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 Mastering Regular Expressions.

1. Before reading this book, I would have considered myself an intermediate regexer. After the first 2 chapters, I realized how novice I really was. Having only made it through 5 chapters of this book, I can't say enough about it. The detail and step-by-step analysis that Mr. Friedl takes to describe the regex matching process is the best I've ever seen. It's little things that make the analysis easy to follow -- like the brackets he uses to mark the regex, and the small triangle cursor to show where the engine is in the matching process. I continue to look forward to each new chapter. Thank you for a wonderful work of art.



2. I have been in computer software developer over 7 years now and never really used regular expression until a year ago. True, you can live without it. But, with regular expression at hand, you climb up another level of programming. Code will be much concise and code research will be like a breeze.
   
   Anyway, I didn't read this book entirely since later chapters explain intricacies and subtle differences of each specific language, e.g., java, perl, php, etc. It didn't take long to apply the knowledge I gained to real work and benefit. By the time I completed the first chapter, I already started to get rewards. My life is a lot easier now.
   
   Even with only the first 3 chapters, this book is well worth its price. The author did superb job explaining what's going on behind the scene and guide you through the right way of constructing regular expressions for various situations. Of course, he will show you common pitfalls to avoid, too. Very detailed and comprehensive.
   
   Highly recommended.



3. This book is seriously worth the money. I knew just enough regular expressions to get by, then I started reading this book and it has paid off already; saving me time on several long, arduous tasks.
   
   The book is really well written, very interactive w/ quick, quizzing questions mixed throughout the chapters. The authors writing style is very effective and surprisingly entertaining.
   
   If you don't know much about regular expressions or even if you think you do, purchase this book. It will be well worth it.



4. An incredible book. Absolutely incredible. It will take 200 lines of your code and reduce it to 1 or 2 lines. It will open your mind to search and replace possibilities. Your life will change (just kidding). It's a great deep book.
   
   However, I agree with the comment that one should not begin learning regex with this book. it's a little too advanced. Go on the internet, get an introduction. Or else, buy one of the introductory books on the subject first. But definitely get around to buying this book!



5. How deep down the rabbit hole do you really NEED to go? I had a serious need to get on top of regular expressions to solve one particular problem. I looked at several online tutorials which didn't take me where I needed to go, so I ordered Mastering Regular Expressions after reading the Amazon reviews. I always look at the negative reviews first. In spite of the negative reviews I ordered the book with an open mind.
   When the book arrived I began reading it with enthusiasm. In the preface there is a small section on "How to Read This Book". I bought into the author's suggestion to read the book's first six chapters first. I was captivated through the first three chapters, and then somewhere in chapter 4 I began to get very weary with information overload. After putting the book down for a couple of days I decided to skip the rest and use what I needed to write the one regular expression I had need of. The book did successfully help me accomplish this, so I gave it 3 stars. Not only did it give me the information I needed that the online tutorials didn't, it also gave me the confidence I needed. For that, which I am grateful, I would have liked to have given it more stars. I think many of those in need of learning about regular expression could be well served by a "lite-edition" of this book. Perhaps someday when I have the time and the need I may try to wade through the rest of the book, but as it is now Mastering Regular Expressions took me far farther down the rabbit hole than I really needed or wanted to go.
   If you need to get on top of Regular Expressions, I would recommend this book, however just be ready to be taken far deeper than the average coder probably needs to go.

5 comments about Security Engineering: A Guide to Building Dependable Distributed Systems.

1. This book is a must own and a must read. Ross Anderson may tweak people's noses on occassion...but usually because they need tweaking. Get this book now. Really.



2. This is certainly a good book for getting introduced to most high-level architectural concepts related to Network security, cryptography, mandatory/multi-level access control etc. From a application development perspective, this book falls short on how to build architecure, design and implement them into your business applications which ultimately meets the end-user. The author justifies the high-level concepts well enough from a generalist perspective, but the industry-standards from OASIS leans towards standards-based application security protocols..which pushes a developer/architect like me to take those suggestions first and how to apply them in real world. The book also does'nt address on how-to build security for emerging application architectures based on Service-oriented architecture (SOA), Identity Management, Net-centric Federated applications. As a developer/architect using Java or Microsoft .NET or open-source based distributed applications, I need guidance on how to implement the recommended concepts (in the book) for example using biometrics or smartcards for building multi-factor access control at my application-level...unfortunately I don't find any answers for real-world implementation.



