5 comments about Wikipatterns.

1. The 4th time I read the book was actually today over the course of the last 45 minutes. I'm doing some research for a project I am on and I remembered something from WikiPatterns (the book and site) would help a lot.
   
   The book was written by Stewart Mader a Wiki Evangelist for Atlassian. Talk about combining a writing project with your hobby/job? Nicely done Stewart!
   
   The book itself is hailed as "a practical guide to improving productivity and collaboration in your organization" and anyone who has read it will surely agree it's that and a whole lot more. It covers a lot of the basic ideas behind what a Wiki is but it also gives some very practical and sound advice about how to start and grow a wiki! I'm a huge consumer of the [...] which the book has a lot of information found there but the book itself has become a reference manual for me in terms of the brilliant selection of case studies found in it - my favorite is the first one from Leap Frog. Each time I review that case study I am reenergized to continue my own quest for the ultimate "Inbox zero", the way that Leap Frog approached and has begun to utilize their wiki is nothing less of inspirational and is a driving force for me - work related I keep all papers, thoughts, ideas and such in my Wiki personal space and when I have flushed them out I make them public (still within my personal space) I've very rarely documents or such on my system unless I'm forced to, usually because the rest of the project members are simply not comfortable yet with a wiki environment!
   
   I have hope and will continue to help push the concept, armed with my wikipatterns!



2. If you are a manager, IT guru, HR thought leader or even CEO and want to know what a wiki is and how they can be used to increase collaboration and reduce inefficiencies in your organisation, this is the book for you.
   
   There are plenty of texts, magazine articles and web-sites that will show you different aspects of wikis. Many are based on the success and principles behind Wikipedia, but most lack a proper viewpoint for corporate wiki use. Using a wiki in a corporation is not the same as building a public encyclopedia. This book covers the similaries and the differences before diving into exactly how corporate wikis work, with plenty of case studies and Stewart's hand's on knowledge to back it up.
   
   Also included is the acknowledgement that a wiki is as much a social implementation as it is a technical one and the benefits it brings to collaboration are far beyond it's use as a simple content management system.
   
   The author has done a reasonable job generalising the techniques and advice away from the Atlassian Confluence software he is used to championing, which makes it a good resource no matter what technology your choose. However if I have a complaint, it would simply be as a Confluence user myself, being left a little hungry for how some of the techniques are actually applied in the real world.
   
   Highly recommended.



3. I wish I hadn't bought this on Amazon. My recommendation: take five minutes to flip through this book in a Borders or Barnes & Noble. That's all you'll need.



4. I'm disappointed. This book lacked the substance and depth that I expected. I was very excited to receive it, as I've been looking for a good book that details the hows and whys of the wiki, but I looked through it once and haven't picked it up since. Its geared toward business use and the different kinds of users one will encounter when trying to set up an internal business wiki, but it doesn't get as much into the hows as would like, beyond surface ideas of how to encourage participation.
   
   A much more challenging book would be a discussion of those things in regard to public wikis -- it's a very different scenario when someone at work has to use the company wiki, versus an internet user who does so for pleasure or fun.
   
   Also, the production run is shoddy -- the paper inside the book is very thin, the print half-tones are extremely rough and the cover is of poor quality.



5. I thought this was a great book for understanding the power of Web 2.0 and use of Wiki's

5 comments about Programming PHP.

1. I really liked this book. I'ts easy to understand, and it covers the basics. Just as a warning, this book is focused in people that already have som basic knowledrge of programing and HML.



2. I read through this in a couple evenings. It highlighted some PHP functions which I should be using to streamline my code. It also overviews available PHP extensions such as database interfaces and PDF and graphics libraries. Nice to have a summary all in one place and right at hand.



