The Pragmatic Craftsman :: Simplicity from complexity ::

Rapid J2EE Development
by Alan Monnox
ISBN 0131472208
Date Read 6/2005

My Rating

In one sentence, this book is an overview of Java open-source projects that complement the development cycle. It is a very good overview, actually. Alan Mannox packs a lot of good advice on good development techniques. He mixes it up with a good pragmatic approach.

The author has a very good way of writing. He’s very pragmatic. The book is easy to read. He tells you why you should use a tool or technology, how to use it (by giving a short example), and why you should not use it.

I got a feeling that the author is a detail oriented, good-practices driven developer. I got that feeling throughout the book.

What are the areas covered in the book? Overview of development processes, modeling, code generation, MDA, scripting, AOP, builds, testing, and quality assurance. As you can see, the spectrum is fairly broad, and that’s why I think he did not go into too much detail — it would have been a huge book.

Should you get it? If you’re a senior Java programmer, or if you just not sure what the hype about open-source projects is, or if you are like me, who wants to know the whole development scoop, then you’ll like this book. Just remember (how many times am I saying that?), this is just an overview. I don’t think this is a good book for starters (less than 3 years of experience). A very good book for managers, though. Overall, a good J2EE book. A good reference to open-source projects.