Variants Books

This book is a continuation of the first book. The book covers deployment of web application in great detail. It takes you through the development of a JSP, custom tags and does not leave you hanging like other books. It takes you through the steps of compiling, building and installing your web app. It covers security filtering and much more.

Another interesting technique this book uses, is it take the web developer through the different types of web development. It starts with development of custom tags and takes the reader through JSTL libraries and then discusses the Struts framework.

Finally, I used this book to help me through deployment of my web application. It was an invaluable tool.

I highly recommend this book. I have not had it for very long but I already find it very useful. It has helped my team introduce new technology and features into our applications. The Application Events Framework in chapter 6 helped me debug my application and discover that Struts creates a new session, if one doesn't exist, on every request In fact, JSP Tag files technology discussed in chapter 7 was the basis for a new reusable common component that we have created.

I like the style of the book very much. One thing in particular that I like is when a new technology or feature is introduced the steps needed to use it are numbered and laid out clearly without going into too much detail. Then as the feature is developed and each step is examined in detail the steps as a whole are repeated. This helps keep things in perspective - you can see more clearly where each thing fits into the big picture.

The authors also do a good job of trying to give small but useful and instructional examples of the different technologies - not always an easy task.

Whenever I look into this book I find new and interesting ideas. Even the concepts that I am familiar with I still learn new things about them. I wish I had more time to read through the entire book.

"Core Servlets and JavaServer Pages, Volume 2: Advanced Technologies" targets developers who already know Java and basic servlets/JSPs. Note this book's second edition does not cover the latest technologies. It uses J2EE 1.3/1.4 and Struts 1.3.

The main topics are advanced deployment descriptor settings, security, custom tags, filters, event handling and JSTL. Then there are three chapters on Struts 1.3. These additional chapters were very good although I'm not sure what they have to do with "core servlets." The browser screenshots were good for showing output and the examples were excellent.

As with "Core Java", the 700 page book contains some long classes. I could have done without the complete 5 page deployment descriptor at the end since it was gradually built up with new additions highlighted. The highlighting does help with spatial orientation.

I did notice a couple typos in the book. None of these affected the meaning, but it gives you the impression it wasn't proofread as carefully as other books. And (at least my copy) had a printing error where one page was missing a few lines.

For most part the book pointed out best practices. There were a few exceptions such as one chapter mentioning which jsp page should establish a database connection. Different chapters had different opinions on whether there should be scriptlets in a JSP as well.

Overall the book was fine although I would prefer to invest in a different title - either fully on Struts or fully on servlets/JSPs.

2nd edition has all the details for environment setup so it makes it easy and clear how to start your first web application. I always refer to this book when I need some reference or to review basic web application development.

This is a good overview of transgender/transsexual people, with emphasis on cultural and historical information. Treatment recommendations are easily grasped and emphasize a multidisiplinary approach. Also has the Standards of Care for Gender Identity Disorders at the back. Clients who have read it liked it.

Randi's knowledge of the subject matter, and her capabilities as an author makes this an outstanding book on the facinating subject of gender identity disorders. I would recomend Gender Loving Care to the health care professional, as well as anyone else interested in learning more about this topic.

Dr. Ettner gets right to the heart of the matter, so this is a must for the transsexual, their friends and family. You will find you are not terminally unique. We are blessed to be who we are and this book will guide you on your journey. It has given me the direction and courage I so desperately needed and I hope it may do the same for you.

Gender Loving Care - Dr. Ettner's second book - is supposed to be for psychologists and other helping professionals dealing with transgendered clients. I find it is also very interesting for this lay person, and completely accessible, with little or no trade jargon used. It is a structured, fact filled book, but still a relatively fast read.

While it includes some information about all who are transgendered, it tends to focus on the transsexual subset. The first half of the book (dealing with historical perspectives, prevalence, and causes) is a fantastic resource for anyone wanting to learn more about transgenderism. The discussion of origins and causes of transgenderism is by far the best description of the etiology of transgenderism that I have seen. The second half of the book is probably of more use for helping professionals, but still quite useful for the lay person wanting to learn more about the condition and about how it is viewed and dealt with by professionals.

