Looking for some good material to revise/learn JSP technology?
Having an impression that each book is similar to the previous one?
Want to pass SCWCD exam?
When you answered `yes' at least twice, I think that you shall definitely read Head First SCWCD by Bryan Basham, Bert Bates and Kathie Sierra.
The most important difference between this book and all the rest is the way how authors describe technical issues. Don't consider them easy - they are really tricky sometimes.
It is a very funny book although the topic is not so easy. It's marvelous that authors describe the problems not too detailed. After the introduction they redirect to specification. In comparison to other books I must say that reading something about existence of specification is rare in practice. Here the redirection is very brief - includes chapter numbers and document name.
Cons? I know that JSF is not on the list of SCWCD but I missed it. EL & JSTL is quite hard to understand relying on this book only.
Anyway, this is a very good position to start working on JSP.
I think that the purpose of writing this book is that the reader will be trying to pass SCWD exam. Even you don't want to pass a certification, I do strongly recommend it to you.
It's also worth emphasizing that [...] is a great addition to this book. People discuss many things also that ones included in this book. When there is a lot of confusion, you can rely on Bryan or Bert's answers and clarification.

This book is just fun. Besides all the kung-fu, I actually learned something about JSPs. This is the kind of textbook I'd write, if I ever do...

I really appreciated the hands-on sections and all the detailed notes. It is the first textbook I could read from cover to cover (almost there) and that doesn't put me into sleep, but put ideas into my head.

I strongly recommend it to anyone who wants to have a good and fun start in Servlets and JSPs.

Very clear! It seems easy to program servlets with this book. Graphics are simply perfect!!

This is one of the best books available out there.
I was under the impression that this version of the book covers java 1.5 enhancements, but it doesn't.

I read through this book until chapter 5 quiz. That quiz had 50% of questions not covered anywhere before -- they were just pulling random stuff which they never covered and putting it on test. What's the point of this quiz? Guess what they refer to when providing answers to the quiz? Sun's Servlet Specification!!! So, why then pay them money for this useless book and not get the Sun's Servlet specs (which is free) instead? How can you take their quizzes if they never cover most topics they put on them? Better yet, how can these quizzes help you to take the actual test?

One of the best series in educational technology books. It's an easy reed and a book with a sense of humor!

'Head First Servlets and JSP: Passing the Sun Certified Web Component Developer Exam' is another gem from the Head First library that makes it a priority to not only publish books with good content but keep the word FUN close to the brain and mouse!! If you have never seen a Head First book before you are truly missing out. The content is written in a way that is present day hip but at the same time it delivers content that matches or rivals all other related books out on the market. With HFSAJSP, you get 850+ pages of uber content wrapped in a slick package that is essential for anyone that is learning or looking to learn this important tech topic of interest. If you like/use JSP/Servlets and want a fun way to improve you skillset, this is a home run of a purchase!

***** HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

On time delivery (even early), and great condition. Thank you once again! I will continue to use Amazon in the future.

This book really sucks up all your motivation. The almost cartoon like format makes searching and a broader understanding almost impossible. The book is not just bad for the reader when he reads it. The worst part is: If a young reader (say a newbi at some university) actually use this book as a course book, he might pass the course but he won't be able to share his thoughts in writing in a common writing language. What's worse he won't understand the next course when reality steps in with a format that the rest of the world is using.

So teachers at universities all over the world. If you ever use this book as a course book at a bigginners level. Be aware that you will missguide the whole class at a time when the students needs guidance the most. This book is like beer, most of the students will like it because it gives them a nicer yet wrongfull picture of the reality at uni. However, it will also make passing the university much harder in the long run.

The only time when this book can be of use is if you have a crazy father that thinks that just because you are in computers you are into computer viruses. if you give this book to him he will. One: Not understand a thing. Two: Think that you are to stupid to code viruses.

The recently released edition of the book is a great improvement - there is less errata and the Q&A is much more tied into the Sun Web Component Exam.

One of the challenges with picking up Servlets & JSPs is the mass of acronyms and figuring out how it all relates to Java. The Head First book is here to help pick-up the technology as fast as possible and in a fun way.

This book has some of the best tutorials to get from zero to a working web application - and have fun learning along the way. Many readers will probably also want to use the book to cram for Sun's web component exam.

I would highly recommend the book but please do your due diligence: Have a look at the content section. Evaluate if the contents cover what you hope to learn. Read through some of the sample pages and make a decision.

It's another Head First wonderfull book. But sometimes you get the feeling that they're missing some points they should get on.
I find it a perfect work to learn J2EE (except EJBs), but I'm not really sure this book prepares you completely to face the exam.

After finishing Head-First Java, I dived "head first" into this follow-up work by the famouse Kathy & Bert duo (with Bryan Bansham, too). I found the first three chapters EXCELLENT as they're focused on whetting your appetited with a sample web app. After Chapter 3, the book effectively starts over giving more details, historical perspective and practice. Whether you're an expert programmer or a beginner, you'll find this approach quite effective.

