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At last, a book that makes J2EE accessible, in the context of a real-world application server!

I found this book to be impressive at every turn. It's well written, well edited, and even has a great website to go with it. And virtually all the source code on the website works.

The authors say it's a book for learning WebLogic, not J2EE, but I disagree. I think it's a great resource for learning both. There are a lot of good J2EE books out there, but I find most of them to be a little too theoretical. This is the first one that brings J2EE down to earth.

Given that you can download WebLogic Server for free, I can't think of a better way to get up to speed on this technology than to buy this book, download the software, and get to work. The authors do an incredible job of walking you carefully through every aspect of the product, from JDBC to clustering, and everything in between. They make the most complex topics seem simple, without dumbing them down.

I work mostly with WLS, but also with WebSphere and Tomcat. This book has given me a solid grounding in concepts that apply to all three environments. If you need to learn WebLogic Server, this is the only book you need. If you need to learn J2EE but you're using a different server, don't write it off. It's a fantastic WebLogic Book, and a strong J2EE book as well.

Complete, detailed, easy to read and understand, this book should be shipped with every copy of WebLogic Server. The best money I've spent on a technical book in years. If you are developing applications with WebLogic, you should own a copy of this book. It clearly explains how to exploit J2EE technologies in your application architecture, as well as how to take advantage of the features of WebLogic Server. Invaluable as a learning guide or as a reference.

If you are new to WebLogic and/or are somewhat mystified by J2EE buy this book. It's a great resource and it is totally worth the money. It helps you get up and running quickly without getting too bogged down in all the BEA documentation. I found the overview of the J2EE technologies very enriching and the demonstration of WebLogic's value proposition and capabilities easy to digest. It also has some very helpful and practical suggestions for working out some thorny issues with WebLogic server such as class loaders, deployment etc. I'm constantly referring to it. The author has really done his homework and has done a valuable service to the WebLogic developer community by writing this book. When I had a question regarding some portions of the text I emailed the author and he responded within hours! He not only helped answer my question but also pointed me in the right direction where I could do additional research. It's nice to see someone stand by their work like that.

The author of any technical reference book faces the challenge of providing the reader with, on the one hand, enough detail to cover the topics adequately and on the other, the need to rein back on minutiae. At the same time, topics should be covered at a level of detail consistent with the subject. This is largely subjective but could mean the difference between a volume 2 to 3 inches thick and a volume 2 to 3 foot thick. Mr Hernandez has managed to keep his authoritative work to a manageable size yet maintain a level of detail beyond which only OSS, SAP Developers and possibly the SAP Help would answer your query.

In his second Edition of what has become a standard R/3 text for many SAP R/3 Basis Consultants, José Hernandez has updated terminology to suit versions up to 4.6 including the new features offered by the later versions. Although the bulk of the text covers the Basis R/3 system one of the most notable changes is the inclusion of Windows NT. Some of the new R/3 features covered are the Profile Generator, the new Object-based monitoring system, ASAP and the Transport Management System (TMS).

The first 5 chapters of the book cover the conceptual overview of the R/3 product including general product information, the software as a client-server system, in-memory and disk usage architecture, installation concepts, and some essential "using" information. Chapters 6 onwards, including the appendices each describe an R/3 topic in detail. A complete Table of Contents is likely to be available on many on-line book stores.

Typical of the material offered in the second edition is the excellent coverage of The SAP Printing System. The chapter covers a conceptual overview describing the Spooler's place in the architecture, its relationship to the operating system, how to set up additional spoolers, using the spooler and the various objects which contribute towards the printing system. José then traverses each of the screens and menu options associated with setting up printer devices, front end printing (SAPLPD), Temse, Fax and administration tasks . When describing how to set up a printer device, each field on each screen is described. Dropdown options are each described in detail. The chapter also includes many operational tips and examples.

Having used the first edition of R/3 Handbook for the past 2 years and being the primary text I used to pass the R/3 basis certification test, I obtained the second edition the moment it became available. I recommend it to anyone who needs a ready-to-hand comprehensive text for SAP R/3 Basis.

