The Java Enterprise CD Bookshelf

Rating:
Summary: Seven complete "how to" instruction books on CD-ROM
Review: In The Java Enterprise CD Bookshelf, David Flanagan, Jim Farley, William Crawford, and Kris Magnusson collaborate to provide the Java user with seven complete "how to" instruction and reference books on CD-ROM, in addition to a print copy of Java Enterprise In A Nutshell: A Desktop Quick Reference. The books on CD-ROM include Enterprise JavaBeans: 2nd Edition; Java Servlet Programming; Java Security; Java Distributed Computing; Java Enterprise in a Nutshell: 3rd Edition; Java Foundation Classes in a Nutshell; and, of course, Java Enterprise In A Nutshell. This single volume, highly recommended, book/cd-rom combination is ideal for the novice Java user seeking a quick start-up and rapid learning curve as possible, and will prove invaluable refresher and reference for the advanced and experienced Java user as well.

Rating:
Summary: Seven complete "how to" instruction books on CD-ROM
Review: In The Java Enterprise CD Bookshelf, David Flanagan, Jim Farley, William Crawford, and Kris Magnusson collaborate to provide the Java user with seven complete "how to" instruction and reference books on CD-ROM, in addition to a print copy of Java Enterprise In A Nutshell: A Desktop Quick Reference. The books on CD-ROM include Enterprise JavaBeans: 2nd Edition; Java Servlet Programming; Java Security; Java Distributed Computing; Java Enterprise in a Nutshell: 3rd Edition; Java Foundation Classes in a Nutshell; and, of course, Java Enterprise In A Nutshell. This single volume, highly recommended, book/cd-rom combination is ideal for the novice Java user seeking a quick start-up and rapid learning curve as possible, and will prove invaluable refresher and reference for the advanced and experienced Java user as well.

Rating:
Summary: Lots of content, but could be so much better
Review: Initially, I thought getting seven books worth of content for the price of two was too good to pass up. They even throw in one of the books contained on the CD in hardcopy as well, making it more like getting the other six books on CD for the price of one. Why would you want to buy the books instead? Because they're much easier to reference.

The nature of the Java language really lends itself to hyperlinking. One class might extend another unfamiliar one, so ideally the original class would have a link to it's definition. The Java documentation in HTML from Sun does this frequently. Sadly, there are no such links to be found on the CD. It's mostly a straight transfer from the books. That makes using it as a reference much harder than I had anticipated.

The material on the CD is searchable if your browser runs Java applets. This somewhat makes up for its shortcoming, but it would be 10 times more usable with the links.

Reference uses aside, it's a decent collection. The chapters themselves are well-converted to HTML, and the diagrams are crisp and clear. I have no problem reading these tutorial chapters in my browser. But when it comes time to reference things, stick to Sun's hyperlinked documentation or buy the hardcopy books instead.

Rating:
Summary: Pay attention!
Review: Nearly every book on this CD is one (or two!) versions old. I'm still finding them very useful, but I knew what I was getting.

Rating:
Summary: Pay attention!
Review: Nearly every book on this CD is one (or two!) versions old. I'm still finding them very useful, but I knew what I was getting.