5 comments about Java Persistence with Hibernate.

1. As of the writing of this review in early 2008, there is no other work in the marketplace quite like this text. At over 800 pages, Bauer and King cover a lot of ground, starting with the object/relational persistence paradigm and continuing with domain models, mapping, and conversations, addressing specialized situations along the way such as working with legacy databases. Database development is not for the faint of heart, and serious work in this space requires understanding of both object-oriented technology and relational database theory, not to mention the associated business domains. Although this book has received a relatively high amount of positive reviews, readers have also understandably shared their complaints. While at the same time Java Persistence with Hibernate is probably not for everyone, there really are not that many alternatives to learning the necessary material. As with other development frameworks, it is a given that familiarity with the online documentation for Hibernate is required, with the realization that this documentation really only starts to be of benefit once the associated tools start being used. This book provides solid background to prepare the reader for the road ahead, but the reader should also be reminded that the entire book does not need to be read, nor does the material need to be read in order from front to back in order to prepare for that road. Much of the material will probably just not make sense until one gets their feet wet with the technologies. These are the reasons I choose to refer to this text as graduate school training. As Immanuel Kant, the great German philosopher, once said, "experience teaches nothing without theory, but theory without experience is mere intellectual play". The change in name for this second edition of the book reflect the fact that Hibernate is now an implementation of the Java Persistence API. Be aware that the authors traverse back and fourth between the conformance of Hibernate to JPA, and what Hibernate provides apart from JPA. I think the decision of the authors to present material on these technologies side-by-side was a wise one, because it helps keep the reader reminded that these are not separate technologies and that there are architectural tradeoffs between sticking to JPA and using Hibernate functionality beyond the specification. Well recommended.



2. This is the the BEST book for hibernate. better than hibernate in action and other books.
   
   Gavin King Rocks.



3. Got this book when I started working with hibernate at work. This book and its sample code saved me weeks of effort.
   
   Hibernate is an OK framework, but a steep learning curve. This book will help you significantly reduce that learning curve.



4. I have finally found a great resource on persistence. This book allows you find enough detail quickly to get going and enough in-depth knowledge and understanding to keep you coming back. A must own.



5. Some of the reviews for this book are a little harsh.
   
   This is the most complete book on Hibernate on the market. It covers everything, and I mean everything. From mapping to annotations, to whatever, it's in here.
   
   The book is written by the makers of Hibernate, and you can find an answer to pretty much every question you'll ever have explained in extreme detail, and in a very, very technical way.
   
   The book uses the Caveat Emptor application as a reference. You keep going back to that example, which you can download from the hibernate site. It is a very complete and intricately developed application that is a reference for how to develop enterprise ready applications that could be deployed to pretty much any mission critical environment.
   
   This book is amazing. Some reviewers have tried to use this as a Dummies book or How To book and have been frustrated, and have given this book poor reviews. That's not fair. Imagine trying to learn to swing a baseball (or cricket) bat by taking pitches from a major league pitcher. You wouldn't learn a thing, as every pitch zoomed by you at 100mph. This book is like the big league pitcher, helping you develop and design applications that are ready for the big leagues. When you understand that, you can understand why people who are new to the technology, and looking for very simple and straight forward examples, can get frustrated with this book and give it 1 or 2 stars. Really, those reviews are not fair.
   
   If you are new to hibernate, you should start of with something a like Hibernate Made Easy: Simplified Data Persistence with Hibernate and JPA (Java Persistence API) Annotations. If you are using mapping files, then Hibernate: A Developer's Notebook is the other book you should get.
   
   Overall, this is a five star book written by the people that know Hibernate the most. We're very luck to have a book like this to help guide us through the really, really, really tough stuff.

5 comments about Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms.

1. This book gives an introduction to a number of Internet-based tools and how they can be used by teachers. The focus tends to be on K-12, but the principles are applicable (generally) to other settings, including higher education.
   
