Mark Mercer's Booklist

last updated on April 15, 2001.

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My Professional Bookshelf

Some of the basics I recommend for working as a Corporate Software Developer, for learning these technologies, and for a programmer's reference bookshelf.

XML

XML (eXtensible Markup Language) is at the heart of many systems today, and not just for web pages. In fact, it's often misunderstood as a new type of markup for web pages, when it's actually much more. XML is at the core of many computer-to-computer exchanges, deep inside both Microsoft's .NET initiative and competing enterprise architectures, and very useful with Java. Some key XML books to consider:

• XML in a Nutshell from O'Reilly Press. A thorough, dense XML reference. Not your starting point for learning it but keep it near your desk.
• The XML Companion by Neil Bradley. Another intense reference, with good info on SAX, DOM, XPath, and other aspects of using XML programmatically. Some people love this book, other people hate it because it's not a "how-to-write XML".
• XSLT Programmer's Reference from Micheal Kay - the 2nd edition is being published as of April 2001, with the latest XSLT specifications included. XSLT - the Transformation language for eXstensible Stylesheet Language, is a crucial part of using XML in the enterprise, and in B2B across enterprises. It's a language and a framework for translating one organization's data, presented in XML, to another organization's view of the same data, in XML or non-XML formats. As such, it's critical for B2B exchanges. This book (version 1) is my favorite so far for this technology.

Java and Web Application Development

• Need to learn Java? I've found these two books both helpful, if you have some programming background from other languages: Learning Java, from Niemeyer, Niemeyer, and Knudsen; and Cay Horstman's Core Java 2: Fundamentals from Sun Microsystems Press. They have slightly different approaches and tutorial applications, and I've found both complementary as I've started to learn Java.
• Horstman's followup, Core Java 2: Advanced Features is the natural next step when you're ready for advanced topics on the Swing APIs, Java2-specific features, and other advanced aspects of Java.
• Java Server Pages (JSP) and Servlets are a key part of current web application design. A great book for this technology, complete with good info as to what not to put in your JSPs, is Core Servlets and JavaServer Pages by Marty Hall, from Sun.
• Another good choice for JSP, with a very good tutorial, is Web Development with Java Server Pages by Duane Fields and Mark Kolb. Both these books are worth having if you're learning JSP, since they come at things from slightly different angles.

HTML and Web Design

For Web development, there are roomfuls of books. However some are best as references, some are better for newcomers learning HTML and related topics, and some are just a waste of dead trees. Here are a few I like:

• HTML: The Complete Reference by Thomas A. Powell. This is a very comprehensive book which serves both as a reference, and as a way to learn the latest in HTML including HTML 4.0 and CSS Style Sheets. Powell includes lots of examples, with corresponding screens and raw HTML. He has tables that compare what works in each of the modern browsers, including good treatment of IE4, Netscape Communicator, and the extensions introduced by WebTV. Plus all the reference tables for fonts, colors, special characters, and HTML/CSS1 syntax. This book is something you'll want whether you're a professional Web coder, or have reached an intermediate level but want to go further. It's not a good beginner choice, though.
  
  
• Molly Holschlag is one of my favorite Web Design authors - I've seen her at workshops, and enjoy the features at WebReview.com which she edits. She has an excellent real-world perspective on what works on the web in terms of both technical issues of HTML versions, and visual design. Two key reference works from Molly are Using HTML 4 (part of Que's excellent "Special Edition" series), and Web by Design: The Complete Guide. Using HTML is a great book for both reference and learning, especially for cross-platform and cross-browser development. The Design book focuses on the visual design element, equally important.
  

Unix & Linux

The Operating Systems that provide the infrastructure for most of the Internet.

