John Temp

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since Feb 26, 2003
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Recent posts by John Temp

Fantastic, thanks for that Simon, it kept us laughing for ages in our office.
21 years ago
I have a reply from Amazon and they state :
"Please know that Amazon.co.uk is a retail site and we are happy to
post legitimate book reviews that meet our guidelines. All customer
reviews submitted are subject to posting at our discretion and all
decisions are final."
Nice to know that they won't even reconsider even though they still will not tell me exactly what is wrong with the review. The explicit mention of Amazon being a commercial website gives a hint as to the reasoning however.
21 years ago
I know that they can take a long time, but I emailed them and they said that the review had been refused.
I don't know whether amazon have such a forum on amazon.co.uk I'll have a look. Thanks for that.
21 years ago
I have asked them to clarify (no reply so far).
I think that part of the issue is exactly that however. They simply said that they don't have to publish it as they have specified guidlines and have the editorial control over what gets published.
I accept that they have to control the content but I think that the review should stand as it will help people to get an informed opinion on a book that I have read. I have no axe to grind with the author, just the content of his book (oh yes and Amazon now)
21 years ago
I have sent three reviews for this book, the first could be considered offensive to a degree as I said that it was a small book and therefore would not take up much space in my bin. This I accept was too much. The second & third attempt were very tame.
Here it is :
"Ok the price is good and the book is smaller and more concise than other titles but they are it's only redeeming features.
Unfortunately there are too many errors and too little core detail to warrant buying this title. The Manning book is far better in almost all areas.
The information contained within the book is often little better than reading the servlet & JSP specifications that can be freely downloaded from Sun's website.
Spend the extra money elsewhere."
Does this go too far? - Amazon says that it does!
If the concensus is that I have over stepped the mark then I stand corrected but it seems an accurate reflection as I see it.
[ March 19, 2003: Message edited by: John Temp ]
21 years ago
For the last week I have been trying to get Amazon.co.uk accept a book review that I wrote. For now I won't mention the book, but it is a Java title that has many errors in it and I wanted to point this point out.
The review did not slight the author ot tell people to avoid other publications by him.
After submitting the review a number of times, I emailed amazon to ask why the review was ignored and they said that they had the right to do so under their guidelines. The problem is that I didn't breach the guidlines.
I pointed out to them that they do not seem to accept negative 1st reviews of books as this will hit sales. They will accept negative reviews in amongst other positive reviews.
What makes me really mad is that I feel that the book deserves the review that I gave it. It does have many mistakes and it is not as good as some of the other books that deal with the same subject matter.
Has anyone else found problems like this with amazon?
21 years ago
I agree with Mark, I believe that the SCJD is the more relevant certification for the majority of developers. This is not simply that it helps to develop RMI/Socket & Swing skills. You need to think about design and documentation issues also.
I think that you should also be aware that the SCJD certification is a much bigger certification to take on (if you want to get a good mark). There is the study element, the design, coding, testing & documenting to consider.
It is however, a far more enjoyable certification also.
The main element where I think that the SCJD has the edge is the fact that you are actually producing something. Employers and critics of certification cannot use the old arguement about the element of luck that they consider exists in multiple choice exams.
Having said all that, I also agree with mark that you will probably end up doing both anyway. Having both will negate any question about which one will further your career the most.

[ March 18, 2003: Message edited by: John Temp ]
Hi Max
Regular expressions are not something that I am very comfortable with, my background is very much OO (eiffel & smalltalk at university and C++ & Java commercially).
I feel that regular expressions in Java are excellent as a transition point for web developers that have a perl, CGI background.
Regular expressions are without question a very powerful tool, however I do not expect to use them as a fundemental tool in my work. I am mainly concentrating on Java and XML, in particular my current favourite is data binding, with tools such as Castor, XMLBeans ans JAXB. I am finding that in my working environment I am creating systems that provide conduates for the moving of XML (across system boundaries, between tiers...).
Personally, I did the SCWCD certification in order to boost my JSP/Servlet knowledge as I am actually more familiar with middle tier design and development.
I'm sure that whatever the subject matter, your next book will excellent and many thanks to you for writing it. It helped to get a 149 point score.
[ March 15, 2003: Message edited by: John Temp ]
I used Max Habibi's book and read a great deal about the use of Java 1.4 on JavaRanch. I avoided using RegExp but did use Logger.
There is no problem using 1.4 and Max's advise on JavaRanch is invaluable.
It is worth searching for the many articles relating to the use of 1.4 in this forum.
I used the Exam Cram book and felt that the many errors in the text (including sample questions) and the lack of depth let it down.
I'm sure that this book has a place, but it should not form the major part of your study.
Definately go for it, it is a very rewarding certification.
My only advice would be to work hard on areas such as documentation as well as the code as these are easy marks.
Oh yes and listen to some of the very capable people on JavaRanch
I agree with Adam, people in London do not fully appreciate the benefits of certification generally.
Personally, when I have recruited people I look for experience above all but I certainly appreciate the benefits of someone that has done the developer cert. It's damn hard, not just technically but also in pure effort.
I personally rate it above the SCWCD and and SCJP certs as it demands more that learning syntax.
I passed the scwcd with 76%.
I made one big mistake in preparing for the exam however. I used the SCWCD Exam Cram book rather than Mannings.
The exam cram book has many errors and simply does not have the coverage that it needs for this exam.
I did use many other sources for my studying but relied mainly on the book. Also I did not expect so much emphasis on TagLibs as the first 13 questions were on these and at a greater depth than I had expected.
Still, a pass is a pass
21 years ago