You will not be sorry if you buy this book. The book uses a straightforward approach to some of the complicated as well as simple issues. The book is very well organized, and explanations are very clear. I would not recommend it for the beginners, but even if you are just getting comfortable with Java, this book would be an excellent value. CD that comes with this book is also very helpful.

This is an excellent book. There are many topics covered in a straightforward manner that you won't find anywhere else. Many clever solutions - I learned a lot from using this book and I've been programming in Java for a while. One of the few computer books worth the steep price.

I really liked this book. It deals with very important topics from basic to quite advanced in a very straightforward manner. I use it all the time.

This book delves into some of the tough real world issues you will run into when building a java application, not just an applet with cute animation. I especially liked the CORBA ORB demonstration to deliver real multi-tiered client/server applications in java. In addition to this being a fine book by itself, on the CD-ROM enclosed with Hacking Java, you receive the complete text of another good java book Special Edition Using Java, plus 4 other books AND a "publisher's edition" of Microsoft Visual J++ Java development environment. This book is a great value

This is a very good java programming book, especially for beginning programmers. I've used it for both my java classes in college and it has helped me immensely in laying the foundations of my knowledge about java. It is very well organized and there is a nice flow to the book (the illustrations and examples are really helpful).

The best thing about this book is that it explains each new concept in detail, so that it would make perfect sense to somebody who has never had any prior programming experience.

This is one book that keeps you glued to the pages and makes learning a new language seem almost simple! I highly recommend buying this book!!!

I've used this book in my Java 2 class and found it very useful and accessible. I also used it as a reference when grading other homeworks. Either way the book was extremely good. This book shows clearly the authors knowledge of the subject and mentality of meeting the students at least halfway as they learn programming.

Heartily recommend this to anyone!

The Dean's emphasis on readability make this book very easy for someone who is not experienced with the philosophies of programming (OOP) and the Java language. Having used the materials for my own use, the content definitely help pave the way for mastery of other languages (c++, objective-c, javascript, etc) - thanks to the fundamentals from this book.

I would definitely recommend this book to those wanting to pick up Java or build a good foundation for understanding the principles of software development!!

This is the best Java book I ever seen. It explains all topics in a simple and efficient way. You can start knowing nothing about programming and you will finish with the first steps to be an expert. Reading this book helped me get 2nd place on the ACM Regional Programming Contest last year and several other awards. I've read some other Java books and this the best. I recommend this book to anyone!!!

This is the greatest book I have ever read (excluding Bert Silverman's "Bert's Eye View: Coping with Macular Degeneration. I can only find it coincidental that they are related and that both of them have great dedications to Dan Afergan.

This book has everything you need, just only a few description about every class of the java API, but enough to use it. besides it is cheap.

The book's title is somewhat misleading. It's not an extensive reference to Java as a whole. If you're looking for that in a small book, you might want to see David Flanagan's book, Java in a Nutshell instead. However, where Java Quick Reference really shines is in referencing the Java API. In contrast with Flanaga, Afergan tells more about what each method in each class actually does, and the values they return. All extensively indexed. Assuming you're generally familiar with the Java APIs, this is a hand book to keep handy while you're actually programming.

this book, released in 1996 was definately one of the BEST Java references available at the time. Java in a Nutshell gave some in depth discussions about Java topics, however this book was the perfect reference guide.

although old, it is a classic for JDK 1.0

This is an excellent book written by someone who was involved in-depth with NXT programming as the NXT product evolved. Lots of good examples of C code will speed your learning curve.

While the official NXT-G programming language included in the LEGO Mindstorms NXT set works well for many people, what if you want to increase your programming potential or simply prefer a text-based language rather than a graphical one? John C. Hansen's book provides the answer to both of these questions by teaching you how to program the NXT in NeXT Byte Codes (NBC) and Not eXactly C (NXC).

The book begins with an introduction to some basic programming concepts and then shows you how to set up NBC/NXC. Since these unofficial languages are based on the standard firmware, you don't have to download custom firmware to your microcomputer, making setup a breeze. Chapters 2 through 4 discuss the NXT hardware, NXT firmware, and basic construction concepts, respectively. If you're new to the NXT set, you'll find these chapters helpful.

Chapter 5 covers the BricxCC IDE, which supports NBC, NXC, and a number of other languages. This is definitely one of my favorite chapters. BricxCC is an incredibly powerful but user-friendly program, and this chapter shows how to effectively use and customize BricxCC. Perhaps the most interesting chapter in the book is Chapter 6, which discusses free NXT utilities that perform miscellaneous functions.

