Murach's Java Servlets and JSP (Paperback)

by Andrea Steelman (Author), Joel Murach (Author) "This chapter introduces you to the concepts and terms that you need for working with servlets and JavaServer Pages (JSPs) as you create web applications..." (more)
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Editorial Reviews

Review
"Murach's Java Servlets and JSP is an incredibly excellent book which will certainly set a new standard for training/reference books."

Product Description
This book methodically teaches all of the skills necessary for developing a commercial web site using servlets and JavaServer Pages. These skills include working with HTML, HTTP, servlets, JSP, sessions, cookies, JavaBeans, SQL, JDBC, connection pooling, JavaMail, SSL, security, and XML. Unlike many of the competing books, this book provides detailed coding examples for working with Tomcat, one of the most popular servlet and JSP servers, and MySQL, one of the web’s most popular database servers. A great book for any Java programmer.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 642 pages
• Publisher: Mike Murach & Associates (January 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1890774189
• ISBN-13: 978-1890774189
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 8 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #396,586 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #10 in	Books > Computers & Internet > Programming > Java > Servlets
  #17 in	Books > Computers & Internet > Databases > Java & Databases

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I Cant Over Recommend This Book, March 9, 2004

By	Bruce Scott (Los Altos, CA United States) - See all my reviews

I've been developing software for 28 years and using Java for 10 years. However, I've never developed a web application. I needed a crash course on all things web and Java. On my shelf I have about two feet of new books on a variety of Java topics including three books on Java servlets and JSPs. Almost without exception all of these books make these mistakes:

- Assume the reader knows too much and in some cases assumes the reader is already familiar with the topic

- Takes a complex subject and makes it more complex by taking many digressions, explaining something without explaining why and referring to technologies not explained in the book.

- Is loaded with undefined acronyms

- Has a "smirky" attitude as though there is some private joke

- Only shows code snippets without providing the complete context allowing for your own testing

- Doesn't take a building block approach so that you learn the topic step by step

Murach's book makes none of these mistakes. I think all technical "how to" or tutorial books should follow Murach's format. There is one concept for each two pages. The left page explains the concept with clearly written text and the right page shows the example that demonstrates the concept. Each concept is built on concepts already learned in previous pages so that if you have understood all the previous concepts you easily understand the next concept. In this book the only assumption is that you're familiar with Java but not necessarily an expert. Along the way unimportant details are identified or there is an indication that the detail will be explained in a later section. If you read the book from start to finish you will not be confused at any point.

Because there is an assumption that the reader only knows Java some basic topics such as HTML and the web paradigm are explained. The good news is that these topics are clearly identified and if the reader is already familiar with the topic they can be skipped without fear of missing something important and required for future sections.

Aside from the format and process of this book there is the spirit of the book. It is clear the authors care very much about whether their book will help the reader become conversant on the topic. They act as a technical sherpa and are never condescending.

I believe this is the only book a beginning Java servlet and JSP programmer will need. I'm not a servlet and JSP expert but I'm guessing this may be the only Java servlet and JSP book you'll ever need.

My only disappointment in Murach books is that they don't have more of their books on more recent technologies such as Jakarta Struts or Enterprise Java Beans. It seems that most of their books are on legacy technologies (has Java servlets and JSPs become legacy?).

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book, October 6, 2003

By A Customer

This is a GREAT book. It's methodical, easy to follow, and in the process, it shows you that Java really isn't as difficult as those junky Sun tutorials lead one to believe. I actually used this book along with Sun's Java Web Services Developer Pack and it really made things easy to set up servlets and JSP.

If you already know servlets and JSP, buy this book anyway just to see where other tutorials left out the fundamentals.

In my opinion as a trainer and developer, it is a major feat of skill and patience to bring somebody from zero knowledge to a productive level of skill in technologies like this. These authors make it look easy. Sun should hire them to redo all of their tutorials. That way, Java would be more widely adopted and could eventually overtake security-hole-riddled Microsoft products.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Incredible, June 15, 2006

By	Joe - See all my reviews

This book on Servlets and JSP is truly a self explanatory tutorial for those who wish to get some hands on by themselves.
Murach's two page trick works very good. This book is comprehensive in getting you know the basics of JSP and Servlets. I was a guy with just core Java knowledge and when I wanted to get myself in learning the advanced concepts like JSP and servlets, this book proved one.
This book caters for those who want to get a flying start into JSP and Servlets but for an indepth knowledge on the subject you'd better look for other options.