[.ca] JavaServer Pages For Dummies (ISBN 0764515446)

The Three Embarrassments:
Okay, I admit it. I have slept with weight challenged women, the only motorbike I have the guts to ride is a moped, and I bought a technical dummies book, JavaServer Pages for Dummies. I can't give it 5 stars because some of the code examples didn't work, and I'm guessing other code that was shown to demonstrate concepts was incomplete. I'm a java programmer and took the time to fix some, others I gave up on(however, I heard you can now download fixes from the website). That said, for many reasons, this is an excellent book. It's the only book I found that quickly and easily shows how to set up Apache Tomcat, MySQL, and how to modify Tomcat to recognize my java class files - that in itself saved me many hours. It does an excellent job of explaining concepts of a jsp application; the roles of the different technologies(jsp, html, javascript, javabeans, the database), much about jsp's including struts and custom tag libraries, application architecture, strategies for developing jsp applications in the workplace, and how to deploy the application. It also lists references to further continue your study of some of the concepts, and where to go for help. I bought one other beginners jsp book, and looked at many others, and after having finished this one, I think this one is the best.

Save yourself days of frustration -- don't buy this book:
I have bought many Dummies books on various subjects and have always been pleased with them until now. I am a web developer and gave up in frustration after being unable to get the first example running. This book has numerous typos, the copy of the Tomcat server included on the CD didn't work, forcing me to download from the jakarta site, the examples on the CD have typos in them, also, and are write-protected in some manner that Tomcat absolutely despises. SAVE YOUR MONEY AND YOUR SANITY.

I'll never buy another "Dummies" book:
This is horrible. I have spent 3 days trying to get the examples to work. According to the other reviews the major problems are in chapter 2 (which is where I am stuck) but I have no idea if I will get any further. This was a waste of money. The directory structures explained in the book are contradictory and the examples copied straight from the CD don't even work--even though the author has "tested everything to make sure it works." This is my first "Dummies" book and guaranteed it will be my last.

Bugs/Typos in Example Code:
The first couple of pages were well written. Then the first example didn't work. Now I figured out how to correct the errors even though i'm only a new JSP programmer. I shouldn't have to do this! Nobody should. Terrible way to start a book. Who proofread and compiled the example source code? Demote or fire them. This error hurt the author and the reputation of the "Dummies" line of books.

Beginners -- Keep looking elsewhere:
I'm an experienced Java programmer trying to expand my horizons. I've spend many hours over the past few days trying to get the first example to work because of errors in the directions. Additionally, I found several code errors in the first java program. There is no errata on the web page and I can't find an e-mail address to e-mail the author like others have done. If you are a real beginner, this is not the book for you. If you are an experienced java programmer and like debugging code, go for it.