3. O'Reily books have the same pattern. They take content that should have been one book for maybe $100, and divide it out into 3 or more books adding up to a heftier profit. This book a nice quick reference, but doesn't cover the language in it's entirety (or close enough to from my experience with other books) or provide any actual examples, rather brief one line syntax examples. I've programed C++, JavaScript, Perl, PHP, and SQL while attending a state university for a degree in computer science. While examples can be redundant because concepts of programming are understood, a decent example is truly the best way to observe case implications of syntax. For example, when the book talks about constants and the define("name",value) function, it fails to mention when used in a string and output, the constant is not interpolated (the user sees COUNT, instead of say 3). In my experience I've run into a dozen of these situations I wish the book would have at least mentioned. This is important to know, and more important to know how to work around and do what you want. It's these details that make a solid programming manual, which this book claims to be. It is truly and introduction and quick reference. If you are not already an experienced PHP programmer, and you are going to deal with PHP at least somewhat in depth, you are better off looking elsewhere.



4. I bought this book after learning some Javascript and ColdFusion, thiking it would have some of the same concepts as most other scripting languages. Well PHP has some other features like the direction arrows, etc. This book didnt explain all the features of PHP very well to which I couldnt really understand what was going on, and I can understand most Javascript applications. I had to buy another bookto explain all of the basics better, and then I went back to this book and it was a great book after that! But if you are just starting PHP or scripting, I reccommend getting another book before buying this book.



5. Don't get me wrong, the book is okay. But I feel O'Reilly simply slung out a new version of the book for PHP 5, without really updating the content to reflect PHP 5's enhancements. Especially the chapter covering OOP development with PHP 5. The content in that chapter is pure PHP 4. Not cool.

5 comments about MCPD Self-Paced Training Kit (Exams 70-536, 70-528, 70-547): Microsoft .NET Framework Web Developer Core Requirements.

1. Unfortunately, there really isn't much material out there that covers the MCPD certifications. In fact, based on my brief search, this was the only book that covered it. So it was either get this book or just go off the list of material posted on the Microsoft website. The book does provide three 15% off vouchers and a program of test questions. And for that, it gets the +2 stars.
   
   After that, the material is pretty weak. It's written as-is (kinda ben stein-ish) and the code is confusing to read. I often times have to look at the MSDN equivalent material to get a better understanding of what the author was really trying to say and/or code. But again, what are you going to do? The list that microsoft presents on their certifications page is too vague, you need direction.
   
   You're going to definately need more material to look through outside of what's in the book, but it's a good place to build from. So far I have just taken 1 out of the 3 tests, but I passed on my first time. If you were to use the book as a guide, shouldn't be a problem to do the same.



2. Very helpful for taking Microsoft exam. I have passed successfully due to these books. But experience is still necessary.



3. I'm currently studying to get my certified professional developer degree. Its a good deal and it comes with everything i need for the web developer certification.



4. Hey, you may not be going to go take the tests, but at the least find some time (if you can) and read these books.
   
   I am currently trying to find time to get through these books. While I know a fairly good amount of concepts, I want to be polished and complete to make my job much easier and increase my free time at home because of that. That leads to why you would want to read these books.
   
   These books explain things in a very straight forward manor. They at least in my opinion, side-step any jibberish and tell you the basic "why" for a lot of things. I feel that the author did a pretty decent job covering the subject in each book.
   
   Also, if you notice that most programming books typically use a smaller font, or just so much information or so much bold or what not, that your mind is just trying to process the formatting of one page. What I like about this book is Space. There is larger text and space. Makes you really focus in and read carefully page by page.
   
   Anyway, definitely decent books in my opinion here.



5. I am an experienced developer, and used this set to pass the MCPD Web. It should be all anyone really needs.
   
   Everyone is different, by my recommendation is to use the books only for reference. Take the tests on the disk. Then for the questions you get wrong or find yourself guessing - look up the topic. Study for your weaknesses, otherwise anyone with experience working with this stuff is going to be rehashing everything they already know.
   
