As a begining WebObjects developer, I was looking forward to reading this book. After receiving it, I was very disappointed. The book focuses on using Eclipse and neglects the use of XCode.

The information included in the text of the book seems to focus more on the esoteric and obscure aspects of the WebObjects architecture than on use of the tool. To use as an introduction for someone who was going to maintain the WebObjects application, it may be fine, but for someone learning the tool and using it to develop dynamic sites, the value is limited.

It seems that there was more effort put into making cute chaper titles than on the content of the book. The cute titles are not really amusing to me, not because they are not cute, but because in most cases, they do not convey the contents of the chapters. When I buy a technical book, I use it to learn and have available as a reference. This book is busy gathering dust.

Every webobjects programmer should read this book. I found it very useful because it explains many concepts that you don't find in official documentation. However, it is required an already high level of prior knowledge of webobject if you want to fully appreciate the book. It is not a book for beginners.
I ask to the authors to write other books for all the other (many) topics that too often are omitted, like deployng and administration, java client programming, third party open source frameworks, etc.

Hill and Mallais wrote this book in order to address what the back cover describes as a dearth of WebObjects documentation. While commendable, the book could have been easily improved. It lacks a short introduction that summarises the book and indeed, explains broadly what WebObjects do. Plus, it might also usefully explain what prerequisites you need.

To someone new to WebObjects, the first chapter offers little guidance to these issues. The material it covers is fine, but it is potentially confusing without that introduction. Indeed, it is only by the second and third chapters that the reader gets some glimmerings of what this is all about.

Granted, the authors are probably writing for those already knowing something of WebObjects. But an introduction can make this explicit. Especially since WebObjects are still a fairly specialised topic. If the authors want to increase its usage, they need to accomodate neophytes. The incremental cost of a few pages of introduction is negligible to address this.

Well, I am not much of a fan of books on programming. Learning from book just doesn't work for me. I advocate learning by doing: grasp the basics and then set yourself challenges to resolve with the documentation at hand.

Nonetheless I recommend this book to everyone who is serious about WebObjects. I have read this book cover to cover. Admittedly I practiced 'accelerated reading' on parts I know inside and out. This book is an interesting read as it tries neither being a reference nor tutorial. It is more of a guide and mainly a problem solver.

The authors do an excellent job of explaining crucial concepts like the request-response loop, the EOF stack, object graph concepts, validation, etc. Unlike other books this one cuts directly to the chase. For beginners some chapters act as road map through Apple's documentation. Mind you, this book does not target the complete novice. Alongside the usual prerequisite of strong knowledge of OO and web application concepts, some WebObjects experience is required. Those who bring this along can expect a substantial boost up the learning curve.

To more advanced user this book is more than an excellent way to recap core WebObjects concepts. Its a problem solver - the WebObjects edition of the Swiss army knife. The authors present ready-made solutions to many common tasks. This is book will save you hours if not weeks. And it does so while completely explaining not only the solution but also the reasonings and techniques behind it. This makes the book an interesting read and it just may spark the idea needed to solve even problems not covered.

Unfortunately the book's strongest points also make for its weaknesses. For one, I find the book to be a bit too confined in the current state of things. It discusses bugs in both the current incarnation of the frameworks and the developer tools. Such information is bound to become outdated rather sooner than later. While helpful I don't think a printed book is the appropriate media to vehicle such volatile information.

My other gripe is that the authors don't make it sufficiently clear that the proposed solutions and approaches are not the only ones out there. They were chosen based on the authors personal preferences. Diverging opinions exist and the reader would do well - and should be advised by the book - to dig for further views.

All in all "Practical WebObjects" is an excellent book. It belongs on the shelf of every WebObjects developer. Novice or expert.

This is not a beginner's guide, but any WebObjects developer beyond the complete novice will find this book full of practical advice. If you are just starting out buy Joshua Marker's Quick Pro Guide but get Practical WebObjects too. When you need more detail than the QP Guide supplies, Practical WebObjects will be there for you.

The sections on the request-response loop and editing context locking alone are well worth the price of admission. Each chapter clearly details its subject's processes and pitfalls in a way the benefits even the most seasoned WebObjects developer.

The book offers advice and solutions to many common development tasks with code and resources from the community (WOCode, Project Wonder, Eclipse/WOLips) and its own Practical WebObjects framework. So although this book was written by two authors, it is clear that there was a concerted attempt to include the best practices for developing WebObjects applications, regardless of where they came from.

If it is not obvious at this point, I highly recommend this book.