Practical WebObjects [Paperback]

Charles Hill (Author), Sacha Mallais (Author)

Book Description

Series: Expert's Voice in Java | Publication Date: August 16, 2004

This book is for WebObjects developers who want to increase their overall knowledge of WebObjects, or those who are trying to solve specific application development problems.

While Apple provides a modicum of documentation for developers just starting with WebObjects, more skilled WebObjects developers typically learn from each other or via trial-and-error. This book, Practical WebObjects, is 100% pragmatic, featuring working, world-tested solutions for difficult problems. Written by two expert WebObjects developers, and based on their own code framework, the book is sure to be invaluable for WebObjects developers who want to increase their overall knowledge of WebObjects, or are trying to solve specific application development problems.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Charles Hill and Sacha Mallais are senior developers at Global Village Consulting, a software development consultancy that specializes in WebObjects-based web applications. Mallais is also the president of Global Village.

Product Details

• Paperback: 363 pages
• Publisher: Apress; 1 edition (August 16, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590592964
• ISBN-13: 978-1590592960
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #949,641 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #76 in Books > Computers & Technology > Databases > Database Design

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Belongs on the shelf of every WebObjects developer, November 7, 2004

By 

Pierre Bernard (Luxembourg, Europe) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Practical WebObjects (Paperback)

Well, I am not much of a fan of books on programming. Learning from book just doesn't work for me. I advocate learning by doing: grasp the basics and then set yourself challenges to resolve with the documentation at hand.

Nonetheless I recommend this book to everyone who is serious about WebObjects. I have read this book cover to cover. Admittedly I practiced 'accelerated reading' on parts I know inside and out. This book is an interesting read as it tries neither being a reference nor tutorial. It is more of a guide and mainly a problem solver.

The authors do an excellent job of explaining crucial concepts like the request-response loop, the EOF stack, object graph concepts, validation, etc. Unlike other books this one cuts directly to the chase. For beginners some chapters act as road map through Apple's documentation. Mind you, this book does not target the complete novice. Alongside the usual prerequisite of strong knowledge of OO and web application concepts, some WebObjects experience is required. Those who bring this along can expect a substantial boost up the learning curve.

To more advanced user this book is more than an excellent way to recap core WebObjects concepts. Its a problem solver - the WebObjects edition of the Swiss army knife. The authors present ready-made solutions to many common tasks. This is book will save you hours if not weeks. And it does so while completely explaining not only the solution but also the reasonings and techniques behind it. This makes the book an interesting read and it just may spark the idea needed to solve even problems not covered.

Unfortunately the book's strongest points also make for its weaknesses. For one, I find the book to be a bit too confined in the current state of things. It discusses bugs in both the current incarnation of the frameworks and the developer tools. Such information is bound to become outdated rather sooner than later. While helpful I don't think a printed book is the appropriate media to vehicle such volatile information.

My other gripe is that the authors don't make it sufficiently clear that the proposed solutions and approaches are not the only ones out there. They were chosen based on the authors personal preferences. Diverging opinions exist and the reader would do well - and should be advised by the book - to dig for further views.

All in all "Practical WebObjects" is an excellent book. It belongs on the shelf of every WebObjects developer. Novice or expert.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must have book., October 26, 2004

By 

David LeBer (Toronto ON, CA.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Practical WebObjects (Paperback)

This is not a beginner's guide, but any WebObjects developer beyond the complete novice will find this book full of practical advice. If you are just starting out buy Joshua Marker's Quick Pro Guide but get Practical WebObjects too. When you need more detail than the QP Guide supplies, Practical WebObjects will be there for you.

The sections on the request-response loop and editing context locking alone are well worth the price of admission. Each chapter clearly details its subject's processes and pitfalls in a way the benefits even the most seasoned WebObjects developer.

The book offers advice and solutions to many common development tasks with code and resources from the community (WOCode, Project Wonder, Eclipse/WOLips) and its own Practical WebObjects framework. So although this book was written by two authors, it is clear that there was a concerted attempt to include the <em>best practices</em> for developing WebObjects applications, regardless of where they came from.

If it is not obvious at this point, I highly recommend this book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well written overview of WebObjects/Java, October 12, 2004

By 

Jack D. Herrington "engineer and author" (Silicon Valley, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Practical WebObjects (Paperback)

Leaving aside for the moment the market viability of WebObjects/Java as a web application platform, this is an excellent book on the topic. It covers the entire WebObjects/Java application development platform. Illustrations are used effectively and kept to a minimum, code is not overused and the exposition text is easy to read and focused. The book is introductory in nature, it's not a reference work for the platform.

I recommend this book to anyone looking into the platform or for those that are actively using it. I don't think it exposes enough of the architecture to provide insights into the design of WebObjects/Java as a web development platform for architectural design purposes.