   The author covers blogs, wikis, RSS, social bookmarking, Flickr, and podcasting. Some strengths of this book include:
   -Solid introduction to each tool for those not familiar
   -Simple "how to" to get started with each tool
   -Good pointers to resources, especially the free ones
   -Some commentary on the significance of these tools that goes beyond "gee whiz"
   
   Some weaknesses:
   -In spite of a focus on K-12, there was little discussion of how to use these tools to support specific educational standards. Granted, that's a huge task, but some examples would be nice. Then again, if you "get" the tools, that exercise is for the reader.
   -Huge emphasis on blogs, much shorter entry on podcasting. I can only guess that the author wrote about what he knew most about.
   
   The physical paperback itself is ok. Mine definitely shows the wear and tear of being carried around in my bag.
   
   Overall: if you're a teacher (or technology coordinator) and are a relative newcomer to these tools, this is a very good place to start.



2. This is a great book. I am thoroughly enjoying every page! It is giving me so much inspiration and instruction on how to use these tools. Great examples and resources too.



3. I started reading Will Richardson's book to educate myself about how teachers and instructors have been utilizing web tools into their curriculum. In October 2007, I attended the Computers in Libraries conference and participated in a workshop called "New Research Tools" where they discussed practical and successful cases of educators using various online tools, like Flickr, Clipmarks, or RSS readers.
   
   As a librarian, a 2nd year educator, and one who personally uses these different tools, I really am interested in incorporating these tools into the curriculum.
   
   During the course of reading this book, I have started reading Will Richardson's blog - Web-logged - as well as other educator and librarian blogs. This book has inspired me to try to incorporate the different tools that I enjoy using personally into the curriculum.
   
   Richardson's enthusiasm for these various web tools is conveyed through each chapter. He devotes chapters to each tool. For example, there is a chapter on Blogs, one on RSS and one on wikis. It is easily explained and whether you use these tools already or not, his writing is easily accessible. I have been promoting this book to my colleagues and have also pointed some of them to his blog.
   
   His chapter on Wikis has caused me to reassess my hesitance towards utilizing Wikipedia as a valid source of information. I am still skeptical but one should be skeptical when approaching print media as well.
   
   The chapters are short and easy to understand. He has an excellent list of resources and great examples of people who are already incorporating the read/write web into their classrooms. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in Web 2.0, education and technology.



4. Finally a book all about how to incorporate the newest in technology in the classroom. Combines info that's been floating around on the internet into a concise book and an easy read. Many great ideas.



5. I am an elementary school teacher who values technology integration in classrooms. Initially, the book begins slow with an overabundant amount of details about the simplicity of blogging. Some advice is given to lead novices in the right direction tailored to their blogging interests.
   
   An aside: As I was searching on the Internet for safe and secure blog sites for young students, I found this website: http://mhetherington.net/blogs/?p=8 which was created by a middle school teacher with similar interests in student technology involvement. It details steps that can lead any teacher into a free (yet time consuming) setup for students to use. (I used this website to create my own blog site for my 32 fourth grade students and it worked marvelously!)
   
   The author then introduced the power of wikis. I really appreciated the real-life accounts from actual educators who use wikis for group projects with students. I did feel a like the examples came mostly from secondary education and did not focus heavily on primary student possibilities with wikis. PB wiki (peanut butter wiki) for educators was explained and the book offered some great resources for teachers on a low budget with wiki interests.
   
   Next, RSS feeds were explained. Although much of the explanations of RSS feeds were still above my head in understanding, I learned a number of values in using RSS feeds with the Web. One of the examples used in the book was that one could subscribe to all RSS feeds in Cyberspace about a topic of interest. If a person is interested in "Global Warming in California," they can subscribe to any place on the Internet that may use those words as an update when stories or writing is produced and submitted on websites you may not know existed. RSS feeding is a promising method of allowing the computer to do the searching for you.
   
   During my reading of this book, I posted two blogs (on blogger.com) about my reflections. Within 3 days of my writing, the author of this book, Will Richardson, posted a comment on my blog thanking me for reading his book. My inferences told me he may have an RSS feed in Cyberspace that brings him news about whenever information is posted about himself or his book. I was impressed by his comment as this showed me he practiced what he preached in his book and really values the technology he promotes.
   