3. The book is interesting but it's starting to show signs of it's age. I think the last revision of it was 2001, so the examples are good, yet aged. It would be great if they updated it. Still a useful and good book though.



4. The title is maybe misleading. It is not really a guide that will show you a procedure step by step 'how to do' to build secure systems as most engineering books do. It is rather a survey of the different security protocols used in various fields. Of course, you can learn from the success and errors described in the book and use this knowledge for developing a new system but you will have to connect the dots yourself.
   
   The book is very dense in information and at first, its format was making it tedious for me to read. It did take around 3 chapters before I get accustomed to the format. Once, this aspect was out of the way, this book became amazingly interesting. It describes systems used in banking, by diplomats, military, for nuclear weapons, police, set-up box TV decoders smart cards and anti tampering devices in general, spies, biometric authentication, etc.. and focus on the security protocols used by these systems and then highlights the weaknesses of the systems and how people have figured out how to workaround these protocols.
   
   The best quality of the book is that it will help you to better understand the mindset of a secure system designer and a system hacker.



5. I found the book very interesting to read as a textbook becasue it draws many examples from everyday applications. The style of writing is good and it covers broadly all areas of IT security. For those requiring more detailed discussions in specific areas of security, this may not be sufficient.

5 comments about Excel 2007 Power Programming with VBA (Mr. Spreadsheet's Bookshelf).

1. This book successfully combines a great introduction to both Excel and VBA 2007. In fact, I was going to get a separate source on Excel 2007 but then I saw this book had enough of Excel stuff for me. The book is supplemented with a CD with VBA samples; also, there is the author's website where you can find Excel/VBA developer tips.
   
   It is true that the PDF version is missing on the CD, but I myself didn't have much need for it.



2. Very detailed and thorough. I'm an Excel whiz, or so I thought. I learned a lot about Excel and VB. Best resource I've found for this function. You can't go wrong.



3. I am only on page 250 of 1000 or so, but so far this book is excellent!! I had no VBA experience to speak of, this book is pefect for the beginner who learns fast. It is not a slow paced book, but it is very detailed and easy to follow. The author is clearly an crazy expert on VBA and an excellent writer.
   
   I HIGHLY recommend this book. It came with a CD that is filled with VBA samples, but I have not found them anywhere near as interesting as the book itself.



4. I have this book for more than two months now and I found it very useful especially on my first VBA project. I have a weekly report and I used to do this manually and often get errors because I have to cross reference values in one big spreadsheet with multiple tabs. Not until I got this book and read the basics and go to specific chapters where I need help. I felt so accomplished after I finished the whole macro. What took me 30 minutes to do manual referencing and typing now only takes less than two minutes including sending it through email. This book is very easy to understand especially for those who know Excel and would like to expand their skills in VBA. Mr Spreadsheet has provided good example files to help us better understand VBA. His approach is basic enough for those who doesn't have any experience in creating macros. By the way if your CD doesn't have the source files or example file go to http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/Section/id-302036.html and select "All Wiley Products" or call Technical Support. Type your request for the e-source files and they will get back to you really fast with a link of the FTP site for the files. Don't bother to call customer support because they will try to sell you the e-book even though you already have the book. It might be a hassle but its all worth it.



5. I've bought every edition of this book going back to Excel 95. The book is written in a format that keeps your interest (sometimes rare for programming books).

5 comments about Adobe Dreamweaver CS3 Classroom in a Book.

1. Having been a Go Live user for a while I needed something to help me make the change to Dreamweaver. Usually, the Classroom in a Book series are brilliant, this one not so. As a self-confessed dummy when it comes to technical things like using Dreamweaver, I found there were at least three chapters where I couldn't complete the exercises as shown. Generally very good. I would recommend it but only if you bought a companion book like Dreamweaver CS3 for Windows and Macintosh (Visual QuickStart Guide)to fill in the gaps. It was good, worthwhile, not great.



