Rating: 
Summary: Good Introduction on Web services.
Review: An excellent book for any business or IT executive that really needs to understand the concepts and implications of Web services. For those who need to appreciate how this technology will impact their business environment and strategic direction, but are not about to sit down and start writing the code using .NET or Java !
Rating:
Summary: Good overview of the technologies, but really technical
Review: Eric Newcomer's "Understanding Web Services" provides for a solid theoretical overview into the world of the new web technologies, including XML, WSDL, SOAP and UDDI. For a newcomer into the field, this book is a good start to understanding to what these technologies are and what they can do for business. THE CONTENTS: Here are the topics that Newcomer addresses: 1.Introduction to Web Services (XML, WSDL, SOAP and UDDI) 2.XML - Describing Information 3.WSDL - Describing Web Services 4.SOAP - Accessing Web Services 5.UDDI - Registering Web Services 6.ebXML 7.Other Web Service technologies 8.How to Implement THE ANALYSIS: Overall, this book is a great teaching and learning tool to the basics of web services. Newcomer does a fine job of describing the various technologies and trying to "dumb" down the technology to describe how it works. One of the great things about the book is the "margin" notes on each page that highlight the definitions and key concepts that he tries to highlight. This makes the book easy to follow along with and helps to reinforce the concepts. Overall, this is great for a textbook. However, keep in mind that the subject is very technical so if you are not a techie there are parts where you WILL get lost. Overall though, you still come away with a good understanding of what these technologies are and how they can help your business. THE VERDICT: Overall, Newcomer does a fine job of covering the various technologies and issues that deal with web services and how they can be applied to business. While the subject is technical and you may got buried in some parts the book's style is still easy to follow. This book was used as a text for an e-commerce web services course I took during the Fall of 2002. Whether you are studying this subject independently or whether you are an instructor looking to use this book for your course, Newcomer's "Understanding Web Services" is a good choice. Highly Recommended
Rating: 
Summary: Great book for architects and technically inclined managers
Review: Eric Newcomer's book was written for the well read architect, technically minded manager, or developer who is interested in more than just bits and bytes. If you are interested in 'how to implement a Web Service in language X or Y', then look else where. If you have the mind for the bigger picture then this is the book for you. Although Eric Newcomer is CTO of IONA this book does not suffer from the typical vendor marketing hype that one has to typically wade through, more importantly being involved in the major organisations defining the Web Service standards he is able to give you an up to date well balanced opinion of where each technology (SOAP, WSDL, UDDI etc) is heading and problems facing each one. For an architect or manager who has the responsibility of planning the future EAI strategic direction for the company this book provides an honest basis to make well informed decisions e.g. does one move towards ebXML now or wait, or choose SOAP, WSDL, UDDI as they appear to be heading. The book is easily read, starting with the basics, moving on to the core technologies making up Web Services, then to the less well known technologies being floated, finally to an overview of the product offerings from the major vendors. No book can be all things to all people and where Eric Newcomer has thought appropriate he has referred the reader to further reading. In summary I can highly recommend this book to those who want to know: - what are Web Services,
- where do they fit in to my organisation,
- where are Web Services heading and the problems they face,
- who/what are the main driving forces behind Web Services,
- how do the technologies (SOAP, WSDL, UDDI etc) fit together,
- what other technologies are currently being floated. Web Services are posing an exciting future as a mechanism for 'globalising' the world of bits and bytes, this is a great book to come to grips with the world of Web Services.
Rating:
Summary: Good Introductory Book to Web Services
Review: Getting a grasp of Web Services is immensely difficult. Every vendor has a different version - often twisting it to suite their commercial needs. I have been working with the fundamentals for Web Services for over two years, and I have been amazed at the hype to which it has succumbed. Some of this hype is justified and it can be daunting separating facts from fiction. I was pleased Eric Newcomer's book - it provided a relief from hype and grounds for clear thought. Mr. Newcomer approached this book from the ground-up and does not patronize the reader with unsubstantiated claims. This book is recommended to the reader that is curious on Web Services and would like a book that can provide a launching pad towards understanding the subject. In this book you will find: - How Web Services evolved
- The technology that makes it happen
- The promises of Web Services
- Different software vendor's strategy on Web Services You will not find how to get started on running your first Web Services projects - that information can be found online or in another book. In this book you can expect to find the foundation that will give you a good perspective on Web Services. Upon reading this book, you will be able to discern which areas of Web Services that will interest you the most. Armed with this knowledge you will be able to read materials on Web Services, immune to being swayed by marketing hype. Best wished on your Web Services journey - it is an exciting field. I hope you find this review helpful - please let me know if you have any questions or suggestions.
Rating: 
Summary: Good defintions of every term...that's all
Review: I did not find this book very helpful to implement web services.
I would say it's the introduction of webservices like a first lecture of a semester long class. You got the idea.
Rating:
Summary: Very strong introduction to Web services
Review: I found this book to a very strong introduction to the topic. Instead of being a rehash of product documentation, this book gives a much more thorough and high-level discussion of these technologies. This is a must have for architects and managers, and I would highly recommend for any developer of Web services.
Rating: 
Summary: Good coverage, difficult read
Review: I have been thrown into the web services technology without a parachute and this book has helped to put things into perspective. You are not going to sit down and write code from this book, but it does help to define all of the pieces of web services technology and get you started. With that said, this was a difficult book to read because the writing style is very abrupt, does not flow, and reads like an old style academic textbook trying to impress and confuse the student. I've read more technical books that were easier to understand because they explain their subjects in more natural prose. I found myself frequently reading pages over one or more times.
Rating:
Summary: Do you know what Web Services are? Me neither.
Review: I read this book - sleeping a great deal through it, or daydreaming about nothing in particular. "Whoops I just 'read' 20 pages!" types of experiences were frequent with this one. This is NOT to say the book does not explain Web Services, whatever those are. It MIGHT explain what Web Services are, but we're never really sure. It's sort of like Microsoft's spiel on Web Services - you know, how they are always talking about how GREAT Web Services are. Web Services are just wonderful. That is apparently all we need to know. So, if you are looking for another book that describes in acronym-laden (not explained) detail how great Web Services are, without actually explaining WHAT they are then this book might be for you. There is a pretty picture of a peacock on the cover so that's nice. P.S. For those interested to know what Web Services are, I'll save you money and tell you right away, since I just recently discovered the answer on my own: Web Services are an idea that involves everything being online, and not sitting on your desktop - that is on servers. Like files and folders for instance, software, video games, etc. - with Web Services it would all be online and you could 'lease' or 'rent' the stuff you needed when you needed it and you would get it for a certain amount of time over the net, presumably downloaded onto your computer where you would use it feverishly until your time expired and it 'dissolved' into zeroes and one's. That's my thinking on the topic, and this book won't make you any wiser.
Rating:
Summary: gives a very abstract veiw of things
Review: I would like to learn more things in detail so i think this book is not meant for me. otherwise good for beginners who want to wade in these murky waters of web services.
Rating: 
Summary: Nice high level Web Services over view
Review: I'm buying web services books like mad it seems. This book is nicely written, OK authority and accuracy (given the 2 book or so
book back ground I have so far) but ZERO code. Not one line of java, C++
or fortran. No mention of real frameworks (besides .Net by name only). How can a book be titled Understanding (any thing) and have no real
working examples, deployable components, downloadable web services based on some framework. Forget this book unless you're looking for a very high level understanding of the associated XML specs and architecture. You'll not hear about the Apache Axis project, substantive implementation details of .Net or any other framework in this book. My quest for one or two good books that cover real commercial quality design, patterns and code goes on.
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