Customer Reviews

Not Just Java (Sunsoft Press Java Series)

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Like a girl's skirt!

Just long enough to cover the subject, but short enough to be interesting!

I enjoyed this book - great for the manager, who wants to know what is this thing called JAVA.

David

I'd like to rate this book 4 +/- 1. Peter has a very readable style, and the book is a useful survey of a number of forces shaping the future use of technology, particularly in business. For that I'd give it a 4. Note that it does NOT show you how to use any of these technologies; it just tries to tell you why they're important.

Whether you add or subtract one depends on how you feel about his attitude about Microsoft. If you look at the steady stream of improvements Microsoft has made over the years and feel grateful to the company, you'll hate this book. Peter can fairly be accused of bashing Microsoft.

If, on the other hand, you believe that the innovation that WOULD HAVE taken place -- had Microsoft not used its monopoly power as it did -- would have left us with a richer world of software, then you will at least have some sympathy for his obvious anger against the company. You might even find some of his many historical notes quite interesting.

And if you keep abreast of the technology but largely ignore the political/economic forces that shape the industry, you'll probably find all of this distracting and attribute the rants to hormones and/or stock positions. :^)

Seriously, though, there is a lot of venting.

I don't understand people who slam a book because it has a different perspective than their own biases and point of view.

"Not Just Java" is a good, balanced appraisal of the computer industry, the players and products, and where Java fits in. It points out the shortcomings of Java and Microsoft equally. Recommended

This book is billed as "Everything IT professionals need to know about Java". Sadly, it isn't.

Mr van der Linden is at his best when talking about how the Java language works - the chapters on applet programming, Java libraries and the Java environment were good - but he waffles around the topics of the Internet and e-commerce. Sure, you can buy books from Amazon.com, and isn't it nice to know that Amazon runs its retailing site on a Sun Microsystem Starfire server, but what of it?

One of the major weaknesses of the book is that it does not go far enough in discussing Java in the context of enterprise computing - there was no explanation of what an application server is, and I expected much more about Java Beans. Merely saying "To write a Java software component or 'bean,' a programmer just needs to follow a few simple naming conventions" did not leave me much the wiser. Similarly, there could have been more details on Object Request Brokers, or some discussion of how to integrate Java with legacy applications.

The biggest irritation of the book is the constant Microsoft bashing. Yes, I know that Bill Gates is really Darth Vader and Windows is the equivalent of the Death Star, but I don't need to be reminded of it in every other paragraph. One of the constant refrains of the book is that Java is an open platform (i.e. good; despite Sun controlling the Java standard), and that Windows and its allied technologies such as DCOM are proprietary (i.e. bad). (Unfortunately, in constrasting open and proprietary standards, Mr van der Linden makes the factual error of categorizing the CMIP network management protocol as being proprietary, when in fact it is an international standard widely used by telephone companies.)

The reader would have been far better served if Mr van der Linden stuck to the technologies of which he has a good grasp, and had left the propaganda to his boss at Sun Microsystems, Scott McNealey.

A terrific book to give us the context for programming in the internet cloud in general - a one-stop resource for what's important. But that was in 1998 and I would like to see a revised edition. The ranting and raving about Microsoft was hilarious and accurate and of course one sided, but that is the American spirit - Ask the Raider Nation about the super bowl and the Bucs! And that does not make SUN an angel either. IMHO SUN is a big ..., confused about the extent of their rights to copyrights (they made me spend two hours on establishing their rights after I gave them [money]) and the whining in the courts about MS and weren't they the dot in the dotcom? Having said that, Peter is one of the BEST technical writers around (refer: Deep C classic) and I look forward to his future books.

I really liked this book. It gave me the info I needed about the Java phenomenom. No wonder the Microsoft shills are getting hysterical!

My manager bought a copy of this book for everyone in her department. It's that good. Some people were challenged by the message that "PC's aren't the be-all and end-all", but most people appreciated the fresh perspective. Recommended.

Computer technology moves fast! Seems like as soon as you learn one thing, its replaced by two other TLA's (Three Letter Acronyms).

Not Just Java is an EXCELLENT book that told me what I need to know, in a clear straightforward way. I highly recommend it.

My problem is the constant overload of info from all sources: magazines, trade papers, email, faxes, tv, newsgroups, sales literature, white papers.

What a delight to find a book that summarizes industry key trends, and gives straight talk on Java. Recommended for busy people who need the facts.

One of the best books I've read for providing a framework of how a programming language fits into the big picture. It's a must read for any programmer serious about moving their career into internet development. Would highly recommend it for IS managers as well.

The author made a very solid case against the non-standard Microsoft J++, and enlightened me to some very questionable business practices.

Extremely interesting, I finished the book in five days.