2. I think its a good book for those how don't have a clue about dreamweaver, It don't go into the deapth of dreamweaver, but is well explaind and will be a quick way to get into html/xtml design. well whorth the money.



3. I had been using Dreamweaver but never had a book or class, so decided to try this book.
   
   On the plus side, I learned many shortcuts from this book, and the CD with all of the examples was a nice addition. The screenshots are good, and the chapter on CSS was detailed enough.
   
   On the downside, there are a lot of misakes in this book. Since many people who use this kind of book will have had no experience at all with the software Adobe (and other computer book publishers) should use extra care while proofreading. Also, the chapter on Spry was kind of light and didn't touch on a lot of the widgets and what could be done with them.



4. Right now I'm giving this book a "C." I've read through at least three other html editor-type manuals, including an Adobe Go Live manual, MX 2004 Hands-on Training, and (going back a ways) Adobe PageMill. The assumptions made in this brief CS3 CIB text are okay with my skill level, but what about the rank beginner? The book also needs a glossary, to help the user understand all the CSS terminology. I'm not through the text yet but I'm disappointed. I remember really liking a Photoshop CIB I had a few years ago but this Dreamweaver tutorial seems thrown together to me.



5. The latest if the popular series of Adobe Dreamweaver CS3 Classroom "Classroom in a Book" was for me, still a good purchase. However not a great one.
   
   I have used Dreamweaver in the past, but I am feeling a little rusty after too many years of FrontPage use and i was hoping this would help make the much a easy thing for me. The first editions of the CS3 did have some errors in the which were pointed out and corrected rather fast. One of the nice benefit of working with Adobe Press, they do tend to respond fast and very professionally. That is very appreciated.
   
   I use it as a light weigh training guide, with a good number of hints and good examples. I might be a little tough on the book only giving it a thee star rating, but coming from the awesome job that Abode did on the
   Adobe Photoshop CS3 Classroom, the Dreamweaver version has some very tough standards to live up to as far as books ago.
   
   If I was going this again as a first book on Dreamweaver ? That might be a toss-up, but gut feeling is I might aim for the "Missing Manual Series" of Dreamwear CS3 by David McFarland also.

5 comments about C# 3.0 in a Nutshell: A Desktop Quick Reference (In a Nutshell (O'Reilly)).

1. Bought this to learn LINQ. Found that it has an excellent treatment of all topics and lots of sample code. Very clear and concise explanations. This is a good technical book I have read in a long time.



2. This book is a hands down winner among the C# books currently in market. Written in a clear and precise manner, it is both a tutorial and a reference. You can get a taste of the book from the authors' website where they have posted tutorials (check out the tutorial on Threading in C#).
   I came to know about this book from a link on Chris Sells' blog where he is all praise for the book.
   Highly recommended.



3. A Quick Way To look up anything that deals with C#
   Terms, Keywords, implementation etc...
   great for both a beginners referanece and a seasoned professional



4. References to this book kept coming up at the top of internet search results while I was trying to figure out how to implement a QBE UI using LINQ.
   
   I finally took the hint and bought the book.
   
   Now that I have the book, after having sifted through it, I can attest that it explains C# clearly and thoroughly and is delightfully insightful. On par with the best O'Reilly nutshell references.
   
   I believe it is currently the best C# 3.0 reference on the market.



5. I'm a professional developer but I have no experience using C#. My current project required learning C# at a highly accelerated pace and this book did it for me.
   
   If you are an experienced developer needing to learn C# quickly and thoroughly without resorting to the "for Dummies" types of books this is an effective tool, use it.

5 comments about Hacking: The Art of Exploitation, 2nd Edition.

1. Its important to understand what this book tries to cover. Erikson covers specific hacking techniques. He stays close to Linux and C to illustrate the techniques and he exploits a lot of open source software. The goal is to familiarize the reader with the different types of exploits.
   
   In Chapter 6, the author explains: "The state of computer security is a constantly changing landscape...if you understand the concepts of the core hacking techniques explained in this book, you can apply them in new and inventive ways to solve the problem du jour. Like LEGO bricks, these techniques can be used in millions nof different combinations and configurations. As with art, the more you practice these techniques, the better you'll understand them." Clearly, Erickson is passionate about the subject matter he covers in his book.
   
