Enterprise Integration: An Architecture for Enterprise Application and Systems Integration

Rating:
Summary: good book but too high level
Review: I found the book useful in learning concepts but the level of detail was not what I expected. I prefer books that illustrate concepts with detailed examples that get more complicated as you read on. Too much attention is devoted to CORBA and not enough to mapping distributed architecture concepts to newer technologies (J2EE, WebServices). XML material seems a little weak.

Rating:
Summary: Good EAI Book
Review: If you are looking for a general guide on EAI, this is the book. However, there are some areas where it goes flying over very important concepts. I recommend it if you are and IT Architect trying to understand the general principles of this technology but if you are a "doer" you will be dissapointed.

Rating:
Summary: Intermediate-level in detail, up-to-date
Review: This book has found a place alongside one of my other favorites: "B2B Application Integration" by David S. Linthicum. Like Linthicum's book this one covers a wide range of EAI topics at a high level. However, this book is more up to date and drills down deeper in many topic areas, including more depth in implementation and deployment issues.

I especially liked the chapters on messaging Infrastructures, workflow management and component technologies. One note about the book's approach to components: it does not go deeply into component-based software engineering, but instead covers components from a request broker perspective. Moreover, a large part of the components discussion revolved around CORBA, which is a good conceptual approach but has yet to be widely embraced. The chapters titled "Ensuring Enterprise System Security" and "Supporting Enterprise Intelligence" are also valuable because they reflect contemporary concerns and issues.

The chapter on XML is a bit weaker than the corresponding discussion in "B2B Application Integration" by David S. Linthicum. Linthicum provides a more balance view in his book, especially regarding when not to use XML.

One additional feature that I like about this book is the accompanying web site. The links to specifications, organizations and related material point to a comprehensive collection of resources that not only augment the book, but are invaluable in their own right.

If you're looking for low-level details you will probably not like this book; however, if you want an intermediate-level, panoramic view of EAI this book is an excellent resource.

Rating:
Summary: Intermediate-level in detail, up-to-date
Review: This book has found a place alongside one of my other favorites: "B2B Application Integration" by David S. Linthicum. Like Linthicum's book this one covers a wide range of EAI topics at a high level. However, this book is more up to date and drills down deeper in many topic areas, including more depth in implementation and deployment issues.

I especially liked the chapters on messaging Infrastructures, workflow management and component technologies. One note about the book's approach to components: it does not go deeply into component-based software engineering, but instead covers components from a request broker perspective. Moreover, a large part of the components discussion revolved around CORBA, which is a good conceptual approach but has yet to be widely embraced. The chapters titled "Ensuring Enterprise System Security" and "Supporting Enterprise Intelligence" are also valuable because they reflect contemporary concerns and issues.

The chapter on XML is a bit weaker than the corresponding discussion in "B2B Application Integration" by David S. Linthicum. Linthicum provides a more balance view in his book, especially regarding when not to use XML.

One additional feature that I like about this book is the accompanying web site. The links to specifications, organizations and related material point to a comprehensive collection of resources that not only augment the book, but are invaluable in their own right.

If you're looking for low-level details you will probably not like this book; however, if you want an intermediate-level, panoramic view of EAI this book is an excellent resource.