Electronic-data-interchange Books

This is one of the best pocket programming reference books I've come across.

By the time I started to read this little gem, I had already spent some time learning XSLT 1.0 and XPath and had started to implement some simple XML transformations. However, this book was amazingly useful in expanding my understanding of this occasionally challenging language. Using it as a reference book, I was soon able to implement some fairly sophisticated XML transformations.

Evan Lenz's XSLT 1.0 Pocket Reference is well-structured, first covering some basics on XPath, then some details on how XSLT transforms XML, followed by detailed explanations on the elements and functions that constitute XSLT 1.0 and finally, a section on XSLT Extensions, containing additional elements and functions specific to a range of both free and commercial XSLT processors.

The main strength of this book is in its clear and concise explanation of elements and functions. Where appropriate, useful snippets of example code are provided to assist the in explanation of specific concepts.

This book also contains useful tips with explanations on additional XSLT 2.0 elements and functions which, I presume, evolved from those in XSLT 1.0. Hence, this is also a useful book for those wishing to move from XSLT 1.0 to 2.0.

In summary, this is the perfect portable reference book for XSLT 1.0. I wouldn't recommend using it to learn XSLT from scratch, but then that's not the purpose of this book. An understanding of the basics of XSLT or XML is all that's required to make this book a fantastic resource for the XSLT developer.

This book represents an amazing feat of distilling all you really need
to know about XSL into 170 pocket-sized pages. What's more amazing
is that an experienced developer with little prior XML/XSL experience
can actually learn enough from this little gem to write competent XSL.

A reference manual AND quality tutorial in 1/20th the space (and dead
trees) of most tech books these days. I've recommended this to several
of my colleagues who had to get up to speed on XSL for a new project,
and the reaction from them is the same as mine.... This was EXACTLY
what I needed.

XSLT is one of those technologies that takes awhile to get the hang of. Once you've learned the basics, you'll end up needing to refer back to reference material often. One way to make that process a bit quicker would be to have a copy of Even Lenz's XSLT 1.0 Pocket Reference on hand...

Contents: Data Model; The XPath Language; How XSLT Works; Elements; Functions; Extending XSLT; XPath 1.0 Grammar; XSLT Pattern Grammar; Index

Looking at the back cover, the impression is such that you could use this book to get "up to speed quickly" on XSLT. Perhaps you could, but if this was your first and only exposure to XSLT and it works out that way, you're a far better IT professional than I am. The information is concise and correct, to be sure. But it's not going to walk you through the subject in a tutorial fashion. Conversely, if you understand the basics and need a quick visual reference on how to use a feature, say like , this book shines. You don't have to wade through a dozen pages of conversation to find out the format and syntax. Two pages total in this book, and you have all the details. And that's what an O'Reilly's Pocket Reference title is for...

If you're working with XSLT already and need that "cheat sheet" material, I'd recommend this book. You'll get a lot of value from it. If you're looking to learn XSLT, you'll probably want to start with something more tutorial in nature first. Once you've got that down, head over here for ongoing reference...

This is a handy little pocket book that covers the essentials of XSLT. It's far better than the stuff you will find on the W3C site, and it won't break your back like Michael Kay's excellent, but hefty, work. I have to ding it a little for lack of a complete reference on XPath. There is certainly information about the functions, but I would have like to have seen more depth on it. And the XPath appendix wasn't helpful. A language definition is definitely not what I was looking for there. Some common examples of XPath usage would be great.

I have used this book continually since its first or second (looseleaf) edition. Ben Wright wrote one of the first serious works to diligently and thoughtfully explain practical Internet legal issues. He and Jane Winn have continued to make this the best, clearest reference work on e-commerce, a field where many poorly-written books were rushed to press. I keep it at my desk and tell my e-commerce lawyer colleagues to do the same.

