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21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Simple, and elegant, June 13, 2004
By A Customer
This review is from: Better, Faster, Lighter Java (Paperback)
If I were looking for a Spring or Hibernate book, this one would let me down. But that's not what Gehtland and Tate are trying to do. They are showing why Spring and Hibernate are important, and how they have passed up enterprise java beans. They have shown basic rules for lightweight development, and they have done it effectively. The book is simple, well-written, and in conflict with established J2EE development. I get into the emphasis on JUnit. I also like how Gehtland and Tate show me more than programming. They let me see how companies sell. They show me how a better process can work. I like extreme programming, but my manager doesn't. They give me some good ideas about how to use the best parts without doing all of XP. I also like the idea of showing the principles, and then seeing how those principles apply to open source software, and then showing me how to put them into use. I don't think that the book would have been useful if they would have simply tried to invent some application that fit their model. Instead, they picked a couple of open source projects that seem to do what they are advocating. Lighter Faster java is a home run. If you're looking for a Spring book, just go buy Expert J2EE One on One. If you want to understand why Spring, and other technologies like it, are important, get Lighter Faster Java. I can understand how to program Spring and Hibernate with tutorials on line. This book gives me something far more valuable. Insight. I think I'm also going to pick up one for my boss.
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34 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Not worth buying. Simple manifesto., October 15, 2004
This review is from: Better, Faster, Lighter Java (Paperback)
This book delivers a great message in the worst possible way.
It is useful if you are trying to persuade a PHB (management) that going with a full-blown EJB solution doesn't make sense.
If you need to convince an architect about this, give them Rod Johnson's book "Expert one-on-one J2EE Design and Development without EJB".
If you want to actually learn anything about the approach and philosophy, don't use this book. For one thing, the authors are working on a broken definition of "coupling" and fail to address "cohesion" by its proper name. In short, there is a lack of depth and rigor in what they are presenting that, at times, leads them to recommend approaches that aren't necessarily valid. For example: Using a message passing API without a strict message format definition (such as a WSDL definition in the WS world) actually leads to tighter coupling because the author of a service client must inspect the code of the service in order to understand the rules of exchange (the API). By definition that is tight coupling. The omission is minor, but significant in understanding the pitfalls of message-oriented service integration.
In short, AOP and related ideas are all about cohesion. Not just on the function or method level, but on the interface and class level. "Separation of concerns" sounds a lot like "functional cohesion". Not addressing this well understood issue by its formal name denies the reader the opportunity to find the broader body of knowledge on the subject. Why reinvent the wheel?
I guess if I had to sum up why this book isn't worth your money is because it is dogmatic and not prescriptive. The great thing about Rod Johnson's book is that it tells you not only when it is appropriate to take this approach, but the different ways to do so. The examples presented here are straw-men and "hello world" (as described above). What would be nice is a full example that brings all the pieces together. An implementation of the Java Pet Store using this approach, fully described point-by-point would be a nice approach.
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15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Mixed Feelings, June 2, 2005
This review is from: Better, Faster, Lighter Java (Paperback)
I loved the premise of this book, because I, too, believe that Java - and programming in general - is getting out of control. Languages, frameworks, and products are adding so many features that it is now literally impossible to have a handle on the language - or even the subset - that you are using. Gone are the days where you can sit and try to figure something out; now programming seems to have boiled down to finding code you can cut and paste (Can you really figure out how to implement, say, an SSL client on your own?), then wrestling with the overwhelming complexity of the APIs, configuration, deployment, framework(s), your IDE, you-name-it.
Anyway, enough ranting. That's what the book does. And I agree with it. I also agree with all of the good programming principles that the book espouses. The problem I have with it is that it seemed to be a hodgepodge of ideas, practices, and solutions that did not always seem to relate to the title of the book. Don't get me wrong - they're good, but I... well, I guess I was just hoping for more. Like I said at the outset, I think this is a SERIOUS problem that needs to be addressed, and I'm not sure the book did it. ("Not sure" being the operative phrase there. Maybe I just missed the overall picture.)
Then I started thinking, well, how does one address/attack this problem? Truth is, I don't know. Maybe you can't. Can any one of us, or any one organization or any one book, change the direction of Java programming, which is being chartered by a small group of large companines? Heck, look at the Java Lobby (www.javalobby.org) It's a great website that has been around since Java's beginning, but have they really effected any change? They try, but mostly it boils down to the same cast of characters sharing their ideas (and flames) with one another.
Bottom Line: I don't know what one can do to change the state of Java programming. These guys try - they certainly did a lot more than I'll ever do - but I'm not sure if this book will do anything except encourage certain good, common-sense programming habits. And some of its advice - like "Life is too short to be stuck with a bad manager. If you don't like your job, find a new one" makes sense on the surface, but have they looked around the real world lately?
In closing I want to firmly agree with what one reviewer said: The fact that this book has two authors, but is written in a *strong* first person sense, is definitely, definitely weird.
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