Designing Systems for Internet Commerce (Paperback)

by G. Winfield Treese (Author), Lawrence C. Stewart (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review
Read the entire review of this book.

Designing Systems for Internet Commerce is the first book I've seen that goes in the opposite direction, relying almost exclusively on bulleted lists to walk the reader through the elements of designing and implementing an electronic commerce system. I have mixed feelings about this approach. On the one hand, if the reader is using the book as a reference and doesn't care about its cover-to-cover readability, Designing Systems for Internet Commerce is packed with useful information in a compact, easily digested format. For the reader in search of a book with something akin to a traditional narrative structure, however, the constant flow of high-density information can be a real turn-off. I brought the latter viewpoint to my examination and came away flat, which is reflected in the below average "readability" score at the end of this review. -- Curtis D. Frye, Dr. Dobb's Journal -- Dr. Dobb's Journal

Product Description
Internet commerce3/4poised to revolutionize the way we do business3/4is quickly becoming a reality, with an exploding number of Internet business sites now being deployed. If you are thinking about taking the Internet commerce plunge, read this book.

Written by two of the most experienced practitioners in this burgeoning field, Designing Systems for Internet Commerce will guide you through the business and technical considerations of building fully functioning, secure, and financially successful Internet commerce systems.

Both comprehensive and practical, this book explains the fundamental principles of system design, reveals best design practices, and offers reality-based advice on implementation. It explores the common issues and critical questions to ask when planning a system for Internet commerce. In addition, it describes the key technologies relevant to electronic commerce and explains how to apply them using numerous examples.

The authors' special focus is problem solving: They discuss the many potential risks, challenges, and stumbling blocks of Internet commerce systems and how best to deal with them. This information will enable you to anticipate and solve the problems you are likely to face, helping you implement an Internet commerce system that effectively serves the needs of your organization and its customers.

You will also find comprehensive coverage of: * Consumer retail, business-to-business, and information commerce business models * The critical issue of privacy versus merchandising * Legal issues, such as taxation, copyright, and digital signatures * Essential cryptography and security standards and methods * Functional architecture and implementation strategies, such as the use of outsourcing, custom development, and off-the-shelf products * The technological building blocks of e-commerce, including content transport technologies, CGI, Java, ActiveX, sessions and cookies, CORBA, SET, and COM * Proven strategies for system design * Creating and managing content * Payment systems and transaction processing

In addition, the authors walk you through a full-fledged Internet commerce system design to illustrate all of these strategies, technologies, and functions in action. Moreover, the book demonstrates how to separate content from transactions, and offers an example of a scalable transaction engine.

Designing Systems for Internet Commerce will give you an understanding of how to bridge the gap between your vision of Internet commerce and the reality of attaining that vision with the technologies available today.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional (April 27, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0201571676
• ISBN-13: 978-0201571677
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,849,624 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Architecture is the central theme, May 21, 1999

By	Michael Darmody ([e-mail]) (San Diego, California, USA) - See all my reviews

The book is geared for IT professionals. This still is the only book that views Internet solutions in a decomposable architectural perspective. It contains a good chapter on the value chain, payment systems and transaction processing. The graphics are clear and reusable. It had a little too much overview material on related topics and not enough alternatives to the authors' company solutions. Great book for budding technical architects. More books are needed that address lessons learned from real architects. This fills that gap.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars 10% useful content, 90% filler, April 1, 2002

By	C. Mitzel (Schaumburg, IL USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book feels to me like the authors came from a teaching background, had a few original ideas about how to cover certain broad topics in their own personal way, and then went overboard saying the same things over and over again as if paid by the word.

I had to buy this book because it was required for a class at Regis University Online. I would have preferred to choose my own book. I started reading diligently and eventually came to the conclusion that the book was a waste of time. Even if the blithering was taken out and the useful information condensed, the book still wouldn't be saying very much.

Here's an example from chapter 5, "Conflicting Goals and Requirements." The reader expects to learn how to balance the two. Instead, we get this (this is the chapter summary):

"Whenever different participants in a system have different goals and requirements, there is a potential for conflict. This is particularly true in a new industry like Internet commerce, where there are few established standards. Our advice is to build a list of the participants in your system, and to be very clear about their goals, interests, and agendas. Understanding the participants, their goals, and their interests is very important in framing both the business problem and the technical challenges to be overcome."

...huh? No answers, just laborious advice telling you to be aware of the problem. I would expect this sort of thing from a nerdy friend that thinks he knows what he's talking about and just likes to hear himself talk. Or from a business meeting where people like to make lists but don't have a clue about what to do about the issues at hand.

If you really, truly don't have a clue about Internet commerce, and want to read 350 pages of monotony and still not have a clue, this book may be of interest to you. But if you're intelligent enough to be reading reviews first, you know enough to look elsewhere.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Too much philosophy, not enough content, January 22, 1999

By A Customer

The authors are clearly qualified and knowledgeable, but the book suffers from being a dry and largely superficial overview of almost every concept related to computers, IP networking, telecommunication and e-commerce. Little space is devoted to real-world examples, illustrations of products and promise of specific technologies in e-commerce.

The book is probably written to those who need a some "corridor competence" to talk about these matters, but there's little technical "meat" to be found here.