My one complaint with this work (other than the length), is the over-use of Japanese martial arts references. At one point I even felt that the humor was getting rather condescending and perhaps even insulting. Hopefully the updated edition (which, at the time of this wriing has just been released) remedies this shortcoming.

OK......


THIS is the BEST JSP/SERVET book I have ever come across.

HANDS-ON exercises are not all there, but the info in this book is priceless. I read another review stated " I use ASP because its far better than Java", well my friend Java is use in space (NASA) in phones, in everything. With "Complexe software apps. you must have java in your mind and this book does a great job taking java.class info and creating web-based (example) apps.

BUY IT
READ IT

................

From the introduction it seems to be reading a kind of "Make a million dollar in one week" book.
I've found the Head First style really funny and attractive.

For a newbie the book can be a really good introduction and the style help so much, but If you are an expert developer don't take the book as a complete Servlets or JSP guide. It's a nice riassunto for everyone that need to refresh their acknowledge but It don't cover the entire process of a real world work. Pretty usefull too for passing the SCWCD exam.

This Book contains everything that you will ever want to know about Servlets JSP and custom Tag development. Its all in One shop for learning web development.

The features that i like about the book are :

1.) Depth of coverage for JSPs, JSTL, all JSTL tags and Custom Tags

2.) No loss of breadth and its coverage of good stuff like Filters and Listeners.

3.) Concise and practical examples of snippets of codes that just "Work".

4.) Good ( Quick and Dirty ) introduction to Struts. ( if you want to learn more buy Oreilly's Programming Jakarta Struts ( yea both big book and pocket reference ).

All in all worth every penny you'll spend. ( This is from a guy who rated Head First Design Patterns a 2 ).

Regards
Vyas, Anirudh

This book is perfect. It has guided me to the SCWCD. Very easy to read and learn.

I recommend it.

The book is very good. This book is for start up people who dont know anything about servelet and JSP. It a very very handy book to have. By the time you finish this book you will have substantial knowledge about servelets and JSP

The Heads First series is an extraordinarily readable collection of computer instruction books. I hesitate to call them textbooks because are flippant and entertaining, but they are astoundingly thorough. Heads First Servlets and JSP makes a remarkably dry subject seem (at least while the book is open in front of you) fascinating. Be warned: Unless whoever you are reading the good parts out loud to is also a geek, they won't be nearly as amused as you are.

The authors of this book put a lot of effort into helping students pass the SCWCD exam. The nice thing about learning the material (beyond passing the exam) is that you become a more effective web developer. Though the book was not really designed to be a reference manual, I use it daily on the job as a reference. You will learn a tremendous amount of material in a relatively short period of time.

This book is really very exciting. This book is very easy do read and to learn. I'm waiting to new version of this book and to new topics.

I referred religiously to only this book for my study. It makes for a very interesting read. Most of the questions were based on this book. And I am happy to say that I scored 85% after just studying for a couple of hours for one month.
If you want to refer to just one book, this is it.

This book is just too good. I had thought of writing this review as soon I had cleared my exam this July with 92%. My apologies for this delay.
If you would like to brush up your servlet/jsp/ tag libraries and appear for the SCWCD exam, then look no further. This is the book.
With Head First's unique style of presentation, I just loved reading this book.
I would say the book can improve more on examples and exercises. But whatever it has it really drives it in and makes your fundamentals solid.
The exams after each chapter are solid with good answers and very less errors or typos as found in other books of the same genre.
However the final exam in the book is much much tougher than the real one.

Enjoy
-Arijit

I started reading and i couldn't stop more. I'm a little suspect to say anything about this book because I'm really fan of this series.

What can i say about it ? If you really want pass the exam and don't want spend money with courses, use this book.

ps: sorry if i did some mistake, I'm Brazilian and my English is not the best thing i got.

I learned something in the first chapter. This is leading me by the hand, which is refreshing in a sea of new information. I am not even studying for the exam, but I chose this one over a couple of others and I'm glad I did!

Mind you, this book has a lot of good info, and I don't regret buying it. However, this book doesn't seem to know its own purpose. From the writing style, you can really tell it was written by different people. At times, it's a tutorial. The first several chapters walk you through an example beer selection app, but then you don't really do hands-on coding ever again, and the app isn't referenced again until the very end. In the middle, the material seems geared towards passing the exam, but there is a lot of information, some well organized and some poorly. The later chapters are verbose and not as helpfully repetitive as the former chapters. It's a good supplemental book, but shouldn't be your main JSP book.

I bought this book because of a new work assignment that will require me to be familiar with JSPs and HTTP request/response handling. It does a good job of clarifying things like the difference between Tomcat (a container) and Apache (a Web server), what a servlet is, how requests are received and handled, etc.

I do have a number of complaints, however:

* The book is written in a very "cute" and comical way which really detracts from the content. The first parts were OK but then the attribute/session chapter really lost me. I could do without all the jokes - just a few clear comprehensive sentences would be fine.

