Katrina reviewed Pro CSS and HTML Design Patterns by Michael Bowers and gave it 9 out of 10 horseshoes.

I absolutely love this book. I have two copies of it - one at work, one at home. ... It provides a solid fundamental understanding of how elements and rules interact, and especially how the same element or attribute will behave differently in different environments. ... In several cases, it has saved me hours of trying to achieve something which simply cannot be done in the current specification. At the same time, it has provided enough information to find a different approach that does work. ... The book is very systematic, and while it is a great read cover-to-cover, it functions very well as a reference volume. The 'patterns' format (name/problem/solution/pattern) makes it very easy to locate the exact information you are looking for. ... Summary: Buy this book. Read this book. I mean it.

You can read the full review and discuss it here.

Katrina reviewed Pro PayPal E-Commerce by Damon Williams and gave it 8 out of 10 horseshoes.

This book is aimed squarely at developers, however it does not assume that the reader knows the first thing about PayPal ... The book provides a comprehensive overview of the problems that PayPal addresses, the services that PayPal offers, advice on when one service might be more appropriate than an other ... Throughout the book, the author highlights gotchas and provides helpful tips, such as 'remember to write down the fake credit card number the first time it is provided, because that is the only chance you get'. ... Though all of the information is freely available in various forms of documentation on PayPal's website, I would highly recommend the book if you are considering using PayPal as a payment option as it is cohesive and comprehensive.

You can read the full review and discuss it here.

Katrina reviewed Head First JavaScript by Michael Morrison and gave it 9 out of 10 horseshoes.

Head First JavaScript starts off by illustrating why JavaScript can be useful (adding pizzaz, interactivity, and excitement to a website), and then goes about leading the reader in experiments, exercises, and games which introduce various aspects of the language: variables, scope, objects, control statements, and events. The book also introduces debugging and very basic Ajax. ... The irreverent Head First style cleverly disguises the fact that you will walk away from the book understanding 'stuff'. ... If you are a JavaScript guru, the book will probably be an entertaining read, but not much more than that. ... Head First JavaScript is a great foundation, and will have you reading and enjoying more advanced texts in no time.

You can read the full review and discuss it here.

David reviewed Wicket in Action by Martijn Dashorst and Eelco Hillenius and gave it 6 out of 10 horseshoes.

For me the information came a little too thick and fast, and assumed more existing knowledge than I already had. ... It is an advantage having this level of knowledge about the architecture and underlying decisions that made Wicket what it is, but I wasn't sure about the order or rate of delivery. ... There is still plenty of in depth knowledge and examples that will benefit any Wicket application, and the later chapters address areas like authorisation, internationalisation and deployment that will make the difference between a good application and a successful one.

You can read the full review and discuss it here.

Michael reviewed Groovy Recipes: Greasing the Wheels of Java by Scott Davis and gave it 8 out of 10 horseshoes.

The book is driven by a series of insights rather than complete, formal coverage. I found this approach very useful to getting started and experimenting. The writing is clear, light-hearted, and relaxed, especially in the beginning. ... The examples illustrate very well the power of this tool, but I didn't see anything that amounts to, say, the Groovy way to mine a web page, create an IM interface, read mail, etc. If you are looking for code you can apply immediately to some series of problems, this isn't the one.

You can read the full review and discuss it here.