Art of Java Web Development: Struts, Tapestry, Commons, Velocity, JUnit, Axis, Cocoon, InternetBeans, WebWork (Paperback)

What makes this book interesting is that it takes the same application and builds it using six different Java frameworks (JSP, Tapestry, WebWork, Interbeans, Velocity and Cocoon). What detracts is that while it provides pros and cons to each issue it fails to assert the best overall, or to provide an analysis of which would be best for a particular scenario. Chapter 11, which is about how to evaluate the frameworks actually doesn't do the evaluation. That is an exercise left to the reader. So if you like to choose between well documented options, you are in the right place. If you are looking for some Gartner style analysis and conclusions, you are in the wrong place (but there is no right place that I know of.)

The interesting chapters:

Chapter two provides an implementation in JSP and then covers the cons of that approach.

Chapter three provides a nice introduction to Tag Libraries as a way to increase reuse from the straight JSP model.

Chapter four is an excellent introduction to the Model 2 architecture.

Chapters five through ten cover the various frameworks. Strangely Velocity and Cocoon are covered when the author himself doesn't even consider them frameworks.

Chapter eleven provides a detail set of criteria to evaluate the frameworks, but does not itself evaluate them.

The chapters that follow are lumped into 'best practices' and cover a grab bag of technologies and issues including EJBs, performance, caching, debugging and unit testing, and axis. As if to provide a fitting end to a grab bag section the last chapters covers everything that 'would'n't fit in the book'. This whole section could probably be dropped with little damage to the overall work.

The book is fairly well written and edited though it does make some sweeping generalizations and grandiose statements that are all too often the hallmark of Java books.

If you are looking for a way to get information about a cross section of front end technologies for your Java application then this is a good book to look at. If you are looking for something that makes recommendations, you won't find them here. In addition, if you are looking for a book that covers the entire Java technology stack for web applications, this is probably not it. The book was probably mis-named.

(Full disclosure: I am a Manning author but I in no way allow that to effect my reviews.)

The first part of the book is a discussion of Java web architecture in general with a concentration on MVC architecture. The second part is an examination of some of the most popular frameworks in use today. This part is interesting as the author demonstrates the same application developed in the various frameworks. The section finishes with a list of criteria to use when evaluating any framework for your own development projects. The final part is a discussion of best practices in various aspects of a web architecture such as resource management, performance, and debugging. This section reads almost as a series of articles.

The book is not really a how-to guide to using the various frameworks. I had trouble getting a couple of the examples working exactly as provided and some of the discussion was a bit confusing. But the overall view of how to choose and then incorporate a framework into a well designed architecture makes the book a very worthwhile read.