The Law of Electronic Commerce, Fourth Edition, is a fine resource for lawyers practicing in the e-commerce area. It incorporates the rare combination of a broad coverage of applicable topics, substantive explanations of those topics and practical advice on how to apply them that is kept up to date in this rapidly changing environment by the hard work of the authors. I have a copy on my desk as I type this and it will remain within arms reach.

it's probably the best book till now for the e-commerce la

This book provides crucial information on the EDI - XML link that connects supply chain mgmt with RFID. Book provides an insight on the backone technologies that run today's supply chain management. RFID section is brief, it provides a nice overview of the RFID's potential future impact on the Supply Chain.

Nahid Jilovec, a recognized expert in Supply Chain technology, has written an excellent briefing on the new developments in the space. For anyone interested in subjects such as Electronic Data Interchange over the internet, new EDI standards and new applications of technologies such as RFID this book will provide a thorough overview how the technologies are used and the benefits they provide. I recommend it highly.

De Micheli's book is the most complete reference I know for the aspiring tool-builder,or for the tool-user who wants to know more of what's inside the design and synthesis tools at her desk.

The first hundred pages or so lay out mathematical basics. Graph theory pervades later discussion, so it gets a thorough review in this early section. There's also a little about boolean logic - not the kids' stuff, but a variety of representations, plenty to get the reader's mind set into mathematical orientation of the rest of the book.

Part II, chapters 4-6 are, for me, the real meat of the presentation. They deal with the higher, architectural levels of synthesis, with a strong discussion of scheduling of shared resources. This book predates modern system-on-chip design, so it doesn't get to the level of on-chip busses and networks. The datapath and resource management issues are just as important today as when this book was written, though. And, even if it omits references from the ten-plus years since its writing, it gives today's reader a solid preparation for creating tools on the cutting edge of system synthesis.

The remaining chapters, although thorough and competent, are not in the center of my interests. They deal at length with decomposition of logic and control into gate-level constructs. De Micheli's discussion goes far beyond freshman logic design since, as he points out, "Most classical methods are not practical for circuits of usual size." Chapter 10 goes beyond classic and/or decomposition, and well into the quirks and limitations of real cell libraries. FPGAs are mentioned only briefly - understandable, since they had not acquired the importance given them by the decade-plus of technology shifts since the book was written. A modern successor to this book would probably have a lot more to say about FPGA-based implementation, and would probably address placement and routing issues that De Micheli had no need to address.

Despite its 1994 copyright date, this book is still current and relevant. It gives its reader a broad and rigorous start on industrial-strength synthesis. I recommend this highly to anyone seriously involved in creating tools for logic and system design.

//wiredweird

Initially I was surprised to find no reviews for this book, considering the fact that it is widely used as a text in the schools. This book was a recommended text for my graduate course in "Electronic Design Automation". I have read the text, as well as, solved few problems in the exercises. Based on these qualifications, I think this book is very good. It starts with the basics and goes onto explain the advanced algorithms used in design automation. It gives a comprehensive coverage of the subject. For avid problem solvers, the exercises present a challenging oppurtunity. I highly recommend this book for any student of digital circuit design. But, advanced readers may find some topics (especially, formal methods) missing in this book.

Book is excellent, price is not. I lucked out and found it at Job Lot for 6.99 brand new. I bought two books there for $14, would have cost me $90 at the book stores. So shop around for a better price.

This book starts at the beginning of what a new networking engineer needs to know and works through several examples of how this works in the real world today. It covers TCP/IP, AppleTalk, IPX, X25, Frame Relay, and more, if you count the appendicies. Unsurprisingly, it's also the best study guide for the CCNA. The writing is vague in places, but on the whole a review of the state of technology this clear is remarkable.

