Expert One-on-One J2EE Design and Development (Programmer to Programmer) (Paperback)

ONE CAUTION! Some of the framework code outlined in the book COULD be considered overly complex for many circumstances. Ironically, Rod would probably respond that the high degree of abstraction would IMPROVE the usability and maintainability of any J2EE application. However, I believe that excessive abstraction, in an of itself, can become a maintenance (and training) nightmare (look at the sheer complexity of the interface inheritance in the data access framework from Chapter 9 alone). His solutions to Data Access and Application infrastructure are so sophisticated that they qualify as a framework worthy of open source momentum on their own. The downside of this, of course, is that your development team must invest in understanding these sophisticated hierarchies since they are unlikely to have encountered them in any previous role. Unless you have a VERY stable team of highly skilled designers/developers, be cautious of trying to implement such frameworks. Instead, the downsides of more simple (albeit less flexible) approaches are usually outweighed by the reduction in training or the likelihood that transient resources will be able to contribute more quickly. Nonetheless, a great book and worthy of my ** All-Star ** category.

No other book on web programming that I know of comes even close to this one. Some noteworthy features:
-- Always framework-oriented approach (which in my view is the only possible choice for real-world projects)
-- Heavy emphasis on architectural side of web development (follows from the previous point)
-- Comparison of different view technologies from practical point of view, w/o exclusively subscribing to a particular one which seems popular (like, JSP).
-- Excellent coverage of MVC paradigm, again, w/o subscribing to a particlar implementation (like Struts, etc)
-- Extensive coverage of all levels ("tiers") of a web application.

But what really shines, are the insights on architecture, namely the things which is impossible to find out by theoretically studying J2EE specifications and books such as "Enterprise Java Beans" and the like. For example, why Entity EJBs don't work. Or when is collocated EJB architecture is more appropriate than the distributed one, and why. After reading the book, many concepts just clear up. Not to say that everything is written in a clear and concise language (despite a few typographical errors that Wrox books are notorious for).

In short, this book is simply amazing.

The author starts by taking high-level perspective on the subject, showing the different design considerations that need to be applied when choosing which J2EE technologies to use. A case study (a ticket booking system) is described and elaborated on throughout the book, showing how these design considerations affect a real-world solution.

The book also provides a load of coding tips I found useful, from better use of reflection, to judicious use of design patterns, to how to minimise your refactoring. The author assumes the reader is an experienced developer, so doesn't focus on rudimentary Java and architecture. I found this useful, but it means the book is more focussed to a specific audience.

Amazingly, the book also provides an entire framework based on J2EE on which you can put your application logic. My only complaint is that this is not included in a companion CD - you have to download it.

Overall, the book works because it shows you how build solutions, not just understand the technology.