Of the three volumes that make up this Nutshell series, this is the one that you'll be able to bypass if you're just moving into the world of Java. I think that even experienced programmers might end up heavily using some chapters while never touching others. The format is the same as other Nutshell volumes, where there is a lot of detail with not a lot of fluffy explanation.
Each of the Part 1 chapters give a quick overview and tutorial as to what the technology is (such as JavaServer Pages) and how it works. There are some examples of code to help you understand how it works. But the authors acknowledge that they do not expect you to be an expert after reading that chapter. You have to either already know what's going on or seek out another book to more fully learn and understand what is going on. O'Reilly has a vast array of books that go into each of these subjects in a more detailed manner.
For Notes/Domino 5 developers, I would say that there is little in this book that would be of value to you. You might be interested in JDBC as a replacement/supplement to ODBC. The XML chapter with information on parsers might also be of interest. Moving into the Notes/Domino 6 world, more of the book becomes valuable. Those chapters would include the information on servlets and JavaServer Pages. As Notes/Domino becomes more tightly integrated with Websphere, you'll need to start understanding servlets and how they function. This book could be a good tool to help you build them.
Conclusion
If you're an advanced Java developer and are working on enterprise Java applications, get this book. If you're a Notes/Domino developer looking to move into servlets, JavaServer Pages, and XML, you should also get this book. If you don't fit into either of these categories, you probably won't do much with this volume.
In my opinion,this book is very suitable for any person who need to have a J2EE overview/introduction.And also suit for J2EE developer who need the good references rather than print all J2EE API.
I recommend you to put it on the bookshelf!...
I was worried when I bought this book that they were attempting to cover too much, but I think they have done a remarkable job. This book really is the most readable introduction to J2EE I have found so far. It's just about small enough to carry about (unlike the massive Wrox tomes), and the API reference can help to keep it useful after you've absorbed the introductory material. It even has a basic SQL reference, which you don't get in some JDBC books!
As the name implies, this massive tome (971 pages stem to stern) covers a mind numbing range of technologies associated with "Enterprise" Java software development. There are 17 sections in all, as well as your standard API reference pages. As you would expect, all of the usual suspects are there - Servlets, JSP's, EJB's, JNDI, RMI, CORBA, etc. In addition there were other enterprise technologies that I found useful as well - Messaging, SQL, Java Mail and so on.
When I sat down with this book my intention was to skim through each section, look to see if there was anything that they missed, and crank out the 'ol review. What I found was enough content in each of the technical sections to draw me into actually reading the whole section. I mean, who would take the time to read a full section on CORBA nowadays unless there were interesting things there (yes, I see all of you CORBA proponents shaking your fists out there - don't you have some IDL to write?).
Once I completed the reference sections I cracked open the latter half of the book to take a peek at the API section. I found it well organized, asthetically pleasing, and about as useful as a screen door on a submarine. Note that this API publishing is NOT unique to O'Reilly - It seems that most of the technical publishing companies still commit arboreal mass murder to publish these API sections. Note to publishers: When the half life of the information you are printing is measured in months, think about a different delivery mechanism. I actually timed how long it took to find a reference using JavaDoc API info and a book. IIRC the JavaDoc lookup was about 3 times faster.
Enough of that drivel. Back to the review. As you read through the different technical sections of this book the individual styles of the authors become apparent - you can tell that different sections are written by different authors. This is A GOOD THING - you are getting the technical poop from the one that knows the subject best. To rely on a single author for this size of reference would leave a lot of gray area.
There is one specific area that I want to drill into, and that is the technical examples. I consider myself a relatively informed and skilled enterprise software architect (in the J2EE world - don't get me started on that Dot Net [stuff]). When I see a manual entitled Java Enterprise - I am expecting not only an API reference (see API rant above), but some real meat as to best practices in building enterprise level applications using this technology.
So how did this book due in the technical example area? I'd have to give it a B. In most cases the examples were adequate to explain the technology at hand, but not really give deep insight into how best to take advantage of said technology. Now, don't get me wrong - this book has earned a place on the "near" bookshelf (the place where I keep all of my most referenced manuals). My opinion is that when you are trying to serve to very different purposes (desktop reference / enterprise technology primer) something has to give.