Because Cisco would not take the time to review this book it has changed what could have been the best book in the world to a confusing text of mumbo jumbo, especially to the novice. Here are a few of the errors. Page 35, Fig 2-8--AcK 6 not Ack 7// Page 45, Line 6-- relays and FRAMES for host Z, router A// P61, Fig 3-17-- Truth table should be 00,01,10,11// P424, Ans 3.1-- F=FDDI It's F followed by the interface number// p94, Fig 4-18 -- Router C should send 10.4.0.0 to router B// p115, Fig 5-3--The step right after the POST test is to look for a Cisco IOS, once the image is found then the router looks for the config file.// p130, fig 5-15 --Decent should be DECNET// p217, fig 9-9-- 255 is all ones 11111111 not 11111110// p219, line 2-- should be 2 to the 5th power not 25// p231, q 9.1-9.3-- The answers are filled in by mistake// p238, fig 10-3-- Address 172.16.1.1.0 should be 172.16.1.0// p314,fig 13-2 The figure shows a standard access list the narrative talks about an extended access list.// p317, line 20-- The prompt should be Router(config-if)// p319, line 7-- If you are talking about specific protocols like IPX or Appletalk the range numbers 100 to 199 will not work.// p321, fig 13-7 00000111 should be 00001111 for "ignore last 4 address bits.// p324, line 19--The prompt should be Router(config-if)// p328, last line--The prompt should be Router(config-if)// p331, line 15-- Should be standard rather than simple.// p373, line 11--The prompt should be Router(config-if)// p373, line 13--The prompt should be Router(config-if)// p417, fig 16-14--rame should be frame//

I used this book to help me pass the CCNA exam on my first attempt. I found the explanations in this book to be a big help in remembering the CCNA material. I also used the CCNA Virtual Lab e-trainer to practice using the Cisco IOS commands.

This book is the gateway to a career working with Cisco networks. A must for the beginner, and intermediate alike. This book along with Todd Lammle's CCNA study guide will catapult the network enthusiast into CCNA status. A great reference for the bookshelf thereafter.

I wish all books on sap were this organized and practical.

but where afraid to ask.

If you are new to SAP and the concepts of IDOCS and message types etc, this book is for you !!

Worth having as a reference book on any shelf.

This is one of the best books and by far the most well written in my opinion. It just teaches you ALE,eDI and SAP. I have used this book,I have been a technical team lead in SAP for years and I recommend anyone working on ALE and EDI in my team to read this book at least once. This is money well spent. Just get a used one because this has become very pricy now. I bought my original book for $60 5 years ago and there is still nothing that replaces this book in the market,if you really want to learn EDI and ALE in SAP on your own. You would need access to an SAP system to enjoy the full benefits of this book!

This book is my EDI Bible. Full of handy transactions and SAP delivered functions that will make your job a whole lot easier. Plus it was NOT written by SAP-AG which means it actually makes sense and contains actual examples with step by step instructions. Best SAP book so far

This book is out of print everywhere, but I just brought a brand new one earlier this month. The publisher still have about 20 copies left. Just call THOMSON LEARNING at 1-800-354-9706. Good Luck!

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 found this book to be very well written and very well structured. It is definitely for both beginners and advanced folks in ALE. I like the systematic handling of topcis and the examples. I would say all in all an excellent work. Came in handy for solving many problems. Only expectation is an updated version for 4.6C.

Have you access to the on-line SAP help? If yes, then do not waste your money! If this is your first approach to ALE and EDI, it worths the bucks you'll spend on it. No original ideas, no tricks in this book.

Mr. Kasturi presents the ever confusing world of SAP EDI and ALE in a very simple manner. His penchant for using "honking big images" really helps out as he takes you through the configuration steps required to get ALE/EDI up and running on your SAP system.

I have used this book on project after project to help enable EDI and each time it fulfills it's purpose perfectly.

This book is an invaluable reference - Thanks Raajiv!

RMW

I am an experienced SD consultant and work often with EDI. I have about 15 SAP books of which 2 are worthless: this book and the large 'Que' handbook. When you eliminate screenprints, abap code and dictionary descriptions dumped right out of SAP you are left with only about 150 pages of basic text. My colleague and I have half-jokingly considered trying to get McGraw Hill to buy this book back. On completely the other side of the coin - the book on the same topic by Arvind Nagpal is possibly the best SAP book I own. If this book is worth $5 (probably not) then the Nagpal book is worth $500.

