XML, XSLT, Java, and JSP: A Case Study in Developing a Web Application [Paperback]

Westy Rockwell (Author)

Book Description

Series: Landmark | Publication Date: July 19, 2001

The book is a practical, hands-on experience in building web applications based on XML and Java technologies. This book is unique because it teaches the technologies by using them to build a web chat project throughout the book. The project is explained in great detail, after the reader is shown how to get and install the necessary tools to be able to customize this project and build other web applications. Of particular interest to readers will be the author's use in of XML in the book project as a language to express the architecture and design of the application itself, and not only the data content as is the usual case with "XML-based" applications. The book also contains some new and provocative techniques for XML storage using Java objects. The CD-ROM contains the web application project discussed in the book, which is a web chat called "bonForum." The complete source code is also provided. The files in the project consist of Java source and class files, HTML, JSP, XML, XSL, TLD, and image files.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

It is our vision to bring you the Voices That Matter with our publishing and Westy's book is certainly in that realm. He's passionate about his work and has something of value to say and it shows through in his book. He's a voice of value! We here at New Riders have worked hard to bring you something useful and helpful in your search to learn more about web development. As always, we want to hear what you have to say about the book so please feel free to contact us directly at [e-mail].

-New Riders Publishing

From the Author

My book does not replace others, it extends them. It has a dual purpose. As a "field guide", it links you to crucial web resources, where you deepen your comprehension, or acquire basic theory, about XML, XSLT, Java Servlets and Applets, and JSP. As a "laboratory manual", it takes you into hands-on mode, co-developing a web chat project applying all these technologies. After helping you set up the "laboratory", and teaching you to use its "equipment", I introduce the project design and implementation. Finally, I dissect its source code in great detail, so you can create your own web applications.
-Westy Rockwell, author

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 768 pages
• Publisher: New Riders Press (July 19, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0735710899
• ISBN-13: 978-0735710894
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 7 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,047,242 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

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

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A poor attempt at a case study, December 18, 2001

By 

Thomas Paul (Plainview, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: XML, XSLT, Java, and JSP: A Case Study in Developing a Web Application (Paperback)

There are some books that are published that you wonder why the publisher went through the exercise. New Riders should have rejected this manuscript. It claims to be a case study of XML, XSLT, and JSP but it isn't. It is a confused and confusing discussion of the author playing around with technology.

The author wanted to try out some ideas so he decided to write a chat program. But there is no real design effort (you won't find a single UML diagram anywhere) so it is difficult to understand precisely what the application is supposed to look like. Without any real design, the application ends up with one servlet of over 50 pages and another of over 40 pages in length. (The book is inflated with 300 pages of source listings that are unreadable.) As a case study in how to do bad design and write awful code, the book can serve as a warning perhaps. As far as actually trying to explain any of this technology, the author admits that isn't the purpose of the book. In a case study you like to hear of problems encountered or the different solutions attempted but you won't. No mention is made of security or performance. The code itself is useless and can't be used in other applications because it is so poorly designed. The author admits that huge chunks of code need to be refactored.

Overall this book fails to provide any real value.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars not what I thought, August 31, 2001

By 

Gerald McDonough (Minneapolis, MN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: XML, XSLT, Java, and JSP: A Case Study in Developing a Web Application (Paperback)

I bought this book hoping for an advanced and detailed comparison of 2 java server architectures: XML/XSLT versus JSP.
It is not a comparison, or a tutorial, or an analysis of any kind. It is simply a meandering report of the author's experimention with miscellaneous technologies. No conclusions are reached. No pitfalls are described. Topics like performance and extensibility are not even touched. XSLT is only mentioned in passing as an approach that was not followed. XML is only discussed as an application's data store; a mildly interesting exercise that most certainly would not be used on any production web site. Lastly, over one third of the book is source code print out.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars What a waste!, September 10, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: XML, XSLT, Java, and JSP: A Case Study in Developing a Web Application (Paperback)

Complete waste of money. I hate beating up authors, but this is nothing more than a dump of a software project from work. As such, there is little comparison-contrast, discussion of design choices, or benefit-pitfalls of the design. Don't expect to extract information from this text to apply to your own projects.

I feel the publisher should put this book in a "out of print" status to save customer heartache. Did New Riders even review this book before releasing?