   Any ability to exploit vulnerabilities requires a thorough understanding of the underlying subject. Here Erikson's book offers a number of quick primers on topics such as C programming and network protocols. These introductions are valuable because they introduce the subject and give you deep dives into specifics. They give you some sense of how hacking can lead to a greater understanding of the system under exploit. For example in Chapter 4, Erikson goes from introducing us to the OSI model to socket programming in four pages. But because of a very engaging writing style, it doesn't feel like a hurried course.
   
   After the introduction in which he covers C programming language basics, Erikson introduces us to exploitation via a buffer overflow example. He covers network hacking techniques such as denial of service, TCP/IP hijacking and port scanning. He delves into the more involved topic of spawning shell code to gain control of a system. And in a very entertaining Chapter 6, he shows you how to bypass security measures that detect and track hackers. In the final chapter, he covers hacking techniques for cryptography.



2. This book is great, it says everything in detail if you're into programing. And with the cd you can follow along with the exercises.



3. 
   Contents
   This is the second edition of a well known book about hacking and contains a lot about hacking. Jon Erickson has expanded the book from the first edition doubling the number of pages to 450 pages and a Linux based Live-CD is also included.
   
   I don't own the first edition, since I had to choose between Hacking by Jon Erickson and The Shellcoders Handbook (first edition, it is also in 2nd ed. now). I choose the Shellcoders handbook, which I have considered my bible for buffer overflows and hacking.
   
   Now that I have read Jon Ericksons book about hacking I have two bibles, both excellent and well written, both covering some of the same stuff - but in very different ways.
   
   This book details the steps done to perform buffer overflows on Linux on the x86 architecture. So detailed that any computer science student can do it, and they should. Every computer science student or aspiring programmer should be forced to read this book along with another book called 19 deadly sins of software programming.
   
   That alone would improve internet security and program reliability in the future. Why you may ask, because this book teaches hacking, and how you can get started hacking.
   
   Not hacking as doing criminal computer break ins, but thinking like an old-school hacker - doing clever stuff, seeing the things others don't. This book contains the missing link back to the old days, where hackers were not necessarily bad guys. Unfortunately today the term hacker IS dead in the public eye, it HAS been maimed, mutilated and the war about changing it back to the old meaning is over. (Actually this war was fought in the 1990's but some youngsters new to hacking still think it can be won, don't waste your time.) The word hacking can still be used in both ways, just make sure the receiver knows what you are talking about :-)
   
   This book teaches hacking in the old sense of the word and contains the explanation that most others books don't - and at the same time it introduces all the basic skills for performing various types of overflow attacks. Then the book also digress into some wireless security and even WEP cracking, but this part is pretty slim, not bad, just only a few pages. This is OK, since I think of this more as an example of extending the hacking into new areas and hopefully inspires more people to look into wireless security.
   
   The best part about this book is that it is not just a book with a random Live-CD. It is an inspiration and your fingers will itch to get started trying the examples explained and experiment with the programs. This alone is the single feature that makes this book worth it, you will do the exercises and learn from them. Learn a lot.
   
   To sum it up this books contains clever tricks and easy to follow exercises, so you can learn to apply them.
   
   Target audience
   This book is for anyone interested in hacking and developing exploits. While the primary target audience is newcomers to this field I benefitted from the thorough walkthrough of the basics once again. This book kept reminding me about things I have forgotten and also some new things and tricks I hadn't thought of myself.
   
   
   Conclusion
   If you are a beginning hacker and want to get started, but was confused
   by various text files found on the internet, this is the book to buy.
   
   If you want to learn how to do basic stuff and get started thinking like a hacker, this is the book to buy.
   
   If you are a software programmer that has started to think about software security, this is the book to buy.
   
   This book goes from beginning hacker to inspired intermediate hacker and explains everything in depth and is well planned and you will be able to extract an awful lot of information about the way programs really work after reading this book.
   
   If you read this book from cover to cover you will be able to follow most other references about hacking, books, papers, zines etc. from the internet.
   