The real power programming begins in Chapters 7 and 8, which cover NXC and NBC. If, like me, you've programmed the RCX microcomputer in Not Quite C (NQC), you'll be glad to see that Hansen created NXC with a lot of the same features and same "feel." Naturally, these chapters are most easily understood if you have a background in C or programming in general, but such knowledge is not required. The book assumes you are a beginner and explains fundamental programming concepts. If you need more information about a basic concept that the book doesn't discuss in great detail (for example, using arrays), you could easily consult an online resource.

Chapters 9 through 16 teach you how to build a basic robot (Versa), program basic and advanced NXT outputs, program basic and advanced NXT inputs, create an intruder alert robot, explore "games that people play" on the NXT, and control an NXT robot remotely. It is through these chapters that you get practical experience in using NBC/NXC.

In conclusion, if you're looking for an effective and user-friendly text-based programming language for the NXT, then this book is for you. NBC, NXC, and the BricxCC IDE are outstanding resources, and this book teaches not only the basics but also quite advanced concepts (which will be of interest to expert users out there). Bear in mind, however, that this isn't primarily a book of building instructions. Its purpose is to teach you how to effectively program robots--and it accomplishes that purpose very well.

If you are interested in programming your NXT beyond what NXT-G can do (the environment that comes with the retail kit) this is the book for you. You don't have to change out the firmware as you do for other text based programming languages, so you can continue to use NXT-G. In fact both types of programs can reside on the NXT at the same time.

There is a great chapter giving details on the Bricx integrated development environment and all the tools that come with it. It is very complete.

The versa bot that is detailed in the book is a great platform to add to and make your own modifications to. I have already made several of my own modules for it and wrote programs to take advantage of them with NXC.
There are several other bots to be built in the book that I have yet to get built, as I am still adding to the versa bot, but I definitely will though. The etch a sketch one looks really cool and I am sure programming it will teach me a lot.

Thanks should go out to John Hansen (the author) for all the contributions he has made, and continues to make to the Mindstorms Robotic community. The Mindstorms is a great platform to aid the young in learning and teaching the old to stay young.

Summary: An excellent 'next step' for getting the most from this powerful computer system

Mindstorms NXT is robot building tool from Lego. The centrepiece is a large "brick" containing a 32-bit ARM7 computer - the kind of computer you might find in a PDA or a Smartphone. The kit includes a graphical programming environment capable of quite complex programs as well as being accessible to beginners and youngsters. The kit also includes motors and sensors, wheels, gears, and a whole lot of technic-style Lego to hold them together.

John Hansen's book takes all of these components and organises them in a coherent and easily understandable fashion. He describes how to use the various components and explains the sensors (that range from a simple contact switch to a sophisticated ultrasonic distance sensor). However, the real strength of the book is in its approach to programming of the system.

Power Programming describes how to maximise the capability of the kit by programming it using a conventional, textual programming language that is close to standard C. This is both more natural to anyone who already has a smattering of programming knowledge and, ultimately, capable of more complex and much faster programs for the NXT. Best of all, the system that Hansen describes is a free, open-source toolkit usable on Mac, PC and Linux; just download it from the WWW and you're ready to roll.

NXC (Not eXactly C) and the complementary assembler, NBC (NeXT Byte Code) are explained in a clear and authoritative way (Hansen is the author of the compilers too) before the book explores the rest of the system. Each item is introduced in the context of a real robot (you can build these from the step by step instructions) but in a style that explains how it actually works; so the reader is left understanding how to apply each item in their own programs. Later chapters dig deeply into advanced programming of the sensors and communication between several robots without ever becoming inaccessible. And, lest I have made it all sound too dry and worthy, there are detours to examine such things as playing Space Invaders on the NXT and producing a Bedroom security system and remote controlled car.

This is a well-written, clearly presented and very well produced book from an acknowledged expert. It's not for young children but anyone with a little programming knowledge and an interest in computers and robots will find it entirely indispensable. Just beware that, while the tools it describes are free, it could well convince non-owners that they need to buy a NXT!