• Unix Power Tools is a great collection of tips for using Unix (or Linux) tools and utilities more effectively. From O'Reilly Associates, so up to their well-respected standards of quality, but not one of their typical "animal cover" references.
• Unix in a Nutshell - O'Reilly's classic reference.
• Want an introduction to Linux, complete with a couple of different distributions on CD? Try Linux: the Complete Reference by Richard Petersen. It comes with versions of Red Hat and Caldera Linux, two of the most popular distros, especially for corporate use. My first experience with Linux came from working with an earlier version of this book a few years ago. Not the end-all, despite the "complete reference" series title - but a very good starting point, especially if you're coming from a Microsoft-centric world.
• Planning to add a Linux server into a Windows NT-based network? Officially or "unofficially"? You'll be using Samba, the Linux-and-Unix-based, Open Source networking that works with Microsoft's SMB (Server Message Block) protocol. Using Samba is a great way to get an old or new PC to work as a workgroup file server - with Linux's high reliability and low cost. Here's the book you need to learn how to do it: Using Samba (from O'Reilly System Administration series).

Databases

Many applications today use various SQL-based database management systems. Whether it's Oracle, Sybase, IBM's DB2 Universal Database, Informix, or Open Source choices like MySQL and mSQL, or lesser-known but still-common platforms like Interbase, Ingress, and many others, they have one thing in common - you get at the data via Structured Query Language (SQL). Even lower-end PC-based database systems such as Microsoft Access can use SQL. So a good SQL reference is important for almost any developer. In addition to a platform-specific reference (see a DB2 suggestion later in the mainframe section), here's a good overall SQL book:

• SQL: The Complete Reference by Groff and Weinberg. Book and CD-ROM cover many different SQL platforms.
  

Client-Server Development

I used to do a lot of work in PowerBuilder and Sybase, and there are still a lot of systems out there built in the 1990's using this then-popular Client-Server architecture. Here's my favorite book on the topic:

• PowerBuilder Unleashed by Simon Gallagher, Simon J. A. Herbert. This is one of those weighty, over-1000-page "complete" books. But this one has real meat to it. I used the PB 5.0 version of the book extensively, and it has been updated for newer versions. In my opinion, the best of the "big books" on PowerBuilder.
  
  

Mainframe Development

They aren't going away anytime soon. We (the programmers out there) will be hooking all sorts of other interesting things to them, and using them as really big servers, but the big boxes will still be cranking out the data behind the scenes. In fact, IBM has re-named and re-positioned them as the Z-Series Internet Servers. If you're doing online Web-based travel reservations, investing, or online banking, there's almost certainly a mainframe out there behind the neat webpage. Same with high-volume corporate client-server applications; there may be "big iron" behind the departmental server. You even can run Linux on the mainframe now! But underlying the new uses of the mainframe are many of the traditional mainframe technologies: CICS, MVS (or OS/390 or Z/OS as it is now named), and DB2 Universal Database. Here are some key books for these areas:

• DB2 UDB for OS/390 Developer's Quick Reference Guide by Gary Joehlin - highly recommended by a colleague for DB2 on the largest IBM servers.
  
  
• The CICS Programmer's Desk Reference by Doug Lowe. You need this book if you're doing CICS (IBM's transaction monitor) on a mainframe, or for that matter on any other CICS platform including Windows NT or UNIX. Covers all the major CICS APIs and does it as a quick-to-find reference format, plus some good design tips. I've been using an old dog-eared version of this since 1987, but Lowe's kept his up-to-date for the newest CICS versions. Every programmer I've loaned mine to either wants to buy one, or keeps bugging me to borrow mine again. CICS is still very common on the back-end of web applications. I've worked on several applications that use XML to talk to web application servers for internet-enabled commerce, while using CICS at the back-end server to talk to huge databases and enterprise data. Though the "green-screen" CICS terminal applications are disappearing slowly, CICS as a rock-solid, event-driven transaction monitor is becoming even more important.
  
  
• System 370/390 Job Control Language  by Gary Deward Brown. Best JCL book on the planet. If you have to develop for the mainframe at all, you need to know JCL, and this is the book to have. Author has a sense of perspective that the mainframe is not the only type of computer in the world (rare for people writing mainframe books), so his opening chapter guides new-to-mainframe people who thought they "knew computers" already fairly gently. Rest of the book is a great reference. I used this to help teach the mainframe to a talented IS graduate who didn't get mainframe exposure in college, and this book was a big help for quickly coming up to speed. Another book I'm getting tired of loaning out all the time! Brown also has written a COBOL book which you can find from this Amazon.com link, but I haven't personally used it. Worth a look if it is anywhere near as good as his JCL book.
  
  

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