Inside Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 (Pro Developer) Review

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(More customer reviews)The SharePoint book that I have been waiting for the most has finally arrived. Back when I first heard that Ted Pattision and Daniel Larson were teaming up to write a SharePoint book, I got pretty excited. I knew these guys would have a knock-out book for SharePoint developers, and I'm happy to say I was right.
With this book, you will learn how to:
* Build application pages and site pages
* Develop and deploy reusable Web parts to enable customization and personalization
* Exploit Windows SharePoint APIs to deploy Microsoft ASP.NET AJAX components
* Use XML and Collaborative Application Markup Language (CAML) to create provisioning components
* Design and implement custom document libraries
* Use Windows Workflow Foundation to create applications that automate business process
* Create Site Definitions to aggregate components and package them for deployment
* Implement Code Access Security, Trust Levels, authentication, and authorization
Do yourself a huge favor, and spend five minutes ordering yourself a copy. It will save you hours down the road.

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Get deep insights into Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 with this hands-on guide. This book focuses on developing Windows SharePoint Services applications for the enterprise with Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 and the Collaborative Application Markup Language (CAML). A Windows SharePoint Services expert provides technical explanations of the platform architecture and how the technology works, including concise information on key topics including Web Parts, pages, workflow, and security. With this bottom-up view of the platform architecture and task-oriented guidance, Microsoft Windows developers will learn how to embrace Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 as a first-class development platform. Experienced developers will learn how to build robust, feature-rich applications, including enterprise content management (ECM) systems. In addition, this guide includes C# and XML code samples to help developers get up and running as quickly as possible.
Delivers concise information on Web Parts, pages, workflow, security, and other key topics

Provides deep architectural insights, practical advice, and solutions for Windows developers

Features extensive code samples in Visual C# and XML; assumes prior knowledge of Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0

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Cloud Computing, A Practical Approach Review

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(More customer reviews)I've reviewed over a dozen books on cloud computing. This book is better than average but misses its objective of being a practical introduction. It has lots of interesting information and is indeed a useful companion for anyone seriously involved in cloud computing but there are other overviews which are more comprehensive and easier to digest.
Velte, Velte and Elsenpeter touch on many of the main topics, such as security, networking, storage. They mention a number of cloud service providers. The problem is that they do not tie these together in a logical and methodical way. Some of the other recent books do this better. I also ask myself the specific relevance of eclectic topics such as AJAX XHTML and AIR to cloud computing.
In spite of the minor deficiencies which I mention above this is a useful text that will help many readers who need to broaden their understanding of cloud computing and related technologies.

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"The promise of cloud computing is here. These pages provide the 'eyes wide open' insights you need to transform your business." --Christopher Crowhurst, Vice President, Strategic Technology, Thomson Reuters
A Down-to-Earth Guide to Cloud Computing

Cloud Computing: A Practical Approach provides a comprehensive look at the emerging paradigm of Internet-based enterprise applications and services. This accessible book offers a broad introduction to cloud computing, reviews a wide variety of currently available solutions, and discusses the cost savings and organizational and operational benefits. You'll find details on essential topics, such as hardware, platforms, standards, migration, security, and storage. You'll also learn what other organizations are doing and where they're headed with cloud computing. If your company is considering the move from a traditional network infrastructure to a cutting-edge cloud solution, you need this strategic guide.

Cloud Computing: A Practical Approach covers:

Costs, benefits, security issues, regulatory concerns, and limitations
Service providers, including Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Yahoo, IBM, EMC/VMware, Salesforce.com, and others

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Advanced Ajax: Architecture and Best Practices Review