I am learning Java and have briefly used two other books that just confused me by trying to explain Object Oriented Programming by showing examples of complex Java code. If you aren't familiar with OOP and want to learn Java, this is a great place to start.

This a very nice book to get your fundamentals and concepts of java. Do not expect to learn java syntax. A little bit of programming experience would be very helpful before buying this

If you are new to programming, don't buy this book. If, on the other hand, you understand basic programming techniques and ideas and want to enter the utopia of OOP in java, this is a great book! It clearly describes all of the OOP topics - inheritance, polymorphism, etc. It also includes nice discussions on networking with java and graphical interfaces. I also like that this book is to the point. While it is 300 pages, the writers don't go on and on about an idea. Rather, the authors' writing is very dense and requires interpretation and creativity on the reader's part. It will take several months for all of this information to really sink in.

The beauty of this book is not in it's coverage of OO programming or of Java, but how it melds the two together to bring a greater understanding of both to the novice reader. Each new topic covered builds on previous chapters, and the reader never feels like the authors assume any knowledge not covered in the text.

Code snippets are surprisingly concise, and free of annoying syntax errors that could confound the novice developer.

The book begins with several chapters introducing basic OO concepts and gradually introduces and increasing amount of Java code and delving into the Java API.

The middle portion of the book covering the core concepts of OO development (Inheritance, Encapsulation, and Polymorphism.) It then goes on to cover slightly more advanced concepts such as Exception Handing, socket programming with TCP/IP, JDBC, multi-threading.

The book does provide good coverage AWT model and GUI construction. Sadly, the it does not include coverage of Swing.

To date, it's the best ground up coverage I have found for both Java and OO basics. Experienced C/C++ developers may find it a bit slow paced.

For those interested in following up with a more advanced guide for Java 2 certification, I'd consider A Programmer's Guide to Java Certification by Khalid Azim Mughal, Rolf Rasmussen. It's a great certification prep and also a good core language reference.

A well produced and researched reference book on the Panther tank.The author goes to great lengths by well documented research and copious amounts of clear photographs and diagrams.Well done Walter Spielburger.

A well produced and researched reference book on the Panther tank.The author goes to great lengths by well documented research and copious amounts of clear photographs and diagrams.Well done Walter Spielburger.

This is a very detailed of the German Panther tank, its variants, and their development. Well illustrated with many drawings and pictures, and text describing the development and problems thereof. Spielberger is preferred over Jentz for technical detail, although Jentz tends to have more combat unit information. Buy both if you can afford it. The only marring feature is that translation is not provided for German text that is part of certain of the illustrations-- a glossary of terms would be appreciated.

The Panther tank was Germany's main battle tank during the last two years of the war (it replaced the Panzer III, and was supplanting the Panzer IV at war's end). Walter Spielberger's book offers an overview of the Panther tank's development, as well as its variants, the Bergepanther recovery vehicle, and the Jagdpanther tank destroyer (an 88mm self-propelled gun). There are also drawings by Hilary Louis Doyle, though they are side views only, and not to a constant scale. Spielberger is the author of a well-respected series of books on German armored vehicles, but this English-language edition is slightly out of date, repeating some fallacies about the aborted Panther II and Panther F projects. Spielberger's colleague, Thomas Jentz, who once worked for him as a researcher, has since written his own Panther book (also published by Schiffer), which corrects many errors thanks to newly-uncovered information found in government and factory archives. Jentz's book also has three-view drawings by Doyle in 1/35th scale. However, Jentz's book covers only the battle tank, not the recovery and self-propelled gun variants. I would recommend the Thomas Jentz book to those interested in building a model of the Panther tank (including the Panther II and Panther F), while Spielberger's volume is more useful to those interested in the automotive engineering of the Panther, or the subsidiary variants.

This is a very good book.
It is a must have for any serious web-application devloper.
It explains well all the subjects you need to know about servlet programming.

Buying this book saves you lot of learning-by-step time.
I really suggest this title.
Finally one book that i'm glad to pay.

This is my forst wrox book but, if all worx books are like this one, for sure not the last.

Another great book from Wrox's Professional Series.

A more concise (700 pages) book than other in the 'Professional' range that I feel benefits from
a great choice of chapters that not only provides you with the basics of Java Servlets but also those topics often skipped over elsewhere.