   I read people complain about how the books don't cover everything, and am at a loss to know what they could be talking about. If you know everything contained in the books or even possess about 85% of that knowledge, then there really is no way you can fail the tests.

5 comments about Photoshop CS / CS2 Wow! Book, The, 1/e (WOW!).

1. This is your Photoshop Bible that you should keep with you at all times! I just hate that I paid $65 for it at Borders, when I could have gotten it here for MUCH less!



2. Let me begin by saying that this book is BIG, slightly bigger than a hard backed dictionary or textbook. If you plan on carrying this around in a backpack or ferrying it between school/work and home, don't.
   
   This book has a humongous, colorful wealth of information. I guarantee that this book will show you how to do ANYTHING you could possibly want to do in Photoshop. Whether you plan on reading it straight through or using it as a reference book (I recommend the latter), you will appreciate the collection of tips and tricks this book has to offer.
   
   Covering everything from picture touchups to full fledged graphic design, this book is artfully written and painstakingly thorough in its design. With pictures demonstrating everything, along with the helpful and easy to follow text, this book is great for those wanting to really get into Photoshop. If you're a graphic artist or have a job that requires the use of Photoshop, this book will expand your knowledge and understanding of Photoshop. Whether you're new to photoshop or a professional, this book is definitely a wise investment to help further your Photoshop skills.



3. This book is to me the bible of Photoshop. It's so thorough and thick, and it's large number of illustrations, screen shots, and photos make it work whether I am carefully following a book example on my computer, or sitting and reading without the computer.



4. This is another in the WOW series and even though it's for the last interation of photoshop (CS2) there is a wealth if info here. It's all in color, clearly explained. It gives you an overview of how much you can do in this amazing program and helps you develop the chops to put it to use. Nicewly structured so you can pick and choose what you need at the time if you don't want to read it cover to cover. You won't need every technique here but it gives you the tool to apply in other ways for whatever you want to do. One of the easily accessible and useful books on the subject.



5. If you need help, this is where you'll find it.
   The CD that comes with it is a lot of help too.
   Worth the price.

4 comments about Beginning XNA 2.0 Game Programming: From Novice to Professional (Expert's Voice in Game Programming).

1. I recently picked up this book and it's great !!...it's clear, and it's perfect for those people who want to understand the XNA bases, but at the same time, start to create by themselfs.
   Even if you aren't a programmer, this book will guide you step by step trough all the process, from a basic game to a complex character animation.
   In short, this book is an excellent starting point for people who want to learn XNA and get involved in the videogames world.



2. well,this book is not for just anyone, i guess it will only help those that are half way there. i was lost in the first step. coz all they want you to do is copy the codes and run then and then make you think that you did it.i recomend this book for anyone who alread knows what they are doing.



3. First off, I will say that of the 4 XNA books I own, this one is easily of the best quality. It covers a substantial amount of material but manages to maintain only a small code-base, which is excellent for learning purposes and maintenance.
   
   If you are looking to not only understand 2D and 3D games, but also Live integration, networking, scene management, audio processing and overall project management, it's in here. Really. Some of it is slipped in so subtly that you won't notice you learned it until after the fact. Kudos to the authors.
   
   If you don't know C#, I would highly recommend you go learn a bit about it (particularly in ASP .NET 2.0 or higher, due to the use of generics.) If you don't know the language this uses, you will indeed be lost. Otherwise this is an excellent introduction to the topic, and building your own network-enabled 2D game or your own 3rd-person, Gears of War-style shooter is quite empowering.
   
   Face it, game development is a difficult task that encompasses many areas of required expertise. You can't get a book to help you much more than this one does.



4. You should understand C# code before diving into this book. I tried online tutorials and nothing comes close to just reading and using this book! Although there were a few places where I had to use an online resource to figure out exactly what the author was talking about, it still supasses any other online XNA intro.

2 comments about Adobe ColdFusion 8 Web Application Construction Kit, Volume 2: Application Development.

