Press Release
October 19, 2004
"Head First Servlets & JSP": A Brain-Friendly Approach to Passing the Sun Certified Web Component
Sebastopol, CA--To imagine a world without Servlet and JSP (JavaServer
Pages) technology is to imagine the almost unthinkable: a world with no
place to buy retired Beanie Babies and no place to sell your first-edition
Pet Rock. In short, a world without eBay. Servlet/JSP technology is the
driving force behind most of the world's important sites, including eBay,
notes Kathy Sierra, coauthor with Bryan Basham and Bert Bates of the new
Head First Servlets & JSP (O'Reilly, US $44.95). "When you want to build
a secure, complex web site that hooks into a large enterprise system, most
will turn to Servlets and JSP, which is a key component of Sun's Java 2
Enterprise Edition (J2EE)," says Sierra.
"So the majority of Java developers today are expected to know at least
something about building Servlets and JSPs," Sierra continues. "But while
it used to be really simple to build and deploy Servlets (in 1999, for
example), it has become increasingly complex and sophisticated. It's no
longer trivial--there is a ton to learn! And of course if you make a
mistake, the consequences can be significant: 'Oops, we just credited his
account when we were supposed to debit it...' or worse, 'Oops, we just
sent that lingerie order to the guy who actually ordered golf clubs--and
now someone's wife is getting golf clubs when her husband meant to send
her a lace camisole...'"
Head First Servlets & JSP brings Java developers up to speed on the
technology. They'll know it so well, in fact, that they'll be able to pass
the Sun Certified Web Component Developer (SCWCD) 1.4 exam. But word has
it that the Sun Certified Web Component Developer Exam is hard. So hard,
in fact, that some people have suggested that Basham, Sierra, and
Bates--who, in addition to having written Head First Servlets & JSP, are
developers for most of the Sun Java Certification exams including the new
SCWCD for J2EE 1.4--have made the test intentionally difficult so that
people studying for it would have to buy a book.
On the contrary, says Sierra: "When we were creating the book, so often
we'd realize that we had to cover some really tricky thing at a deep level
in order to get someone through a particular set of hard questions on the
exam, and you'd hear one of us swearing, 'Who the *** put this stuff on
the exam?!' And then we'd realize, 'Oh, yeah, that was us...' So, in the
course of trying to help someone pass this exam, we realized that the book
would have been much easier to write if the exam had been a lot easier. In
fact, the book became two hundred pages longer than we originally
expected."
This new exam is tough indeed--much tougher than the previous version of
the SCWCD. But, maybe you don't care about the exam, you just need to use
Servlets and JSPs in your next project. You're working on a deadline. You're
over the legal limit for caffeine. You can't waste your time with a book
that makes sense only AFTER you're an expert (or worse, one that puts you
to sleep).
No problem. This book's brain-friendly approach drives the knowledge
straight into your head (without sharp instruments). You'll interact with
servlets and JSPs in ways that help you learn quickly and deeply. It may
not be "The Da Vinci Code," but you'll see why so many reviewers call it "a
page turner." Most importantly, this book will help you use what you
learn. It won't get you through the exam only to have you forget
everything the next day.
Head First Servlets & JSP will show you how to write servlets and JSPs,
what makes the Container tick (and what ticks it off), how to use the new
JSP Expression Language (EL), what you should NOT write in a JSP, how to
write deployment descriptors, secure applications, and even use some
server-side design patterns. Can't talk about Struts at a cocktail party?
That'll change. You won't just pass the exam, you will truly understand
this stuff, and you'll be able to put it to work right away.
Praise for Head First Servlets & JSP and the Head First approach:
"For our Servlet/JSP classes, we bought more than ten books, without
finding any one really satisfying our teaching needs...Until we found the
pedagogical gem you now hold in your hands! Head First books simply make
us better teachers. Thank you so much for that!"
--Philippe Maquet, Senior Instructor at Loop Factory, Brussels
"It's fast, irreverent, fun, and engaging. Be careful--you might learn
actually learn something!"
--Ken Arnold, coauthor (with James Gosling, creator of Java) of "The Java
Programming Language"
"It's definitely time to dive in--Head First."
--Scott McNealy, Sun Microsystems, Chairman, President, and CEO
Additional Resources:
Head First Servlets & JSP
Bryan Basham, Kathy Sierra, and Bert Bates
ISBN 0-596-00540-7, 853 pages, $44.95 US, $65.95 CA
order@oreilly.com
1-800-998-9938; 1-707-827-7000
About O'Reilly
O'Reilly Media spreads the knowledge of innovators through its books, online services, magazines, and conferences. Since 1978, O'Reilly Media has been a chronicler and catalyst of cutting-edge development, homing in on the technology trends that really matter and spurring their adoption by amplifying "faint signals" from the alpha geeks who are creating the future. An active participant in the technology community, the company has a long history of advocacy, meme-making, and evangelism.
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