Bitter EJB

Rating:
Summary: They've been there, and done that
Review: This book is a must-have for the serious J2EE developers. For example, many teams realize in EJB development that entity beans are overkill and complex enough to really drag a project down, yet very few books tell you this. Bitter EJB is the exception - it gives tried and true advice from those that have really been there and worked through the issues. In my extensive J2EE development experience I have learned the hard way many of these antipatterns. Do yourself a favor and don't learn these pitfalls the hard way - let Bruce, Mike, Bob, and Patrick join your team and steer you away from common mistakes, and towards best practices.

Rating:
Summary: They've been there, and done that
Review: This book is a must-have for the serious J2EE developers. For example, many teams realize in EJB development that entity beans are overkill and complex enough to really drag a project down, yet very few books tell you this. Bitter EJB is the exception - it gives tried and true advice from those that have really been there and worked through the issues. In my extensive J2EE development experience I have learned the hard way many of these antipatterns. Do yourself a favor and don't learn these pitfalls the hard way - let Bruce, Mike, Bob, and Patrick join your team and steer you away from common mistakes, and towards best practices.

Rating:
Summary: Every EJB Developer or Designer Should Read This Book
Review: This book masterfully fills a real void in Java literature. There have been several respectable books written on AntiPatterns for general topics and J2SE. There are also a couple of excellent books on EJB and other J2EE patterns. But, until now, there has been a void of AntiPattern books relating to EJB or other J2EE topics. AntiPattern books fill an important need because they help developers understand the serious problems they need to avoid. With complex topics like EJBs, AntiPatterns are particularly important.
There are a few parts of this book that discuss the pros and cons of the EJB architecture. But, the primary focus of this book is to help EJB developers and designers get the most out of their use of EJB technology. The book does this by focusing on the bitter mistakes that you can make and explaining how to avoid or rectify those mistakes.
I think every EJB developer or designer should read this AntiPattern book and a "positive" pattern book such as EJB Design Patterns or Core J2EE Patterns.
Before reading this book, you should have a solid general understanding of EJBs, such as could be gained from books like Enterprise JavaBeans by Haefel or Mastering EJB by Roman.

Rating:
Summary: Not for the beginner
Review: This is definitely a book for the advanced Java programmer looking to refine his understanding of the pitfalls of EJB, and more generally J2EE, development. I was tough on Bitter Java because of it's technical editing. This book is decidedly better in that department but I can't give it all five stars because the difference in tone between the chapters and between the authors is noticeable and somewhat distracting. In addition the anecdotes about white water remain and I think they are unnecessary. That being said, if you are a J2EE programmer, this is a required book.