I have been doing R/3 Technical Consulting for two years and this is my one and only reference book. It explains the basics of the system architecture and covers major areas, such as user management, authorization profiles, spool system, background processing, basic system monitoring and database concepts (Oracle only).

The information presened in this book is well organized and very helpful on the day-to-day system management.

Don't buy this book if you are looking for detailed information on system installation, ABAP programming and performance tuning.

I waited for the second edition to come out after having so many people recommend this author to me. Jose writes clearly and accurately, explaining the topics at hand well. In less than 1000 pages, he manages to cover all the basics of SAP R/3 Basis administration for Unix and NT systems alike. An excellent read for a technical manual. Highly recommended. I feel it is far better than the Liane Wills text on the same material.

I found this book very helpful and I love this one. Murali has done an excellent work in providing all the RAC related information starting with the Oracle concepts before moving to the clustering part. The hardware concepts chapter covers in great detail the various components that play important role when configuring RAC clusters, interconnects, storage systems etc,

The architecture and transaction management chapters have such a good wealth of information that is helpful in understanding the behavior of RAC, while I have not found an immediate need for these internals, it makes you understand what happens behind the scene which I think will help when you encounter any problems or when you start trouble shooting your RAC environment.

TAF and performance tuning chapters are also very well discussed. The author ends with providing some helping hints for problem diagnostics.

I recommend this book to anyone starting to use or currently using RAC.

I found this book very helpful and I love this one. Murali has done an excellent work in providing all the RAC related information starting with the Oracle concepts before moving to the clustering part. The hardware concepts chapter covers in great details the various components that play an important part when configuring RAC clusters, interconnects, storage systems etc,

The architecture and transaction management chapters have such a good wealth of information that is helpful in understanding the behavior of RAC, while I have not found an immediate need for these internals, it makes you understand what happens behind the scene which I think will help when you encounter any problems or when you start trouble shooting your RAC environment.

TAF and performance tuning chapters are also very well discussed. The author ends with providing some helping hints for problem diagnostics.

I recommend this book to anyone starting to use or currently using RAC.

This book is really good, provides a complete coverage on RAC. The author has an excellent grasp of the subject and explains every detail in an easy to understand manner. This is the best book I have found on the subject.

I am enjoying every bit of detail, and these scripts and explanations are saving us through our implementation.

As a reference book, I'd give this book 4 stars. The information contained therein is good with only a few errors (the picture of the SCSI adapter on page 126 is upside down guys).

However, as a study guide I'd only give this book one star. The end of chapter questions are lame. The sample test is lame.

The biggest problem however is that the Server+ exam objectives are listed only on the inside front cover and in appendix B. To find information on a single exam objectives, you might have to read up to 7 chapters. There is not even an electronic copy of the book on the CD-ROM which comes with the book. An electronic copy of the book would at least make finding information on a particular topic easier (search). In fact the CD-ROM only has a little over 2MB of information (sample test) on it. The contents would easily fit on two floppy diskettes.

This text does an excellent job covering the topics included in the exam. Many of the end-of-chapter practice questions were nearly identical to the (pre-adaptive) exam. Also, the structure of all the practice questions are identical to the exam. I also liked how the text regularly alerted the reader to test related distinctions.

On the down side, it contains a number of mistyped text and technical nomenclature. For example, MB appears in a few places when GB was clearly intended based upon the surrounding context. The frequency of such typos left me worrying about other unrecognized mistakes I could not contextually infer. Better editing is needed. Unfortunately, the Coriolis web site refused my connection when I attempted to check for corrections and addendums to the text.

Nevertheless, I learned a great deal from the text and am quite pleased overall. Unlike that ruinous study guide by Stephen Bigelow, this text is worth of its title as an exam study guide.

Having taken over 14 certification exams I can say that I have never seen one as odd as the Server+. Fortunately I passed and for that I was grateful. I really didnt want to take it again.