   By the end of the book, podcasting, screencasting, and videos were introduced as well. In all, the book catered more toward novices and technology learners, not experts. Experts may find this book a bit juvenile, while I enjoyed it for its practicality and rapid information. My favorite part of the book stands at the providing of websites and tools that can be searched just seconds after reading about them. I found that using this book as a user's manual was helpful for technology novices on the go.

5 comments about Creating Web Sites: The Missing Manual.

1. The book is clear, concise and comprehensive. It covers from how to get a domain name to how to accept credit card payments.I like the emphasis in formating using CSS instead html. This was a new concept for me. The author introduces java scripts and dynamic html. I missed a chapter about how to organize, and keep update the whole web site (sometimes with hundreds of web pages, pictures, icons, etc...). It was one of my first book about the topic and I really think that it's a powefull introductory book.



2. Some of the introductions are a little dated (i.e. jokes that reference beanie babies, etc.), but the other content of the book is still pretty current. This is a really helpful book for the beginning web designer. It is definitely a good reference to have, espically for design students. This book covers things that appear in the software Dreamweaver. It discusses codes for things such as CSS, HTML, etc.



3. I have been searching for a good, fairly insightful, starter book on what to do to set up a website, that wasn't too advanced or way to boring.
   
   This is it! The author knows his stuff, brings it into the learning forum in such a way that you are excited to read the next section and re-read for additional insights previously completed sections.
   
   I am going to use this book, and will probably buy more by the same author/publisher.



4. Now a days, creating a web site is more about design than development; resources exist on the internet where millions of web developers will share their ideas and creativity for free - but how does one access it and where are these resources located?? The Missing Manual Series, Creating Web Sites addresses these questions and more. This book is an excellent starter book for those who are just getting their feet wet in the world of web design, development and programming, but that's not to say that an expert wouldn't find this book a handy resource. Creating Web Sites also answers a lot of questions that I had about different aspects of web development. The section on e-commerce and the other web resources referenced within the book, points you to the right places in which to grab code, and get ideas to build great web sites. The Missing Manual series is one that I recommend to everyone (this is the 2nd book from the series I own) - all the books are very thorough, but easy to follow; if you're a novice this book should be required, if you're a pro this should be a handy resource to add to your library.



5. A great book for any novice trying to build a web site. The book is divided into clear sections each giving excellent advise and information. I recommend this to anyone starting a web site. If you are fortunate enough to have Dreamweaver software for web creating I also strongly recommend "Dreamweaver 8 - The Missing Manual.

5 comments about Building Scalable Web Sites: Building, scaling, and optimizing the next generation of web applications.

1. Very good material, specially in the current world where people think that their out-of-the box Java application servers will do the job of serving tons of pages a day.



2. Despite its small page count this book both covers the basics for building a web application (i.e. how to pick a hosting service) and advanced topics such as cutting edge techniques for scaling out. Great as an introduction to building web applications and as a reference.



3. This book is a very useful guide for the professional web developer whose goal is to produce larger database-driven web sites in a scalable, debuggable way. Topics such as how to handle more web requests than a single web or database server can handle are covered thoroughly, in the usual easy-to-follow style that all O'Reilly books seem to possess.
   The author has some good experience with scalable web apps, too, having been part of the development team for the Flickr web site. Think about what it must take to receive, store, and display all the pictures that Flickr has to offer nowadays. Many of the chapters contain some behind-the-scenes descriptions of how Flickr handled the given chapter's topic, which is very interesting to read. Web application development, really any large-scale web site development, is not simple - there are a lot of things to consider. This book can help you track the major details you should be thinking about for such a project, predict scalability issues that may arise, and design for maximum scalability and flexibility in the future.



4. The book introduces the tools, processes, and high level architectures used in building large websites like Flickr, Youtube, etc. It is short enough to give you the high level framework and send you to explore various other books, software tools, etc to get more depth as needed. I found it very valuable.