   So this book is recommended for anyone interested in hacking and could be a nice start to having your own library about hacking. Reading this book first will also help you understand other books about hacking better and get more information from them by thinking in the right way.
   
   Then later you could expand this library with books like, Steven Levy Hackers, Steven Levy Crypto, Shellcoders Handbook, Clifford Stoll Cuckoos Egg and other references.
   
   I am not missing much from this book, but a short explanation how you could run this CD along with your usual operating system, using something like VMware Player would have been nice.
   
   Links:
   The home page for this book is: http://www.nostarch.com/hacking2.htm



4. The first edition of this book seemed to be written in code (hexadecimal), but the second effort explains the common software vulnerabilities much more clearly.



5. Hacking, 2nd edition features an extensive overview of C and x86 Assembly, Linux, and slowly steps through major functions of GDB. It's a bad idea to read this book without a Linux distro at hand, but thankfully one is included.
   
   I'd buy this again in a heartbeat.

5 comments about The Principles of Beautiful Web Design.

1. As a graphic designer with years of design training I have to say that I didn't receive too much new information on this book, however for a programmer this book is a gem. This book will go to the programming dept where it will be used very frequently. If you have years of design training than this book is probably not where you want to start.
   
   If you have not been to sitepoint yet go to their website and look through a plethora of web design inspiration and see the books available for what fits you better. Then come back to amazon and purchase the book here. (You'll save a bundle). Hope this helps.



2. This is one of the best web design books I've ever read. It's well written and gives you a lot of practical advices that go beyond just web design and cover topics such as meeting with clients, gathering information and essentially being a freelance web designer.



3. I knew nothing about Web design before the book, after the book, I know about the color wheel. Most of the other things that he glossed over I found to be like a collection of amateur blogs strung together in a book. To me, it felt like he was afraid to teach us anything useful, as it would correlate to more competition for him.
   
   Perhaps I expected too much of the book, but it seemed to be verbose for the sake of it. Also, I was hoping there would be some tie in to the actual programming of the site. To me, it seemed like he just gave a very brief description of how to make photo's look better by using Photoshop.
   
   I am willing to admit, perhaps though, I think "Web Design" should encompass some functionality to it as well, as opposed to just pretty pictures. I may very well be completely ignorant to it, but it wasn't the book that I was looking for. I would give it 1 star, but I felt there is a good chance that I'm the one who made a mistake and bought the wrong type of book for what I was looking for. So I gave it 3.



4. I was concerned that this might be a coffee table picture book of pretty website, but it could not be further than that! The wide range of topics covered include how colors work together and what they symbolize, how to determine pleasing proportions, image file formats, typography, back ground textures... just a huge range subjects you won't find much of in books that teach or reference the code aspects of web development. Now, those who have a formal education in design may not find this book any more than a refresher, but for the rest of us... it could be a real eye opener!



5. I'm a regular visitor to sitepoint. I do enjoy Jason Beard's writings. However, after finishing this book I find myself not one whit smarter and actually feel dumber for having spent the $ on it. Seriously, anything this elementary should be billed as so. I learned nothing.

5 comments about Access 2007: The Missing Manual.

1. This is the summary review of four Access 2007 books:
   "Special Edition: Using Access 2007" (Special)
   "Access 2007 Bible" (Bible)
   "The missing Manual of Access 2007" (Manual)
   "Access 2007 for dummies" (Dummies)
   
   In sum, the special edition is the best. Buy the special edition. Even you are a fresh beginner on Access.
   
   (My story? Well, I read the dummies first. Then looked at Manual, doesn't like it. So I got the bible. Still unsatisfied. Finally, I got the special edition.)I know some basics on Access 2003 and only use Access when Excel is not enough to handle my data. I started with "Access 2007 for dummies" and finished it in a couple of hours. Then I turned to "Access 2007 Bible" and "The missing Manual", the manual is the worst one and the bible just provides basics, well, maybe a bit more than, that the dummies book already covers.
   
   The special edition provides more examples and detailed explanation on: Query, Forms, Reports, Pivot table.Not sure about the VBA part.
   
