<pre>
Author/s : Mark D. Hansen
Publisher : Prentice Hall
Category : Web Services and SOAP
Review by : Ulf Dittmer
Rating : 7 horseshoes</pre>
The book covers the development of web services using the
Java EE 5 platform. It provides a comprehensive yet detailed overview of the various components that play a part in it, from JAX-WS clients using REST and
SOAP, through data binding with JAXB, to developing, packaging and deploying JAX-WS services, and the various JSR standards covering these technologies. The author also points out the shortcomings of these APIs, and possible workarounds.
At every step of the way ready-to-run example code is presented that illustrates the points made in the text. The code is also tied to numerous WSDL and Schema examples, so the reader should not be afraid to delve into those. The examples culminate in a program accessing various shopping sites via web services, and exposing their accumulated information via a web service itself, thus tying both ends together.
The writing is technical and to-the-point. Sometimes the minutiae of the examples become a bit exhausting, but if a chapter isn't of immediate interest to the reader, it can generally be skimmed over; the chapter introductions and conclusions provide enough hints that the reader knows what he's missing.
This reviewer wouldn't recommend the book as a tutorial for someone who's never developed web services. It is a good introduction to JAX-WS and associated APIs for experienced developers, though, or a reference of the finer points for anyone who doesn't use these technologies continuously.
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