5. This is a practitioner's book. Very knowledgeable, very hands-on, systematic in an expert's way, through clearly hard-won experience. Fun and irreverent too. I recommend it highly.
   
   So, what's my beef? It's not with the book. Hercules, Atlas, or Odysseus?

5 comments about Creating Motion Graphics with After Effects: Essential and Advanced Techniques, 4th Edition.

1. Advanced After Effects Motion Graphics is for the editor with some AE miles under their belt. It is not really a beginner book, but does start you off slowly with great step by step instruction. However, you will eventually need this book but buy it together with the Meyers' After Effects Apprentice which starts you off in the AE wourld. Any of the Meyers books are just what you need to learn AE. Highly recommended!!



2. This is a great book. It has a little bit of beginner stuff (enough to get you started if you don't know AE) and then goes into intermediate and pro stuff.
   
   I would not consider this book to be only pro level techniques, but still full of good stuff. The content on the CD is really nice to add to the collection although some (well, all of the Artbeats stuff) is watermarked in the lower right corner. Most of the other footage is not.
   
   This book makes a nice companion to After Effects Cs3 Studio Techniques by Mark Christensen (another awesome AE book)
   
   --
   Kevin



3. Excellent and well supported work. Starts from the very basics and gets into the esoterics. I use this work as the primary resource for mastering After Effects.



4. Well, I finally finished the book. I guess I will join the many 5 star reviewers. After reading this book, I have a great foundation of all the features AE offers. I didn't want to do too much as far as working the tons of examples the book offers this go'round, I just wanted to learn the "language". Now I will go through the book again. This time tackling the projects along with my own ideas.
   
   I was a novice going in, and still am to an extent, but the Meyer's takes the intimidation out of you and teaches you principles where when you do speak to other seasoned artist you understand and can execute anything they do.



5. I used this book after finishing up with the Meyer's fantastic "After Effects Apprentice" book. This book, "Creating Motion Graphics with After Effects", was a great way to firm up what I had learned from other sources.
   
   Highly recommended!

5 comments about Designing for the Social Web (Voices That Matter).

1. I bought this book a few weeks ago and found it a great introduction to the concepts involved in designing social applications.



2. Many of the most amazing success stories on the web are social websites (youtube, myspace, facebook, flickr etc), yet books on this topic are hard to find. "Design for Community" by Derek Powazek is one rare exception, I consider it a masterpiece, but it was published in 2001 and it's out of print. Finally we've got some fresh, up to date material. Porter benefits from extensive, first-hand, experience in the field; he has a pragmatic, practical approach to problems, he deliver valuable advice without pretending to know "the ultimate truth" (like many authors do).



3. I used this book as one of three textbooks in a class I recently taught. This was one of two texts concentrating on social networking. (The other was Derek Powazek's "Design for Community".) The students enjoyed the easy style of the book and the case studies for what works and what does not. The book kicked off more than one interesting discussion on barriers to entry, what makes good design, and how to effectively incorporate social networking tools into a business or non-profit website.



4. I think its an excellent book
   Sadly I lost it after reading 1/4 of it
   He knows his subject Design for Social Web
   and it was very interesting what I read
   and there are good diagrams
   
   Judy



5. This book teaches you how to think about designing web interfaces for social websites or websites with social features. You will learn a bit about the psychology behind what works well, so you can incorporate the knowledge into your own design.
   
   The book explains how to prioritize features from the initial sign-up through active user participation on the social website. Many industry examples are given along with some of the reasons why each is successful or not.
   
   The book is about designing the user interface and the overall web site experience. It can and should be read by all team members on the web project including: graphic designers, information architects and developers.

5 comments about Special Edition Using Microsoft Expression Web 2 (Special Edition Using).

1. I bought this book to get a handle on the new features in the product. I found it to be an excellent guide. The instructions were very clear and didn't talk down to me. They also didn't flood me with "techie talk" that I don't understand. It was just a nice balance of both. Best of all, all of the examples work exactly as they are presented. I purchased the On Demand book too, and it didn't succeed in that regard.
   