   I also like very much the reader-friendly layout and enjoy its "what is in real world" sections at the end of several chapters.
   
   This book also provides a good summary of basic database concepts like normalized, the importance of index, joints. The summary is very helpful especially you are a beginner.
   
   The cover of the special edition claims that the special edition is the only Access book you need. Well, maybe not the only one, but if you have the special edition, you definitely don't need the Access 2007 Bible, The missing manual and the dummies book.



2. This book really is as useful as the title suggests. For a newbie, learning Access is a lot more than just learning what buttons to push - you really need to pick up ideas and strategies about relational database design. I found this book very practical, illuminating some things I was really stuck on. There's a lot of information in it, and I found it really clear and helpful.



3. The book does what it promises: explains to you in a fun and engaging way how to use access and explaining you the most important features while at the same time giving you the tools to learn about the least important features by yourself. An excellent book to start working with access and making very decent databases.



4. I bought this book to go straight to the information I need when I need it. It is well organized and clear. Would recommend.



5. This book is perfect for the novice. It guides you to the key components for MS Access without all the "techie" language. It also points out informative tips and clues to improve your database. This is specific for 2007, which really does make a difference since the security features have changed dramatically. There is a website for the examples. It is easy to download. The book states you have access to the online version or a CD of the book. This is misleading. There is one available but it requires you to sign up for it.

5 comments about Programming WCF Services (Programming).

1. WCF is one of the four major application programming interfaces introduced as part of .NET Framework 3.0. With its enormous power and flexibility, WCF has a very complex and multilayered architecture. After reading some nice overviews on WCF and even writing some simple code with out-of-box facilities provided by WCF, one may get a misleading impression of it being simple and straightforward. Once to delve into real world programming, you would be exposed to huge number of issues and complexities that in most cases may not be overcome without thorough understanding of the subject.
   Juval Lowy's book does an outstanding job ob systematically and thoroughly uncovering practically all aspects of WCF programming. Not only it presents a simple to understand architectural picture of WCF in general and various architectural and functional subsystems, but also abandons with practical and thorough explanations of the details of virtually all aspects of WCF.
   This book is not a beginner book. For starting with WCF I would recommend Michele Bustamante's book "Learning WCF". Lowy's book is a thorough reference on WCF that soon becomes your primary source of information.
   I would like also to note that it does not seem to be the intent of the book to reflect on all internal plumbing of WCF, which realistically needs lot of experimentation. You may find Justin Smith's book as a good supplement to Lowy's book on custom channels and behaviors.



2. This book was actually my first exposure to WCF. Many people describe it as a more advanced WCF book than the other more basic ones out there. Although I tend to agree that it is more advanced than other books, I disagree with the implicit suggestion that you shouldn't start with this book if your a beginner. I generally gain better command over a subject by going deep enough to understand what's going on, and what capabilities I have at my disposal.
   
   "Programming WCF Services" does just that. It starts with the simple basics which is important for the novice. But as soon as you understand the basics, you yearn for much more deeper content, which follows in the chapters to come. Although I wish the book would have had a chapter devoted completely to Channels, the overall depth of the book is enough for most use cases that WCF developers will encounter.
   
   Something i really like about Juval Lowy's writing specifically is that he walks you through the thought process of the underlying problem. He shows you the different options that are possible, and then gives his final opinion, thus leaving you satisfied as to why a particular methodology is better than another.
   
   If Juval would consider a 2nd edition, I would recommend a chapter on custom Channel development, and RESTful web services.
   
   All in all, a great book for beginning and intermediate WCF service developers.



3. Absolutely the best book I've read on Windows Communication Foundation. A must have book. Juwal explain every single WCF detail in a very well simple form but this don't break the value of this excellent book. A book written for beginners, intermediate and professional WCF developers.
   
   Well done, Juwal.



4. I have previously read Juval Lowy's Programming .NET Components and it was one of few excellent books which gave deeper explanation about .NET. This book is as great as that one and only one of the few books giving a good explanation about WCF and its internals.



5. I've been a fan of Juval ever since I took an al-day seminar with him at DevConnections a few years ago. He's a great teach and a great writer. However, he is not for beginners.