1. This book is well written. I've been working with CF more and more over the last 4 or 5 years and I've been buying this family of books since version 6. As with earlier versions, this family of books for CF 8 has definitely helped me get started with new features and I regularly consult them for ideas as I need to integrate new features into various ongoing projects and existing applications.
   
   This book does a good job of introducing concepts related to the new display management tags (cflayout, cflayoutarea, cfpod, etc.) and the new image handling tags. It stays within the scope of what the majority of advanced level CF developers need to know when leaping from CFMX7 to CF8.
   
   I do wish that the book approached AJAX development by threading the examples together in a "build this small application" style format rather than the way they're laid out now which is "here is a random example of how to use cfmenu, cfajaxproxy, etc.". It is only fair to mention that the Getting Started edition for CF8 does employ that format when teaching AJAX Auto-Suggest and basic Grid Design using the familar Orange Whip Studios web application. I have not yet bought my copy of Volume 3 so maybe it will go a bit more in depth on some of the database related AJAX topics - we'll see. All in all, this is another great book!



2. I have almost every book that Ben Forta has written on ColdFusion and have been a big fan of his teaching and writing style but this book is a big disappointment to me.
   
   Firstly, I did not purchase volume 1 since I already have a basic working knowledge CF thanks to his previous books and at the current prices didn't think I needed a reprise. Vol 2 appeared to cover the new CF8 features but it appparently is not a stand-alone version since there were no instructions as to where to obtain and install the sample code and tutorials used in the book. I finally found the link on the back cover, visited the Forta/book site and accessed the forum. I found the supporting files to Vol 2, downloaded and installed them, then discovered that I apparently needed databases and files included in previous books. Not only that, but to "reduce the price" of the book, half the chapters are online.
   
   Chapt 29 spent a great deal of Page space (which seems to be at a premium) expounding on the need to create a good user experience (navigation techniques, fast downloads, etc) - this book was supposed to be on CF8, not best practices in website design. I would have preferred he used the valuable page space for CF8 features and techniques.
   
   I still haven't located what appear to be missing files in a missing directory called "imageserver", (which displays a "page not found" message when trying to view the example code files in Chapter 33) even after spending some frustrating time surfing the online forum.
   
   I expected a book devoted to the new and upgraded CF8 features and not revisiting previous code examples (like Next N) unless the new features impact the former way of doing things, which are covered in a previous Forta books like: Macromedia ColdFusion MX 7 Web Application Construction Kit and Advanced Macromedia ColdFusion MX Application Development (3rd Edition).
   
   I paid almost $50 for one volume of a 3 volume book which is mostly a rewrite of the previous content and half of that is only available on line. I would rather have paid a bit more for new valuable content on the changes in CF8.
   
   When I purchase a book, I expect a book that I can read sitting in a chair - not sitting at a computer reading a pdf file or printing it out on a ream of paper!
   
   Forta's other books are great but this book is not worth the price.

5 comments about Flash CS3: The Missing Manual.

1. Let's face it - no single book is going to tell you everything you might ever need to know about Flash but I'd say this is pretty much a perfect first book for anybody trying to get to grips with this software package.
   
   It's written in a very clear, accessible style - not at all the dry-as-dust style that blights so many of these technical books - but it's surprisingly comprehensive.
   
   I only started using Flash within the last month but this book got me off to a flying start.
   
   If you want to get into the inner workings of ActionScript 3.0 then you'll need a separate book for that. For everything else, this is the place to start.
   
   Highly recommended.



2. Generally you can count on "The Missing Manual" to provide what you need to learn a software package quickly. In this case, however, I didn't get anything I needed, and a lot I didn't need.
   
   I already own FlashCS3 Professional Advanced, the Visual Quickpro Guide, and am very happy with it. As a reference book, it's well-organized and thorough, aimed as much at the Interactive Designer as the Animator. But what it lacks are tutorials that can get me up to speed quickly on new features and shifting paradigms, in an application that has changed radically since moving from Macromedia to Adobe.
   
