IFC

This book does a relatively good job of introducing the IFC from Netscape, but beware that some of the code that appears in the book does not appear on the CD-ROM. Contact with the publisher two months ago brought promises to hunt down the authors and make the code available, but I've yet to be notified that any of the missing code has been provided. Other code that IS on the CD-ROM is notably buggy, whereas the code in the book is often correct.

I acquired this book and a similar one, Mastering Netscape IFC, at the same time. This book was tremendously useful while the other one was a waste of time & money. You will be satisfied with this book if you want to really take advantage of IFC.

Holzner writes in a clear style that is easily understandable. I was disappointed, though, in the depth of the treatment. Too many areas of IFC are ignored or mentioned in passing to justify the verb "Master". I expected a more complete treatment in an 800+ page book. One thing in particular that annoyed me was the claim on the back cover that you get "a solid introduction to Netscape Constructor for IFC." The book contained only two paragraphs describing the Constructor and one picture of it.

As a Java developer, I need to write cool applet and systems all the time and with Netscape IFC it is easy. This book got me up and going quicky using IFC classes. I think if you are thinking about using the IFC classes you should get this book.

If I was left on a desert island with one set of class files and one book and asked to write an applet that thinks and pours coffee I would take the IFC classes and "Mastering Netscape IFC." The explanation of the new event handling and the step by step examples to teach the view and sub view system is the best software documentation I have ever read on any topic. It was a relief to find help that was fun, available and accurate. Thank You. Chris Henderson webmaster@metmall.com

This is the book that I currently use. The book introduces you quickly to the main structure of IFC programs in great detail. The book has a tutorial style that I always look for in a book. The only weakness is that Constructor is not covered at all. Overall, I think the book's content makes up for not covering Constructor or not having a code disk.

Would be more helpful for experienced programmers

This book is the best reference on the current version of the IFC library. The short chapter on constructor was to the point. I wish the constructor chapter was longer with more code examples. This book is very well organized and is the perfect companion to "Using Netscape IFC" published by Que books.