I was impressed with the Server+ Exam Prep and felt that it prepared me very well for the test. The content is spot on and I agree with the Amazon review that it is written by a couple of knowledgable techs. The casual style works well and the occassional joke reminds you that you can have laugh about certian aspects of IT at the same time as taking it seriously.

One last observation that has nothing to do with the book - Why do CompTIA have to charge so much for the exams? $190 for an exam from a not-for-profit organization seems steep. Just my 2 cents.

Total trash. This is one of those books where the publisher has packed in as many pages as possible to make it seem impressive. It is completely unreadable and not even useful as a reference book.

In a perfect world, on the day you started working with J2EE you would be handed a book that contained everything you needed to know about the subject. This is very close to being that book. This book is for experienced Java developers who are working with Java enterprise technologies. That does not mean servlets and JSPs, although those topics are covered. This book covers much more than just the basics of J2EE. Naming services, directory services, messaging services, transaction services, DCOM, RMI, CORBA, XML are all covered in some depth. You might think that a book covering so much would need to cover each topic only briefly. In this case, you would be wrong. CORBA has more that 150 pages, JDBC has 120 pages, RMI has 100 pages, XML has 60 pages and so on. Other topics which are often skimmed over in other books (security, cryptography, network communications) are given good coverage here. A case study is covered throughout the book showing how each technology could be used in a single application. The end result is a book that is huge with over 1400 pages. However, the book does have some weaknesses. It is light on the most popular topics of servlets and JSPs. It is also light on helping the developer to determine when to use one technology instead of another. If you are looking for a comprehensive guide to J2EE beyond servlets and JSPs, then this book may be the resource you need.

This book provides a one stop read for J2EE APIs like JMS, JSP, Servlets, JNDI and RMI-IIOP. I found that the authors have spent a great deal of time in putting out well tested examples that explains nitty-gritties of J2EE specification. This book has provided me with lot of expertise for writing mission critical applications. I would highly recommend this book to any serious JAVA developer who wants to get his feet wet with juicy code.

This book claims to have certification tips and questions.Truth is it does not. I donated the book to a guy in a training session as he was planning to buy one. I am glad i got rid of the book. The guy to whom i donated passed the donation to another prospective buyer. The best source for certification questions would be sites like sapfans where you can get much more help for certification and FREE!!!

This is exactly what I needed!

I have been waiting for this book for a few months, but I was really happy with it when I finally got it. There was a great deal of content in this book that was very helpful to me. I reallly enjoyed how the author took the time to include questions and answers on every single SAP module!

I think the best part of this book is that it helps prepare you for SAP Certification. I know that ERP is the best field to get involved in, but finding out where all of the SAP courses are given is very hard. I was on the telephone with SAP for the better part of a day trying to determine where they offer courses, how much the courses cost, and what they all involve.

I also didn't know what course track was the best one for me. After examining this book, I found out how to pick the right module to get certified in. I was really happy that someone took the time to detail all of the ins and outs of the SAP Certification process.

I am really happy with this book and found it to be very very useful to me. If you are looking for a very detailed/heavy book that explains the entire SAP Certification process in detail this is it. I like this book, I recommend it, and think that if you are going to have anything to do with SAP then you should absolutely get it.

This book was of enormous help to me in my certification pursuits. The only problem is that this book is always sold out because everyone wants a copy of it!

I hope there is more stock of this book and that the author writes another edition of this book as it is the only SAP book I could ever find that covers everything I needed.

Really terrific resource that is very highly recommended for anyone interested in getting certified in SAP R/3.

This book is not worth buying at all. the author cleverly uses buzz words and selling tactics that try to make the book look good. I would shop for other SAP books. Dont waste your money on this one.

I have been an SAP technical consultant for over four years, and I have always sought information on ALE and EDI that is comprehensive and explained lucidly. This book is IT. These are the points I liked about the book that compelled me to write this review for the benefit of readers:

1. Clear explanation of fundamental ALE/EDI building blocks.

2. Step-by-step, recipe type approach to building simple and complex ALE interfaces with elaboration of underlying concepts.