It appears certain that the 5 star reviews shown here are mistaken or false. They just do not correspond with the reality. I suppose it is possible that someone has used the Nagpal book and mistakenly wrote a review for the book here (titles are similar and both are Indian authors - would certainly be possible). I tend to believe, however, that the reviews are actually contrived to prop this book up and that is why I feel the need to write this review. Even worse - it seems there are false-negative reviews written for the competing SAP EDI book by Nagpal.

If there is any question just find a place to thumb through the 2 texts. There is NO doubt of the result.

This will be a short review--I assure you. If you are serious about achieving CCNP status, this is the book to read after completing your CCNA (for that I recommend Tod Lammle's book).

Whether or not you pursue the CCNP certification router configuration is something that is a key to ensuring that your network is safe from the outside and the safety of the data is a prime concern of any network administrator.

This 635 page guide is a great addition to my technical library with the information presented I was able to enhance my router knowledge for both network and training purposes. The book is broken into five parts with Part 1 covering the overview the scalable Internetwork.

Part 2 delves into the topics of managing traffic, network congestion, setting up IP access lists, IPX/SPX and SAP access lists and setting up queuing to take care of traffic problems. Part 3 covers VLSM, Classless and Classful subletting, OSPF in both single and multiple areas, EIGRP and BGP protocols.

Part 4 is the Dial-Up section with topics like WAN encapsulations, ISDN, DDR, PPP and HDLC. Finally part 5 the Non-Routing section where you learn about bridging techniques like source-routing, transparent and translational. The book is filled with actual examples of the code to make the understanding easier. Overall an excellent buy for the money.

This book could have been much, much more than it ended up. I bought it without having read any kind of review and I definitely regret it. After having read a far superior book on ACRC (Semester Five Companion Guide), I have to say that this book lacks too much in detail for the price. There are numerous errors (which you can view errata on the Cisco Press web site, it's massive) in this book as well that can confuse the reader tremendously. I only buy Cisco Press books, but had this been my first, I may have reconsidered. Mark McGregor did a much better job writing the Academy curriculum.

As i have advised many CCNP-tobe, you'll need both thing : 1) Cisco Press Study Guide ( this book for ACRC ) 2) Cisco ACRC exam guide ( for brushing and prepare you in the coming days of your testing experience :).

Use this study guide for your replacement of ACRC traning course.

Good luck, ( Scored 884, in 1 hour, though i thought i failed ).

The concepts of this book are great - it explains the steps the router takes to accomplish a task. Unfortunately, the implementation isn't what I expected. Perfect example is setting up NAT. This book explains everything about how nat works, what it does and how it does it, but it doesn't give the OS commands to implement it! For the price, I would think that could be included.

This book provides a great review of web services, not only discussing where web services are at but how they got there. At just over 200 pages the book covers a lot of ground, but in a very concise and informative manner. The book is technology neutral (no code listings) and provides a great top-down view of this new paradigm for software development. If you have been around web services for a while-this book probably doesn't have a lot for you. However, if you are new to web services and looking for a quick and thorough what's what I highly recommend it.

David Chappell invented the term ESB. Different people use the word ESB to denote different concepts. Chappell's book provides a clear explanation about his definition of the term ESB, which makes it a must-read for anybody involved in ESBs.

The book is clearly written, and provides a good overview of all the characteristics of an ESB, albeit strongly biased towards JMS. Not surprisingly if you look at Chappell's background. If you can get over this minor issue, this book is an excellent read.

This is a good book on ESB's but not on Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA). Although ESB's have become the foundation of most SOA deployments, this book was written before the majority of the market activity took place around SOA. Therefore it doesn't cover in much detail registries, repositories, governance, security and more current SOA issues. It does however provide a very good overview of ESB's.

It is interesting to note that the author has moved on from Sonic Software to Oracle and now is selling the virtues of SOA-enabling Grids or SOA Grids as the next best thing proving that SOA is about to move beyond the Enterprise and impact networks. I would expect to see a book in the near future by David on this topic.

Gary E. Smith
THE SOA NETWORK
www.soanetwork.net

This book, which was published in 2004, still remains as one of the best books in my personal collection of Enterprise Service Bus (ESB), SOA and related books.

