Lucene in Action: how much needed to get started

Howdy Michael, Erik and Otis. I just had a question in mind. How many chapters does one need to study to get started with lucene and be able to use it in an application. I see that you've covered highlighting queried terms in 8th chapter, but if I'm using lucene in the backend, I won't need syntax highlighting so I guess 5 chapters should be enough to get started. I'm asking so that I get a rough idea of time needed to start using lucene. If its long, I'll study it in advance, if its not much I'll study it when I need it in a project...

Lucene is very approachable -- you just need Chapter 1 to get "started". It shows you the basics of indexing text & searching for it. But if you want to do more interesting things, explore different query types, tune your analysis, etc., then you should read the 3 dedicated chapters on indexing, searching and analysis. The two further chapters on searching (advanced techniques and extending) are for even deeper use cases / customization.

Thanks Michael for the info. I actually checked the first sample chapter and I saw that there is an example index/search program in it with basic functionality. I'll be waiting for the Indian edition of the book

Ankit Garg wrote:I'll be waiting for the Indian edition of the book

Well you could win the books

Pradeep bhatt wrote: Well you could win the books

I could, but if I don't this book is still worth buying so I'll buy it...