   Having been very happy with the great tutorials in the Dreamweaver CS3 Missing Manual, I went ahead and purchased the Flash volume.
   
   I should have looked more closely before I bought, instead of relying on my experience of The Missing Manual series. There is not a single tutorial in this book! It is far less thorough and sophisticated than the Dreamweaver volume, with most of the pages being devoted to very basic step-by-steps, mostly on drawing and animating tools. Less than 100 pages on adding interactivity, and not even a single chapter devoted to learning and using Action Script. Finally, there are 60-some pages on testing, debugging and publishing, which might be of limited value to me.
   
   If you're looking for a book that will quickly get you up to pro speed on a pro application, I'd say that -- unlike the Dreamweaver CS3 Missing Manual -- this ain't it.



3. The biggest upgrade in CS3 is the incorporation of Actionscript 3. It is beyond me why this book focus so heavily on Actionscript 2.
   
   This is a good guide for beginning to learn Flash, but beginners should also learn to use the latest most flexible tools available. There's basic material on the timeline, drawing, creating symbols etc. These are all things Flash developers need to know.
   
   There's not a lot of advanced stuff here. A tiny bit on video and audio and nothing on using XML with flash. Again, a good beginner's book as long as that beginner isn't going to be doing too much Actionscript programming.



4. This book is geared towards those who have never used Flash. If you are familiar with any other version of Flash, this manual will just tell you what you already know. This manual doesn't go into AS3 or anything complicated. As a 5-year Flash veteran. this manual wasn't really what I needed, but great for an intro-level designer!!!



5. I bought this book because I liked Dreamweaver CS3 the Missing Manual and thought this would be similar in terms of the way the topic was thoughtfully covered.
   
   The first section on learning the application with regards to drawing and animation were fine. Organizing the storyboard, utilizing the various tools etc. were good and I was able to essentially create what I needed.
   
   Now comes the real problem with this book. CS3 incorporates actionscript 3 as well as 1 and 2. Actionscript 1.0 and 2.0 are going to be around for awhile but as the world turns and so do they days of our lives - actionscript 3.0 is going to gain traction since there are things you can't do in the earlier versions and 3 is going to be more compatible with newer apps like Flex. We'll be moving toward version 3 more and more.
   Chapter 9 deals with interactivity and scripting. Unfortunately they don't remind you that you should have openned your document as a actionscript 1.0-2.0 document and all of the scripting that's being done after chapter 9 is in 2.0 only.
   The very beginning of the book does have you open a new doc as actionscript 2, but they don't mention that they'll be scripting ONLY in that version later on. If you skip around, you'll miss that point entirely and waste a lot of time following directions that won't function.
   
   If you're going to use Flash CS3 and take advantage of all of its features, you'll have to script in 3.0 anyways. At least it makes more sense to head in that direction. This book seems to have had a good start, but almost seemed rushed to complete based on the authors choice to omit the basics of actionscript 3.
   
   A better book is "Flash CS3 Professional Visual Quickstart Guide". All scripting is done in Actionscript 3.0 and they tell you so much as I mentioned that, that version is going to become standard and 1 and 2 will eventually be out.
   
   If you need more information on actionscript you'll need another book. If you want to create buttons in Flash you'll have to use actionscript so you'll need another book which there are a lot of.
   
   The best one that bridges the gap for a beginner is "Learning Actionscript 3.0" Blue cover - Shupe, Rosser.
   Great book and I use it exclusively along with the Visual Quickstart Flash CS3 book to clear the confussion.

5 comments about Beginning CSS Web Development: From Novice to Professional.

