Programming .NET Web Services

Applied XML Programming for Microsoft .NET

Microsoft .NET Distributed Applications: Integrating XML Web Services and .NET Remoting

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Microsoft .NET XML Web Services Step by Step

Format: Paperback
Author: Adam Freeman
ReleaseDate: 30 October, 2002
Publisher: Microsoft Press
Rating:

Great for beginners
The authors exhibit their virtuous patience by going into great lengths to introduce the technology concepts that support XML web services, complete with comprehensive diagrams. As the suffix title suggests, this book _does_not_rush_ things; very obviously catered for novice developers, it slowly oozes out information a step at a time. These base explanations facilitate a firmer foundational understanding that no developer of XML web services should do without.

Accompanying this conceptual theory are practical-driven chapters, each demonstrating a facet of web service development in the . NET Framework and Visual Studio . NET. The instructions are so minutely explicit and clear, virtually taking the reader by the hand (so much so might annoy more seasoned developers), that building the examples listed are exceedingly easy tasks. And I do not mean that in a blind copy-and-paste manner; the baby steps are enriched with proper explanations to ensure readers have sufficient knowledge of why such a piece of code exists somewhere. Even the asynchronous and multi-threading chapter, a topic that most developers tend not to have a good grip on, is written with amazing clarity. The book's 16 chapters are incredibly easy to read and digest, possessing little (if not none) of that confusing wordy fluff that delivers nothing; this one goes straight to the point, short and sweet.

Sometimes however, short can also mean _truncated_. There are places where it simply stops and closes shop on the chapter when more demonstrations are expected. Take for example the fifth chapter, where it is supposed to show using web services with HTTP requests along (without SOAP). It explains alot about HTTP-GET and HTTP-POST, but only walks through a HTTP-GET practical. I felt omitting HTTP-POST would not fair well in the light of educating novices.

While on the flow of novice practices, it also strangely presents a mix of good and legacy (not necessarily bad) examples. The use of the StringBuilder class to append strings together is a good one, but continuing to code with "" and string. ToLower() show an affinity to past platforms. string. Empty and CaseInsensitiveComparer are respectively preferred choices in the . NET Framework practice.

Almost needless to state, even with the "Advanced" part of the book, one should not be expecting any serious deep topics or design patterns revolving web services here. But I couldn't help but feel it waste for such fantastic writing style not delivering something more that is usually arcane in other books. Who should be blamed for desiring more out of a delicious meal?

Great book to get developers started and up to speed with XML web services. But those looking to become _masters_ should read something else.

Good: Crystal clear explanations; easy following; great beginner material
Bad: Little to offer beyond the beginner; odd omissions; few legacy practices.

I give this book an A+
Highly recomended. I found it to be a very good intro for beginners in XML Web Services like myself.

Excellent tutorial for beginners.
It is a good tutorial that will hold your hand and help you taking your first steps on the planet WebServices. I am half way through the book and I like it. The authors selected an interesting and practical example subject, validating credit card numbers, so you will not need a lot of coffee to keep you awake.

The examples are so simple, so if you are an experienced OO programmer, keep in mind that the goal was introducing the subject not implementing the code in the most elegant way.

On the other hand, the authors followed a naming convention from hell. I am not just talking about casing but also the logical selection of class names. For example, In chapter 6 the authors were explaining the subject of sending objects and returning objects from/to web service. So they built a class and named it "ValidationObject". I don't want to sound like an OO lawyer here but the class is not an object; Objects are instances of the class.

Anyway, I guess a name like "CreditCard" would've made much more sense, after all it is a credit card we are passing around. Variables were named like this x_object, o_card_type.

Personally, I couldn't continue without building a names map. I just recorded each name and to which object it was given on a piece of paper.

A word of advice; this is not the type of book you want to come back for a second read hoping that it will give you more understanding of the subject. So make sure you will take notes and summarize the important facts of each chapter.
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