The author does a good job of introducing a new computer architecture paradigm! And this is to think of software like hardware. Like hardware, have components that are plug-and-play into a standard bus. Standard interfaces, standard input/output, etc.

I found the first three chapters as extremely useful for an overall view. Then I recommend skipping to the fold out to study symbols and icons. Then, I studied chapter 9 which is about ETL (Extract, Transform, and Load) as an example that tries to help us understand the essence of ESB. I also spent time on understanding, chapters 10, 11, and 12 which give a good understanding of the Components, Integration, and Web Services. Other chapters in between, for example EAI, MOM, JMS and XML should be looked at more like the "Old paradigm". But if you are focused on ESB/SOA above chapters will give you an excellent overall architecture picture, and, a good taste of what it takes, and what different terms mean.

I also think that the author has done a good job of explaining things whith what was available then. This is an evolving and maturing technology even now.

I also tried to understand these concepts as they related to BEA WebLogic 9.2 and/or IBM WebSphere to bring more practical parallel understanding. This did help.

I wanted a book that gave me an clear understanding of what an ESB is, and this book did exactly that. While the figures were illustrative, I felt that more reading material could have been added. The two chapters that were useful were Chapters 1 and 11.

But like I said in my first sentence, it gave me an high level understanding of an ESB.

One of the very best O'Reilly books I've read in a long time, is Developing Feeds with RSS and Atom by Ben Hammersley. On 240 odd pages, the author introduces the reader to syndication, feeds, the RSS dialects, the Atom syndication format and discusses parsing of feeds and creating feeds. This he does concisely and to the point but with a sense of humor which I greatly enjoy.

The only thing which might be expanded on in a second edition, would be how different RSS reader applications react to feed content. Never the less, I highly recommend this book to anybody wanting to get inside RSS feeds.

Great intro to the history of RDF/RSS/Atom. Chapter 10 "Unconventional Feeds" will give you great ideas to create and manipulate feeds for yourself. Note that some content has been republished from "Content Syndication with RSS" (0596003838).

This book has some good resource citings, and general information on RSS. It includes a lot of discussion on the previous iterations in the RSS geneology...up to the current RSS 2.0 specification.

The index is not very thorough.

I bought the book hoping to learn more about RSS feed development (as the title suggests). I was greatly disappointed. There is one chapter dedicated to RSS 2.0. Within the chapter there is a section entitled "Creating RSS 2.0 Feeds." This section--you would think is the core of the book-- is 8 pages long (if that) including 3 pages of Perl code examples.

Good luck if you want to learn about creating Atom feeds from this publication. There is a 14 page chapter dedicated to Atom. It is prefaced with a disclaimer indicating that code in the chapter may fail due to version rot (and to surf the web for answers). Also in this chapter, there is a section entitled "Producing Atom Feeds." This consists of 2 brief paragraphs explaining how the current Atom version is not worth addressing and suggests purchasing the next edition of the book to find out how to produce feeds using up to date libraries!!!
You can draw your own conclusions from all that.

This book falls far short of the quality O'Reilly books of yore.

O'Reilly's other book on RSS related technologies, Practical RDF, was not very practical at all. This book, on the other hand, addresses a variety of real feed production and consumption topics in a set of language. You will learn the feed standards. But you will learn them through application, not abstraction. And I find that much more effective than a book that presents technologies at the standards level (most of which you never use anyway). Then leaves you hanging.

This book has some great info on RSS and Atom, although not as up to date as one might hope. This book, like the O'Reilly RSS book before it, has a good 1/2 of the book dedicated to PERL specific programming ideas.

Since I don't program in PERL, and can't necessarily follow along, I would much rather have seen more conceptual discussion about RSS/Atom possibiliities than the specific (PERL only) few examples.

Comments for instance - RSS has a tag, but the book doesn't go into depth at all on how to use it. As a webmaster of several blogs, I'd like to know more about the "right" way to do comments - is it as a separate feed? Can I put them inline? How do other people do it? What's the benefits one way or the other?

Overall, a good book, don't get me wrong. I'd just hoped for something a bit different, and hopefully that'll come soon.