Rating: 
Summary: Read before you decide how to implement your site
Review: Philip Greenspun shares his years of web development experience, helping the reader work through the core issues of site development. If you read this book, you will understand the most critical aspects of web site development. These days it's easy to get emotionally carried away with all the marketing hype. Greenspun tries to help you see past the smoke and mirrors.Although at the surface, he's a Unix and AOLServer proponent, he explains his reasons behind his choices. There's no reason why you cannot learn something if you develop on other platforms. His message simply is: Do not use technology for technology's sake. Make sure there is a valid reason for utilizing a particular tool. Buy this book before you read platform-specific texts.
Rating: 
Summary: Esoteric Nonsense
Review: If you've got work to do and most of us do, then find another book... this one won't help you. Full of esoteric blather.
Rating:
Summary: Exceptionally Helpful Distilled Web Wisdom, Plus More
Review: Was the book valuable for me/do I think I got my money's worth? Absolutely. I was trying to get current perspective on hardware and software options, scope-of-resources required, etc., for construction and operation of a database-backed website. It took only a small fraction of the text to answer my questions; I view the remaining 550+ pages as exceptional bonus material, and consider myself fortunate for having obtained the book. Who else might find this book useful? Regardless of whether one's role is as a strategy planner, programmer, database administrator, etc., it seems that anyone learning and applying the "teachings" put forward in Greenspun's book should have greatly improved chances that his or her publishing, transactional commerce or other database-backed Web site/service will be 1) more valuable for anyone who uses it, and 2) less frustrating and costly to develop and implement. (And by avoiding some of the software and approaches the author "does not recommend," this book may help save some readers' Web businesses from potentially fatal fiascos.) Is this a standard "how to" guide? What's the style/approach? It is not a perfunctory "this is how it's done" guide. Rather, it's a series of engaging, fun and easy-to-read discussions of issues that one will likely encounter while attempting to develop and operate any of a range of websites, e.g., static, collaborative, ecommerce, publishing, not-for-profit, experimental, etc. sites. The author poses lots of questions, highlights many potential pitfalls "lurking out there," provides alternative solutions to these problems, and gives pretty convincing arguments about which are the best solutions among the alternatives. Examples are given to try to teach how to think and organize your efforts to afford maximum useful results. The book is based on the extensive experiences of the author and his collaborators while they were working on the abovementioned types of sites. There are suggestions about how to build a better mousetrap: to put yourself into the Web site users' shoes, to anticipate users' questions, and to take advantage of the collaborative power of the Web. There's help identifying some of the nastiest potential pitfalls for Web-based systems, and what to do about them, e.g., what kind of lock management RDBMS architecture will work for Web sites (and what won't work); what to do about bouncing email, site backup, and software version control; and how to avoid the "design recapitulates bureaucracy" model of Web design. There's perspective on how to think about allocating resources: "...[certain inefficiencies are] insignificant compared to the value of the company they [a well known Web company] built by focusing on the application and not fighting bugs in some award-winning Web connectivity tool programmed by idiots and tested by no one." And there's coaching about the importance of site interaction design, data modeling, site speed, reliability, maintainability, and "modifiability." What other valuable material is presented? -Case histories of concepts and sites that work, their "process concept diagrams" and sample source code. -Specific recommendations for software products, hardware products, and ISP providers. -A nice simple introduction to RDBMSs and SQL. -Discussion of additional topics including: security, user personalization, privacy, and publicizing a site. -Numerous critically screened references for Web sites and printed publications, for further study. Also woven into the book in an amusing style is some history of the evolution of software engineering and the Web, and about 270 of the author's photographs (of nice quality, but not necessarily directly related to the text) which make the book easy on the eyes. Other favorite one-liners from the book? "...in the end, it is much easier to hype twenty-first century [software] features than to actually sit down and implement features from two decades ago," and "Afraid or not, you will eventually have to think...." Final comments? The author's simultaneous excellent handle on an immense array of fine details AND understanding of the big picture is quite impressive (in fact, the author is part of the big picture). The book also leaves me with "lots of food for further thought."
Rating:
Summary: If you are involved with a website BUY THIS BOOK
Review: I have read the online version of Philip and Alex's Guide to Web Publishing and found it informative, revealing, interesting, and humorous. This book contains important information for both techie-types and business-types(of which I am both). Whether you are just getting started or have been doing it for years, this book will provide valuable insights and information. Thanks to Phillip Greenspun (the author) for the contribution.
