' from the poor instructions, and to help find the coding errors.

   In conclusion, I would never recommend this book to anyone - even another experienced programmer trying to add JSP/Servlets to their repertoire.

   Do yourself a favour, buy Murach's book instead.

3 comments about PHP: The Complete Reference.

1. As a software developer, I primarily work with the ASP.NET technology and have been learning to apply Ajax to my work. A small segment of my work is with PHP/MySQL. I picked-up this book at Barnes & Noble (my Sunday library and Starbucks experience) and found the subject of Ajax to be very well explained.
   
   I purchased this book solely for the Chapters 12 and 13 coverage of Ajax and have found it to be worth the purchase price alone. I look forward to reading the rest of the book as a refresher for my PHP development.



2. This book is okay as a beginning reference. The title may give the impression that it's a book you'll want to keep on your shelf and return to frequently for years to come. That probably won't be the case for most readers who go on to write a lot of PHP, so a better title might have been "Getting Started with PHP", or something like that. The banner on the back of the book, which says "Your One-Stop Guide to Web Development with PHP", is a lot more predictive of the book's contents.
   
   It contains a lot of fluff that fills way more pages than are justified for the amount of information given, such as examples built-up in stages, leading to a lot of needlessly redundant example code. This might make sense for complex examples, but the examples in this book are all very simple, so the extra use of paper is wasteful.
   
   Personally, I don't like the author's tendency to follow his own explanations with expressions like "Not bad!", "Nice!", and "Pretty good!". I appreciate when authors use a conversational tone to some extent (Scott Meyers is the best at this, I think), but doing this constantly throughout the book goes too far for my taste. Others might enjoy this style of writing though.
   
   I would say this book seems to be targeted toward readers who are absolutely new to programming. If you're coming from any kind of programming background at all, or like to be challenged, then you might not be very satisfied with this book. One good thing is that it's so simple and the examples take up so much space, you can read the whole thing in just a few hours.
   
   I've also noticed quite a few typos, even in the example code (e.g. "close" where they meant "clone"), but I don't see an erratum posted on the McGraw-Hill website yet. I'm sure that's because the book was published only recently. The source code is all there though, as advertised. Still, it would have been nice if they'd done a better job of editing the text.
   
   Maybe the overall nature of this book is consistent with "The Complete Reference" series by McGraw-Hill. This was the first title I'd read in that series, so I had no certain expectations. In the future, I'll know better what to expect from "The Complete Reference" books.



3. PHP, The Complete Reference may be a good book to start learning from. In addition, it does touch on most of the major topics.
   
   However, calling it "Complete" is a joke. I have been writing software for over 40 years, and this is the first language "reference" book I have found that does not fully describe the built-in functions supported by the language. For example, on pages 82-84 the author lists about 100 string functions in a 2 column table. The first column is the function name, and the 2nd column is a single phrase that states the purpose of the function. No syntax is shown, no arguments, no return value information and no usage information. In the few pages that follow, there are in-line examples of a couple of the 90+ functions.
   
   The same is true for other groups of functions. Having to go online to find out information that should be in a "complete reference" obviates the need for a book. At the price charged for this book, you'd be better off using the abundant information available online.

No comments about PHP 6/MySQL Programming for the Absolute Beginner (For the Absolute Beginner).

No comments about PHP and MySQL (Video Training).

5 comments about PHP and MySQL Web Development, Second Edition.

1. I got this book because I wanted to learn PHP and MySQL. Although the book does an OK job helping you set up your AMP, you will need to visit the MySQL, PHP and Apache sites to complete your setup. The PHP info given is really quick, I assume the author thinks because he mentions something that I am suppose to completely understand. This book is not for beginners at all. It seemed to have some good info and nice code to help you build a site as long as you did not plan on altering the code to much, because you better know what you are doing. I'm sure this book would be good for someone who has some programming experience not just HTML. You should look else where if you have no actual programming experience.



