Rating: 
Summary: A Must Read for the Next Generation of App/Data Architects
Review: Anyone who is considering moving toward a service oriented architecture should seriously consider this book. With XML becoming the industry standard mechanism for enabling an SOA, the importance of how to strategically and tactically implement it in your organization couldn't be more critical. This is precisely what the author sets out to do and succeeds at doing very well.
Hours of work and thousands of dollars will be saved for those who follow his advice on best practices when implementing their XML architecture. In my opinion, XML has sort of crept up in our organizations and been adopted without the same rigor we would normally attach to our RDBMS or application architectures. This book will show you why that has to change how you should prepare for the avalanche of XML and web services that will become entrenched in most IT shops in the near future.
The only shortfall was a lack of some better practical examples in some chapters, but this could have really extended the mere size of the book. However, from what I understand, a sequel to this book is coming soon and will carry forward the principles in this book and incorporate some very practical application examples -- something I am looking forward to getting my hands on.
Rating:
Summary: Such clarity and simplicity
Review: Author has so much grip and clarity on the subject that he makes it so simple and clear to read.
Rating: 
Summary: Written for systems architects
Review: If you think about the software development world as architects and engineers. Where architects take a very high level view of the world and don't get into fine grained implementation details. Then if you consider yourself this kind of architect, you will get a lot out of this book.Though the book is fairly long (~500 pages) the depth of the content is still at the 'field guide' level. This means that the book focuses more on understanding the components of SOA at a holistic level without getting too deep into implementation details. The first chapter of the book does delve into the basics of the XML core technologies (XML, XML validation, XSL, etc.). After that the book stays at the high level, describing most of the concepts with graphics that do an excellent job showing the document flow between systems. I recommend this book to architects involved with XML based systems integration projects. I also recommend the book for engineers involved with these types of projects because they will benefit from the high level overview of the entire range of XML technologies.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome
Review: Lots of advice in this comprehensive architectural guide. It's a collection of design and optimization techniques, cleverly tied together to cover the range of problems that you'll encounter when getting into service oriented solutions. It's really a unique book containing effective techniques I'm sure you won't find anywhere else. It also warns you of the pitfalls of using Web Services and XML. We are working through a major transition with .NET, and XML has become a huge issue for us. This book points out a number of mistakes we made in the past. If we would have had it a year earlier, it would have saved us a great deal of money and grief. We have already incorporated a number of the book's Web Services design strategies into our standards. Considering how much a consultant would have charged us for this information, this book is a real steal. I'm ordering a second copy for my boss, as it contains best practices that will help him budget our upcoming Web Services projects. Also, the SOA tutorial and use case is excellent learning material for this new platform. We are using this part for an internal traning course.
Rating:
Summary: not enough of these books
Review: Reading this book I felt like the author slapped me in the face and then dunked my head in cold water all the while saying "look, this is what it's really like!". I thought I understood everything I needed to about Web services, but this book hit me with a dose of reality that really opened my eyes. It's a big book, and when it first arrived, I looked at it and thought "no way am I reading all of that", but once I got into it I didn't want to put it down. Still haven't finished it all, as some of the stuff doesn't pertain to my work, but I got thru a good 75% of it (which is a lot for someone with my attention span). The author of this book has no qualms about stating things the way they really are, as opposed to the way they should be or the way they are advertised to be. I wish there were more books like this.
Rating:
Summary: From the Author
Review: The use of the term "Field Guide" in the title is intended to communicate that this book's format does not comply with traditional tutorial or process-oriented books. This guide consists of a collection of strategies and best practices, and is intended to act as a reference guide, providing advice for a variety of common integration scenarios. As a guide to integration this book was intentionally kept vendor-neutral. It concentrates on the concepts and standards behind XML, Web Services, and contemporary SOAs, and therefore does not cover vendor-specific implementations. There are many other books that already do an excellent job of documenting vendor products and proprietary technology. Our goal was to produce a book that introduces emerging standards, but focuses on the use of established open standards as they relate to common architectures and integration problems. I'd therefore recommend this book as a companion guide to any existing product documentation you may have. Thank you for your feedback.
Rating:
Summary: Uniquely useful for architects, engineers and implementers
Review: There are many other books out there about SOA/Web Services that provide a decent overview of the various technical standards, and the vendor products that implement those standards. To use the author's analogy with building a house: these books are like the manuals for the power tools that are used in the construction of the house. While this is certainly useful information, it is not enough. You need to know what you are building and why, how all of the components fit together, and how to go about the project. Erl's book is unique in providing excellent guidance on all of these topics.
A trap that many Web services books fall into is just repeating the hype that is put forth by vendors and standards organizations. It is obvious that Erl has a lot of experience personally implementing service-oriented architectures, and he is able to write credibly about what is and what is not true or feasible when it comes to SOA.
In addition to containing good advice, the book is logically organized and well written. The clear but informal style gives you the impression of sitting down for a chat with an expert. I highly recommend this field guide for both newcomers to SOA and experienced veterans.
Rating:
Summary: A valuable guide to Web Services and SOA architectures
Review: This book is an excellent guide for architects, developers, and managers that are already working with or are considering to develop Web Services or Service-Oriented Architecture solutions. The book is divided into four sections. In the first section the fundamental technologies of XML, Web Services and Service-Oriented Architectures are described in detail with attention given to emerging standards. In the next section, Integrating Technology, the book takes a closer look at how services can be modeled describing strategies for integration, enhancing performance, and developing interfaces. The third section, Integrating Applications, will be of value to even seasoned architects. Here the different levels of integration that need to be considered, at the data level, process level, application level, and interface level are looked at. This section also discusses integration issues with legacy systems. The section completes with a look at SOA strategies and patterns and how they may be utilized in a design. In the last section, Integrating Enterprise, the author leaves you with a guide for managing and developing service-oriented projects, providing a list of best practices and trade-offs to consider. The book is well written and very thorough in its coverage of the subject. I recommend this book highly to anyone interested in enterprise level service architectures.
Rating:
Summary: Intelligently written and very thorough
Review: Truly remarkable collection of tips and tricks and best practices covering the currently evolving SOA landscape. This guide focuses on the many ways and the many levels XML and Web Services can be integrated within the context of SOA. As such, this is not a book about theory as much as it is about dealing with real world problems.
I am mystified as to why people are comparing this book to tutorials or books about Java or .NET when this book clearly states that it is an integration field guide for SOA, XML and Web Services only. As stated on the back cover, this book focuses on the common, vendor neutral ground that is established by SOA. If you are looking for a book about Java, then get a book that has "Java" in the title! If you are looking for a tutorial or a book with case studies, then don't buy a book that brands itself as a "Field Guide to Integration"! I think some of the confusion has to do with people's lack of understanding about SOA. If you don't get what this book is trying to accomplish, then you don't understand SOA.
I am a Technical Architect for a progressive IT company. We have been working with Web Services for two years now, and this guide has helped me a great deal. I feel as though the author has accurately gauged the state of the IT industry's move to SOA. Although there is obviously an interest out there in SOA, most developers and architects must still contend with XML and Web Services within regular distributed architectures. For me anyway, the emphasis placed on XML, Web Services and SOA individually in this book is just right.
Rating:
Summary: Recommended
Review: Very appropriate book for those involved with SOA projects. The last part of the book that discusses SOA modeling is especially relevant to current industry trends. Good writing and informative suggestions on how to optimize designs involving XML/Web Services/WS-* support the overall gist of the book, which is an organization's eventual migration to SOA. Better than any other book I've read on the subject.
| 
