Rating: 
Summary: Excellent coverage of JSP.
Review: When we read this book we thought great, just another Java Server Pages (JSP) book, like all the others. However, this is one quite different. It is actually very good and covers the subject of JSP in a lot of depth.
Chapters 1 and 2 introduce you to JSP with your first JSP examples.
The different JSP Tags are covered in chapter 3.
Chapter 4 covers Implicit Object and JSP Actions.
JSP components are covered in chapters 5 and 6.
JSP and Databases in chapter 7. This presents using JSP with JDBC.We like the 'Architecting JSP' applications chapter the best (8).
This also covers Servlets and EJBs. This is really an introduction to architecting J2EE server side projects. You will need an EJB book to go with this. We would like to see more about using server side Design Patterns. (The 'Command Pattern' is used as a good example.) Chapter 9 presents an example JSP project (FAQ list application). For someone who already understands JSP, this chapter is worth reading. It discusses the application decisions in detail and covers a complete FAQ application.
Chapter 10 is dedicated to explaining how to use WAR files. This is an important part of deploying a JSP application and goes into sufficient detail.
Chapter 11 covers useful JSP coding snippets that the reader/developer would find useful. Many of these are examples of how to use the implicit objects and are interesting to read. Chapter 12 has some cool examples that can be used on your own projects: Rotating banner ads, random quotes, tell a friend, Accessing Whois database, Generating index files, viewing raw JSP. The last two chapters deal with Creating Custom Tags. This coverage is very good and goes into detail explaining some advanced techniques. This book does an excellent job of explaining JSP and giving lots of source code examples. It is well written and does not overload the reader with endless pages of source code printouts.
We would recommend this as one of the best books for beginner and intermediate JSP developers. If you are getting into JSP, buy this book, you won't be disappointed!
Rating:
Summary: Great tutorial on JSP with in-depth coverage of custom tags
Review: If you are new to Java Server Pages this is the book to start with. It covers the basics on JSP construction, bean creation and connection and how work with data bases. There is a section on how to architect JSP applications to make their construction easier. The book is full of easy to understand examples. They range from the simple "hello world" to the complex (and useful) FAQ manager. There is also in-depth coverage on how to build your own custom tag libraries. Until now you needed to wade into the Sun Java docs, this book makes custom tags painless. If you are serious about JSP / XML combinations, this is the book to get started with.
Rating: 
Summary: Long walk thru theory rather than code examples
Review: Not a book for beginners. Useful as a reference most JSP topics are covered. I was not able to learn the subject matter quickly. This book goes on and on with the theory and very less code examples. Then, suddenly, in the middle you encounter an application. I lost a lot of time getting there. I read the first edition. Coverage of Tag Libraries is not clear at all and not illustrated with simple examples. If I were to recommend someone a book on JSP it would be Phil Hanna's The JSP Complete Reference - Osborne Publications. It is very easy to follow and the coverage is extensive.
Rating:
Summary: good book for Java developer
Review: I read through this book in a week and I must say it is very well written. The concepts of JSP are well explained with an appropriate depth for a JSP application developer. I especially like the part when it explains the servlet-centric design. With this design model we shall be able to create large Web application with complex workflow, because we can implement an automata in the center servlet and use multiple JSPs to provide interaction with end-users. Personally I feel it very hard to understand JSP before you understand servlet. Thus I will advise any reader of this book to read some Java servlet documentation or code some Java servlets before you touch JSP or this book. It will be even better if the example in this book has a login page, a necessary component in a lot of JSP applications. Fortunately, you can find some solutions for that from the Net, so don't worry.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing JSP introduction book
Review: This book can also be used as reference. Great care is also shown in providing lot of code examples that are on the point in each chapter. My favourite chapters are "Filters and listeners", "design choices in case of an enterprise system"(whole chapter is dedicated for this) and "how to build custom tags". Authors approach not only enriches a programmer's mind with JSP details but also in a way that is longlasting.
Rating: 
Summary: Great book but not for NEW JSP programmers
Review: Several months ago I was tasked with building several web applications using Java Server pages and had practically NO time to learn and even less help from peers. I purchased this book and Core Servlets and Java Server pages and for the first 7 months trying to use this book just resulted in pissing me off. HOWEVER, now that I've become relatively fluent in Servlet/JSP applications I find that this book DOES have some very useful information and I use it more than I use Core. I recommend that if you're new to JSPs and can only buy one book, buy Core, if you can get two..and are intent on building complex dynamic server side applications BUY BOTH, you'll need this one later!!
Rating:
Summary: A nice JSP book
Review: It covers JSP in pretty detail and in simple language.
Rating:
Summary: Classic JSP Book
Review: This is the best JSP book available -- and the only one you'll need. The book's examples are very helpful -- helped me develop my school project, which was based on Java/JSP. If you really want to learn JSP and get a thorough coverage of the JSP technology, get this book. (I bought 2 editions of the book and waiting for a 3rd.)
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding reference
Review: I have worn out the binding on this book during my recent struggle learning JSP. Coming from a non-java web scripting background (PHP, ASP, Perl), Java is different enough to make the learning curve fairly steep. This book is great for beginners and novices! I highly recommend getting an "in a nutshell" book to go along with it. There are great examples in the book the deal with things that you may often encounter in web programming like: shopping carts
persistent database connections
using beans to slim down the jsp code and reuse information
handling web forms I can't recommend this book enough. Especially if you're trying to learn JSP and the other books don't seem to cut it.
Rating:
Summary: vague for beginners, worthless for professionals
Review: This book doesn't depict every aspect of JSP technology in a clear and concise manner and is poorly organized. The authors always show some parts of the complex concepts but leave others unexplained. For example, they use 70 pages to introduce, admittedly, the usage of JavaBean in JSP and confuse readers a lot with the nitty-gritty of JavaBean itself. Worse, many code sniplets are weak examples and demand readers¡¦ imagination and experience. Yes, the book does cover advanced topics. In fact, bewilderedly, advanced topics are illustrated better than basic concepts. But for busy coders, why bother reading a lot (800 pages) but learning few? Many alternatives are out there in the same field. Frankly, I don¡¦t recommend it.
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