   They say that this book is the only book you need on Expression Web 2. I agree. After reading this, I wish I had bought the first book by this author instead of the one I got a year ago. I highly recommend this book.



2. Beware if you are trying to learn Expression Web (EW). This book is not for you. This is for someone who has been doing web designing (or developing) for a long time using other tools. It is not for those who are just learning. He deals with all kinds of technical stuff right at the beginning and doesn't explain. He refuses to tell you WHY you might want to perform such and such a function he's only interested in telling you HOW. His examples will include making code changes to CSS sheets before he even discusses CSS sheets. He doesn't even discuss creating text on a web page until well after page 100.
   
   If you are looking to switch tools and use Expression Web, so you're already familiar with setting up a web page, or a web site, and using CSS, then this book might be good for you. But if you are looking to learn from the ground up, go somewhere else. He mentions himself in the book that this is a book to be used as a reference manual and not to be read sequentially. But to use it as a reference manual, you need to know enough to ask the right questions and then look up the answers. This book will do nothing to help you to ask the right questions.



3. This book is so disorganized that it is difficult even to review it. There is no logical progression. The book starts with how to publish a website which is the last thing you do in creating one. The rest of it is a series of loosely related topics. If you end up buying this book, I would suggest starting in the index because it is probably going to be your most direct way of finding what you are looking for.
   
   
   
   



4. This book is very well written and composed. The beginning of the book sums up the basics, letting you know what will be covered. From then on, each chapter is full of nearly all of the information you need in order to complete each individual task. The chapters are neat, organized, and very precise. Each chapter tells you what it is about, then tells you how to do it.
   
   I bought this book (Special Edition Using Microsoft Expression Web 2 (Special Edition Using)) the same day that I bought Microsoft Expression Web 2, and it helped me tremendously. (I bought the program -and- the book on Tuesday)
   
   If you are reading this and contemplating buying this book over any other, my vote is that you buy this book. Like I said, it is clear and direct, and explains everything you need to know. What little bit of information that isn't covered is some of the extremely basic concepts that a quick google search will resolve.
   
   Hopefully this review has been helpful...
   
   Again, 2 thumbs up to this book!
   
   -Randal



5. I bought this book even though I have the previous version so I could get right to work using Expression Web 2, learn it's new features and additional guidance on how to best use the program. I was very disappointed to find that this book is virtually identical to the first edition. No "what's new in the new version", no changes other than screen shots from the first edition. The author did a find and replace to change every "Expression Web" to "Expression Web 2", added a couple of paragraphs on importing Photoshop (PSD) files, a couple of pages on the PHP update and a couple of pages on the Silverlight & Flash support. Flipping through the book I see the new features marked by a "new" icon (I counted only 6 in the entire book). While these new features may have justified a new version of the program for Microsoft they are covered in minimum detail in this 800page book. Expression web being a fairly complex program could benefit from a book that offers practical advice on workflow and how to approach a web project using this program rather than just explaining the elements of each panel and menus as this book does. Expression Web needs better guide books if it wants to play a significant roll in the future of website development. The program is powerful enough, but the learning curve is as steep as Flash, Quark or Photoshop. This book does little to flatten that curve.

5 comments about Agile Software Development with SCRUM (Series in Agile Software Development).

1. I'm the resident 'Scrum Lord' at my company and I purchased this book early on in my 'Scrum' travels. It's been a handy quick read resource for our entire company. We bought a 1/2 dozen to pass around when we got new hires so they could read up a bit before they went to our in-house training in Scrum/Agile. For folks with just a little time, we suggested they read chapters 2 and 3 to get the gist of it. If they had more time...we suggested the read the whole book. Our in house training was inspired by some of the concepts used in this book. Its a great one! All of my 'loaner copies' are checked out somewhere here at work!



2. 
   This is the one book you buy everyone on your team and tell them to read as the first step to implementing scrum. It's well written, clear, and consise. Most people only need to read chapters 2-4, 5-7 are on control theory, etc that is interesting but not required.
   
   This is good stuff 'straight from the horses mouth'.



