Author: Eric Jendrock, Ian Evans, Devika Gollapudi & Kim Haase
Publisher: Prentice Hall
Pages: 600
ISBN: 978-0137081851
Aimed at: EE beginners
Rating: 4
Pros: Methodical
Cons: Sometimes difficult to follow
Reviewed by: Alex Armstrong

This is the 4th Edition of the introductory volume of a two-book set. Has it stood the test of time?

Java EE can be a very difficult area to break into. Even if you know an equivalent technology and write Java there is a bewildering array of EE technologies to master and the jargon makes it even more difficult. The Java EE 6 Tutorial attempts to break down this barrier and present the technologies as simply and directly as possible by way of examples. 

Unfortunately the book starts off with a long discussion of the theory. My advice is to either skim read or, if you do have the basics already sorted out skip Chapter 1 and start at Chapter 2. The examples here are developed using NetBeans and GlassFish but there are alternative command line instructions. At the end of Chapter 2 you are up to about the "Hello World" position.

From here each of the main technologies is explored. First you work though the creation of a web module and then you use JSF and Facelets. It would have been nice to have a clearer explanation of the whys and wherefores of the two approaches. The section ends with a look at Servlets.

The next part of the book is on web services both REST and SOAP based. Part V deals with Enterprise Beans and Part VI is all about persistence. The final parts of the book are on security and supporting technologies. 

If you reach the end of the book you will have covered a lot of ground but be warned there is a companion volume - Java EE 6 - Advanced Topics. The one problem with this book is that there is so much to learn it is difficult to see how it fits together or which technology you should be using in any particular instance. Some more personal comments and opinions from the authors would help and so would indicating what is new in Version 6.

You also need to know that the entire contents of the book are available on-line http://download.oracle.com/javaee/6/tutorial/doc/docinfo.html so you can try it out for yourself - however the book is much more user friendly and you can take it with you to read.

This is a good introduction to Java EE 6 and recommended to anyone trying to get to grips with this complex and extensive technology.