java

I found this book frustrating. Here's why:

Chapter 1 only vaguely describes what it takes to configure a test environment on your system. As a result, I had to go to other books and to the web to figure out how to configure a test environment.

Then, immediately after chapter 2 shows a simple "Hello World" servlet, it shoots off on a 24-page tangent that describes a bunch of stuff that's only loosely related to writing servlets. After chapter 3 shows how to get parameters from an HTML form (although HTML forms aren't described until chapter 16), chapters 4 through 7 digress into an 80-page list of HTTP headers. In these chapters, the code examples are theoretical and don't give the reader a good idea as to how these headers are used in a typical server-side Java application. In fact, as I later learned, the average Java programmer doesn't even need to understand the majority of these HTTP headers to develop effective applications using servlets and JavaServer Pages.

In my opinion, chapters 10 though 14 present a somewhat misleading description of how to use JavaServer Pages. It's only after you've learned to use both servlets and JavaServer Pages separately, that you see how to integrate servlets and JavaServer Pages so they work together. As it turns out, this is the way that most web applications should be structured.

In summary, I wouldn't recommend this book for anyone who is just getting started with Java web programming. If you already know the basics and you want to pick up a few new tricks, or if you need a list of HTTP headers, this book might be helpful for you. Otherwise, I recommend looking somewhere else.

This is a solid book, and an effective tutorial, but it is sometimes frustrating as a reference. It will tell you pretty much everything you need to know about writing real applications with Servlets and/or JSP, including good coverage of how to integrate multiple JSPs and servlets together to build a real application. This is important, because who really creates websites where the pages don't have to integrate together?

This book includes a reasonable discussion of the various JSP/servlet engines out there, and how to set up Apache Tomcat, the reference implementation (the commercial implementations are easier to set up). It also has good coverage of all the standard topics, like HTML form data, dealing with HTTP headers and status codes, using cookies, and session management. It also includes a reasonable chapter on JDBC and another on JavaBeans, and if you understand SQL and your needs aren't very elaborate, you may not need to buy another book on either topic. It also includes code for some handy utilities like a simple database connection pool (important since you almost certainly want your web application to be multithreaded) and a visual HTTP client that lets you specify the HTTP headers to send and view all the headers that are returned. Overall, this book is clear and thorough and I highly recommend it.

However, I still found this frustrating at times, due to the indexing. For example, in its discussion of sharing Java beans between multiple JSPs, it discusses the ability to share beans at different scopes--session, page, request, and application. The problem is, it doesn't define what is and isn't included in application-level scope, or how you define some pages to be part of an application but not others. If you plan to have multiple applications on your web server, this is important. Like several other topics I looked for, there was no way to find this using the index, though it may be in the book somewhere. I finally solved this by going to the Apache Tomcat documentation.

Still, occasional frustrations aside, I have yet to find another book this good on the subject, and it did teach me how to build applications out of JSPs effectively. So even though it's not perfect, I recommend it to anyone who needs to understand the topic.

I just finished reading the serlvet part of this book. I could not help writing a review since this really is a very nice book. The book is structured in a very clean and easy-to-read format. You don't have to be a java expert to read this book. The instructions are so clear that you can't miss a thing in setting up Tomcat, JRUN, or running the code examples. I used Tocmat. All went well. I read this book like a novel from cover to cover. It was a very good experience. However, you should at least know the basics of Java before you read this book. This book is the first step toward J2EE. I will definitely buy the updated 2nd volume of this title that is geared toward advanced Servlets and JSPs. This is one of the best Java books I have ever had.