3-Tier Server/Client at Work, Revised Edition [Paperback]

Jeri Edwards (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0471315028 | ISBN-13: 978-0471315025 | Publication Date: February 4, 1999 | Edition: Revised Edition

You've heard the theory--this book shows you how to successfully practice it. Jeri Edwards takes you on a rare, worldwide tour of nine large client/server applications that are in production in enterprises today.

You get an insider's peek at their projects. Find out what went right and what they would do differently next time. You learn:
* Why 3-tier architectures are key to successful enterprise client/server applications
* How to succeed with challenging project requirements
* What are the architectural trade-offs and how to choose between them
* How successful projects are run
* What outcomes to expect
* Words to the wise: tips from the architects
* Who can afford to pass up such valuable, firsthand advice?

Editorial Reviews

Review

Read the full review for this book.

3-Tier Client/Server at Work, by Jeri Edwards, describes n-tier project experiences, all notable large-scale efforts, from a perspective which the author describes as a "50,000-foot view." It's a book written for a hands-on, technologically astute member of the managerial caste, or for a career technologist who has project planning and vendor qualification responsibilities. It is one of a complex of books either authored or coauthored by Jeri Edwards and/or her habitual coauthors, Robert Orfali and Dan Harkey: Client/Server Survival Guide, The Essential Distributed Objects Survival Guide, Instant CORBA, Client/Server Programming with Java and CORBA, and the like.

You may remember the Orfali/Harkey/Edwards series even if you didn't read them, because in several of them the reader is guided through the subject material by Zog the Martian, a little green cartoon man often found on the covers. They are all breadth-first overviews cutting wide swaths across the high-end development landscape, focusing on topics of interest to developers and architects employed in data-intense environments of the sort which often turn to IBM for solutions. --Jack Woehr, Dr. Dobb's Electronic Review of Computer Books -- Dr. Dobb's Electronic Review of Computer Books

From the Publisher

Learn the inside scoop from architects who have been there and done that! You're heard the theory behind 3-tier client/server. Now learn how to put it into practice. Jeri Edwards takes you on a rare, international tour of eight large companies' client/server applications that are at work in enterprises today. You'll get an insider's peek at these companies' projects. Find out what went right, and what they would do differently next time. You'll learn: Why 3-tier architectures are key to successful enterprise client/server applications. How to migrate from monolithic, single-tier applications to multi-tier client/server. What today's middle-tier platforms are--including TP Monitors, ORBs, MOMs, and RPCs--and when to use them. What the architectural trade-offs are and how to choose between them. How successful projects are run and what outcomes to expect. Word to the Wise: tips from the architects. "3-Tier Client/Server at Work" will introduce you to the architects at 3M. Healthcare, AT&T, MCI, PeopleSoft, Wells Fargo, UK Employment Servicew, EUCARIS, and Apple. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; Revised Edition edition (February 4, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471315028
• ISBN-13: 978-0471315025
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.4 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,877,056 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Only worth it for people comletely new to the field, December 8, 1999

By 

Roger Reynolds (Dallas, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 3-Tier Server/Client at Work, Revised Edition (Paperback)

Based on the other glowing reviews, I was eager to purchase the book. After it arrived and I actually read the material, it was a complete disapointment

Most of the book seems to be a plug for the author's company & software. The book provides an extremely narrow view of the client/server implementation alternatives. There is a relatively good section on TP monitor architecture, but it quickly moves on to 'how to do this with Tuxedo'.

I guess if you are using Tuxedo, this book might be pretty valuable.

Advice in the book was very basic, ranging from Hire good people to make sure you have enough money for the project. Now, that advice didn't offer any value to me. You'll have to judge for yourself.

Also, I expected the case studies to be presented with an analysis of the design, implementation and the issues present with different alternatives. My perception is that the case studies read like a chronology and offer very little value added insight into the 'why' and 'what if' or 'other alternatives might have been...'.

The exception is the case study created by an external company for the Wells Fargo implementation -- that was actually decent.

I would not recommend this book to any of my friends or business associates.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good for 3-tier "dummies", December 30, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: 3-Tier Client/Server at Work (Paperback)

I've been programming for ten years, but I've never worked in an "enterprise" environment until now. I found this book to be a very accessible way to get my feet wet with the idea of 3-tier client server applications. Now I'm ready to go out and read a technical book on the subject. I consider it a good "3-tier programmer's kindergarten." The case studies definitely help make you understand the way these sorts of applications are done. I've always been fond of learning things by example, and this book does a good job of teaching by example. This is NOT a technical book. If you already understand 3-tier C/S programming, you don't need it. If your manager doesn't understand what the heck you're talking about, buy it for him/her.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Super Case Studies, September 1, 1998

By 

Ian F. McCallum - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 3-Tier Client/Server at Work (Paperback)

Overall, this is a well-written book (though I stridently object to the overuse of the buzz-word 'architected', when other words like designed, created, or built are more appropriate, but that's the trend, I suppose...). "3-Tier Client/Server At Work" presents ten very useful case studies, and successfully finds common strategies among them for building 3-tier client/server systems.

The book begins with an explanation of the importance of a third tier to client/server computing. Part One focuses on a specific type of client/server computing (Transaction Processing) and a particular product (Tuxedo) to support that type of computing. Perhaps it's my own fault for not looking more carefully, but I sought a more comprehensive overview of available 'middleware', products and strategies, so I was disappointed (somewhat) with Part One.

Part Two, on the other hand, is a fantastic review of ten individual projects, and what engineers did to make them successful. The value, in my mind, of this section is that many of the important lessons are not strictly about 3-tier client/server computing, and, as such, are that much more useful. Throughout the case studies, Jeri Edwards enumerates the common strategies for successfully completing a software engineering project, like the importance of thoughtful design, completed well prior to any actual development.

The book closes with a higher-level review of the case studies, which I found to be useful following the detail of each case. Thanks to Jeri Edwards for 'giving birth' to this very handy book.