Ajax in Action

Core Security Patterns : Best Practices and Strategies for J2EE(TM), Web Services, and Identity Management (Core)

Beginners Guide

Beginning Cryptography with Java

Format: Paperback
Author: David Hook
ReleaseDate: 19 August, 2005
Publisher: Wrox
Rating:

Very hands-on
The style is clear, coverage of ASN. Whether it is complete or not (of course, it is not), I would challenge anyone to point at a single alternative book covering Java cryptography at a greater level of details.1 is very helpful, and selection of BouncyCastle open source cryptoprovider is the most natural one. Lots more of details and code samples can be found in Bouncy Castle javadocs, but to navigate them without conceptual understanding of Java security in general and BouncyCastle implementation in particular, gained from the book like this one, would be a nightmare.

"Inside Java 2 Platform Security: Architecture, API Design, and Implementation (2nd Edition)" would be another book to recommend, for general overview of Java Security Platform, and, also, to make sense of Java Cryptography Extension (JCE) APIs standardizing access to cryptoproviders' (such as BouncyCastle) libraries. But, of course, the two books have very little overlap.

How to Incorporate Encryption into your Programs
There are those, especially in certain law enforcement agencies, who believe that access to stong encryption should not be allowed in the hands of the general public. Cryptography is still a delicate issue with a lot of people. Indeed, there are export regulations that define encryption technology as munitions. ==At the other end of the scale, there is the simple fact that without secure data transmission, web based electronic commerce would simply be impossible.

This book is on the use of standard Java encryption libraries. This book is written for people who are Java developers and are trying to make use of cryptography in their applications. It presumes that you are familiar with the Java language, but it does not assume you have any familiarity with the encryption APIs. The book covers the recent updates in the security APIs with J2SE 5. 0.

This book is very good from the programming point of view, it does not have a lot of history or the background technology of how encryption is done.

Avoid this book if you are looking for details


Based on my knowledge:

PROS:
-- Covers nearly all the aspects of Java Cryptography. Before reading this book, I had in-depth understanding of cryptography.
-- Good for code snippets

CONS:
-- Lousy or lack of explanation given. This is a major drawback I feel, because the main point is missing. If you dont care about the underlining working, go for this book, otherwise avoid this book.