Java Enterprise in a Nutshell

Nothing is as constant as change, and this is as true in enterprise computing as anywhere else. With the recent release of Java 2 Enterprise Edition 1.4, developers are being called on to add even greater, more complex levels of interconnectivity to their applications.

To do this, Java developers today need a clear understanding of how to apply the new APIs, use the latest open source Java tools, and learn the capabilities and pitfalls in Java 2 Enterprise Edition 1.4 — so they can plan a technology and implementation strategy for new enterprise projects.

Fortunately, this is exactly what they get with the new Java Enterprise in a Nutshell, 3rd Edition. Because most integrated development environments (IDE) today include API lookup, we took out the main API sections from our previous edition to make room for new chapters, among others, on Ant, Cactus, Hibernate, Jakarta Struts, JUnit, security, XDoclet, and XML/JAXP.

Revised and updated for the new 1.4 version of Sun Microsystems Java Enterprise Edition software, Java Enterprise in a Nutshell, 3rd Edition is a practical guide for enterprise Java developers.

If you are using Java and running Enterprise APIs in large heterogeneous and mission critical networked environments, this desktop quick reference may be a valuable addition to your library. It contains descriptions of each of the Enterprise APIs on the Java 2 platform, and is geared toward intermediate and advanced programmers. Please note that this publication is not a tutorial on Enterprise API use. For maximum benefit, users should be familiar with the Java environment.

With the recent release of Java 2 Enterprise Edition 1.4, developers are being called on to add even greater, more complex levels of interconnectivity to their applications. To do this, Java developers need a clear understanding of how to apply the new APIs, and the capabilities and pitfalls in the program—which they can discover in this edition.

Jim Farley is a software engineer, computer scientist, and IT manager. His recent activities have included heading up the engineering group at the Harvard Business School and bringing good things to life at GE's Research and Development center. He's dealt with computing (distributed and otherwise) in lots of different ways, from automated image inspection to temporal reasoning systems. Jim has Bachelor's and Master's degrees in computer systems engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

William Crawford has been developing web-based enterprise applications since 1995, including one of the first web-based electronic medical record systems (at Children's Hospital in Boston) and some of the first enterprise-level uses of Java. He has consulted for a variety of institutional clients, including Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical Center, numerous startups and several Fortune 500 companies. Prior to an acquisition he was CTO of Invantage, Incorporated in Cambridge, MA. He received a degree in history and economics from Yale University. He is the co-author of Java Servlet Programming, 2nd Edition, Java Enterprise in a Nutshell, 2nd Edition, and two forthcoming O'Reilly titles. Will is currently Principal Software Architect at Perceptive Informatics, Inc.Massachusetts, provider of software and services to the pharmaceutical industry. He can be reached at http://www.williamcrawford.info

Justin Gehtland, a professional programmer, instructor, speaker and pundit since 1992, has developed real-world applications using VB, COM, .NET, Java, Perl and a slew of obscure technologies since relegated to the trash heap of history. His focus on "connected" applications led him to COM+, ASP/ASP.NET and JSP. Justin is the co-author of "Effective Visual Basic" and "Windows Forms Programming in Visual Basic .NET" (both Addison Wesley). He is currently the Agility columnist on The Server Side .NET, works as a consultant through his company Relevance, LLC, and teaches for DevelopMentor.

Prakash Malani has extensive experience in architecting, designing, and developing software in many application domains, such as entertainment, finance, retail, medicine, communications, and interactive television. He practices and mentors leading technologies such as J2EE, the Unified Modeling Language (UML), and XML. Prakash also teaches (and preaches) best practices and design patterns at institutions such as California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. He has published various articles in industry leading publications such as JavaWorld and WebLogic Developers Journal.

John G. Norman has been developing web-based products and services for more than 10 years, and has been working with technology since he was introduced in the mid 70s to an IBM 1130 running FORTRAN and APL. Since 1999 he's worked on social networking products, business analytics, and e-commerce at companies such as Cambridge Incubator, Veritas Medicine, Elytics, and, currently, H3.com, where he is the Chief Software Architect. John has taught literature at Ohio State, new media at the New School, and engineering at Harvard University's Extension Division. He holds a PhD in English Literature from Harvard.