3. Real life examples and ALE/EDI scenarios.

4. Explanation of associated Functional configuration and concepts.

5. An example of building an brand new ALE scenario from scratch that gives the reader a valuable insight into the inner mechanisms of ALE, such as master data distribution.

6. As Alvin Toffler, the author of books such as Future Shock and Third Wave said "Complexity has to be dealt in its own complex ways. You can not oversimplify". The author of this book has strived to explain complex issues such as ALE Optimization in an excellent way, explaining the reasoning for settings and tips and tricks to better ALE interfaces.

7. A great Appendix and CDROM that has saved me hours of searching for research and reference, and valuable source code in a softcopy.

This is a fantastic book to learn a lot about these technologies. A must have for all SAP Professionals.

Dave Torrento SAP Interface Specialist

Amongst all SAP topics covered until now, this is by far the best book on these two exciting technologies - ALE & EDI. Rajeev has done an excellent job of not only introducing these topics with great care, but also gradually building the readers knowledge base to an expert level, step-by-step, in a tutorial fashion.

Notice the structured format of the book - the table of contents is like a checklist for building these interfaces. Important topics like IDOC extensions and ALE function module enhancements are covered extensively. Especially of interest to ALE & EDI professionals are chapters on Periodic Processing and Optimization, which has lots of tips and tricks and "golden rules", the dos and donts that you have to know.

In addition to all the great contents of the book, it is further augmented by a CDROM that has precious source code for real world examples, and a whole lot of reference material. I found the CDROM especially useful for research as well as quick references.

If there is a self-help book on SAP, THIS IS THE BOOK! A must have for every SAP professional!

Joseph Stubert

If you are unfamiliar with MTS and MSMQ, this is a great introduction to both technologies. Once you've read this book, you'll understand the big picture and be ready to delve into the details. Good example code, and well written. It's a real page turner.

Only minor quibble is a few minor production issues. For example, in my copy, there's a sticker on one page to cover up the typos!

If you want to be and running in a couple of weeks with MSMQ and MTS, this is the book you are looking for. The book has lot of examples in VB and helps you understand the concepts behind MSMQ and MTS.

The book however does not go in detail over how you set up your message queues. In the next edition I would like to see some Visual C++/J++ examples.

Overall, a good book and worth the money!

If you like examples and short concise descriptions this is the book for you. There are some typos, but overall is a great book. If you want history and philosophy try the MS Press books.

This was the first book I read in preparation for the Implementing a Database Design on Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 (Exam 70-029). The first thing I noticed was that a good portion of what I had been tested on for the System Administration for Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 (Exam 70-028) was covered in this text. It is clear that you really need to work through both the Administration and Design books to be prepared for either of Microsoft's SQL 7.0 Exams.

This book left me with questions. For example, I could not understand cursors after reading it through but when I consulted Transact-SQL Programming by Kline, Gould, and Zanevsky and Inside Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 by Soukup and Delaney I found the concept very clear and understandable. After reading through all of these I took the Microsoft Official Curriculum course and the 700-page notebook that came with that was my favorite study guide. I was surprised that the MOC material was the most complete even though the Self Study Kit overlaps with a lot of the material covered. I only saw one concept on my version of the 70-029 exam that was not covered in the course material but there were probably 4 or 5 concepts that were not covered in the books I read. Note: None of this reading really prepares you for the rigors of the 70-029 exam. This test really cries out for drilling on good prep software like Transcender so that you can spot the easier questions and answer them quickly to save time for the more demanding questions that require extensive analysis. I spent 20 minutes diagramming the database described in my first question so that I could make sense of what was being asked. Many of the questions appear to require this kind of detailed analysis unless you know to look for the flaws that invalidate all but one of the answers.

The Design book may be overpriced in comparison to other books but it does seem to be the lowest cost access to enough of the material you need to comprehend the range of concepts tested in 70-029. By supplementing it with a lot of reading in Books On Line you might get everything you need. I don't regret paying $1500.00 for the MOC and spending 5 days in class but I understand that not everyone can choose that route.

