Rating: 
Summary: Puts XDoclet to work immediately, especially for J2EE
Review: "XDoclet in Action" is the sort of guide that most open source packages desperately lack. In a clear and patient style, the authors explain what XDoclet is all about: a framework for generating code (or other files) using special Javadoc-style comments embedded in Java sources. They then proceed to step through several examples of the most commonly used applications of XDoclet, explaining what the various XDoclet parts *really* mean and how they relate to each other. Reading this book is a lot like pair programming with someone who has written all the code before and can show you exactly how it's put together.After an overview of the concepts of code generation, the first topic is the one that originally motivated the development of XDoclet: simplifying J2EE Web app development. The authors show how, by adding simple comment tags to your classes and methods, you can give XDoclet the parameters it needs to automatically generate the code for EJB local and remote home interfaces, EJB and servlet deployment descriptors, value objects, DAO skeletons, custom JSP tag library descriptors, and more. The emphasis is on using XDoclet to eliminate redundancy and to consolidate these parameters with the related source code. Later chapters show how, using the same approach, XDoclet can also generate object-relational data persistence mappings, JMX interfaces, and mock objects for unit testing. The authors also explain how to program the XDoclet framework to create custom code generators. "XDoclet in Action" is written in the form of a "learning journey". Along the way, readers can pick up many useful tips on J2EE design patterns, the pragmatics of organizing Ant scripts and source files, and other interesting tools (such as Hibernate, an open source data persistence framework). But this form can make it harder to locate a specific piece of information. An equally thorough XDoclet reference book would be a welcome companion.
Rating:
Summary: XDoclet in Action is an in-depth start at learning XDoclet
Review: Are there plenty of code examples? Yes
Is the book easy to understand? Yes
Does it trivialize complex topics? No
Does the reference section add value? Yes
Is this book useful? An unqualified yes! My needs in technology books are straightforward: give me a quick introduction and lots of examples. Walls and Richards have done a great job of explaining the nuts-and-bolts of XDoclet in a very lucid way. In working with an Eclipse plug-in that uses XDoclet as its code generation engine I was able to solve an XDoclet problem within a few minutes because I was able to look through the book's reference section and compare the information to a code sample earlier in the book. I found the book covered so many areas that I hope the author's are working on a follow-on book where they discuss some of the thornier issues in J2EE development and how XDoclet can be brought to bear to solve them. Based on the depth of this book, they still have a lot to say about J2EE development using code generation tools.
Rating:
Summary: XDoclet in Action is an in-depth start at learning XDoclet
Review: Are there plenty of code examples? Yes
Is the book easy to understand? Yes
Does it trivialize complex topics? No
Does the reference section add value? Yes
Is this book useful? An unqualified yes! My needs in technology books are straightforward: give me a quick introduction and lots of examples. Walls and Richards have done a great job of explaining the nuts-and-bolts of XDoclet in a very lucid way. In working with an Eclipse plug-in that uses XDoclet as its code generation engine I was able to solve an XDoclet problem within a few minutes because I was able to look through the book's reference section and compare the information to a code sample earlier in the book. I found the book covered so many areas that I hope the author's are working on a follow-on book where they discuss some of the thornier issues in J2EE development and how XDoclet can be brought to bear to solve them. Based on the depth of this book, they still have a lot to say about J2EE development using code generation tools.
Rating: 
Summary: A Good Start, But Lacks Depth
Review: I bought this book on the strength of the Amazon reccomendations. If you don't know anything about XDoclet, or you don't like working from the online documentation, then you need this book. But if your a real world working developer who is hoping for a quick, detailed jumpstart then you will be disappointed. I feel the book starts well, but quickly becomes superficial and only addresses easy topics. For illustration, consider that entity bean relationships get less than two pages and a weak example. In comparison, "Enterprise Java Beans" by Monson-Haefel devotes a whole chapter to entity bean relationships. I feel this book would be much improved if the Blog example was more fully developed and the source was available (as O'Reilly does). As it stands, I'm still poking through the sample code provided w/XDoclet and creating small test applications to see what is generated. Too bad the book didn't answer my questions and save me some time.
