Enterprise JavaBeans [Paperback]

Richard Monson-Haefel (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1565926056 | ISBN-13: 978-1565926059 | Publication Date: June 1999 | Edition: 1

Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB) is a major new technology for server-side application development in Java. It offers a component architecture for developing distributed, multitiered enterprise applications. This model allows you to build complex, mission-critical systems using simple snap-together pieces that model individual business objects and processes. EJB greatly simplifies the process of development by automatically taking care of system issues like object persistence and transaction management.

This book provides a thorough introduction to EJB for the enterprise software developer. It shows you how to develop enterprise Beans to model your business objects and processes. It also shows you how to develop client applications that use the Beans to perform useful work. One powerful advantage of the EJB architecture is that it allows you to partition work appropriately between different parts of the system: the database provides persistence, your Beans model various business entities and the interactions between them, and your client application provides a user interface, but incorporates minimal business logic. The end result is a highly flexible system built from components that can easily be reused, and that can be changed to suit your needs without upsetting other parts of the system. Enterprise JavaBeans teaches you how to take advantage of the flexibility and simplicity that this powerful new architecture provides.

This book covers:

• Developing entity Beans (Beans that model business objects) and session Beans (Beans that model business processes)
• Deploying Beans in an EJB server
• Using the client-side API to use enterprise Beans
• Bean-managed persistence

Appendices show in detail how to deploy Beans with the most popular EJB servers.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

As many Java developers and IS managers already know, Sun's powerful Enterprise JavaBean (EJB) technology offers an attractive option for developing server-side components. A suitable read for both managers and Java programmers, Enterprise JavaBeans provides a surprisingly clear and engaging introduction to designing and programming with EJBs.

The tour of the EJB component model presented here centers on several beans created and tested for a travel reservation system in a fictitious cruise ship company. The samples are just right in scale, large enough to test out key concepts in design and deployment, but small enough to be comprehensible, even to those who are not Java experts. The author pays close attention to the real-world issues of deployment with EJBs (as well as the differences among the vendor application servers that run them).

While there are enough details in Java syntax for designing both entity and session beans for the developer, sections on design here will please those who manage projects without delving much into code. Later, the author shows various ways to design entity and session beans. (For instance, entity beans can allow their bean containers to handle the details of connecting to a database, or they can do it themselves. This book demonstrates both approaches.) When it comes to session beans (which "wire" together entity beans to do real work), the author's introduction to managing state and transactions is also a standout. Tips for performance and reusability close out the book.

In all, Enterprise JavaBeans provides an engaging tour of one of the most promising component technologies. It's technically astute, but thoroughly approachable too, and can serve the needs of any manager or Java developer considering EJBs for future projects. --Richard Dragan

Topics covered: Enterprise JavaBeans (EJBs) basics, distributed architectures, Component Transaction Monitors (CTMs), bean-containers, home and remote bean interfaces, resource management, configuring EJB servers, entity beans, JNDI, container-managed and bean-managed persistence, session beans, stateless and stateful beans, transactions, design and performance hints.

About the Author

Richard Monson-Haefel is the author of Enterprise JavaBeans, 3rd Edition, Java Message Service and one of the world's leading experts and book authors on Enterprise Java. He is the lead architect of OpenEJB, an open source EJB container used in Apple Computer's WebObjects plateform, and has consulted as an architect on J2EE, CORBA, Java RMI and other distributed computing projects over the past several years.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media; 1 edition (June 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1565926056
• ISBN-13: 978-1565926059
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,751,702 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent introduction to EJB, December 6, 1999

By 

Becky Roeder (Columbus, Ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Enterprise JavaBeans (Paperback)

It is obvious that much editing went into this book. It is clear, concise, and contains few errors. Although it is 'short' compared to other technical tomes, it does not short-change the topic covered. I wish all technical books were of this quality.

This book provides an excellent overview to what Enterprise JavaBeans are and then goes into details on how to use them. If all you need is an high-level understanding of EJBs, chapters 1-3 are for you. If you will be developing EJBs read chapters 1-9.

You do need prior experience with Java and JDBC to get the most out of the examples. The provided diagrams are effective, I just would have liked seeing a few more at the point when new concepts are being presented.

This will be a book I will continue to reference as I develop EJBs.

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "The" book for Enterprise Java Beans, November 19, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Enterprise JavaBeans (Paperback)

I am currently working on a large Internet application project using Application server with EJB and was looking for "the" EJB book. And I found O'Reilly's Enterprise JavaBeans by Richard Monson. The book is already being well talked amongst EJB developers and a leading resource to EJB community. As a feather to the cap, this book is recommended in our corporate training session on application server being provided by Netscape.

The key plus point of the book is that it covers both development concepts as well as behind the scene issues which provides clear understanding of EJB and its development.

Chapter 1 talks about various concepts of CTM and Server side component model and gives good insight about distributed object architecture. Chapter 2 explains the EJB architecture from the developer's point of view. But the author has also explained the role of EJB container. Chapter 3 gives an excellent overview of various primary services and also resource management issues. This includes the concepts of transaction, persistence, Naming, Security, Instance pooling etc.

Chapter 4 and 5 takes through the steps required to develop server side as well as client side codes. Moreover the cruise line illustration is quite simple and easy to understand. Chapter 6 and 7 explains the life cycle of Entity and session beans clearly explaining the concepts of bean-managed and container-managed persistence and stateful and stateless session beans. The key concepts are well represented through suitable diagrams. Chapter 8 gives detailed insight to various issues related to transaction management including Declarative transaction, Isolation, Explicit transaction management etc. Especially, all the transaction attributes are represented through flow charts for easy and thorough understanding.

Last and most important chapter discusses design strategies, which is the crux of any EJB based application development. It explains the issues to be considered during the design of the componentization model including Passing objects by values, Object to relational mapping tools, Implementing a common interface etc.

A 'must' to all EJB developers.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cool book - but be sure to buy the new SECOND EDITION!, April 2, 2000

By 

Rasmus (Denmark) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Enterprise JavaBeans (Paperback)

Easy to understand in depth no nonsence coverage of EJB 1.0 - BUT you would better of buying the new second edition that covers EJB 1.1!