1. Beginning CSS Web Development is a great resource for beginners. As long as you already have some HTML knowledge you will easily pick up on CSS concepts. This book is well written, full of examples and outside resources that will keep you busy for days. Before I got this book CSS had always seemed this mysterious complicated code that would take years to learn and I really didn't want to be bothered. This book proved the opposite, CSS is simple and can make your design much more flexible and elegant, your HTML code will look cleaner and organized. It is a lot easier to work with style sheets than HTML alone. I am confident that this book has covered all the basics of CSS. Definitely a book to have at hand.



2. This book is incomplete! Subjects to quickly covered and many errors between printed copy and downloaded lessons.
   
   Chapter 16 was hurried and confusing and again incomplete.
   
   After saying this I did learn the gist of CSS so not a total loss!
   
   Author knew his stuff - he just seemed to hurry through this book and did not do the job I felt he knew how to do.



3. If you are just starting out and are looking for direction in web design, buy this book. Even if you already have your feet wet in Web design this book may help you out. Simon Collison did a great job writting on the topic of CSS stylesheets and web design. Its not a lecture book, its a hands on instruction manual that progressively gets you used to working with CSS. It shows you the do's and the donts and Simon is very motivated to keep your attention.
   
   I went through this book a chapter at a time. I kept record of each chapter and worked through all the examples. I learned how to properly format my XHTML and CSS. Did i mention i don't have any real experience in web design. As a beginner it is very difficult to find a book that will give you examples and teach you how to do things. You usually either get a book thats nothing but a lecture on the topic with a miss leading title that says for beginners, or you get a 800 page manual thats more or less like a dictionary, last you may get a quick project that leaves you with no knowledge of the subject but you sure can make a great steriotipical format of a web page.
   
   The book clearly avoids the common door stopper and quick start book. Its not to lengthy and it does a great job implimenting theory behind the code. Simon shows you formats to properly use when developing CSS style sheets, so that your pages look clean and are easily accessible when it comes to trouble shooting or making changes.
   
   
   Simon Collison also keeps a light base of humor throughout to keep you interested but it isn't overdone to where it just gets in the way of your reading. The book is finished with a Case Study where Simon has you make a page using all the techniques you have learned previously throughout the book. My only con is that there are a few things at the end in the case study that Simon has you do that arn't previosly covered. You may not even notice. (But if you are making a page alligned in the center don't forget to have your containing div's left and right margin be set to auto.)
   But, you have to consider the length of the book and the fact that its intended for beginners, you can't include everything or you start to get to lengthy, which i wouldn't have necesarily minded. I'm sure they probably left some stuff out also because, ...they want you to buy the next book in line.
   
   So in conclusion I recomend this book. Even if you don't want to learn the art of CSS and are a dairy cow farmer that dosn't speek english, i still recomend this book!



4. I bought this book a year ago to get me started in writing CSS web pages. This was just the book I needed to get me started. It is reasonable simple to following along with and experiment with the examples. The outcome of my trek through this book is my personal home page (http://www.intergate.com/~waltwilliams/) which is now so much more presentable and professional looking. I have actually had people ask who I hired to create it. I would recommend this book to anyone who wishes to learn CSS.



5. What a great book. I just could not put this down and read the whole book in 1 day. As a asp.net coder, Css is the last thing I needed to learn to make great looking websites.
   Simon explans things clear and complete. I was always a but lost with id and class and what one I should be useing. The way it was expland left me with no questions. I fell CSS is something that you look up when you need to get a result. This book is well layed out to find things fast.
   The only thing I fault is that it would be great if the samples were in colour. A must have for beginners to pro.

5 comments about Mastering CSS with Dreamweaver CS3 (Voices That Matter).

1. I highly recommend this book!
   
   I've been a GoLive user since the early days, I think version 2 or 3. I've also owned and upgraded Dreamweaver since version 3. I've attempted to master DW countless times over the years. It is a different program from GoLive. On top of the difference between the two programs, those of us who operate from the right brain have additional challenges when it comes to code.
   