Rating:
Summary: inspirational reading for geeks
Review: Philip gave a seminar at UC Berkeley, where I was a dissatisfied grad student. I'd never heard of him before. It was a good talk. I checked out the website. I bought the book. I dropped out of grad school and spent some time on training at Ars Digita's Berkeley office, and have since gone on into a reasonably successful career. The text is a concise, readable explanation of not only how to run good websites, but why you would run them that way, and what exactly constitutes (at least one variety of) "good websites" in the first place. If you have an interest in Human-Computer Interface design issues on the web, this is a worthwhile book.
Rating:
Summary: BUY THIS BOOK WORTH EVERY PENNY
Review: I have bought a lot of web publishing books. I have had to return them as well. This book has been hard to put down. The arthur teaches almost everything you really need to know about publishing on the web. It seems the price is too much for a book with fancy pages and pictures, but the information is worth every penny and then some. The pictures had a really good touch. Buy this book for web publishing and you will not feel sorry for the money spent.
Rating:
Summary: One of those rare computer books that delivers
Review: I've lost count of the number of times I've dropped $30 - $40 or more on a computer book that fails to deliver on what is promised in the blurbs. Philip and Alex's Guide *does* deliver. It's easily the best computer book I've ever read ... as well as the most entertaining. Buy this book if you want succint, no-B.S. advice on building a web site that will stimulate interaction among a community of people with shared interests. It will expand your vision of what a web site is really useful for. Stay away if you're looking for tips on graphics or flashy "brochureware."
Rating:
Summary: Unique and useful, a Web management book like no other
Review: Given how many books are constantly being produced about Web production of various kinds, it's wonderful to come across something which is actually unique. Look at Greenspun's take on server operating systems in chapter 8. Never have I read such an honest and useful real-world contextualization of Windows NT and UNIX. It's a wonderful breath of fresh air, and very typical of the book as a whole. Mixed in with this technical and management wisdom are wonderful photographs by the author which seem to remind us why on earth we work and publish in the first place. I strongly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: This book looks horrible ¿
Review: ... because it is the first coffee table book that I've ever bought and then proceeded to mark up - underling passages, writing notes, questions etc. It is a totally unique book on many different levels. A computer book with photographs? I am attracted to bizarre juxtapositions, loved the concept but was confident that the execution would be lacking. I was wrong. I didn't understand everything (this book has a good deal of code (which I skimmed over)) but at the same time is both quite accessible and an incredible resource for non-programmers. An extraordinary accomplishment. Greenspun makes a compelling case for what he believes a web site should be and at the same time manages to offer lots of specific, practical advice. His core advice - what to do and the technologies to use - has to be on target. It's what smart people pay lots of money to smart consultants for. Unlike any other book I've read, I got the feeling that I had hired a really smart consultant who was telling me exactly what to do and what not to do. If all of this were not enough, the book highlights several free services his site offers to other web site owners interested in providing different kinds of collaboration and interactivity. The services run on his monster machine. Cost, zero. In closing, I'd like to give some examples of his sense of humor. "CORBA circa 1998 is a lot like an Arizona housing development circa 1950. The architect's model looks great. The model home is comfortable. You'll have water and sewage hookups real soon now". "Johnny drives to the bookstore and spends $30 on an 'I stole the program and now I need a book on how to use it' book". "Desktop apps promised to deliver the power of computers to the ordinary citizen; in fact, they delivered the pain of a corporate administration job right into the ordinary citizen's home or office". One other thing - if you're really technically inclined - he basically gives you a blueprint for making a truckload of money. With that, I'll conclude with one more quote. Just bear in mind that this is from a guy who gives away CPU cycles, gives free seminars, and will let you download this book from his web site. "Not being a materialist in the U.S. is kind of like not appreciating opera if you live in Milan or art if you live in Paris".
Rating:
Summary: Great...funny and true
Review: There are probably only 886 people in the world who actually do what Greenspun does - building big database driven web sites that work. Lots of good practical advice here based on experience instead of the usual second hand b.s. dished out by supposed experts who have never coded a line. To be honest I'd never heard of AOLServer before reading the book, but it made me take a look. A very funny book. I read till 2:00 AM the day I got it. See also "Book behind the book behind the book" via your favorite search engine for a flavor of the books style. Just great stuff.
| 
