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Understanding SOA with Web Services (Independent Technology Guides)
vBulletin Book Store > vBulletin books beginning with U
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Understanding SOA with Web Services (Independent Technology Guides) |
Author: Eric Newcomer
Published: 2004-12-24 |
List price: $44.99
Our price: $29.69
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As of: December 02nd, 2008 04:08:11 AM
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Customer comments on this selection.
 Practical SOA Book
This is one of the main books I recommend to clients on SOA and Web Services. Several parts of the book that stand out from what I have seen in the rest of the field including the section on Advanced Messaging and Transactions. The work is particularly strong in the "why are we here and how did we get here" with regard to web service evolving from various technologies like MQ, Tx systems, and mainframes, and describes where Web services has advantages and disadvantages over those technologies in a non-religious format. In Chapter 3, for example, MQ, CORBA, and XML web Services are compared across a set of criteria including: service contracts, data management, registration and discovery, security, interaction patterns, communication, and QoS. These objective analyses are some of the most valuable resources in the book, because when looking at Web Services' integration it helps the architect see where the strengthes and weaknesses lie.
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br /The only nit is section on security is good by normal programming books standards, but more emphasis on the gaps in the standards would be useful, for example input validation, and security exceptions which are a fact of life in distributed security, but are not dealt with by standards are not covered.
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br /This book describes what gaps SOA/Web Services address and why, where the technology is going, and what you can do about it today. Very valuable.
A word of reason in the super-hyped world of SOA
Every so often a known concept is re-invented and served with a new garnish on a new plate. The environment of sudden public attention fertilized with ignorance breeds enormous hype, which in turn makes air so thick that you hardly can hear the voice of reason. This environment morphs the concept into something so vague and different from the original that only sales people feel comfortable talking about it. I believe this has happened to the SOA concept.
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br /In this world of insanity, it is paramount to find islands of logic and reason that can teach and validate a hype-free understanding of the issues. Sources like ZapThink and Gartner have been very helpful, but "Understanding SOA with Web Services" is truly indispensable in putting everything in the right perspective. I bought the book primarily because one of the authors, Greg Lomow, wrote of one of my favorite books, "C++ FAQs", which I also strongly recommend to anyone who enjoys learning about new ideas and observations.
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br /The book draws a conceptual and architectural views of SOA and its implementation using WebServices standards' stack. It covers not just history and latest developments on the subject, but also hints on the future directions. Just like "C++ FAQs", this book focuses on the core understanding of the issues, and on pros and cons of technologies and standards. But most important and enjoyable to me is its language of reason. Reading it simply makes me feel good!
Will save you a lot of time
This book is really good at distilling the web services standards down to the core essentials - what are the most important things to know and more importantly, where the specifications still have room for improvement. So if you would prefer to save yourself a lot of time wading through specs in order to be able to hold your own in front of the whiteboard (or keyboard) there is no better book than this. What I like most about Eric's books is they are always written in a very honest and straightforward manner and they are obviously informed by years of real world experience - in other words basically the opposite of a David Linthicum book.
Compulsory reading
I'm back here to purchase my 6th copy of this book, and 7th of Newcomer's earlier book ("Understanding Web Services"), as they are becoming compulsory reading in my division of a large and highly influential Financial Services technology player.
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br /Newcomer and Lomow have done an outstanding job of putting a pragmatic, business and user-focused face on a field that is often either over-hyped, or too focused on technology for technology's sake. That is not to say that they only address the business-heads in this book (far from it - Newcomer in particular has been deeply involved in Web services technology and standards development since the very beginning, and this depth of knowledge of the technology is evident throughout), it is just that their discussion of the technology, even at its most abstract is easy to follow and well grounded in real-world benefits.
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br /Rarely will you find a technical book written in such an approachable tone. Even more rarely will it cover the technology with the breadth and depth that these two industry luminaries demonstrate.
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br /I have been working on the cutting edge of Web services and Mobile Web services for about five years, but was pleasantly surprised to find many new and refreshing insights and invaluable examples based on the real-world experience of the authors.
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br /Perhaps the real value of this book, though, is demonstrated by my recent experience - When I show a copy to a senior manager they come back a few days later and ask me to get more copies. When I show a copy to a technical colleague, I have to fight to get it back!
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br /Buy this book.
Excellent view of SOA and how Web Services fit in
Firstly this book is an excellent compliment to Eric's other book: Understanding Web Services. Definitely worth reading that one as well (it doesn't really make a difference which order).
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br /This book is a great introduction to the differences between SOA and Web Services. Too many other books tie these two concepts together as though SOA didn't exist before Web Services. SOA had been around for a long time prior to Web Services, which is simply one way of doing SOA. In this book you don't really get into the meat of Web services until page 100, which is the way it should be: the authors lay the groundwork for a concrete realisation of SOA by going into detail about what SOA is, how it's important and how to plan for it within an organisation.
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br /I found the book a very easy read, which is important for this subject: the architectural principles behind this stuff aren't rocket science, but too often other texts dive straight into specifications/standards and blind you with Three Letter Acornyms. The authors of this book build up the book in a way which flows naturally and each chapter delivers on technical and business-oriented rationals.
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br /Summary: if you're looking for a good text on what SOA is, what it means to you as an architect or as a business, and how Web Services may fit into that picture, then don't hesitate to get this book.
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