Customer Reviews

Implementing LDAP

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I am up to page 168 of this book. So far it has been sufficiently worthwhile to read, so I plan to continue to the end. There are several good aspects as well as unfortunate ones. First the bad news, therefore leaving a better taste in ones brain.

'Implementing LDAP' seems to suffer from lack of editorial review. For ex, page 163, a sentence reads "In an asynchronous operation, you might set an LDAP search running, freeing your computer is to perform other tasks(...)". The sentence needs to be corrected by removing "is". There are numerous examples of this type of mistake. Either Mark, in being the Champion he is, had to stay up way too many nights to write this book, or Wrox press did not bother to review his work. I suspect the later.

Further, the work presents several different explanations on at least one term. For example, about RDNs, it explains "In general, when we talk about an RDN, we usually mean the left most part of a DN". (p 148) Yet earlier in the text, it is stated that "The DN is made up of components, each of which is called a relative distinguished name (RDN)" (p 48). These two definitions are somewhat different. I, the reader, am left to resolve this. (By doing my own editorial review ? )

Yet, on a more positive note, I found this text one of the more readable, and less filled with "fluff" than other texts. One text I had attempted put me so to sleep, and was filled with how "LDAP would solve this and that and marketing people like it, and so did CEO's etc". It was one of those big door stoppers. "Implementing LDAP" does not seem to suffer as much from this. It is a worthwhile read, especially for the discount price I got it from in a NYC discount book shop (which is filled with newer texts).

The above kind of thing is usually the norm in most software literature that is out there, especially by lesser known outfits. (I never have this kind of problem with O'Reilly.) With this in mind, I believe "Implementing LDAP" deserves the rating I gave it. To WROX - proofread it and I'll give it 4 out of 5.

If in every section 10% of the paragraphs would have been cut, if Wrox press would have used a spell checker, and if an editor would have been allowed in the building, it's possible that I would have been able to focus on the content. My head is still dizzy from shaking it back and forth while reading this book.

The author does seem like a nice guy. Better luck next time, Mark.

I needed a crash course into LDAP, and that book was the only one available - and for a good reason! The author, while probably a competent engineer, is a complete failure as an author / teacher. He cannot express even simple concepts. After spending a few frsutrating days with this book, I turned to other texts. Now, already understanding LDAP, I still find most of this book misleading at best. Of course, lack of editorial review did not help this book either; many places in the book don't make sense not just from technical, but also from grammatical standpoint.
Don't waste your time on this one - read "Ldap: Programming Directory-Enabled Applications With Lightweight Directory Access Protocol".
Or even better, simply install iPlanet LDAP server and read the documentation.

There is little depth to this book and the reader needs to do a lot of sifting to extract valuable information. Even after doing that, the information obtained is still fuzzy. Beginners may get confused whilst non-beginners may find the book frustrating for lack of substance. I'd try a different book.

I picked it up in the hope that it would provide me answers, which otherwise woud take me too long to ferret out by way of experimentation.

Unfortunately, (and despite the numerous times Mark has answered by questions on Usenet) I must regretfully say that this book is not well written. It is the poster-child of books which are all too hastily marketed, without peer or expert review.

Here are some of my specific gripes.

1. Typos. Alas, after all the spell checkers and such other publishing software tools, when will a book by a computer professional, on a professional computing topic, from a technical publisher rid itself of typos? WROX Press - PLEASE read something by Academic Press, etc. Perhaps you will learn how to form a reputation for excellence.

2. Articulation. I was taught in grade school that not all ways of composing a sentence are equal. The narrative in this book reeks of the writer's haste and downright dismal editorial work (if any was performed).

3. Rigor. May we see precise and exact definitions for terminology? Whatever happened to brevity, closure and correctness?

4. Lastly, simply put, some LDAP protocol and, particularly, JNDI features have been wrongly interpreted by the author. Parts of the JNDI chapter so confused me that I simply returned to the JavaSoft Tutirial and my own initative.

With the author's reputation and good work (elsewhere), this book could have been a great and timely work. Perhaps if you employer pays for it, its not a loss to you. Just glean whatever is of value and return it to the library...

I am indeed very disappointed. While they cover different aspects of the same topic, compare this book to "Understanding and Deploying LDAP Directory Services" by Howe, Smith and Good and you will see what makes a truly great book on LDAP.

With only a tiny bit of exposure to LDAP prior to reading this book, "Implementing LDAP" brought me up to speed very quickly. Mark Wilcox covers the spectrum of LDAP-related issues in a way that is relatively easy to keep up with. If you need some extra help comprehending what LDAP is and what it can do for you, get this book.

I was a little surprised at the number of typos, though.

This book is an excellent introduction to LDAP. It assumes that you have some knowledge of Directory Services already. I recomended this book to anyone wanting to create an LDAP service.

The editor missed some signifigant typos (When you're messing with d: uid=scarter, ou=People, o=foo.com, a typo can really matter).

Reading this book was my introduction to LDAP. It stressed first concepts well but then began to repeat them over and over, meanwhile glossing over more advanced issues.

Some of the grammatical constructs in the book were difficult to manage at best and should have been caught by an editor.

Overall it was somewhat useful, but a much better book is "Understanding and Deploying LDAP Directory Services" (Howes, Smith and Good). I recommend it to anyone who has been tasked with implementing an LDAP project.

A well-written book with good balance between design and development topics. A must-have for the beginner and those exploring LDAP services.

Yes I guess the title states that. I am not an implementor, yet wanted to understand more about this LDAP thing as a system designer (with a strong RDBMS background). So I only read the first 3 chapters - after that the book becomes heavy-duty detail level.

In summary, I found the first 3 chapters well explained, but not conceptual enough for me. It is written at a lower level, but sometimes a bit too simplistic.

Still, I would recommend the book for the implementor who is a beginner at LDAP. The book is vendor independent, and you'll learn much about recent market offerings.