2. Before begin what I have to say about the book, I have to position me on the subject. I am considered an expert user, with a B.Sc. in Informatics, but I haven't practice programming for more than a decade. So, I understand the aspects of programming and databases, but I was not familiar with PHP and MySQL before reading this book. And after finish reading it I was, so I believe that this book it does its job and it does it well, at least to a person like me.
   It explains the aspects of PHP and progressively it leads the reader to more elements of the language. It is not a reference, so you will need a reference (probably an online one) to see the arguments of a function, etc. But, if you know that a function exists, it is very easy to use it...
   The book also shows the reader how PHP integrates with a database like MySQL. With this knowledge, you can make a dynamic web site by yourself. It is actually easy for an entry level web site.
   There are more to learn that are not covered on this book. But if you master the content of this book, you have the basis to a deeper usage of PHP and making of dynamic web sites.
   Finally, I have to mention the contents of the CD-ROM, that includes a complete application, an example that is devoloped in every chapter of the book. You can see how things work by using the application from the CD-ROM.
   A very good book to understand PHP and database based web sites. Probably not the best, but certainly a good and effective one.



3. This book was suggested to me to used if I wanted to learn PHP and MySQL. I found it to be a very good book but at times there were sections that were not explained well enough and also there were some typos in the code sections. Beside that this book is a very good book to use, but I would advise getting a complimentary book especially if this is your first stab at programming in PHP or using MySQL. This is more of an intermediate level book than a beginner book.



4. This is a well-written book for learning how to build Internet applications with two of the most popular open-source web development technologies. PHP is one of the big four server-side scripting languages (along with ASP, ColdFusion, and JSP) and MySQL is one of the best high performance, scalable web-based RDBMS systems available. Together, they provide a powerful combination. The book is divided into two sections; the first half of the book gets you up to speed with both PHP and MySQL, while the second half presents some practical projects. The projects are the real jewel of the book. Not only are the projects described and constructed in a logical, component-based manner, but the selection of projects represents an excellent cross-section of common components that are built into many web sites, including: user authentication and personalization, a shopping cart, content management system, web-based email service, mailing list manager, and web forums. Because of the selection and clarity of the projects, this book makes a great general purpose reference for how to build these types of web applications, no matter which implementation language you choose.



5. This is my 2nd book regarding php and mysql. My first one got stolen a while back. Anyways, This is a great resource for those who want to create php dynamic and interactive web pages. The codes are good but ive seen better. With this book, You could start making php in no time at all. Samples are interesting and the codes could be used to jump start your own projects. I recommend this for beginners and mid-level php programmers.
   
   PS: I spilled coffee on mine :(

5 comments about MySQL and Perl for the Web (Landmark).

1. This isn't a complete review but readers should be aware that this book does NOT cover templates (it doesn't appear in the contents or the index). There's no mention of Template Toolkit or HTML::Template, for example. (Text::Template and HTML::Mason get mentioned as an aside, but that's it) Similarly, there are three chapters on forms, but no mention of CGI::FormBuilder.

   Seems like a big omission to me. YMMV.




2. This is an excellent book. I knew my way around Perl and had done a few relatively simple CGIs before being handed a project to build an application that would allow 50 or 60 employees to enter several thousand customer complaints and email them to the right recipents based on the complaint content. I had a three-week deadline.

   I bought the book and started patching elements of the example applications together until I what I needed almost working. One problem delayed me a couple of days so I emailed DuBois with a question and received a solution within the hour.

   I'd recommend this book to anyone who has a moderate grasp of Perl and Apache. It's one of the most lucid computer books I've ever read.




3. Like many others, I wish I'd seen this book long ago.

   The attention to detail and accuracy of the examples is just incredible!

   This is by far the most used reference book in my library. After repeatedly having to tape the book together, I finally gave it away and bought a new one.

   Following his examples eliminates many potential pitfalls that would otherwise result in hours of troubleshooting.

   I can't imagine how I would have ever learned this information without the expert advice of the author, Paul DuBois. His coverage of CGI.pm is essential as well as his list of other books to read.

   I think I have all his other books as well.

