Rating: 
Summary: Always controversial, always enlightening
Review: [based on online version] Philip's book is very opinionated and controversial but this only serves to force the reader to think about their own opinions. The material is excellent overall but very much geared towards the Web elite. When he talks about building Web sites for 100hits/sec he is not kidding. You will find little useful to you if you are an average Webmaster or especially an NT Webmaster. As a result, I think only a fraction of the readers of the book will be able to apply many of tips/tools/techniques Philip details in his book. Nevertheless, it is a good and fascinating read and may spur one on to investigate the higher end.
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Summary: If you only buy one coffee-table Internet book this year...
Review: I've only met Philip once in person, though I feel like I know him much better, having spent two years surfing his wonderful, eclectic web site. Philip's the kind of guy who's so smart he can not only answer your question, but also tell you what would be a much more interesting question to ask. That's really what this book is about: addressing the big, important questions about web publishing that other authors don't even realize need to be asked. If you're looking for step-by-step instructions for using the latest gee-whiz tools, this is not your book. If you're interested in learning how to think about web publishing, on the other hand, nothing else even comes close.
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Summary: Web publishing secrets in a coffee table photo book
Review: Why would anyone buy this book? The reason is simple-the photographs. The secrets of web publishing have been made into a coffee table type photo book. Your non computer friends will want to look at it for the photos. You will want to read it to find out how to drive a relational database backed web site chock full of content, not how to make whizzy spinning GIFs or zillions of frames that will only clutter the screen. Plus you can get source code and look at the comments online for free at Greenspun's web site, photo.net. Building on success with his previous book, Database Backed Web Sites : The Thinking Person's Guide to Web Publishing, Greenspun supplemented this new book with gorgeous photographs, handpicked from thousands that could easily be used as stock photos. The content has been expanded to include ecommerce and internet entrepreneurs, html programming, site development and publicity, all revolving around the common theme of how to interface a relational database with a web site. People these days are looking for information and substance on the web, not just flash and trash. This is how to do it. Living by what he writes, Philip has taken feedback by readers of the draft version from the comment server and incorporated these ideas into the final book, transforming it into a true polished gem. This book is for someone who does not want to reinvent the wheel. I have a hint for would-be buyers of web publishing books. First, take a look at the authors' web site. See how much traffic, how many hits the site gets, the content, the style and format. Then come back from them all and buy Greenspun's book. You won't be sorry.
Rating:
Summary: This is the book to read next
Review: This book is unusual, entertaining, and informative. There is a lot of experience, common sense, and good humor between the covers. If you are the kind of person who has surfed to the Amazon page for this book, then you are the kind of person who would benefit from reading this book.
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Summary: For a preview ...
Review: ... Greenspun has put the entire current draft of the book on his "photo.net" web site. It's an excellent read, and I myself have already ordered the hardcopy edition of the book. (The more technical bits will almost certainly be easier to understand on a properly typeset page with illustrations, etc.) The subject of the book is database-backed web sites, which includes our beloved amazon.com and just about every other web site that seeks to make a profit. If you are at all interested in Internet commerce, you simply must read this book.
Rating: 
Summary: less stupid than the last book
Review: This book is a catalog of the mistakes that I've made while building near 100 Web sites over five years. I wrote it in the hopes that others won't have to repeat those mistakes. In a society that increasingly rewards specialists and narrowness, Web publishing is one of the few fields left where the generalist is valuable. To make a great site, you need to know a little bit about writing, photography, publishing, Unix system administration, relational database management systems (RDBMS), user interface design, and computer programming. I have thus assumed no specific technical background among my readers and have tried to make the text self-contained. Just like my previous book (Database Backed Web Sites), this book explains how to build a database-backed public Web site that can survive 100 hits/second. However, it contains a much more interesting parallel theme: the true benefits of computers won't be delivered until we can replace desktop applications with collaborative Web-based applications. One of the most interesting all-new chapters describes a comprehensive technical and social approach to building community sites where the database works harder so that the moderators can relax. Another chapter sets forth the ideal workflow for a team of people building a new Web service. The strangest and perhaps most beautiful thing about the new book is that it is printed in four colors with 250 of my photographs interspersed throughout. This is the world's first coffee table Web nerd book.
Rating: 
Summary: Not bad, but woefully outdated
Review: Let's face it folks, this book was already outdated when it came out in 1999 and today it's even worse. The book *does* provide a good high-level discussion of how this stuff works (like you'd expect from an MIT prof), highly recommended for the utter novice. For everyone else, I'd pass until we see an updated version with less Microsoft bashing and even less demagoguery. But if you want a good history lesson, go for it!
Rating:
Summary: Still one of the best books on database backed websites
Review: I first read this book online back several years ago and the knowledge I gained helped me immensely in my professional career in enterprise database sites. While Philip has strong opinions, he is often right on the mark in my experience and he puts his money where his mouth is by publishing his material online for free. His ACS toolkit spun off into the OpenACS toolkit which uses the free open source PostgreSQL database as well as Oracle and is use by many organizations. The extensive documentation and free open source code makes it easy to implement the kind of sites this book talks about. Given the poor quality of many websites in 2002, full of "cool" features which rarely work, Philips insite into the nature of website development still hold true. I highly recommend this book and if you don't want to pay for it, try his online version ...and then pick up the hardcopy for the coffeetable!
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