Let me give a couple of examples of what I am talking about:
1) In the JDBC section there is a point where the book identifies OODBMS (Object Oriented DBMS) databases as a possible alternative to the rigors of Object/Relational mapping. Yes, the technology exists and does work, but how many companies out there run enterprise systems off of OODBMS's? It's a small market, and with the massive investments that most US companies have in RDB's that equation is not going to change soon. To say that OODB's are an alternative is a good thing in a quick reference, but in my opinion needs a disclaimer if mentioned in an enterprise java book. Along those same lines it wouldn't have hurt to mention some of the available O/R mapping tools out there (go Open Source!).
2) In the Servlets section there is a point where an application implementation is mentioned to illustrate a technical point (binding a java.sql.Connection instance to a HTTP session). Right in the same paragraph the author mentions that this is a "bad idea" (no kidding - unless you are an Oracle sales rep...). Now why go to all of the effort of painting this example, and then telling the reader that they shouldn't ever do it? Guys - take the time to figure out a valid example that illustrates the part of the API that you are explaining, 'kay?
Again, don't get the wrong idea here. I'm definitely not panning this book. It's a valuable resource and worth the $...that you are going to plunk down for it. But if you are going to write a desktop reference for Enterprise Java make sure that the examples are restauraunt quality. After all, there is enough bad code out there in the world, and we can't have our beloved O'Reilly contributing to it, can we?
In Summary (Finally! he's almost done!):
As I mentioned before, this book has earned the right to be within arms reach from my little work pod. Not only is it a comprehensive reference, it makes a handy workout aide as well (971 pages...). And do yourself a favor. If you haven't checked out the O'Reilly line of technical books, head down to the nearest bookstore, grab yourself a double latte (try the Irish Cream and Hazelnut mixed together), find a comfy chair and give the series a once-over. You'll be glad you did.
Jonathan House
The entire book is an excellent reference to Enterprise Java, I would not advise it as the only book you have on the subject because it is very concise and an alternative source with different explanations would be very helpful (you can say that about almost any programming book though, so that is hardly a failing). The condensed API at the end of the book is very helpful and its expanded explanations of the different APIs makes it easier to understand them, as opposed to going straight from the Java Docs.
Packed with both snippets and full length, compilable code, the examples are very helpful and help to illustrate all of the key concepts of Enterprise Java and go along way to improving the readers understanding. Even if you already have the first edition the additional, and updated, content made this second edition a valuable edition to my reference collection. However, if you've already got the first edition and have additional references for some of the added material (JSP, XML, JMS, and Java Mail) then you probably don't need this book, unless you want it all together in one place.
This text is very well written and does an exceptional job in describing the J2EE packages JDBC, RMI, JNDI as well Servelets, EJB and the Java IDL. The chapters are well structured and very clearly written. And they achieve their goal without filling hundreds of pages. Very good.
Unfortunately the book does not cover all of today's packages of J2EE but I guess that's the price to pay if the book has to be on the market early enough.
The book has some holes, but for the material it covers, it is one of the best, if not the best, books available.
The information given in the book is sketchy in places, and it's in these places that Java Examples in a Nutshell comes in handy. These two books make an excellent pair. But if you're looking for a complete reference to J2EE, this isn't it (yet).
"Java Enterprise in a Nutshell" simply ignores a lot of APIs/packages of the J2EE, like javax.servlet.jsp, javax.naming.event, javax.naming.ldap or the whole javax.mail-API, some of which surely have a great practical relevance. On the other hand it has a quick reference of SQL, something that does not really belong here. It wouldn't have disturbed me, if all relevant APIs had been covered, but they hadn't.
All covered APIs on the other hand are as good dealt with as always.
Because of the given shortcomings: just 3 stars.
Valuable for anyone just trying to get a sense of what J2EE is, and what one might do with it.
This should be next to Java in a Nutshell on the bookshelf of anyone who uses any part of Java Enterprise.
I use it in both senses. If I am presented with an interesting technology that I don't know much about in this area, my first stop is this book to read the concise overview. I would not recommend this book to gain an in depth knowledge in these areas, that chore is better left to more focused books, but once I do master the subject, this book is the first stop for API lookups. The JDBC/SQL references are worth the price of the book themselves. Much better than entire books I have read on the subject.
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