I purchased this book with the 70-029 exam in mind. Dislike other reviewers I didn't have any experience in Microsoft SQL Server, I was migrating from the AI/X DB2 world. This book is superficial in important aspects like index tunning and distributed queries. I finally had to adopt a different strategy based on sample tests and Microsoft Books On Line to pass the 70-029 with a less than satisfactory 755 mark.

This is a pretty good test preparation book. It is the only volume I read cover to cover to prepare for the System Administration for Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 exam (70-028). I had spot read several other volumes to prepare a maintenance guide for SQL Server 7.0 installations so had become familiar with admin topics on the job. I did find after passing the Admin test that my margin of safety would have been greater if I had read the companion volume on Implementing a Database Design on Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 (Exam 70-029) before I tested. It is clear that you really need to work through both the Administration and Design books to be prepared for either of Microsoft's SQL 7.0 Exams.

Still a good reference. Funny someone wrote they had yet to find anything of value in it because just the other day I needed a concise review of XML schema. I found the XML primer from this book to be the best most clearly written explanation I had seen. And it cover a lot of ground in relatively few pages. Giving a book 1 star because it is dated is near sighted. Yes, look at the publication dates because things change fast. But when this book came out it was one of the better ones and so I think the authors deserve credit for that. It offers a nice explanation of the layers of web services, the various components that work together. While some things change, many things really just grow more complex and the latest explanation may not be the best. I can see dropping it a star but a good resource it was and still is as i noted.

I was thinking about the value of older computer books the other day and I realized, sometimes the perspective is different in an older book so things that are no longer explained much are discussed with more detail. For example, a 1996 book on learning Java is obviously of no value, right? Well I thought so also. Then as i was going to toss it, I read the last chapter describing in great detail how Java works under the hood. I have NEVER seen such a complete techincal discussion down to the bits and bytes in any other book. And those things are still true today. So an older book can go into details you may not find in a new book because things taken for granted now were being explained for the first time then. Keep the better older ones, they can still help you as this one did me.

I've been thoroughly impressed with this book. It throws a wide net over most of the current web services standards and technologies, and gives you at least an understanding of where they all fit, while still providing you with enough depth on the crucial ones (SOAP (with Axis), UDDI, etc.) so that you can get started with real projects.

I particularly liked the way in which the authors have created an all-in-one reference book on the most important web services technologies. For instance, I've never been able to read SOAP messages without having a reference on XML namespaces and XML schemas handy -- no more -- it's all here in this book.

The coverage of the new Apache Axis project is especially good; not only does it explain the advantages of the new architecture for handling SOAP headers, but it gives code examples for making use of these new features. This is to be expected, since many of the authors of this book are major contributors to the Axis project.

I also found the chapters on Web Services security and UDDI to be helpful and enlightening. While all of the chapters in the book don't live up to the promise of these excellent chapters, it's still overall an great introduction to this new set of technologies.

And by the way, the guy that gave the book 1 star because it has "no source code downloadable" should have first tried going to www.samspublishing.com and done a search on the author's names -- the page for the book CLEARLY has a section for "downloads" where you can get the source code.

I do not dispute the view that this may be one of the best books
on web services.Yet I have a suggestion to make.The chapters are too long.People like me,who read from cover to cover,would have prefered,say,three chapters on SOAP,WSDL,UDDI,and then and only then three more chapters on Advanced SOAP,Advanced WSDL,and Advanced UDDI.For people who do not read from cover to cover or who would use this book as a reference,this may not be so critical.

This book is unique in the sense that it takes an evolutionary approach to web services by considering where web services came from and where they are going.In this context,the last chapter on the future directions of web services is a very good quo vadis chapter.

It is very unfortunate that most popular books on computers take the opposite approach as if new ideas have no fathers and no sons.This is very dangerous because such an approach can only produce sterile bastards in name of new ideas.

I generally do not review books but with this first review I want to start breaking this rule.