By now a classic, this book eloquently expressed how the Corba component design committees came up with an EJB specification that was not an ideal cornerstone for all J(2)EE applications. Although very fit for selected purposes the early EJB specs had to evolve to EJB 3 to really leverage the power of Java. Fundamentals of component based flexibility often lost on OO design are explained well, regardless of whether one decides to use Spring the alleviate the risks around it.

bought this book long back,
kind of boarting book, nothing is writen very clearly,
AOP part is horrible, its so boaring whenever i try reading it
after reading one or two page i just fall to sleep,

This book introduces the Spring framework strategy as an alternative to J2EE which is GREAT. I noticed this book is far behind while comparing to the latest updates to Spring framework. Now, I am looking for updated code example and how-tos.

This book introduces the Spring framework strategy as an alternative to J2EE which is GREAT. I noticed this book is far behind while comparing to the latest updates to Spring framework. Now, I am looking for updated code example and how-tos.

Great Book . but why pay $30 bucks for it if you can get the same in $10 . email reshmahind@yahoo.com

It does not fit for Software Engineer or Developer at all. EJB has bad performance though, it is a well-known fact, no need to say lots on the point. This book is like an advertisement for Spring Framework, but no directly and clear outline of Spring. From beginning to end, the book wrote lots verbose concepts about java, no real touch of authentic content. Although Rod is famous and experience on Java, this book might be an artitechure knowledge book, not good for level below intermedia java developers and SEs.

This is a fine book. I appreciate the practical insight and opinions expressed by the author. Sometimes it seems that he justifies his points by using the same rational he attacks in other technologies like EJB. Not that I am a fan of EJB, having used it in projects and found it wanting.

This book is very complete. It can be used either by a developer or by a architect. The examples are vey ilustrative and brings out the best of the Rod's experience. Like the other book "..with EJB", this is a must buy!

In 2004, I may have given this book 5 stars.
At the time, most people still think ejb is
the official/standard solution for
J2EE development, and can not imagine alternatives to EJB.

Now, lots of people are convinced that
ejb is not the only solution, and may not be the best
solution for J2EE. This book spent five chapters
to explain the weakness of ejb, which may be very useful
last year, but is repetive and less useful now.

Chapter 6 is an introduction of lightweight IOC container. Then chapter 7 offers an introduction to Spring framework, and chapter 8 moves to Aspect-Oriented Programming (AOP). These three chapters explained the spring foundation very well. Other chapters are describes use of spring framework in transaction management, persistence, remoting, web design, .... which are good but not as complete as newer books like "Pro Spring".

If you are interested in Spring framework, besides "Pro Spring", you may also check "Professional Java Development with the Spring Framework", another book written by Rod Johnson and his team.

This is a very thoughtful, considered book about enterprise programming with Java / J2EE and some of the consequences of following the textbook / blueprint approach. I find that the subjects where I have prior experience with he is confirming or structuring stuff I have seen and in the areas that I have no experience I really trust his observations. He details the different J2EE approaches and analyses their strengths and weaknesses.

If you like Martin Fowler's books or the pragmatic writings of Andy Hunt & Dave Thomas then you should love this.

This is the best J2EE book I've read. And it make many aspects clear to me. Yes, there are not lots of code in the book, however, I think you can easily find examples using the Spring Framework on the Internet.

If you were only able to buy one J2EE book, then this would be it. J2EE is a complex technology filled with opportunities to make judgment errors. This book clearly outlines the rationale and implications of J2EE decisions to avoid making those costly mistakes. The information in this book could be the difference between a success and a failure. I highly recommend this book.

I've read this book several times since the day it shipped and I have to say that this is an excellent book for anyone working as a developer or architect working in the Enterprise Java arena. I absolutely love this book given my bias - I guess I should start by stating my bias. EJB bashing is a favorite past time of a lot of people. I happen to love EJB's, with the exception of entity beans and think EJB's are a great way to create software solutions are remotable, loosely coupled and powerful. I will agree that EJB's are way too complicated with all the stupid artifacts that you need to create to create and deploy an EJB. Having worked with EJB's since 1999, I guess I am so used to all of nuances of EJB's, I can write up deployment descriptors in my sleep. Having said that, I approached this book with a little apprehension as I hate these EJB-sucks book that don't really offer any intelligent discussion about the shortcomings of EJB nor do they offer a viable alternative. Another assumption I brought to the book was that this was just a Spring book with a little EJB bashing thrown in for good measure.

