More Servlets and JavaServer Pages

Excellent text. I read Hall's "More Servlets and JSP" after reading Sams JavaServer Pages Application Development, and Wrox JSP Web Development. Whereas the Sams book provided some great insight on a smattering of topics (in their usual style), and the Wrox book provides a lot of useful information out of context, Hall presents a lot of useful information, in an easily digestible format, and in proper context. This book is also filled with the "gotchas" that usually take trial and error to uncover. It's not a regurgitation of the API or other documentation. Hall also covers some of the deployment intricacies in greater detail than I've seen in other texts. All in all, this is an excellent book that I expect to keep on my frequently accessed shelf. I will be looking for more Hall publications in the future.

I have used Marty's "Core Servlets and JavaServer Pages" book in the past as a textbook for an intro servlets/JSP course I teach. I am now upgrading my course curriculum to use this updated version. In addition, I will also be using this as the foundation text for an advanced JSP/servlets course!The book is one of the few JSP books that is current with the JSP 1.2 and Servlet 2.3 specifications, including several chapters devoted to new features introduced in these specification levels. I also appreciate the chapters devoted to deployment and web application configuration issues (Ch 4 & 5), as well as application security (Ch 7 & 8). These topics get ignored all too often.Marty's writing style lends itself well to someone looking for a self-study guide, or to someone simply seeking a reference book with solid examples. (If you want to check out his style before purchasing, Marty has made his Core book available online...

This book is for those readers that understand Java and are familiar with Servlets and JSP.It is a sequel to the very successful Core Servlets and JavaServer Pages by Marty Hall. Its main focus is to explain the Servlet specification 2.3 and JSP 1.2. This includes coverage of Filters, portable web security and new tag library capabilities.The first chapter describes how to setup the popular Servlet/JSP engines. The next two chapters cover an introduction to Servlets and JSP.Chapters 4 and 5 explain how to deploy and web.xml. This also includes your first main taste of filters in this book. Later chapters explain web application security (configuration and programming based), filters (examples include logging), application events framework (such as listening to changes made to session attributes) and loads about the new JSP 1.2 tag library improvements.This book is totally focused on Servlets and JSP, so don't expect anything on EJB, UML or J2EE design patterns. What we really like about this book is that it is packed full of useful source code snippets and handy configuration settings. Even if you don't use one of the servlet/JSP engines mentioned you will find many useful topics. Another good book about Servlets and JSP, which should be on your bookshelf.

I've read about a dozen servlet & JSP books, and I think this is the best one for readers with some prior experience in servlets & JSP. It is also an excellent book for people who are new to servlets & JSP, but I'll clarify that at the end of my review. The book is definitely worth 5 starts. The first star is for Marty Hall's clear and direct writing style. The second star is for being one of the few books that is currently up to date with the newest servlet & JSP specifications. The third star is for having very practical and useful content such as solid coverage of web application deployment. The fourth star is for being the first book that I've read that has detailed coverage of how to use SSL with servlets. The fifth star is for having source code, sample chapters, and a slew of prequel chapters freely available online. If you read and enjoyed Mr. Hall's "Core Servlets & JSP", this book is well worth buying also. Be aware, the first 240 pages is an introduction which is essentially a reduced and updated form of the "Core" book. But the other 450 pages is all new and extremely good content. Even without the first 240 pages, the other 450 pages is worth the purchase price alone. If you are brand new to Servlet & JSPs you may want to first buy "Core Servlets & JSPs" for a slower introduction to these topics. But, make sure you come back and buy this book because you will definitely want some of the updated and advanced topics such as "web applications." Alternatively, you can go ahead and buy this book and read some of the prequel chapters that Mr. Hall has online. I haven't been fortunate enough to attend one myself, but I've also heard wonderful things about the onsite and public training servlet & JSP training classes that Mr. Hall offers. In short, it's a great book. Enjoy!