Channels and Networks Books

I found this book to be very poor. It lacked organization and continuity. More important, it lacked practical, simple examples.

The author is clearly well versed in the subject area, but the book does not convey the concepts behind the code. The examples are obscure and cryptic.

For the record, I have 4 years experience in web development. Before approaching this book, I had researched and implemented HTML, DHTML, Active Server Pages, Java, JavaScript and VRML. I mention this only to make the point that I don't think the book is simply too advanced for me. I think it's just a lousy place to start to learn CDF technology.

I just ordered IDG's "Web Channel Development For Dummies" (ISBN: 0-7645-0309-X -- got it here at Amazon.com) I hope it will be more useful.

When approaching a new language/technology, I tend to go to the "...For Dummies" series first. The IDG books are great for "getting my hands around" the new subject. If I feel that I need more depth, I'll look for a Microsoft Press book on the subject. (Most of the products I use are from MS.) If I determine that I need the full scoop on the subject, I'll pick up the hefty Que book.

One last note -- I've been thumbing through the other "Web Dev" series by McGraw Hill. They all seem rather similarly scatter-brained.

This book (if you can call it that) contains nothing useful to a communications professional (who else would want to know about ev-do?); the coverage and explanation is at the high school level at best, and I spotted at least one error in a two-minute glance. A high school student might use the general description for a class project or paper, and even that is a stretch.