To my pleasant surprise, Rod Johnson and Juergen Hoeller have written an awesome book. This book does not take cheap shots - Instead there is a intelligent, thought provoking discussion about the pros and cons of EJB. In fact, the first 120 pages (Chapter 1-5) are just a great breakdown of application architecture with a through treatment of EJB. I loved this section and re-read it several times and I found myself agreeing with pretty much everything in this section. I would equate this to a great meaningful discussion you would have with someone who really understood application architecture and development and you could debate the pros and cons of the many alternative approaches that exist today.

Chapter 6 starts the discussion of Lightweight Containers and the idea of Inversion of Control (IoC). This is not a chapter on Spring; rather it is an overview of Inversion of Control and strategies like Dependency Injection in the context of Spring and PicoContainer.

The next chapter offers a quick introduction to the Spring Framework. As everyone already knows, the Spring Framework is a very popular open source application framework created by Rod Johnson. The co-author Juergen Hoeller is another lead developer of Spring. The chapter is Spring is fairly light and people hoping for a in-depth Spring tutorial will be disappointed. Instead this chapter offers a rather high-level overview that will get you some basic understanding of the Spring Framework. I guess it's hard to cover Spring in 43 pages.

After the cursory introduction to Spring, the book moves into Aspect-Orientated programming (AOP) concepts. This section starts with a very introduction to AOP before jumping into AOP implementation strategies. After a brief discussion of AspectJ, AspectWerkz, and JBoss AOP, the authors move into SpringAOP. After AOP, the books moves into Transaction Management where current J2EE approaches are discussed and then contrasted with the Spring approach.

Review trimmed to comply with Amazon's review guildlines for length. For more details, check my blog at j2eegeek dot com.

If there is a 3 and a half, this book would have got that ranking from me. The book title consists of programmer to programmer, but there is hardly any code for practise in this book.

There is some repetition with respect to use of Singletons, Spring framework's advantages over pure EJB approach etc. Another negative I feel is too much talk and less helpful content for a pure programmer. This book will help some one think more positively about lightweight frameworks when compared to EJB part of J2EE. But the user needs more resources to get it going.

Coming to the positives:
1) There is nice coverage on usefulness of Test driven development(whole chapter assigned to preaching this aspect) which is good for we software engineers.
2) Good intro to light weight containers and inversion of controls.
3) Intro to AOP and details of different ways to go about it.
4) Whole chapter dedicated to nice coverage of performance and scalability issues.

I have not read the other title 'Exper one-on-one J2EE' from the same author, so I am not sure if there is repetition from that title though.

An outstanding book on alternatives to usually complex, heavyweight and expensive EJB development. Lightweight IoC/DI frameworks like Spring, and modern O/R tools like Hibernate and JDO are a must for every enterprise architect and developer worth his/her salt to understand, and Rod & Juergen do a stellar job at presenting the case for them. You'll want to buy copies for your co-workers...

Lots of info on the Spring framework, some good examples for Hibernate and iBATIS, but alot of repetition about why ejb's are bad and why Spring/other "lightweight" frameworks are good. Some arguments against ejb's are unconvincing: like they are too complex and hard to test. But on the whole if you're looking to get into Spring or are interested in Hibernate/iBATIS, or wonder what all the mumbling about inversion of control frameworks is about, then its worthwile.

This is a J2EE good book for software architects and senior software engineers aspiring to be software architects.

This is the second book in a series of 3, the first being Expert One-on-One J2EE Design and Development (Programmer to Programmer) and the final being Professional Java Development with the Spring Framework.

While the promises of J2EE have been busted long ago, this book clearly articulates why and better still, suggests reasonable and sound alternatives.

I find it repetitive in most areas; some people may feel repetition drives home the message, but it just gets tedious for me.

And although the bookcover promises to be more code intensive, I find it not to be. But then again, this is a book about architectural decisions and solutions for J2EE; and not about how to program.