   I've got quite a large collection of Dreamweaver books. This is the first one that has actually gripped me and started to make sense of it all. I love the learning style, not to mention the layout and design is appealing. Lots of white space. This not only helps me stay focused but allows room for notes.
   
   I'm not saying the challenge is over. I'm still facing a challenge with advanced or complex divs. But this book is making sense of it. I particularly like the way concepts are broken down and explained. I also find the insight on learning The Natural Flow of the Document to be helpful.
   
   Greg Rewis and Stephanie Sullivan both have a love and appreciation for GoLive, which I think helps break down the communication barrier than we GoLive users often seem to face with Dreamweaver users. Matter of fact, Stephanie started with GoLive and Greg was one of the founders of it.
   
   I've been in touch with Stephanie by email as I've had a couple of roadblocks I needed to overcome. Stephanie has been very responsive, friendly, and helpful.
   
   I'm still working my way through the book, but I can say already that it is worth the investment for me.



2. The book begins with some background information on the (X)HTML Document, CSS and the concept of laying out HTML pages with CSS. Three of the seven chapters give a step-by-step examples (with downloadable sample files) for a Fixed Layout, Liquid Layout, and Elastic Layout Web sites. In Chapter 4, the authors demonstrates how to use Dreamweaver CS3 to migrate a Table-based Layout to CSS Layout. In Chapter 6, Stephanie and Greg show how to build a Gallery Site with CSS and Spry.
   
   The book has a very pleasant style and layout with color images and side notes. Even with its technical context, the examples were very easy to read and follow, even if you're not doing the examples online. Stephanie and Greg also presented a few great tips and tricks for using Dreamweaver CS3 and CSS, eg, the faux column technique which gives the illusion of two equal height columns.
   
   I've been a Dreamweaver user for a few years. Late last year I learned about Dreamweaver CS3 (through Adobe's eSeminar series) and learned CSS from another great book by O'Reilly called "Learning Web Design ". It was a good, but rough, background to start designing websites with Dreamweaver CS3 and CSS. I've been waiting for this book for a long time. I read three chapters in the first week and was able to learn a lot of new techniques and tips I already used on my next design project.
   
   However, a few things can be added to this book to make it even better. Definition and explanation of CSS best practices and Web standards would be helpful, specially in understanding some design decisions in the examples. Also, Dreamweaver CS3 has many many choices for HTML layout. This book only covers three of them. It would be useful to give an overview of these layout and some pros and cons of each to help in deciding on the layout when working on a project. Another useful information to include in this book would be a Resources and References section.
   
   Overall, this is a great book for anyone serious about designing professional websites with Dreamweaver CS3 and CSS.



3. I couldn't wait to get this book and it exceeded all my expectations. The authors take you through the basics of CSS and then it's on to the fun part of what you can really do with the knowledge you've just learned.
   
   Since I use Dreamweaver CS3, this book really helped me integrate the intricacies of that program with the power of CSS.
   
   I've had a peek at Dreamweaver CS4 beta and this is the way that the web is going, so by getting the understanding of CSS from this book, all of these skills will be transferable to the new program and to building beautiful web pages.
   
   Thank you Stephanie and Greg!
   
   Mastering CSS with Dreamweaver CS3 (Voices That Matter)



4. Dreamweaver is the software that eases the construction of websites by providing for "what you see is what you get (almost)" construction. CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) is a web building tool for separating content and format in web site design, making the updating of sites easier and taking up less memory space on the host computer.
   
   This book attempts to teach the reader how use Dreamweaver to create sites that use CSS. After a chapter laying out the fundamental rules for CSS, the authors provide a number of tutorials including building a new style sheet (the repository of the CSS rules), migrating a table-based layout to CSS, using liquid and then elastic CSS layouts, and finishing using a combination of Dreamweaver and Spry, another web design tool, to create a site.
   
