Customer Reviews

Client/Server Survival Guide, 3rd Edition

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This book is for client/server novices and those with experience in client/server development.

For novices, this book is an excellent source for knowing the client/server architecture, 2-tier and above.

As a person experienced in client/server development this book gave an understanding of basics of application layer from a theoritical perspective.

This book has to be read many times and the readers will feel the need to refer to certain topics as the need arises. I have to caution the readers that this book is not meant to be read once.

A client/server system consists of a) presentation layer b) application layer c) database layer.

This books touches on topics on all the three layers In presentation layer, it deals with GUI/OOUI/non-GUI clients. In application layer, transaction processing (transaction management) is described in great detail. In the database layer, major database vendors are discussed (I feel this may not be useful for those of us already familiar with database management systems).

Messaging components (I tend to include TP monitors in this category too) are discussed that form the core part of application layer component.

The book discusses numerous other topics such as datawarehousing (OLAP, EIS, DSS), CORBA (excellent material to understand from a high-level perspective), object databases (I really liked this part because of my experience in RDBMS) and distributed objects and management.

I would highly recommend this book for those of you out there waiting to know more about client/server architecture.

I don't have a programming background and only had general knowledge about the client/server architecture world when I purchased this book. I needed to come up to speed quickly. The book was recommended to me by a co-worker who is extremely knowledgeable about c/s. At first I tired to read the book as a reference piece, reading just the parts that I was interested in at the time. I didn't get anything out of the book, confused by all the acronyms. I found myself with some free time and ended up reading the book cover-to-cover within a week (unfortunately not sitting on the beach as the authors suggest).

This made a world of difference. Each chapter builds on the next and the information started to crystallize. I highly recommend this book for anyone that wanted to learn about c/s. I plan to read it again. With ever-changing technology this book will become quickly out-dated. This is one reader that will be looking for the next edition. The reason this book is "one star short" is because while I was reading, I kept wishing for a section where all the acronyms are expanded for quick reference. A glossary would also be great.

I have been doing nothing but client/server for the last five years. In spite of that I cannot keep up with all the latest developments. I am a computer consultant -- in my field it is imperative that I have a very broad overview -- I never know what my clients might ask and must have something worthwhile to answer.

This book is an excellent book for understanding the entire client/server space. The level of detail is excellent for such a broad overview. It is not too deep. It is not shallow.

Use this book as a jump-start to understand the client/server landscape. When you find areas interesting to you, deep-dive into them.

The book which covers every imaginable facet of Client/Server computing. The topics include operating systems, databases, middleware, data warehoues, transaction processing, groupware, distributed objects, CORBA, COM, and the Web.

The authors keep this usually dry topic interesting and light-hearted. They present an excellent overview of each subject so it is a great first book to get your feet wet in client/server. Also, the book is incredibly up to date so if your knowledge is a little old, it will bring you up to speed on the latest developments.

The only negative I can state is that at times when the authors try to dig into technical details, they make some inaccurate statements. However, if you use this book for general concepts and overview, this will not be a problem.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is working in the client/server arena. It is extremely useful to get a wide breadth of knowledge in this area.

Technology explained in plain English. Good for salespeople, managers, business analysts, and geeks who need a quick overview of technologies outside their focus area. Thorough but readable - wow!

Having worked in the IT industry for over 16 years, I've seen the insides of many large and small companies. But even with professional programming experience (on mainframes and PCs), as well in setting up LANs and WANs, exposure to the breadth of technology hasn't happened for me. And with technology now changing at hyper speed, it seemed impossible. I needed help to see the big picture.

A well-respected guru recommended this book. I worried that I should complete my Java 2 certification preparations before I invested the time to read it, but these were misplaced worries. The knowledge this book gave me about the world of objects, ORBs, and Internet technologies definitely prepares me for the future. By the way - when I read that one of the authors worked for BEA Systems, another for IBM, I was a little worried that author biases might creep in. Again, misplaced worries.

Frankly, this is the best technology book I've ever read. The editing is superb, the illustrations illuminating, the insights terrific

For someone looking to understand the nuts and bolts of the client/server world, this is a good, one-stop "shop" to find it. But I would urge its authors to include a glossary of acronymns -- or to at least include every acronymn in the index. The TLAs are ubiquitous and hard to remember from one chapter to the next!

I found this book very interesting 1.5 years ago when I read it. Partially because there was a very good match between what was written in there, and what I could hear around me in the work place.

Time has passed, and I hear less and less talk about CORBA (except in negative terms), and more and more talk about Websphere (based on some technologies explained in the book also - I have to say)...

The third edition remains mostly interesting, but it is now more of a book providing background information, rather than a book providing cutting edge info and likely to help people make choices for the future.

I am impatiently waiting for the fourth edition.

Bernard

I'm the AS/400 developer with RPG background, and for the the last one year programming with VB Client/Server and accessing by stored procedure. I thought it was enough until I find this book. It has opened my eyes : there are so many - many technologies must be learned in the sort time. This book will encourage you to learn Java & CORBA !!

If you are not familiar with the Client/Server and Web programming jargon and/or are having trouble figuring out how all of the pieces fit together, this book is for you.

You'll need to get past some of the 'cuteness' that the authors use to make their points. However, they cover the topic soup to nuts in a way that you will understand going forward.

I picked up the first edition of the book by accident when I was trying to figure out fat client server computing and subsequently bought the other two versions to get more overview and to use as a desk reference (i.e. I had to explain the concept of ACID properties of transactions and needed a brush up)

Lastly, if your manager is non-technical, do yourself a favor and get him/her a copy of this book.