Customer Reviews

Open Source Linux® Web Programming

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

 

 

This book is a true eye-opener for any web programmer. Everybody has heard of, experiment with, and develop in Perl, Java, XML, Apache and Linux, but I haven't not seen any book that explains how to combine these "open source" technologies together in such an original way until I read this book!

For example, the authors don't just show you how to program in Perl, but they actually teach you NEW cutting-edge techniques such as developing n-tier, component-based, object-oriented applications (separating logic from content from presentation). The authors take you slowly through the steps of building components for the "header", "footer", "navigation bar", "content", and "template" with plenty of commented code for each component, leading finally to a complete e-commerce catalog site! (No traditional CGI programming here).

I actually followed through all the code and was hooked. The Perl techniques presented here are complete and I have not seen them anywhere in any of the other books dedicated to Perl (even the O'Reilly books). The source included in the CD actually worked.

I am especially excited by the XML materials in chapter 5 and 6. Chapter 5 is a concise intro to XML. The techniques for parsing XML with the XML::Parser module (based on James Clark's Expat) are presented with great comments, always leading to a complete application at the end of the chapter. No other Perl books I've bought (and I do have many of them with animals on the cover) have ever explained to me how to use the XML::Parser, but this book does it exceptionally well in just one chapter! (chapter 6).

Chapter 7 shows you how to build a Perl XML-driven site. How to translate from XML to HTML, from HTML form to XML and how to manage XML content with Perl scripts.

The rest of the chapter discussed applications servers with a focus on the open source XAS, an XML Java-based application server. Again, the authors show you step by step the techniques for building Java applets and clients, parsing XML in Java and building an XML-driven site in Java. (Here I would like to see more server-side programming with Java servlets).

The final chapters discussed some issues on foolproofing and deploying your applications in Linux.

The book is not a tutorial on Perl or Java (the authors made that clear in the introduction. The readers are expected to have a basic understanding and working knowledge of both).

I really like the style with which the authors lay out the materials. The authors give a lot of comments on the code. I like the fact that, throughout the book, the code and component/routine lead up to a complete useful non-trivial application at the end of each chapter. It motivates me and pulls me along. It's a style that appeals to me and helps me to absorb the materials. I find myself adapting the techniques into my web programming projects.

I highly recommend this book to any web programmer who wants to dabble in new development techniques with Perl, Java, XML, Linux, Apache and open source tools. A remarkably up-to-date book on current issues of web development. (No fluff). It doesn't just talk about them, it actually shows you how to implement them.
5 stars.

I don't know anything about the subject matter covered in the later chapters, but the Perl that the authors demonstrate in chapters 3 to 7 is some of the most badly written and buggy Perl that I have ever seen. Many of the example programs won't even compile as they have typos in them that would have been caught if the book had been given the most cursory glance by a technical editor. I searched the IDG (sorry, 'Hungry Minds') web site to see what errata had been made available, but there didn't seem to be any.

When i bought this book i was looking for a whole sight of the tools that i can find in opensource, not only a few... this book needs a roadmap view.

Why? theres is no reference for C or JAVA. Why? theres no refence to modules for Apache? Why? theres no references to JDBC, DBD/DBI, databases in general....

Anyway a good book? but with a quite good aproach to the problem

i belive this book lacked of information about database information and reference to C

A well written look into possibly the most relevant technology of the minute. Drew and Chris capture an essence hereto untold about the world of Linux Web Programming. I laughed, I cried, but I saw the ending coming from a mile away.