   He even returned email almost immediately!

   My only complaint is that it isn't bound in leather!




4. There are plenty of books about MySQL and PHP in bookstores. Yet, I still prefer Perl as my web page languages, thanks to its powerful regex and the similarity to C grammar (Some functions have exactly the same name and take the same arguments as in C).
   
   For web applications, a backend database is necessary (MySQL). But how to access and operate on these dabatases? Perl comes into scene at this point.
   
   I don't understand why people write so many books on PHP and MySQL, and so few on Perl and MySQL. Up to now, Paul's book is the only one I ever saw to cover both MySQL and Perl's application in web pages.
   
   Paul's method is step by step, and the examples are not trivial ones. And he clearly explained the critical parts of his code. He even wrote some packages which can be used as library.
   
   Before reading his book, I feel curious how the dynamic web pages work. Now, after finishing his book, I can understand how a commercial site such as Amazon works.
   
   Finally, I recommend this book be bought with the other title by Paul - "MySQL". This is the book dedicated to MySQL language. It is a good companion to "MySQL and Perl for the Web".



5. Disclaimer: I was given a copy of this book on the condition that I would write a review of it. That said, what follows is my opinion.
   
   This book provides a good "from the ground up" guide for using Perl to do just about anything you'd want to do on your web site, including run an eCommerce site. You need to know a bit of Perl before you start, but even if you don't the examples start out simple enough that you should be able to pick it up as you go, provided you have some programming background. Should you get stuck, there are plenty of pointers to online resources, as well as an appendix to show you how to set up the software used in this book.
   
   The book starts out with the basics: setting up MySQL and Apache to get at your data via the web, including Perl DBI basics. You then get started by writing a simple to-do list application, and in the process create modules that you will use (and build on) later in the book.
   
   Mod_perl is covered, and then progressively more complex form based applications are presented. Many useful techniques are discussed. Once you're just about tired of all the tedium of form based applications, automated form-handling techniques are introduced that use meta-data about the table structures to automatically generate (and validate) input data. Techniques for session management get a chapter as well, presenting very good information on the pros and cons of different session management techniques (IP, cookie, URL key, etc).
   
   Security and privacy get a very good chapter. Not only are issues presented regarding keeping user's information confidential, but cautions are also presented regarding keeping the server secure. SQL injection attacks are discussed, as are defenses against them. Hint: use MySQL's quote() function.
   
   The book closes with a chapter on writing an eCommerce application. All the techniques used in the book are brought together in one application, and it is shown (very well) how they all relate to each other. While the resulting eCommerce application is extremely simple in regards to what it can do, it effectively shows the reader the power of MySQL and Perl together, and provides an excellent reference when writing applications of one's own.
   
   I am a system administrator, and have done a good chunk of web site design (mostly the technical side) and programming. I've been using Perl since 1996, and MySQL with that since 2000 (used mSQL before that). So, yes, I had quite a bit of Perl and DB experience before I read the book. I say that to say this: I still learned things. There were tips and techniques in there that I hadn't thought of, and will make my job just a bit easier the next time I use Perl to write a MySQL based application. Even if you have some Perl and MySQL experience under your belt, the book will still be useful.

5 comments about Professional ADO.NET 2: Programming with SQL Server 2005, Oracle, and MySQL.

1. I was really looking forward to this book, for both ASP.Net and WinForms development, since I really thought that's what the book was really about. Boy was I surprised. if that was all it had, I'd probably be very happy. However - that was just the tip of the iceberg! It has quite a wide focus, so, in some cases, it was kind of dificult to know where the book is going.
   
   However, The reader is somewhat warned right off the bat, that the book focuses mainly on the new features of ADO.Net 2.0, so prior knowledge of ADO.Net is expected, but I believe there is still a lot of text that covers a lot of the basics - just without a hand-held experience.
   
   For those so inclined, there's quite a bit of information concerning subjects like usinc CLR objects, TSQL Enhancements, Notification Services, Service Broker and Reporting Services, though it's definitely not JUST about SQL Server. There is quite a bit on the popular open source databases like MySQL and PostgreSQL, along with a chapter on Oracle, just for good measure.
   
