Re: books for getting started?
Re: books for getting started?
- Subject: Re: books for getting started?
- From: Colin Clark <email@hidden>
- Date: Tue, 26 Oct 2004 13:14:08 -0400
Hi Stephen,
I currently don't do any development on the Mac platform, but it looks
like WebObjects is fine for Windows and maybe even Linux (will it
install fine for development on a Windows XP machine?).
WebObjects development on Windows can be a horrible experience unless
you're willing to take the extra effort to get setup with Eclipse and
WOLips. The sense I get from Apple is that the out-of-the-box Windows
development tools are at the end of their life.
In theory, you might be able to develop on Linux, although you'll lack
the benefits of EOModeler and WebObjects Builder, which are both great
time savers. These applications only work on Mac OS X or Windows.
At this point, Mac OS X seems to be the best platform for WO
development unless you're brave. Windows development is certainly still
viable, but it takes an extra commitment to make it work. There are
still people on this list working with Windows development, and they
may be able to give you some support.
I currently do J2EE development, and my understanding of WebObjects is
that it would help me develop applications more quickly, especially
when
the level of complexity of EJB is not necessary. It sounds like we
should attempt to use this platform for our next project!
WebObjects is a wonderful tool, and many of us love developing with it.
Working with lighter-weight solutions than EJB will probably be a very
positive change for you.
If you're coming from a J2EE background on a non-Mac platform, however,
you may want to investigate other tools that work similarly to
WebObjects. IMHO, it took a long time for the mainstream J2EE world to
understand that the up-front complexity and disastrous design patterns
of EJB and JSP/Struts don't work for many development projects.
WebObjects, for the most part, got it right almost 10 years ago.
However, in the meantime, there have been a number of open-source J2EE
tools that evolved an approach similar WebObjects. One big advantage is
that they integrate more cleanly into a standard J2EE environment and
are used by a growing number of Java enterprise app developers.
You might want to have a look at Hibernate or Cayenne for database
persistence, Tapestry or Java Server Faces for templating, and Spring
for... uh... whatever it is people seem to be doing with Spring. The
big downside is that you don't get as clean integration between tools
as you do with WebObjects.
I see on Amazon that there's a 600-page book published in 2002 by Sams
called WebObjects Developer's Guide, but there are no user reviews. Do
any of you know if this is a good book for picking up the concepts
quickly? Actually, there are no user reviews for the Practical
WebObjects (2004) book, either. Another old but potentially good
option
on there is Professional WebObjects with Java which also doesn't have
any user reviews.
The WebObjects Developer's Guide by Ravi Mendis is not my favourite
book about WebObjects. It does contain some interesting information
that can be helpful for intermediate developers who have the experience
to take the suggestions in Ravi's book and apply it in a way that is
more robust and appropriate for their application. I wouldn't suggest
it as your first purchase, but I do still refer to it from time to time.
Chuck's Practical WebObjects book just came it recently. It's a
fantastic resource! It's not designed for beginning developers, but
given your background in J2EE development, you'll quickly find it
helpful. I highly recommend it.
The Professional WebObjects with Java book is a good place to start. I
also have a soft spot for George Ruzek's now out-of-date WebObjects
Application Construction Kit. It's based on WO 4.5, so many of the code
samples need to be modified to work in 5.x, but it's still a great,
well-written overview of WebObjects. Both are available in clearance
bins.
Best,
Colin
---
Colin Clark
Dynamic Web and Database Development Lead,
Resource Centre for Academic Technology,
University of Toronto
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