Portlets in Action: Covers Portlet 2.0, Spring 3.0, Portlet MVC, WSRP 2.0, Portlet Bridges, Ajax, Comet, Liferay, Gateln, Spring JDBC and Hibernate 1st Edition

In just having recently completed a development project creating portlets for the first time with a Java Portlet Specification 2.0 (JSR 286) compliant portal server, I hope I can provide some insight into the effectiveness of this book, since I used it to hit the ground running. Simply put, I agree with some of the other reviews here that this book is very well put together. The progression of content that the author provides from one chapter to the next is effective for those newly tackling portal development. As a consultant in such a situation, I especially appreciated Chapter 1 ("Introducing Portals and Portlets"), Chapter 2 ("The Portlet Lifecycle"), Chapter 3 ("Portlet 2.0 API: Portlet Objects and Container-runtime Options"), Chapter 6 ("Using the Portlet Tag Library"), Chapter 7 ("Getting Started with Spring Portlet MVC"), and Chapter 11 ("Communicating with Other Portlets"). The UML sequence diagrams that the author provides greatly aided the material. And believe it or not, even at almost 600-pages the author even thankfully left out the fluff that one can unfortunately often expect in other developer texts of this genre.That said, however, potential readers need to be aware of what this book does and does not provide. Unless the reader is using Liferay, the most frequently referenced portal server in this book, they should not expect to be able to get up to speed with any specific portal server. My target portal server, for example, was IBM WebSphere Portal 6.1.0, and this specific portal server is only mentioned in passing a few times by the author. Usage of the XML Configuration Interface, commonly known as XMLAccess, for example, which is a requirement when using the portal server in my project environment, was not covered. Personalization rules and managing portal pages was also not covered. As with other Java specifications, much is left up to implementers with regard to what is under the covers, but as with application servers, portal servers also provide features that sit outside these specifications. While I did not purchase this text expecting that the WebSphere implementation would be covered, as a novice in this space I also was not aware how much I would be dependent on product specific features. Well recommended guide and reference for those new to portal development, especially with Spring Portlet MVC.

I am working in portal/portlet development for the last 2 years and I was looking for a good Portal book for the last 2 years or so. This is the first major book for portal and portlet technology. After reading this I would like to congratulate author as he has given a book which is helpful for new as well as experienced portal/portlet developers.This book gives a complete insight of Portlet technology as well as Spring Portlet MVC framework with good code examples.The author has covered almost everything necessary for portlet development e.g. portal framework explanation, various frameworks that can be used for portlet development and advanced topics like Ajax integration with portlet technology with examples including several JavaScript libraries and Ajax frameworks like DOJO,DWR.This book is a must have for all Portlet developers.

This book has been my crown savior in a sea of google searching! There isn't a single source that is as comprehensive as this book. If you're looking to get in to portlet development, this is the best place to start. A little bit of background in servlets does make the reading go a bit faster, but is not required. Step by step guides with images and examples fill every chapter alongside detailed explanations and definitions. Thank you for taking the time to put together such a comprehensive book!

Read this book first, then download the documentation for the portlet container you plan to write on.I have read many books on portal development, and Liferay development in particular and this book is by far the best for a serious Java developer wanting to increase their portal development skill in areas that can be applied across portal containers. Many of the books out now are little more than an introduction to the portal container or an extension to the admin Guide. This book goes where others don't. It actually has examples that the reader can follow step by step, without the many headaches the other books require. The source code is well written and displays many nice features of Spring as well as the portlet spec. This book puts the "in Action" back in the brand many of us once relied on for step by step IT instruction.This book will make you a better developer in the Spring MVC space and get you proficient in the portal space as well. The book covers validation, security, localization, caching, Portal Admin, portlet tag library, inter portlet communication, Spring Portlet MVC, Hibernate, Spring annotations, integrating portlets with databases, personalization of portlets, Ajax portlets, iFrame portlets, wicket portlets, WSRP, building a custom portal. It is both a great learning tool for portlet development and great polisher for Spring skills as well.If you do any portlet development or are thinking of doing any you need this book. If you are working with Liferay at all then this book is a MUST HAVE for you, even more than the admin guide.

I read the first 5 chapters of this book, and I plan finish part1 and part2 (chapters from 1 to 9).The style is very clear, the author keep repeating important information by many ways to make it clear for you.Also, the sequence diagrams are very good and make every bit clear.If you new to portlets, you should start with this book (vs "liferay in action" which is not suitable at all for biginners at all.)I recommend this book to any one want to understand the portlets before working on any portal server (liferay, jet speed, IMB portal, etc..)To sums it up, this book truly will learn you what is Portlets.

Awesome book!! Covers in real detail.

Ein gründliches, solides Buch zur Portlet-Programmierung. Verschiedene freie Portale (z.B. Liferay) werden berücksichtigt, Lebenszyklus, Eventmodell, Annotations-Verwendung und auch Portlet-Bridges (Einbettung existierender Komplettseiten in Portale) nachvollzieh- und -programmierbar abgehandelt. Die üblichen Aspekte, z.B. Datenbanken und Security, werden angemessen behandelt. Man versteht die innere Struktur eines Portals. Ein gewisses Augenmerk liegt auch auf Spring-Unterstützung für Portlets.Um WebSphere macht der Autor - wohl sehr berechtigter Weise - sichtlich eher einen Bogen.Sehr geeignet für sowohl Newbies als auch Fortgeschrittene.