   The book says it's aimed at the Intermediate/Advanced level and based on my experience, I guess that I'm at the Beginner level. I've constructed table-based websites with Dreamweaver that work well and look good. I understand the fundamentals of CSS. But this book left me in the dust. In the first tutorial, the authors took me step by step through the process of using Dreamweaver, telling me exactly which menus to use and which submenus to fill in, and though I had to refresh my memory from time to time by looking at (X)HTML and CSS texts, I was able to complete the tutorial. But as the authors moved to later chapters, the instructions on using Dreamweaver became less and less specific, so that by the half-way mark, the reader was being told what code was desired without any handholding through the menus. For an occasional user like myself, it was just too much and I soon found myself flipping back and forth, and using menus even though I had no idea why I was making the selection. My problems were compounded by the fact that these are long tutorials, and I sometimes had to look back hundreds of steps to find a place where I had made an error that had an effect on the present step.
   
   I don't want to suggest that I got nothing from the book. I got enough from the first tutorial and the early sections of subsequent tutorials to edit my main site to incorporate some CSS rules. I'm not certain it was worth the effort for me. I've spent months working my way through this book.
   
   If you are experienced with coding and understand CSS and all of Dreamweaver's menus, and you want to use Dreamweaver to speed up the construction of CSS, this book may be just for you. For the less experienced user like me, a beginner's guide to CSS and Dreamweaver is needed.



5. This is by far the best CSS & Dreamweaver book that I have ever read. I am an advanced user, very comfortable with CSS code and the Dreamweaver interface, but I still learned so many great tips and techniques.
   
   Where this book shines is in teaching someone how to build standards compliant, accessible, search engine optimized, visually appealing, and cleanly coded websites using the Dreamweaver interface. I am not aware of any other book on the market that does that. Other Dreamweaver books seem to focus solely on the features of Dreamweaver without regards to standards, work flow, or the kind of code that the Dreamweaver will create if left to its own devices. It does not make sense, in my mind, to learn the product in a way that can't be used in the real world. Any reputable web designer uses the techniques discussed in this book, not all the built in options that make learning web design easy.
   
   In regards to work flow, this book takes a case study approach. Each chapter is a project with a comp and an end goal. The reader gets to walk through all the pitfalls and browser issues that they would normally see when coding up their own sites. I think this makes the techniques easier to learn and makes the book an enjoyable read.
   
   This book is not for beginners, if you aren't fairly comfortable with HTML and CSS, I would recommend Head First HTML, XHTML, and CSS. For advanced users, this book is really a fantastic teaching tool and reference.

5 comments about Enterprise JavaBeans 3.0 (5th Edition).

1. I have been building J2EE based applications for about five years now and this book has given me exactly what I needed to move to the new version of the specification. I'm using it as a study guide for the Sun Certified Business Component Developer certification exam.
   
   Fun to read with great working examples included with the Jboss Workbook at the end.



2. I found this book very helpful getting me up to date with the latest version of EJB. I had used EJB 2.1 before, but this book is good even for complete beginners. The first couple hundred pages are about the new Java Persistence Architecture. The last couple hundred pages are on using EJB 3.0 in JBoss AS. The middle of the book covers the rest of EJB 3.0. I still reference this book from time to time when working with JPA and complex relationships. I highly recommend this book.



3. I recommend this book. The book cover almost topics in EJB 3.0 and you can depend it for preparing the SCBCD 5. The author explain and describe the topics in easy way.
   
   The problem of this book have more error in code I escalation it for author. cause the book have his name not auditor name.
   
   I will give this book three stars for losing the quality.



4. To be brief, this is a great book, but you will almost certainly want the newest edition of it.



5. This is a great introduction to EJBs in general, and now EJB3. (the JSR 220 standard) Just like EJBs are now easier to develop with version 3, so is it easy to read and study this book. I hold O'Reilly in a high regard, (doesn't mean I'm a fan boy though, they do have their share of bad apples) and their high standards show in the quality of writing in this book. You will be happy with your purchase.