   Many times, on different forums, I find questions concerning how to create a Database/table/etc, in code. Professional ADO.Net 2 has this plus a whole lot more about SQL Server server-side programming
   
   Going into the book, I knew there were quite a few new features of ADO.Net, but I really had no idea concerning the extent of new features. This book contains 584 pages of great information. Though what I'd consider a bit wordy, at times, I'll definitely keep this book around.
   
   If all you do is ASP.Net web page development, maybe this isn't the book for you - but if you do a lot more and really like 'nuts and bolts', and widening your experience, I think it's a go!



2. There are a number of great things about this book, from my perspective. For me, perhaps the best chapter was the one on the custom ADO.NET provider. Even if you do not want to create a custom provider (and honestly, I do not think I will), reading through that chapter helps explain how the various standard interfaces work.
   
   In addition to covering ADO.NET 2.0 proper, the book covers specifically how you can use ADO.NET in very practical ways, interacting with SQL Server, as well as doing server side programming in SQL Server. Unlike one other reviewer, I appreciate the book covering these other areas. While the chapters on topics such as SQL Server server-side programming obviously do not cover all that a dedicated SQL Server book will, it covers most of what you need.
   
   I do understand how the term "Professional" in the title might lead a reader to expect one thing or another, but before I buy a book, I tend to read through it and determine if the publisher's idea of "Professional" matches my expectations.



3. I had hoped that working through this book would bring extra insight and new techniques. After all, I have been a database consultant for 15 years and designed, programed and implemented many large solutions.
   
   I found that the book left much unsaid and detailed instructions non existant. I had problems with the download code. It appears to be tied up with VS team system, so if you are a home or small business who is unfamiliar with tem system then you may have problems.
   
   I contacted Wiley Customer Support, but they just told me the code works and provided nothing helpful.
   
   I will not be buying any more Wrox / Wiley books.



4. I have 16 years experience as an adjunct instructor at a community college. I have a BS in Engineering and I'm 3 credits away from my Master's in Comp Sci.
   I'm taking time from my class prep to write this review...
   I have been assigned to teach a Visual Basic programming class with this book. Had I been given the opportunity to read the text beforehand, I would have fought hard to use some other book. The example code is formatted so poorly that I am embarassed to use it in class. Some of the example code in the book doesn't even match what's available for download on the WROX web site. The QC staff at WROX should be reassigned. I've QC'd many programming textbooks myself and I can see that this stinker was rushed to print without enough editing.
   Don't be fooled by the title. The majority of the examples are SQL Server-specific. OK, Visual Studio has a SQL Server bent, given that both are Microsoft Products. That's no secret. However, if the title of the book references Oracle and MySQL, then all the examples should also. If a particular paradigm can only be implemented in SQL Server, then the authors have a responsibility to provide work-arounds for the other DBMS's that are listed on the cover of the book. Arrrgh.
   
   Chapter 1 covers the History of Data Access. That doesn't fit with the remainder of the book. Part of chapter 2 covers normalization, also not a good fit with the remainder of the book. The authors even admit that the book is aimed at software developers who have prior knowledge of ADO .Net and SQL Server. That implies prior knowledge of normalization and database design.
   
   Recently I was at the bookstore with my 11 year-old. I was agonizing over which ASP .Net book (both WROX titles) to purchase, so I held up two possibilities and asked her to help. She noted that one cover had 3 author's faces on it and the other had two. She concluded that the book with 3 faces must be better. I couldn't argue with that logic. This book has seven faces on it, but it just doesn't deliver.



5. This book has a lot of good information. I found myself skimming forward just a little but there was still lots of good info to make me want to keep reading. I wish there was sometimes more explanation of why the author feels a certain way but all and all this is book worth owning.

5 comments about Ajax for Web Application Developers (Developer's Library).

