Amazon.com Mashups [Paperback]

Francis Shanahan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 3, 2007 | ISBN-10: 0470097779 | ISBN-13: 978-0470097779 | Edition: 1

"This book will not only demonstrate how developers can utilize Amazon Web services to create cool mashups but will also help them convert it to money-making mashups - 'cashups.'"
—Jinesh Varia, Amazon Web Services Developer Relations Team

Amazon.com is advancing the boundaries of the Internet through their powerful suite of web services. Innovative developers are combining Amazon data with other freely available sources to create new and interesting applications known as Mashups. This book teaches you the techniques behind mashup applications and for the first time shows you how to build them yourself.

The examples in this book show you how to integrate Amazon web services with APIs from Yahoo!, eBay, Google and YouTube. You'll learn how to combine data from disparate sources to create new applications using next generation browser techniques such as AJAX, JSON and Dynamic Scripting. You will learn how to re-purpose web service data so that it can be consumed from mobile devices such as a cell phone or PDA. Because both the theory and code are explained, you'll be able to easily take the lessons in this book to build your own killer mashup applications.

Expert web services developer Francis Shanahan guides you through the basics of web service consumption using XML, SOAP and REST. Next generation browser techniques such as AJAX are illustrated in easy to follow step by step examples. He also completes the picture by introducing advanced techniques to enhance performance such as the multi-threading web service features of ASP.NET 2.0.

With this book, you'll discover how to:

• Build a generic AJAX library from the ground up
• Consume publicly available APIs such as Yahoo!(r) Search, Google(r), eBay(r) and YouTube
• Use SOAP to expose Amazon data as RSS
• Convert Amazon data directly into JSON using XSLT
• Plot Amazon.com customers on Yahoo Maps
• Use the OpenSearch API to build your own search service
• Access Amazon data from your cell phone using WML

Who this book is for

This book is for developers who have some prior experience with web technologies such as Javascript(r) and ASP.NET. This book covers a wide range of technologies and techniques including ASP.NET 2.0, WML, REST, RSS, SOAP, XML, XSLT, AJAX and JSON. Everything in the book is built using free tools and explained in detail, along with the source code which makes this a useful resource regardless of experience level.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

"This book will not only demonstrate how developers can utilize Amazon Web services to create cool mashups but will also help them convert it to money-making mashups – 'cashups.'"
—Jinesh Varia, Amazon Web Services Developer Relations Team

Amazon.com is advancing the boundaries of the Internet through their powerful suite of web services. Innovative developers are combining Amazon data with other freely available sources to create new and interesting applications known as Mashups. This book teaches you the techniques behind mashup applications and for the first time shows you how to build them yourself.

The examples in this book show you how to integrate Amazon web services with APIs from Yahoo!, eBay, Google and YouTube. You'll learn how to combine data from disparate sources to create new applications using next generation browser techniques such as AJAX, JSON and Dynamic Scripting. You will learn how to re-purpose web service data so that it can be consumed from mobile devices such as a cell phone or PDA. Because both the theory and code are explained, you'll be able to easily take the lessons in this book to build your own killer mashup applications.

Expert web services developer Francis Shanahan guides you through the basics of web service consumption using XML, SOAP and REST. Next generation browser techniques such as AJAX are illustrated in easy to follow step by step examples. He also completes the picture by introducing advanced techniques to enhance performance such as the multi-threading web service features of ASP.NET 2.0

With this book, you'll discover how to:

• Build a generic AJAX library from the ground up
• Consume publicly available APIs such as Yahoo!® Search, Google®, eBay® and YouTube
• Use SOAP to expose Amazon data as RSS
• Convert Amazon data directly into JSON using XSLT
• Plot Amazon.com customers on Yahoo Maps
• Use the OpenSearch API to build your own search service
• Access Amazon data from your cell phone using WML

Who this book is for

This book is for developers who have some prior experience with web technologies such as Javascript® and ASP.NET. This book covers a wide range of technologies and techniques including ASP.NET 2.0, WML, REST, RSS, SOAP, XML, XSLT, AJAX and JSON. Everything in the book is built using free tools and explained in detail, along with the source code which makes this a useful resource regardless of experience level.

About the Author

Francis Shanahan is a senior software architect with more than ten years of industry experience. He bought his first computer when he was 12 years old (an Atari 130XE) with money saved from a summer job. Within a month, he had written his first game. He specializes in new and emerging technologies in the areas of Web services, the user interface, and digital identity. Most recent examples are the Windows Communication Foundation (WCF), Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF), and CardSpace. He has led several multimillion dollar engagements of Fortune 50 companies through the full project life cycle. He has published numerous articles in both paper and online media, including Microsoft's MSDN Web site. When he's not building prototypes and messing around aimlessly on the computer, he enjoys cutting dove tails, the pentatonic scale, crystal oscillators, breaking 100 with his Callaway, and spending time with his family. You can contact Francis or read his blog at http://www.Francisshanahan.com.

Product Details

• Paperback: 408 pages
• Publisher: Wrox; 1 edition (January 3, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470097779
• ISBN-13: 978-0470097779
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,091,290 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I am a Senior Architect specializing in enterprise technology. Deep expertise in the SOA and the Microsoft stack, particularly forward looking (beta) technologies. Extensive experience in software design, vendor and account management, financial services and managing software development.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent breadth-first approach, August 28, 2007

By 

G. M. Arnold "Geoff, that is" (Palo Alto, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Amazon.com Mashups (Paperback)

If you want to learn the various ways in which you can use Amazon's Web Services, this is an excellent starting point. Shanahan goes beyond "mashups" in the strict Web 2.0 sense of the term; he looks at the various ways of supporting wireless devices, and the use of the S3 storage service. The only nits (so far - I'm still working through some of the material) are that he assumes the use of Microsoft tools, and he identifies the term "JSON" with one particular style of mashup using script retrieval. (JSON is a serialization scheme which can be used for many different use cases, including RESTful interactions.) But these are minor points; this is an excellent book - and a lot of fun, too.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazon And Beyond, March 27, 2008

By 

Robert S. Robbins (Williamsport, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Amazon.com Mashups (Paperback)

The book covers more than the Amazon APIs so I recommend it if you are interested in mashups in general. I'm very keen on JSON right now and was pleased to find that covered as well. I think the author is a very good programmer who has many clever ideas like using XSL to transform XML into JSON (although using Yahoo! Pipes is easier). I'd have to say that this is one of the few programming books I've read that presented some really ingenious solutions and creative project ideas. Most books just provide uninspiring "Hello World" examples.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars mashup king, November 4, 2008

By 

C. Clomera "Programming at Nite" (Stafford, VA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Amazon.com Mashups (Paperback)

this is a okay book about mashups. I was hoping for more technical details, but a great start at conceptualizing mashups used by Amazon.com.