Book Review: Expert Spring MVC and Web Flow

Last winter, I decided to update my Java web skills from Struts to Spring. I enlisted in a workshop that was using the book Expert Spring MVC and Web Flow as it’s textbook.

Having context of Spring (and IoC/DI in general), Ruby on Rails MVC, and .NET web development; as I looked through the book, it seemed as Spring MVC would be a breeze. As a Java newb, I completely underestimated how quickly this book went into depth. I was instantly lost in a world of XML situps and Controllers.

In short, this book is for you if you:

• Are a veteran Java web developer
• Already use Spring for IoC
• Love XML configuration files (or are masochistic)

This book is not terribly long (350 pages) but is an awful lot for even veteran level developers to digest.

Chapter List

1. Introduction
2. Spring Fundamentals
3. Spring MVC Application Architecture
4. Jump into Spring MVC
5. The Processing Pipeline
6. The Controller Menagerie
7. The View Layer
8. Supported View Types
9. Validation
10. Testing Spring MVC Applications
11. Introduction to Spring Web Flow
12. Advanced Spring Web Flow

The Good

• Majority of the chapters easy to read – No surprises Apress book
• Good introduction to the different types of Controllers
• Expert book, so doesn’t waste your time explaining IoC, DI, and Spring

The Bad

• Assumes you know IoC, DI, and Spring when developing web applications
• Needed a better high level introduction – felt left behind until after reading the first 6 chapters
• Some examples didn’t work
• I have XML books with less XML in them
• Should have named for clarity – Intro to Spring MVC for Java Web Experts

Even though the authors state that just because the title says “Expert” you don’t need to be an expert to read the book. Although this is true, I do feel the target audience were readers that already knew Spring and IoC along with the pitfalls of building web applications using JSP, EJB, and Struts.

This book is an overall good read, but I only recommend it to veteran Java web developers who are looking for a no-fluff just-stuff primer to Spring MVC. Putting this one smack in the middle at a solid 3.

Expert Spring MVC and Web Flow

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