Author/s : David Geary, Cay Horstmann
Publisher : Prentice Hall PTR
Category : J2EE
Review by : Jeanne Boyarsky
Rating : 8 horseshoes
"Core JavaServer Faces" introduces
JSF to programmers only requiring HTML and
Java knowledge. The first chapter explains how to setup the examples using
Tomcat and
Ant. The authors show everything needed to run all the examples, including the directory structure.
Most of the book is also appropriate for experienced web developers. The second half has involved topics. The authors include a few comparisons to
Struts and comment on how to combine the two frameworks. The authors keep most of the technical/advanced concepts at the end of the chapters and mark them clearly.
The first half of the book explains JSF. It includes everything
you should know to use a framework, such as lifecycle and tags. The second half of the book shows how to use JSF with longer examples. This includes Tiles, custom components,
JDBC and LDAP. There is even a chapter of wireless devices and combining JSF with MIDP. The last chapter is 25 "How do I..." questions, like those here at JavaRanch.
The book highlights best practices where possible. It uses some, such as style sheets and message bundles, through the examples. It even mentions cross-site scripting attacks and how JSF can assist in preventing them. I had a copy of the first edition first printing. There were some minor typos and a missing reference, but the authors promise this will be corrected in the next printing. The reference is also on the book's website. Overall, I would definitely recommend this book.
More info at Amazon.com
More info at Amazon.co.uk 
