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Author/s : Debu Panda, Reza Rahman, Derek Lane
Publisher : Manning
Category : JavaBeans
Review by : Jeanne Boyarsky
Rating : 9 horseshoes</pre>
"EJB 3 in Action" manages to be an excellent read for both people new to
EJB and people who have been using EJB 2.X. There are side notes throughout about significant changes from EJB 2.X. For larger topics that someone new to EJB 2.X might not know, the topic is covered in the appendix. The examples are interesting and well written, so it isn't boring reading about the purpose of a session bean if you already know it.
What really impressed me were the differences between this book and Sun's J2EE tutorial. The majority of examples used
Java 5 syntax (for looping and the like.) This made the examples feel like EJB 3 examples rather than an old book robotically updated. Further, the authors explain when to use a deployment descriptor vs annotations. Sun sticks to the party line and barely mentions the deployment descriptor. The "EJB 3 in Action" approach is much more useful for gaining practical advice.
Best practices are described throughout. The authors don't assume you know Java 5 features and explain them as necessary. All the expected topics are covered. Additionally, there are chapters on Spring integration and migrating from EJB 2.X. The examples are app server agnostic, but they show you how to use one in the appendix. Finally, the appendixes provide an excellent reference for both the annotations and deployment descriptor.
More info at Amazon.com More info at Amazon.co.uk [ May 26, 2007: Message edited by: Book Review Team ]