Covering the new Servlet 2.3 API, deployment issues, filtering, scaleability techniques etc, this book provides a comprehensive insight to the use of Servlet Technology and best practices in the real world.

Aimed at the profesional Java developer this book is an excellent resource for anyone currently working with Servlets/JSP/Webapps or any one wishing to learn Java Servlet Technology.

I worked as a Technical Reviewer on this book and can personally vouch for the excellent array of chapters each packed with easily adaptible, real world examples.

Hiya All,

I have this book for sometime now, and I think, you can't have a better book to learn Servlets 2.3 API. Specially, the Chap on MVC pattern was very good. I liked the way the book has been written. There are lots of practicle examples in the book. The Patterns have been explained in a very good manner. But my favourite is Chap 8. Its downright interesting that how you can combine a database with a JSP page to create a Web Apps. I had some problems in Running the code and had to take the help of Wrox People, But I managed it with there help. Overall, a dependable book.

I've only read Ch 12 - Designing Web Applications and Servlet Patterns, via PDF online at the authors site. It's worth the price alone - I went to my local bookstore to purchase it last night - but alast the isles are full of MS C# and .NET books.

However on to what I learned from Ch 12 - the patterns that are put into action are wonderful! I've used MVC in the past - but adding the 'Command & Controller' to MVC is a real boon! I've not been successful with pattern books in the past, because they typically do not provide code examples, which I find a great learning tool [ I'm a "visual" learner ]. This book includes great code examples, the graphics are very professional, and helpful also.

4 of 5 stars - I've not read the whole book - I've got to reserve total commitment til then.

As one of many people now moving their programming to the wireless world of Java 2 Micro Edition, I found this book to be excellent.

It contains numerous, real world examples - from getting simple text off a server, right through to reasonably complex game design and even sprite manipulation.

In fact I'm sure many of the applications in this book will be converted into real world code by cut and paste coders!

The book does require some limited knowledge of Java2 but I was at home very quickly.

With plenty of exercises, and a CD of all the source and latest Sun Forte/SDK I was delighted with my purchase.

Perfect if you're targeting Motorola cellphones or Palm development (note though doesn't cover the new Nokia J2ME SDK)

I knew a little bit of Java, and I found this book very good. J2ME is explained pretty good, and the examples are easy to follow. I have developed several applications that I use after reading this book.
If there is anything that is missing in this book, it would probably be an Appendix with a better description of the different APIs.
It is a very good book for anyone that wants to learn J2ME, but might be a little boring if you already have J2ME experience. However, if you buy a "Teach Yourself .... in 21 days" book, you are probably not an experienced programmer in the language anyway.

Very good tutorial text ... with a nice hands-on approach
and a working example on every chapter. Strongly recommended as your first book on J2ME. Simple graphical interfaces, persistent storage, connecting to the internet, personal information management..and even a few chapters on game development, which is great since , honestly speaking, is there any of us who wants to use Java on cell phones to make boring contact managment programs?

Bad news first: This book has a few typographical errors in the
explanatory texts but none in the source code listings. It also
has a few misplaced words reversing the meaning of what the
author intended to say. But if you're a beginning Java
programmer and understands basic code optimization, you'll find
yourself correcting the texts with a note on the margins.
Example: on page 273, "... it takes longer for MIDlet code to
access local variables than ... member variables..." The "local"
and "member" words should be interchanged.

I had to re-read Chapter 17 "Creating Animated MIDlets" because
the author uses a different Sprite / Sprite Management classes
that I'm used to (I write my own). Chapter 19 is probably the
most difficult chapter to read because it uses artificial
algorithms without fully explaining them (in fairness to the
author, he did mention the names of the original algorithm
developers, the general term of the algorithm and one possible
source for AI research).

The author could have used this chapter to create a multiplayer
game (as a perfect combination of his prevous game programming
chapters and networking-I/O chapters). Example: A two-player
first person turn-based boxing game could have been a good
tutorial.

Also, the last two chapters were not necessary. He could have
put them in appendices. The space could have been used too for
more complicated examples.

Good news: Nevertheless, Chapters 1 to 16 were an excellent
J2ME tutorial altogeter. The author wrote very clearly and he
reinforces previous lessons implicitly. As this is not a game
programming book and despite the minor issues above, this books
served its purpose of teaching me J2ME in 5 days (not 21 sorry).