Rating:
Summary: A Good Start, But Lacks Depth
Review: I bought this book on the strength of the Amazon reccomendations. If you don't know anything about XDoclet, or you don't like working from the online documentation, then you need this book. But if your a real world working developer who is hoping for a quick, detailed jumpstart then you will be disappointed. I feel the book starts well, but quickly becomes superficial and only addresses easy topics. For illustration, consider that entity bean relationships get less than two pages and a weak example. In comparison, "Enterprise Java Beans" by Monson-Haefel devotes a whole chapter to entity bean relationships. I feel this book would be much improved if the Blog example was more fully developed and the source was available (as O'Reilly does). As it stands, I'm still poking through the sample code provided w/XDoclet and creating small test applications to see what is generated. Too bad the book didn't answer my questions and save me some time.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Book
Review: I got this book and within the first week had all of my ejbs, struts framework, web descriptors created thru xdoclet. Now I just need to convince the client that the rest of the developers need to jump on board for their other projects and use this excellent tool. A must have for any web/j2ee java developers.
Rating:
Summary: Answer to all our prayers
Review: It is a really good book for those who want to learn and work with Xdoclet. I am work for a sofware compay and part of my job is to learn new softwares and put them in to implimentation.
Before I got this book, I have read all possible online documentation there is but, none came close to Xdoclet in action. The book is well laid out and the examples are self explanatory. It describes all posible scenarioes that a person can think of and is explained excellent. I strongly reccomend this book all developers
Rating:
Summary: XDoclet in Action is a must-have for all Java developers
Review: Manning has done it again! XDoclet in Action is a must-have for all Java developers. Craig Walls and Norman Richards have toiled long and hard to create this masterpiece. "All you need to know about J2EE, you can learn from this book". Each chapter is not about code generation, it is about solving problems we face as Java developers. If you are frustrated by the duplicate manual work you face in your development efforts, XIA will help. My favorite quote from the book: "Don't generate what you don't understand." - this shines through in each section, as each technology (EJB, web, JMX, mock objects, Hibernate, etc) is presented accurately and clearly first as it stands alone, then the problem of the real-world enter the picture, followed by the solutions XDoclet brings to the situation.
Rating:
Summary: An invaluable book about an indispensable framework!
Review: Remember your first J2EE Hello World app? Just to make that client work, you had to write the remote and home interfaces, and a deployment descriptor. If you wrote the Web version, add web.xml to your list. Let's not forget those configuration files for your app/web servers. Now, think of a framework that fabricate all the nuts and bolts for you -- generating deployment descriptors, EJB homes, remotes, app server files, struts-config.xml and more. No, you are not day dreaming, XDoclet can do all and more! Quoting several opportunities that exist for automated code generation, authors introduce XDoclet framework as an indispensable tool that actually works! Focusing on every day J2EE development, chapters in "Enterprise Java" section talk about the application of XDoclet in EJB layer and Web application layer. Following are chapters in the "Other XDoclet applications" category that introduce advance applications such as code generation for persistence frameworks, JMX, SOAP/WebServices and mock objects. The concluding section on "Extending XDoclet" deals with custom code generation and XDoclet patterns. Abundant practical help and many working examples are offered throughout the book including the process of tool adoption for J2EE efforts that are already underway. The working J2EE application that is included in the book can be used as a reference implementation. In essence, this book does more than just teaching - it helps you realize the benefits of XDoclet in days and start saving valuable time and money. Ajith Kallambella
http://www.javaranch.com/contact.jsp#AjithKallambella
Rating:
Summary: A superbly accessible and useful primer
Review: The collaboration of XDoclet seasoned experts and enthusiasts Craig Walls and Norman Richards, XDoclet In Action is a truly user-friendly introduction and guide to the metadata-driven, code generation engine for Java called XDoclet, and its many uses. A wealth of instructions, examples, and sample code lay out how XDoclet can be used with EJBs, Servlets, JMX, and other technologies, as well as customized or out-of-the-box uses to which XDoclet can be put for one's specific needs. A superbly accessible and useful primer, reference, and self-teaching tool, XDoclet In Action is a welcome addition to the computer reference shelf.
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