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(More customer reviews)"Advanced AJAX" is targeted towards AJAX application architects. Note that readers should be comfortable learning by reading code. For example, chapter 1 has two pages of code for a GUI widget. This seems heavy for a conceptual book. Elsewhere, the main idea got lost in six pages of view code.
I liked the non-technology specific sections. Browser tools included Safari and Opera plugins. All the "hot" security topics were covered (SQL injection, XSS, CSRF.) Tradeoffs were listed for different alternatives. Performance included CPU, memory and bandwidth. Trying out examples on the companion website was nice.
Many server side techniques were PHP specific, such as SQL injection. While six pages of code is good for PHP developers, I was surprised. The code was readable without being fluent in PHP, but unnecessarily narrows the audience. The 15 pages of screenshots/description on the PHP documentation tool could have been used for another topic. Wouldn't a PHP developer already know how to use PHP?
While I liked the presence of an accessibility chapter, I found it confusing. WCAG and Section 508 were introduced clearly early in the chapter. For the rest of the chapter, I wasn't clear on what pertained to WCAG, what was 508 complaint and what was coming in the future.
If you are a hands on PHP AJAX developer interested in architecture, this is an excellent book. Non-PHP developers or people who want to focus on architecture (rather than code) are better off with a different book.

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"I very much enjoyed how this book covers the full Ajax application lifecycle and not only coding techniques. Anyone who is looking to become a professional front-end developer will appreciate the architectural insight and best practices delivered by this book."— Andi Gutmans, Co-Founder & Co-Chief Technology Officer of Zend TechnologiesMission-Critical Ajax: Maximizing Scalability, Performance, Security, Reliability, and MaintainabilityAdvanced Ajax: Architecture and Best Practices is the definitive guide to building business-critical, production-quality Web applications with Ajax. Shawn M. Lauriat systematically addresses the design, architecture, and development issues associated with Ajax, offering proven patterns and robust code examples available in no other book. You'll find best practices for addressing the full spectrum of issues enterprise Ajax developers face: scalability, performance, security, reliability, flexibility, maintainability, and reusability. Writing for experienced Web developers, Lauriat delivers fresh ideas and elegant solutions: meaty technical content, presented with exceptional clarity. Among the many topics he covers in unprecedented depth: cleanly implementing JavaScript custom events to reduce coupling and to enhance flexibility; overcoming Ajax's traditional accessibility limitations; reducing network latency through compression and other techniques; and much more. Coverage includesPlanning Ajax interfaces for simplicity, clarity, and intuitiveness Creating scalable, maintainable architectures for client-side JavaScript Using the latest tools to profile, validate, and debug client-side code Architecting the server side for security and functionality, while restricting loaded data, objects, and actions to current requests Protecting against the most widespread and significant Ajax security risks Optimizing every component of an Ajax application, from server-side scripts to database interactions Introducing cutting-edge Ajax: game development, Ajax with canvas, and Ajax for enterprise applicationsAbout the Web SiteThis book's companion Web site (http://advancedajax.frozen-o.com) doesn't just provide all the code: It shows code examples in action, as building blocks of a real Web application interface.

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GWT in Practice Review

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(More customer reviews)I am surprised to hear so much lofty praise for this book. It is mediocre at best, and the editing is quite horrible. Here the advice I would give the authors and in particular the editors:
- I hate having to flip from one chapter to the previous one in order to find a particular snippet being referenced. If you are starting a project, all the source for that needs to be close to each other. I dislike being told 'Go find table 1.1, (with no page number given) and use the code from there.
- The code examples given clearly have NEVER been through the compiler. There are missing methods in examples, and silly typos that are quite unacceptable since it leads me to question the effort put into creating the book. (see page 52, listing 2.12 for example, - Private is NOT the same as private. setInitDisplay is never defined. )
- My preference - and probably for a number of other people - is to use the well defined hello world approach, rather than a discourse on how configuration is to be set up. Eclipse should be introduced earlier. I'm sure others would disagree, but getting a HelloWorld going gets my blood flowing
- The section on design patterns is a TOTAL waste. Please dont introduce examples that focus on MVC, not GWT. I am not reading GWT to understand how MVC works. Make simpler examples that gets rid of this fluff, and focusses on GWT.
- How exactly does showing what StringBuffer looks like in pretty & obfuscated mode help the user? It looks like an attempt to pad the size of the book
Manning books are always a hit and miss. THis is a clear miss. Really, the editors need to pull up their socks and get things out right, not get it out quick.

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