Ajax in Action

JavaServer Faces in Action (In Action series)

Core JavaServer Faces (Sun Microsystems Press Java Series)

Hibernate in Action (In Action series)

Java

Pro JSF and Ajax: Building Rich Internet Components (Pro)

Format: Paperback
Author: Jonas Jacobi
ReleaseDate: 13 February, 2006
Publisher: Apress
Rating:

Moving beyond "Hello World" to cool applications...
0 technologies, Jonas Jacobi and John R. If you already have a background in JavaServer Faces (JSF) and you want to start exploring the integration of that with some of the Web 2. Fallows have a book that might interest you. . . Pro JSF and Ajax - Building Rich Internet Components.

Contents:
Part 1 - Developing Smarter with JavaServer Faces: The Foundation of JSF - Components; Defining the Date Field Component; Defining the Deck Component
Part 2 - Designing Rich Internet Components: Using Rich Internet Technologies; Loading Resources with Weblets; Ajax Enabling the Deck Component; Ajax Enabling the Date Field Component; Providing Mozilla XUL Renderers; Providing Microsoft HTC Renderers; Switching RenderKits Dynamically
Index

To be honest, this book was beyond my current technology level. While there is a brief overview of JSF technology, you'll get the most out of the book if you already have a relatively solid grounding in it. They use two components, the Date Field and the Deck components, to show how JSF can be used to build internet application components that are able to be reused in other applications. The real value comes in Part 2, where they take those two components and start mixing them up with technologies that allow for rich internet functionality, such as Ajax and XUL. Using the examples provided, you start to see how a JSF application mixed with something like Ajax allows you to start building internet applications that behave more like desktop client apps. . . no round-trips to the server. . . no constant screen refreshes to get new content. . . Pretty cool stuff. I'd also recommend that you be pretty conversant with the rich internet technology already. Like with JSF, there's an assumption that you already understand the basics, so don't think that your first exposure to Ajax could be with this book. You'll be in pain if you try that route. . .

If you've had the exposure and you're now looking for some really cool project on which to apply your JSF skills, this could easily be the book that helps you make that transition from "Hello World" to "ooooohhh. . . ".

Advanced Guide
. The authors begin "This book is not, and we would like to emphasize this, not an introductory level book.. " That's for certain. Except for quick review material in the first chapter, the authors move quickly into a project that assumes a good amount of experience.

The book effectively follows a pattern that you have seen before. Build a simple component, integrate it, then progressively build in functionality and complexity while dealing with usability and maintainability issues.

One factor that makes this book stand out is the great number of flow diagrams. This book has the expected code printouts and screenshots but the extra emphasis on logic diagrams is exceptional. Also not seen in other JSF books are two chapters on providing Mozilla XUL and Microsoft . htc renderers. Yes, the last is a bit of a surprise!.

The best of its kind
If you know you way around JSF and want to dive into the the rather complex materia of how to write JSF components, this book is a must buy, there simply is no other book which does the coverage of this topic as extensive as this one. Ok to sum it up, if you want to learn jsf from scratch, stay away from it.
I have been programming JSF components for almost a year now and still lots of the covered subjects have been new to me. The wealth of information this book gives is simply amazing. Five stars for this one. A must buy.