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: Well-written, but definitely NOT for beginners.
Review: I purchased this book after reading K.N. King's "Java Programming, From the Beginning" (an excellent tutorial for those who want a general overview of the Java language and syntax). I had worked with ASP briefly several years ago, and thought that I was prepared for an introduction to JSP. The first eight chapters of the Fields/Kolb/Bayern book were fairly straightforward, with incremental explanations the relationships between JSP pages, Java beans and servlets. Starting with Chapter 9 ("Working with databases"), I suddenly realized that I had reached a stumbling block in terms of my Java expertise. There were many examples of JDBC syntax, but the text indicates that a thorough discussion of JDBC was beyond the scope of the book. I would have settled for a brief overview, but none was provided. Also, there were no explanations of advanced code such as "Class.forName" and the "Iterator" class. Chapter 11 deals solely with an enterprise programming project which creates a "FAQ" application. Although the code modules are logically structured, the explanations of each module are less than thorough, and assume familiarity with advanced topics such as the "Collections" API, "HashMaps" and "toHex" conversions for session tokens. I read Chapter 11 several times to absorb whatever I could understand or deduce, but overall, it was unwieldy. The book works best where the authors provide thorough explanations of their code, avoiding assumptions about the reader's familiarity with more advanced Java API's, and avoiding the temptation to adopt a "core-dump" mentality which lends itself to poor clarity, the curse of most books on computer technology.
Rating:
Summary: One of the better books to have in your personal library.
Review: If you are new to Java, or an experienced Java/Servlet programmer interested in mastering the concepts and techniques required to develop Java Server Pages, "Web Development with Java Server Pages" is one of the better books to have in your personal library. Even though the book assumes some elementary understanding of servlets it does such a good job of explaining the fundamental features of JSP and how they are used with Servlets that even programmers very new to Servlets can easily grasp the concepts. I found the book to be very well written with a flow that is easy to follow and comprehend. The book lays a very well formed foundation covering fundamental issues in a very simple and easy to understand manner. The authors start from the ground up and explain the concepts and techniques required to grasp JSP programming. Additionally, I found the chapters on "Working with Databases" and "Architecting JSP Applications" as helpful extras that explain how JSP's work with, and are positioned within the J2EE framework making it an intergral part of that architecture. On the down side, the book could benefit from some more example code and I would have liked to see more on using JSP with EJB. Nevertheless I would recommend this book as a companion to mastering the art of JSP programming. I am the principal owner of an IT Training company that specializes in Java technologies including Servlets and JSP's, and the President of a Java SIG, and I will be recommending this book to our students and members. Andrew J Debkowski CEO Technical Advantage Associates, President Central New Jersey Java Users Group
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: 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: 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: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Best JSP book
Review: This has been a very good buy for me. It explains all the JSP concepts well and also has very good information on javabeans. If you're a beginner with little or no knowledge in JSP, then this is a great place to start with.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Java Book
Review: This is a very well-written book on programming. I say programming in general because programmers can't write, they only program! But this book is so well-written I could not put it down. You can develop big sophisticated applications with this book. It not only teaches about the language, but a core understanding of how it works...more than a programmer needs to know, but the more knowledge, the merrier. I am also impressed with the cleanliness and simplicity of the code. I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Book - Two Thumbs Up!
Review: This is not just another JSP book. Rather, it is a complete presentation tier design book covering JSP architecture, JSP design, Servlets, and JavaBeans. As with other Manning books I have read and reviewed, this book is complete, and leaves no stone unturned. This book is very well written, and easy to understand. The authors have added tips and tricks, and they interject "real-world" notes throughout the book. The coding examples are clear, concise, and fit well with the concepts described. I found so much useful information in this book I was marking almost every other page. The book starts out with a review of other dynamic content techniques (CGI, ASP, Cold Fusion, etc.), which gives the reader a context in which to place the JSP technology. After a somewhat slow start, the book really picks up speed and gets into the guts of JSP and Servlet architecture. Topics such as session management, buffering, and exception handling are covered in great detail, with issues and alternatives introduced. I was very impressed with how the authors introduced these concepts and applied them to the technology in a clear and concise manner. There is an entire chapter devoted to the JSP directives and scripting elements, which I also found very complete and full of clear and relevant examples. The treatment of JSP implicit objects (request, response, session, out, page, etc.) was also very clear and easy to understand. It is here that you will see a big difference between this book and others; in this book the authors not only explain these concepts, but also illustrate how and why they are used in the overall picture. One recommendation I would make is to read chapter 8 on JavaBeans before reading chapter 7 on the JSP component model. It seemed to me that these chapters are somewhat out of order. I thought that the chapter on JavaBeans (chapter 8) was the best chapter in the book, and gave the cleanest explanation of the role of JavaBeans within the overall presentation tier architecture I have read to date. The scope of this chapter was perfect for the context of the book, and the examples were very clear and understandable. For me, this chapter cleared up questions I had regarding the difference between JavaBean components and value objects. One thing that impressed me about the JDBC section was that the authors presented and discussed many real-world issues such as techniques for handling large result sets and creating persistent result sets. The following chapter then discussed the overall presentation tier architecture, including page-centric design and Servlet-centric design (dispatcher design). Within this section the authors once again presented real-world issues, limitations, and design considerations within each of these two presentation tier designs. Chapter 11 is devoted exclusively to building a sample app from the information learned in the previous chapters. I went through the example, and thought it was clear, and in sync with the information and content previously presented. I saw this chapter as ending what I call "part 1" of the book. The chapters following this one were more advanced, and a little more difficult to follow. For example, I felt that the treatment of listeners and filters, which covered several chapters in the book, was useful material, but the authors dove straight into code rather than spending enough time on the concepts. However, the chapter on JSP deployment with WAR files was extremely thorough, and covered all aspects of WAR files and JSP deployment. The section on cookies, error handling, and shopping cart processing was great. However, the chapters after that (Chapters 17 and 18) seemed very out of place in the book. I did not find these particular chapters useful at all. However, the treatment of JSP custom tags, which spanned 3 entire chapters of the book, was the best coverage of this topic I have seen. The book is full of all sorts of goodies at the end, including changes in the JSP specification, installing and configuring Tomcat, a very extensive JSP reference listing, and a JSP syntax and API reference. Whether you are a JSP novice or a presentation tier architect, I would highly recommend this book. After reading it I found it is valuable as a learning tool and a quick reference. Without hesitation I give this book a big thumbs up.
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