Jakarta Pitfalls: Time-Saving Solutions for Struts, Ant, JUnit, and Cactus (Java Open Source Library) (Paperback)

by Bill Dudney (Author), Jonathan Lehr (Author) "With the advent of Extreme Programming (XP) and its emphasis on refactoring, unit testing has gained in popularity and exposure..." (more)
Key Phrases: Mock Objects, Paste Conversion, Console-Based Testing (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Escape from common coding pitfalls with this detailed book of proven Jakarta missteps and solutions

The dangers of Jakarta pitfalls are everywhere and countless developers have already been trapped. These mistakes have delayed schedules, allowed major bugs to get into the users’ hands, or led to numerous rewrites in maintenance. Luckily, you don’t have to be the next victim. This comprehensive book captures some of the most common pitfalls that occur with Jakarta and provides you with the solutions to escape them. Focusing on Struts, Ant, Cactus, and JUnit, the authors describe each pitfall in detail, explain how developers have walked into the trap, and discuss the common symptoms and consequences.

They then arm you with a proven solution for each pitfall and take you step-by-step through the process of converting from error-ridden to pitfall-free code. In the end, the pitfalls and solutions presented inside will help you build superior applications that are easier to maintain.

This book will save you from the frustration of having to spend hours working your way out of pitfalls such as:

• Failing to isolate tests or subjects in Cactus and JUnit
• Overloading Struts ActionMappings
• Calculating derived values in JSPs
• Duplicating formatting and type conversion code in Struts Action Forms
• Building subprojects
• Performing business logic in Struts ActionForms

The companion Web site contains all the code examples and solutions in the book.

From the Back Cover
Escape from common coding pitfalls with this detailed book of proven Jakarta missteps and solutions

The dangers of Jakarta pitfalls are everywhere and countless developers have already been trapped. These mistakes have delayed schedules, allowed major bugs to get into the users’ hands, or led to numerous rewrites in maintenance. Luckily, you don’t have to be the next victim. This comprehensive book captures some of the most common pitfalls that occur with Jakarta and provides you with the solutions to escape them. Focusing on Struts, Ant, Cactus, and JUnit, the authors describe each pitfall in detail, explain how developers have walked into the trap, and discuss the common symptoms and consequences.

They then arm you with a proven solution for each pitfall and take you step-by-step through the process of converting from error-ridden to pitfall-free code. In the end, the pitfalls and solutions presented inside will help you build superior applications that are easier to maintain.

This book will save you from the frustration of having to spend hours working your way out of pitfalls such as:

• Failing to isolate tests or subjects in Cactus and JUnit
• Overloading Struts ActionMappings
• Calculating derived values in JSPs
• Duplicating formatting and type conversion code in Struts Action Forms
• Building subprojects
• Performing business logic in Struts ActionForms

The companion Web site contains all the code examples and solutions in the book.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 283 pages
• Publisher: Wiley (July 25, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471449156
• ISBN-13: 978-0471449157
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,148,986 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Using Struts? Buy this book!, October 4, 2003

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

I have to admit that I am a big fan of antipattern books. There are many ways to code an application but a few of those ways will cause problems in the long run both in debugging and maintenance. This book looks at four of the most popular Jakarta applications, JUnit, Cactus, Struts, and Ant, and shows the most common problems that you encounter when using these applications. The book gives a chapter each to Ant and the two testing applications JUnit and Cactus but the majority of the book is dedicated to Struts.

Each chapter looks at several programming mistakes and then discusses ways to revise your code to fix these mistakes and make your code more robust. The problems with certain coding styles are well explained with clear reasoning as to why you don't want to code a particular way. Corrective solutions are well documented with plenty of code samples to show both before and after images.

Although the chapters on testing and Ant are good, the heart of the book is the chapters on Struts. The authors discuss potential problems using Actions, ActionForms, and the Struts tag library. Some problems can just make your code more difficult to maintain while others can introduce intermittent bugs that are very difficult to diagnose. Anyone who is using Struts should absolutely read these chapters, as it will save you from making some simple mistakes that could cause a lot of long-term pain in your development.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars The synopsis in the back is the entire book, December 18, 2003

By	M. R. Harrah - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The book is fine, but it in the back is a boiled down synopsis, about 5 pages, that suffices for the entire book. The rest of the book doesn't really add that much. The material here is good, but is available by reading a few white papers and faq's on the web. I didn't dislike the book, I just wish I hadn't spent the money.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Where was this book when I was cutting my teeth on Cactus, October 14, 2003

By A Customer

This is an important book. If you're new to any of these tools, don't waste your time hitting the same potholes that everyone else has. The authors took some good notes in trenches, and they present their pitfalls in a structure way that builds one upon another.

I just wish this book was available when I was first getting started with Cactus!? It will be at my elbow as I start my upcoming Struts project.

(The only reason I didn't give this book 5 stars is that I ran across a few typos.)