3. ASDS is a very good book, but only for the few who want to be Scrum experts. The material is thorough, and not necessarily easy to get through, in part because the Schwaber and Beedle walk through every part of Scrum in detail, as well as cover situations that likely don't apply to most, and they even go through philosophical views that some may care little about. To be sure, there are gems in the book, and I learned a few important points, but I have been to ScrumMaster certification training, read two other agile books, and been mentored by a CSM/PMP. I feel the book only moved me from 80% comfort level with Scrum to 85%. If you are a consultant managing projects, or you want to teach, coach or train in this area, read the book. If you a internal project manager,product manager, or IT manager, I recommend you get Agile and Iterative Development: A Manager's Guide (The Agile Software Development Series)and read the section on Scrum. It's simpler, cleaner, and the rest of the book gives good background to agile and options you may want to consider. If you are a team or development lead, or the senior developer, get Agile Project Management with Scrum (Microsoft Professional). It's an even easier read, focussed solely on Scrum and gives lots of enjoyable stories of real situations the author went through, good and bad.



4. This is a good book with lots of valuable information around the empirical nature of Scrum. For someone who was central to creating Scrum, the book doesn't offer much more.
   
   It's broken up into three parts: Overview of Scrum / Why it works / Case studies.
   
   The overview of Scrum is poor at best. There are much simpler ways to communicate it. If you don't know anything about Scrum then this book probably won't help get you started.
   
   The "Why it works" chapters were much more interesting and valuable. It takes you through the epirical nature of scrum and why previous methodologies have failed. The most interesting part is the brief exposition around the psychological, anthropological and systematical viewpoints around Scrum. Like much of the book, this could have been written better and with more indepth information, but still meets a basic need.
   
   The case studies and ancillary information in the last few chapters feel hasty and are of little value. Many of the examples (although based on actual events) feel contrived and are simplified so much that they aren't highly illuminating.
   
   Overall the book wasn't the greatest but it did provide me with some value. The editing is quite poor and there are numerous mistakes throughout. The general layout of the page is also problematic and makes it difficult to read.
   
   Most laughable however are the images and graphics. They look like they were made in MSPaint and screen capped into the book.



5. Little weird to review a book before actually reading it. My husband is learning English with it. I observed that it has an accessible language for those who are first exploring SCRUM.

5 comments about Professional SharePoint 2007 Development (Programmer to Programmer).

1. I always find WROX books are the best value for money. This book is no exception. The details this book provides is atypical and that is what I find very useful. Devil is in the details and we need that for programming.
   
   If you are interested in Solutions Development on SharePoint Platform, this book is a very good companion.



2. Working on a few projects I needed to find some good Sharepoint 2007 reference books. This book is excellent with the examples it provides and the way they authors explain it to you. Very easy to understand, clear and concise.
   
   I do however wish they had more real world examples like for example when working with events in sharepoint they would show you how to retrieve the id's from the list lookups when assigning to another list programmatically, or how to change the permission of a selected item for a selected specific group or person, or access active directory.
   
   Other than that, it is a good book that will help you get along your way.



3. I was given this book by one of the Author (John Holiday) during a training on Enterprise Content Management. I have collected quite a few books on SharePoint most proclaiming to be a developers guide but they have chapters after chapters devoted to configuring WWS 3.0 or MOSS. However, this book gives you a very good start and provides step by step guide on creating various solution.
   I would recommend this for all beginners and intermediate developers!!!



4. The book is good but the source code of Chapter 13 is missing.
   It's very frustrating to learn a new technology and see problems with the source code.
   Wish the authors can take time to check the source-code is uptodate before releasing a book, or at least put it for download after complaints.
   If the authors can update the source code, it will be great.
   Otherwise a good book.



5. Some of the chapters are totally beneficial while others offer very little and explain things poorly.
   
   I guess if it fits a need it;s worth it, but there was nothing in here you could not Google when needed. i guess it's supposed to take a programmer and show them how to program with SharePoint. if you have time to go page by page and are new to SharePoint you will get more out of it.
   I would stick with the Ted Pattison book persoanlly...

