Rating: 
Summary: Refreshing and Useful!!
Review: In a world where most Web site development is static eye candy, the master of database-backed Web site creation takes his genius to press.There were a number of useful informational tid-bits, not limited to the following: * keeping your site manageable by using a database-backed engine to manage content * taking a jab at the greed-filled internet world by explaining to them that money is NOT the biggest priority in a system that was created to TEACH and SHARE, and * interfacing your site with a RDBMS. (The most important chapter: Chapter 13) This is a must read for anyone who is willing to open their mind and accept that a Web site can be so much more than an online version of a corporate brochure!
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Summary: Great, provocative book, though parts were over my head
Review: I bogged down a bit in the later chapters, when you had to be a certified nerd to understand the code examples -- but this book changed my thinking about web sites and about lots of other computer matters. If you just want a simple, personal web site with no interaction, the first few chapters will do. But if you're really interested in the future of computing, this book is a road map. Among other things, it inspired me to conquer Emacs, work with Unix, master relational databases and create websites that people can interact with - and software programs that run on the web. Greenspun is a fertile and facile writer, always handy with a colorful anecdote to pull you out of the acronymical mire of SQL, Tcl and RDMBS. And what a photographer! Sheesh!
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Summary: Don't just follow the crowd... read this book!
Review: The web really isn't about flashy graphics and other assorted eye-candy. It's about information delivery and user interactivity. Far too many books out there simply include a short section on the purpose of a site, another short section on the site's hierarchy, and then spend the rest of the time on page design and little whiz-bang features. This book is about web publishing. It's about designing information delivery systems that are reliable, maintainable, and scalable. It's a serious book that should be read by anyone who is serious about publishing information on the web (as opposed to simply "creating web pages"). But don't let all that seriousness scare you away. The book is highly readable and entertaining, and the author is greatly skilled at weaving humor, opinion, and real-world examples into what could otherwise be very dry subject matter. The examples in the book are heavy on Unix, AOLserver, Tcl, and Oracle. But they don't detract from the concepts being discussed. I personally know next to nothing about any of these but was still able to follow the logic and I know I can apply the same concepts on other systems. Much of it is actually SQL which can be applied anywhere. Add to all of this that the author has a super content-rich web site you can visit to learn more, includes interesting photographs throughout the book, the book is printed on high-quality paper, and it STILL costs less than many "Kewl Web Site in a Day" books, and you've got a winner. I give it my highest rating.
Rating:
Summary: The best technical book ever!
Review: I've been working on Internet and Web-related products and services since 1993 (first at Apple, and then at AT&T), and this is the first book on Internet technologies that I've read where I've been impressed that the author knows what he's talking about (i.e. knows more than me!). Plus, the book is extremely well written and quite amusing ("I laughed out loud"). In fact, I'm seriously considering using many of the concepts and technologies described in the book (with free source code) as the basis for my new company!
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Summary: A book that an established web developer can learn from.
Review: I have been a web programmer since May 1994 and I still learned a great deal from this book. After reading it (and especially after doing the very well designed case studies in Chapter 15) I was able to create interactive, informative, and useful web sites in a fraction of the time that it would have taken me before.
Rating:
Summary: This book depresses me
Review: I thought I was all set to go out and start making a web site. This book set me straight. Philip Greenspun savages most of the conventional wisdom on designing "Killer Web Sites," and presents a high-speed, high-reliability minimalist alternative. I tired at times of the relentless attack on idiocy; junkware must indeed die, but sometimes Greenspun wastes valuable pages explaining why. He proselytizes a touch too much (although I may just think that because in my case he was preaching to the choir), and does not really show how other DB/server-API applications could do the same things as his custom-made solution. Nonetheless, this tome amazes me. No other technical writing on Web publishing I've seen (except possibly Lincoln Stein's) has such clarity. And no other book even approaches this one with regard to social awareness, humor, or non-computer ideas. This book by itself will not enable anyone to build a website like the ones Greenspun describes. Part of his point, though, seems to be that anyone promising a publishing panacea is a snake-oil salesman. He does, however, present a theoretical underpinning that will strengthen any future publishing decisions.
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Summary: Clear and convincing analysis of the web as community
Review: Phil Greenspun's book models our interaction with the web in terms of online communities: groups voluntarily coming together to share information or achieve a purpose. To that end, he shows us how the web functions as an instantly available source of high quality information with a nil cost of distribution. Along the way he teaches the basics of database design, demonstrates ways to attract users, and introduces the problem of scalable program architecture, just in case you actually do attract some users. If you do not have a technical background and are interested in a broad picture of the internet's present and future, read it the way you might approach Feynmann's physics lectures or Watson's biology text: assume the proofs are accurate and just enjoy the vision.
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Summary: An absolute must for serious Internet information.
Review: A fabulous book. The clear, sharp style has dragged me through a lot of technical stuff that I would have otherwise been ignorant of. You have armed me to the teeth and in the coming weeks I will decapitate the consultants I hired for my web service project. Or perhaps I will force them to buy the book and read it on their dime, not mine.
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Summary: A wonderful book from a great human being
Review: This book covers a wide range of technical, commercial and personal topics, ranging from 'How to get sort of rich' to how to sell your services as a consultant in 30 seconds flat. The author is always technically sound, and is often very funny. For example, where he slips in a reference to a Hall of Shame of 'Weasels of the World' to publicise the names of people who steal his photos without giving him any credit. During the course of the book, the author describes his thought processes, (always good quality), and learning experiences in such a way that you can avoid the same mistakes. He also includes specifications and source code in SQL and Tcl and he gives away the software so that you have a complete toolkit for building systems. Personally, I do not like the syntax of the Tcl scripts that he presents and I would prefer UNIX Korn Shell Scripts but I guess I could re-write the Tcl if I have a need to use the same ideas. The only minor criticisms I could make are that the author plays fast and loose with the term 'Data Model' and is somewhat dismissive of XML. He says 'Learn to program XML in 21 years by checking the Web Sites for IBM and the World-Wide-Web Consortium', but in fact many major players,(including Microsoft and Oracle as well as IBM), and a significant number of niche players are putting substantial effort into advancing XML so that 21 weeks is a much more realistic time-scale to see significant advances in both standards and tools for adopting XML. But it's still a wonderful book from a great human being.
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Summary: Must read if you're thinking about database-backed web serve
Review: There's no shortage of books on making static web pages "in 10 minutes". And there's a wealth of books dealing with scripting for the web. But if you're planning a database-backed web server, where contents is driven from what's stored in a database, this book is a must-read. The writing style can be best classified as "colloquial, without being unnecessarily stupid" which means that it's easy to read, but doesn't leave out the necessary technical details. Though the book is slanted towards Unix and Oracle, there's good advice regardless of the ultimate platform the reader chooses.
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