* There is only one complete application example that you can try and deploy yourself - that is the "beer selection" app in the first chapters. Later on, when they talk about attributes, JSPs, and so on, they no longer use this app; they just give you small snippets of completely unrelated code. That means if you want to practice these concepts with the app you have, you're on your own.

It's wonderful book. Servlets and JSP definitely are not an exciting Java topic. However that book helped me study in a fun way.

I liked the way it is written. Although I have expert knowledge in several topics, I still find this book useful as a reference.

If you want to get a certificate that doesn't prove that you can program Java and Servlets/JSP effectively, this is probably a good book.

If you want to actually learn Servlets/JSP this is not the book to get.

I may be a bit biased, because after writing a few JSP applications over the last year, I have been freed of the extremely heavyweight and needlessly messy implementation and have been loving life using Ruby on Rails. Doing something in five lines(that results in a very rudimentary, but usable app) that produces the necessary web pages, database connection and DB IO, that would take hours to do using JSP makes it hard to be fair about any JSP book.

I may also be taking the insane API out on this book as well. JSP was meant to be a relief from the extreme insanity of wring HTML in println statements, and it is. But it is still a very complex solution to a simple problem.

If you have read any Head First books, you know what to expect layout wise. I suppose the book meets its goals, but don't do what I did and expect to learn how to actually use the API in any meaningful way. There is quite a bit of great information, but much of it is not fully presented because the scope of the book is to get you to pass a test. This approach puts the book in a no mans land. If you know JSP and just want to pass the test, there will be a lot of information that you already know, but you still have to dig through it to learn test specific stuff. If you do not know JSP this book will fall woefully short of helping you understand how to leverage the API and Servlet container effectively.

I usually like the presentation of HF(I really like HF Design Patterns, and felt OOAD was pretty good as well), but in this book, it gets in the way of learning. It makes it harder then it really should be.

If you must learn JSP try JavaServer Pages by Bergsten, it is a much better book. If you just want to learn to create dynamic web sites and picked JSP because you know Java, seriously consider Ruby on Rails.

Studying is never fun for a lot of people, and reading technical books is always taken as a boring task by a lot of people. This will never be the case with any of the head first series of books.

The head first approach depends on a lot of images, since an image says more than a thousand words. It also depends on repeating the information in different styles, and dialogue like text.

Even though this might seem as if it's a very simple approach, but the result is amazing. The book is fun to read, full of information, and yet very simple. Never thought I would love to study that much again.

Now enough about the head first approach, and into the book itself. The book is very informative, and covers nearly everything in the exam. Very few subjects were not covered, but most of them are covered in the questions at the end of each chapter, with a reference to the place of the information in the specs.

Few mistakes are there (like any book in the market), but most of them are spelling mistakes. The O'Reilly website has a great errata page covering every single mistake in the book (even spelling and grammar mistakes).

A lot of topics covered in the book do not even appear in other books, and a lot of those come in the exam. I studied from that book, and got 94% in the exam. Great book, and really fun to read.

I was introduced to the Head First series after taking a Sun Java course that just didn't convey the material well enough. It was my transition from procedural coding to OO coding, and the concepts didn't quite fit yet. Head First helped solve that with HF Java, and I continued my exploration with HF JSP and Servlets.

The Good: Covers the various incarnations of JSPs... dirty coded JSPs with scriptlets, to well formed tag based jsps, servlets, custom tags and more. Plentiful examples, repeated information (to hammer concepts it). Innovative ways to introduce the material.

The Bad: Some examples seemed too brief. Struts examples seemed like an afterthought. Written to assist in certification passing... may have suffered a bit from this approach.

The Verdict: As with all HF titles, I wholly recommend this one. Even though it is geared towards passing a Sun Certification, it is still a great title-one you'll be hesitant to give up.

This book is very well set up though you must appreciate its particular style of writing. The style contains a lot of informal notes and graphics that are funny and help you in the study process. The authors definitely know their stuff and I am confident that I will be able to pass the SCWCD exam using this book.

I have read JSP books and tutorials but the subject was never explained as well as Head First Servlets. A must read for anyone planning to take the SCWCD exam.

This is perhaps the funniest book I've read! And most important: you actually LEARN something :) Kathy and Bert are very good writers and have incredible hability to teach. I own 3 books of them and they are all very good. The book design in principle seemed very strange to me but after the second or third chapter I was just loving it.

This book definitely rules in terms of teaching and making things to stick in your brain permanently.

I had previously tried twice to store in my brain and put in practice JSPs and Servlets, just for fun and because I knew it is a strategic stuff for developers to know about and hopefully master. Well I did not succeed the first time, and I have to say that I do not consider myself as somebody that gives up easily. The second time I HAD to "learn", because of a project that I got engaged with, so I learned in the hard way and even worst, I learned very bad practices, so I learned it wrong.

Honestly, I am happy I bought/read/learned with this book. I am looking forward to take the SCWCD Certification. The results in final mock exam, gave me good confidence.

Thanks so much guys!, especially to Katty Sierra, Bryan Bashman, and Bert Bates. Excellent book!