Java Distributed Computing (O'Reilly Java)

Rating:
Summary: This book is a waste of time & money, no quality control
Review: Do not buy this book. The code is full of bugs and does not appear to be tested by the author. You will spend ... and waste many hours trying to get the code to complie. The code is not very well explained in the text. Overall, the book is very disappointing, and really a huge waste of time.

O'Reilly have a big turkey here. Save your money - buy something else.

Rating:
Summary: Great book to begin distributed Java programming with.
Review: I needed to get into distributed progamming with Java and found this book to be a very good entry into the topic. Like the reviewer below noted, it only scratches the surface of each of the topics it discusses. This is fine for someone that is just getting into distributed programming...you can read on all the different methods of distributed programming in Java and then figure out which will be best for your application. Once you've mastered the topic of your choice to the level that this books gets into, you'll most certainly want to pick up another book that is more in-depth on what you are trying to do.

For example, I used the book to examine Corba, RMI, and message-based systems. I decided to choose RMI as the best method in my circumstance...I wrote several sample apps using RMI following the examples in the book. Once I felt comfortable with this, I went out and bought a Java book on RMI.

Rating:
Summary: Good Overview of Distributed Programming in Java
Review: In general, this book will give you quite a good overview of distributed Programming in Java. It covers many subjects from sockets to security. Some of the subjects like sockets and RMI are explained fairly well, but others that are complex like CORBA and Security are not explained in detail. The nice part about this book is that it gives a good overview of most API's and subjects related to Distributed Computing in Java. For people, looking for a clear book with lots of examples and details on this subject, this book is NOT for you. This book is not excatly EASY to read and its definately NOT full of examples, BUT if you are patient enough while reading, you will learn quite a lot from this book. I also warn you that you may need to read other books on some subjects in this book like CORBA to be able to understand them well. In conclusion, if you are a newbie that wants to learn distributed programming in Java I suggest that you buy this book ALONG with another one that is clear and easy.

Rating:
Summary: Good intro to distributed programs but lacks cohesiveness
Review: Java Distributed Computing is a good first look at distributed computing but is not an authoritative or comprehensive distributed programming reference.

The book is in the classic O'Reilly style. The book is overtly technically oriented and describes distributed programming from a strictly technical perspective.

The book has several examples of distributed programs. When the priciples of the examples are understood fully, the examples can be applied to real world problems. Unfortunately, the connection between understanding fully and applying the priciples is not presented effectively.

The chapters include a good chapter on networked threads and a good chapter on security.

The RMI and CORBA coverage is limited. This is unfortunate and a major shortcoming of the book since both of these protocols, especially RMI, are by default distributed systems. Way too much time is spent with messaging systems which are not appropriate for many advanced distributed applications. Actually, this book was not much different in scope from Java Networking and Communications -- also from O'Reilly.