5 comments about World of Warcraft Programming: A Guide and Reference for Creating WoW Addons.

1. Full disclosure: I helped author Chapter 14, the chapter on AddOn Studio for World of Wacraft, but did not receive compensation for it.
   
   There's no question in my mind that this is the definitive book, dare I say the Bible on World of Warcraft programming. If you're a developer who is brand new to Lua, you'll find the first couple of chapters that introduce Lua coding structures a breeze to read, but you'll definitely appreciate the attention to detail for Lua's unique Table data structure which is heavily used in addons and can be confusing for Lua newbies.
   
   In addition to learning the fundamentals on Lua, you'll also learn how a Warcraft AddOn works (anatomy of an addon chapter), how FrameXML files work, and you'll also apply that knowledge to build a fully-functional custom unit frames addon from scratch.
   
   The build-from-scratch model is perfect for someone who want to know and understand everything involved in building a real-world addon.
   
   You'll find plenty of coverage on topics that you won't find anywhere else, like how to build custom graphics/textures, a topic that is either altogether ignored or barely represented online. If you're an experienced addon author, you'll also learn quite a bit from the coverage of best practices and advanced topics (state headers, secure frames, etc)
   
   Finally, the API documentation is *huge* and is arguably the most detailed API documentation every built for Warcraft.
   
   Bottom line: If you want to learn how to build a Warcraft AddOn, save yourself time, energy, and frustration, and buy this book.
   
   This book is *required reading* for contributors to AddOn Studio for World of Warcraft.
   
   Dan Fernandez
   Project Coordinator
   AddOn Studio for World of Warcraft



2. I'm a game designer who's currently just getting into Lua scripting, and of the 7 or so game dev books I've bought recently this book is EASILY the best. It's useful for ANYONE working on WoW Addons, and also a great buy for anyone learning Lua scripting.
   
   Unlike most of the game dev literature I've seen, this book totally avoids wasting paper on descriptive waffle that is obvious to anyone who plays games (and everyone who makes games does, or should).
   
   For beginners - The introduction to scripting in Lua is MUCH easier to digest than any of the Lua-specific tutorials online, or 'Programming in Lua'.
   
   For experienced scripters or mod-makers - There are over 600 pages on reference, so even if you've got nothing to learn technically, it's still a worthy buy.



3. Wow. Now this is a gem of a programming reference. The bar to writing tech references is really low these days, and as a result there are lots of tech books on the market that are really empty and only end up giving you one or two useful concepts.
   
   This is not one of those books.
   
   I just got my copy today, and my initial impression was how impressed I was by the thoroughness of it. This is a reference that will be of use for people of all skill and experience levels. The opening chapters provide a great introduction to Lua itself, then Lua in the context of WoW, and then hold your hand through creating your first addon, before diving into more complex concepts such as programmatic UI creation and state headers.
   
   I'm the author of a number of high-profile WoW addons, including Omen and Chatter, and I can honestly say that this is a book that I'll actually use - and I don't use many references. Gentle enough for the new programmer, but meaty enough for the experienced. This is one that will be of genuine use to anyone interested in modding WoW, or understanding the WoW mod UI system. This is a genuine, stick-it-on-your-desk, mark-it-up-and-dog-ear-the-pages reference that you'll use for as long as you're developing addons.
   
   Of note, this is actually a reference that may be of use to people embedding Lua in their own software projects. It dissects WoW's implementation of Lua, and how it ties into the user interface, and explains a lot of concepts that may be of use to people looking to use Lua in a non-WoW context. It's certainly not a reference on embedding Lua in your own application, but its explanation of WoW's implementation is a fantastic reference point.
   
   If you have any interest at all in addon development, get this book.



4. This book actually kept me up at night reading it. It was very informative, without being too bland. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn to program or is an expert programmer and doesn't want to dredge thru mpq's or multiple websites to create an addon; it's not only a good place to start but has everything you need to make your own WoW Addons afterwards.



5. Decent book, its not going to teach you to write an amazing addon such as Omen or Nurfed, but when looking at an addon's code you will have a good idea of what is happening.