1. First, let me agree with the previous reviewer who noted that this isn't an AJAX book for beginners. It isn't. I don't think anyone claimed that it was. It's a book for web application developers seeking to incorporate AJAX technology into web applications. I wouldn't expect a book with that kind of scope to be appropriate for beginners. This one certainly isn't, and I'm glad, having read enough beginner AJAX books that go over what an XmlHttpRequest is and explain some of the commonly used "stupid JavaScript tricks", dropping the names of popular frameworks and toolkits along the way without really supplying much information about them.
   
   Having said that: I've been seeking a book with the scope of this book for quite a while now. Not since Nicholas Zakas' book "Professional JavaScript for Web Developers" (which I still highly recommend) has this kind of in-depth coverage of the inner workings of AJAX been offered up. Zakas' book (only two years old) went into great detail about using Javascript to do all the cool things we now know as "AJAX"... without once using the word. (Two years ago the word "AJAX" hadn't reached its present buzzword saturation level, if it had been used much at all.)
   
   Hadlock revisits the technology now that AJAX and the various toolkits and frameworks supporting it (Dojo, script.aculo.us, Google Web Toolkit, etc.) have become commonplace. He doesn't provide a tutorial on how to use a particular toolkit or framework; instead, he explains how you can write an "engine" of your own. He starts with a good intro to AJAX, including explanations of how to use both XML and JSON in the response, moves on to the basic principles of object-oriented JavaScript, and then provides examples of reusable JavaScript components to include in your own JavaScript/AJAX engine. Whether you're seeking to reinvent the wheel and write such an engine yourself, or just have a hankering to understand how a toolkit like Dojo or script.aculo.us is constructed, this is great information. Where Zakas' book was an all-encompassing head first dive into deep JavaScript, this book is a briefer but still quite thorough tutorial that gets to the critical information quickly.
   
   The book also includes useful chapters on security and best practices.
   
   Where the book is lacking is in its coverage of server-side interaction. While it concentrates on PHP, it provides some examples of connecting to ASP.NET and ColdFusion, but... there's no mention whatsoever about Java/J2EE. (Ryan Asleson's "Pro Ajax and Java Frameworks" does provide that very sort of information, covering Struts, Spring, and JSF.) Still, where this book shines is in its in-depth explanation of how JavaScript/AJAX toolkits work and how you build your own or extend existing ones. This is still the only book I've seen that even attempts to do that.



2. Bought the book, liked the author's intent but I ran into one big problem. No source code for the book. I emailed the publisher last week and heard zero back from them.
   
   Note to publishers: Take care of your readers.
   
   I'm afraid customer service is dead. Maybe it has been outsourced.



3. I have attended Kris Hadlock's presentation in AJAXWORLD Conference & EXPO last week. I am glad I did because I really wanted to learn how to write reusable JavaScript libraries in my projects. His book is all about AJAX but engineering side of it. Why? because I found not many books out there show you how to capture server errors and record them for debugging and improvement in your project. Not many books show you how to implement the back-end for your frond-end applications. Not many books give you real-world examples. "
   Ajax for Web Application Developers" does all for you. It's very simple to understand Kris' codings and explanations because his book is neatly coded and implemented the coding standards.
   
   SOURCE CODES: Demonstrated examples in the book can be downloaded from the publisher. All you need to do is to create an account.
   
   I personally have many AJAX books in my library but specifically liked "Ajax for Web Application Developers".
   
   I strongly recommend it to those who are willing to learn in an easy way to create reusable JavaScript object-oriented libraries and understand the AJAX object methodology.
   
   Good luck



4. Kris did a really good job to be developer friendly. Even thought there are some "TODO" list in the sample code, the coding style is very clean, dood inbtro to Ajax MVC implementation. It could be better if Kris can go little deep, for example, Javascript OO, mini-MVC inside view object, feel the "display" will be too heavy if object has lots of events attached. Overall, it's a fine reading.



5. I am web designer and i have a multimedia and web developer company. I buy this book because i think that AJAX is the next generation of code for web API. This book is very good, it talk in developer language and you can learn about AJAX with single excercise.