Practical Ajax Projects with Java Technology (Paperback)

~ Frank Zammetti (Author)
Key Phrases: underlying logging implementation, top style attribute, webapp structure, Commons Digester, Done Figure, Internet Explorer (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

If youre a Java developer already versed in Ajax-style programming, and you want to take your knowledge to the next level, then this is the book for you. Practical Ajax Projects with Java Technology provides the ultimate learn-by-example experience, featuring seven complete example applications for you to learn from and then adapt for use in your own projects. During each application, the author will lead you through the planning, design, and implementation stages.

The book begins with a few quick chapters to recap Ajax basics and build up a complete development environment, and then moves on to the applications. The seven applications are diverse: an auto-complete application, an Ajax game, a two-way chat application, a webmail client, an RSS aggregator, an online calendaring/scheduling system, and a Flickr-style photo gallery application. Technologies covered include Apache, Ant, Ajax Tags, Struts, Prototype, DWR, Dojo, and more. Overall, this book will save you countless hours of development time, and help further your Java Ajax knowledge!

About the Author

Frank W. Zammetti is a web architect specialist for a leading worldwide financial company by day, and a PocketPC and open-source developer by night. He is the founder and chief software architect of Omnytex Technologies, a PocketPC development house.

He has over 12 years of "professional" experience in the IT field, and over 12 more of "amateur" experience. He began his nearly life-long love of computers at age 7 when he became one of four students chosen to take part in the school district's pilot computer program. A year later, he was the only participant left! The first computer Frank owned was a Timex Sinclair 1000 in 1982, on which he wrote a program to look up movie times for all of Long Island (and without the 16k expansion module!). After that, he moved on to a Commodore 64 and spent about 4 years doing nothing but assembly programming (games mostly). He finally got his first IBM-compatible PC in 1987, and began learning the finer points of programming (as they existed at that time!).

Frank has primarily developed web-based applications for about 8 years. Before that, he developed Windows-based client/server applications in a variety of languages. Frank holds numerous certifications including SCJP, MCSD, CNA, i-Net+, A+, CIW, MCP, and numerous BrainBench certifications. He is a contributor to a number of open source projects, including DataVision, Struts, PocketFrog, and Jakarta Commons. In addition, Frank has started two projects: Java Web Parts and The Struts Web Services Enablement Project. He also was one of the founding members of a project that created the first fully functioning Commodore 64 emulator for PocketPC devices (PocketHobbit).

Frank has authored various articles on topics that range from integrating DataVision into web apps, to using Ajax in Struts-based applications. He is currently working on a new application framework specifically geared to creating next-generation web applications.

Product Details

• Paperback: 528 pages
• Publisher: Apress (July 24, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590596951
• ISBN-13: 978-1590596951
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #458,219 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A very nice complimentary resource, October 4, 2006

By	David O'Meara "JavaRanch Sheriff" (Australia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I have read some AJAX books and enjoyed them, but they typically concentrate on the client side and coverage of what occurs on the server side, if any, is generally PHP or a smattering of almost anything. But I'm a Java guy. The book I've been looking for would have not only the server side examples in Java, but would also use Java as the basis of discussion on client-server communication and the tools available to ease the whole process.

The examples cover a variety of interesting projects and technologies, but the coverage of CSS, JavaScript, Servlets etc is very light as to be almost non-existent. Some of the sample code has been cut and paste without too much scrutiny, so they are often bloated by useless or even empty javadoc blocks but this is more of a annoyance than a real problem. Appendix B has several pages of useful links, but I would have liked to have seen this as a closing chapter of the topics that didn't warrant complete coverage.

Interestingly, while core AJAX books tend to favour the client action and be light on what happens on the server, this book leans the other way. If you are looking to buy a single book to cover AJAX this will cause you a problem, but now that you are fore-warned if you get the correct combination of client and server AJAX coverage you'll be well served for your future needs.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good intro and reference material, January 20, 2007

By	B. Bottema (Leeuwarden, Friesland Netherlands) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The book begins a three chapter introduction about the involved technologies, Ajax basics and maybe even more important the concept of Web 2.0 and its ongoing evolution. When people think about Ajax they often think 'no refreshing', 'cool widgets' and 'flashy stuff', but nobody really thinks about desktop application architecture within the webbrowser. And Frank Zammetti finely points this out.

The chapters following the introduction are about fully working projects (a project per chapter). Every project uses a different Ajax toolkit/library or combines them differently. For example there's a very good introduction project on how to use DWR or Dojo (though Dojo's full capabilities are not used). Frank also goes into the details of the communication between server and client using XML and JSON. At the end of every chapter, he gives you a couple of suggestions for improvement so you can go at it yourself with your newly gained knowledge.

Not all is perfect though; From the project chapters on, Frank just goes into the details of the project but fails to put it in a context; he doesn't for example explain why a certain Ajax webapplication has 'windows' using divs or why/how/if separation of responsibly is needed (like MVC). It's just the way it is and he only explains the mechanisms. I would've liked his opinion, both conceptually and concrete examples of how he thinks an enterprise web application should be implemented (for example DWR is an excellent candidate as Controller in the MVC marshalling between client and web).

On the Java side he goes into details on how to set up the server (web.xml etc.) and how to configure some toolkits in there (like dwr.xml with DWR). Configuration aside, he explains his server-sided application logic for every project. Again, he just goes into technicalities here and leaves the architectural concepts behind them untouched.

All in all a good book to read; to get introduced to many toolkits and gain awareness of what Web 2.0 really means.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great AJAX toolkit guide, December 8, 2008

By	David R. Miller (Erie, PA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Before you buy this book, you should have a solid understanding of basic Javascript and some server-side Java programming. The book does a great job explaining how to create complicated projects simply by using some of the free AJAX toolkits. My only complaint is that the book does not cover much "raw AJAX." If you are looking to learn how to use some of the best toolkits for AJAX programming, this is the book for you.