Frank reviewed Beautiful Code: Leading Programmers Explain How They Think (edited by Andy Oram) and gave it a whopping 10 out of 10 horseshoes.

This is a delightful book. A collection of 33 chapters, each by a different author, all of them worthy of study and thought. Each author was given the same brief - write about your most beautiful code - and the results range widely across the software landscape. ... Although there are code samples aplenty in this book, it's not really for direct use. If you want copy-and-paste solutions, look elsewhere. What this book offers is deep insight into what good code is, and how it is created. ... If you care about the craft of code, you should buy this book.

You can read the full review and discuss it here.

Michael reviewed Java CAPS Basics: Implementing Common EAI Patterns by Michael Czapski et al. and gave it 9 out of 10 horseshoes.

It took me quite some time to figure out some of these solutions on my own, and I was pleased to have my hunches confirmed by experts. Other pattern implementations were not apparent to me; I'll save a great deal of time using them as given. ... The discussion is thorough, deliberate and complete, including drawbacks and limitations that go hand-in-hand with certain pattern solutions. These are valuable insights, but they can make the reading heavy work at times.

You can read the full review and discuss it here.

Katrina reviewed Secrets of the Rock Star Programmers: Riding the IT Crest by Ed Burns and gave it 6 out of 10 horseshoes.

The list of Rock Stars in "The Secrets of Rock Star Programmers" seems somewhat arbitrary. Probably great programmers, but not all of them would have come to mind if someone asked me who I considered Rock Star programmers, and many of the names that do come to mind aren't listed. ... That said, I really enjoyed reading this rather informal book which explores how some programmers approach their craft.

You can read the full review and discuss it here.

Ulf reviewed Head First Servlets & JSP, 2nd ed. by Bryan Basham, Kathy Sierra and Bert Bates and gave it 8 out of 10 horseshoes.

Never having read a Head First book before, this reviewer was pleasantly surprised by how well [ the Head First approach ] works. ... The book is billed as a preparation aid for the SCWCD exam, but it also serves as a general introduction to Servlets and JSP. ... I recommend this book as a tutorial -- not as a reference -- to anyone needing to come up to speed with servlets/JSP, or in need of learning aspects of it he hasn't used before.

You can read the full review and discuss it here.

Ulf reviewed Emergent Design by Scott L. Bain and gave it 9 out of 10 horseshoes.

A number of what might be called best practices are examined as to why they're useful, how they might best be applied, and how they deliver value in conjunction with other best practices. ... At each step the author uses a combination of concrete code (mostly in Java, but easily understandable to everyone) and abstract UML-style diagrams to illustrate what is happening, and what difference a particular technique makes. ... I recommend the book to get fresh perspectives and new ideas about various parts of the development process, both for developers and managers.

You can read the full review and discuss it here.

Two longstanding contributors have joined the ranks of the other JavaRanch moderators: Campbell Ritchie and Rob Prime. Welcome guys!

Say hello and wish them luck in this thread.

Jeanne reviewed Murach's C# 2008 by Joel Murach and gave it 9 out of 10 horseshoes.

The book targets beginners to experienced developers in Java/C++/VB/.NET along with being useful for training and reference. ... I particularly liked the focus on idioms and skills. There were a lot of "how to do ________" examples along with techniques such as refactoring. ... The book also walks you through features in Visual Studio 08.

You can read the full review and discuss it here.

Jesper reviewed FXRuby -- Create Lean and Mean GUIs with Ruby by Lyle Johnson and gave it 8 out of 10 horseshoes.

This book is about FXRuby, a library for developing GUIs with Ruby. ... The first part (chapters 1 to 6) is a gentle introduction to FXRuby, in which you build a simple photobook application step by step. The second part (chapters 7 to 14) is a more thorough overview of how FXRuby works and how to use all the different available widgets to build a GUI. [...] the book is useful for beginners and experienced users alike. For anyone who wants to create a good GUI for their Ruby application, I would recommend them to have a look at FXRuby and this book.

You can read the full review and discuss it here.

Balaji reviewed Adobe AIR for JavaScript Developers Pocket Guide by Mike Chambers, Daniel Dura, Kevin Hoyt and Dragos Georgita and gave it 8 out of 10 horseshoes.

If you are a beginner and don’t know anything about AIR, then this book is the best bet. ... The authors have given lots of code snippets while explaining a topic instead of lots of theoretical text. ... The most interesting part in this book is the “Mini cookbook”. [It] contains worked out samples with complete code explanation that can help you understand (from AIR perspective) Application Chrome, Windowing, File API, File Pickers, Service and Server Monitoring, Online/Offline, Drag-and-Drop, Embedded Database, Command-Line Arguments, Networking, Sound.

You can read the full review and discuss it here.

Marc reviewed Java Fundamentals I and II (Video Training) by Deitel and Associates Inc. and gave it 6 out of 10 horseshoes. (Amazon)

This was basically fourteen hours of staring at code already written in a NetBeans editor while a faceless (and somewhat monotone) voice explained how the code works. The mouse pointer moves around or highlights some text to point out a particular area of code, the lessons sometimes shift to JavaDoc or a diagram, and you see Paul's face while he gives the intro and summary of each lesson – but it wasn't enough to keep me engaged. ... Overall, this LiveLessons DVD pack isn't horrible - I simply think the Deitel book is a better value ...

You can read the full review and discuss it here.

Marc reviewed Service Oriented Java Business Integration by Binildas C. A. and gave it 5 out of 10 horseshoes.

I was hoping to simply learn more about Java Business Integration. The first 70 pages are a decent start on this. Following that, however, Apache ServiceMix component tutorials abound, and not in an entertaining cover-to-cover read kind of way. ... There isn't much of a practical flow from chapter to chapter, the "Use Cases" never really explain the problems that the samples solve ... If you're working with ServiceMix but are frustrated by a lack of documentation, then this book might be the right fit for you. Otherwise I recommend you save your money for something else.

You can read the full review and discuss it here.

Jesper reviewed Ajax - The Complete Reference by Thomas A. Powell and gave it 9 out of 10 horseshoes.

The book isn't just a cookbook that explains step by step how to build an Ajax web application - it focuses on making robust and secure applications that will work well on the different browsers and operating systems that are out there. ... I would highly recommend this book to people who are developing serious Ajax web applications. This book contains a lot of valuable information, I certainly learned a lot by reading it.

You can read the full review and discuss it here.