Book Title: JXTA: Java^tm P2P Programming

Author: Daniel Brookshier, Darren Govoni, Navaneeth Krishnan

Publisher: SAMS

ISBN: 0672323664

Review by I. Marchenko

Paperback - March 2002, 413 pages

This book is a pioneer of the Project JXTA frontier. It was the first title to cover the mechanics of peer-to-peer programming with JXTA. Of all the innovative concepts and ideas shaping the computer world, JXTA represents a paradigmatic shift. The book's author/editor, Daniel Brookshier, proclaims the JXTA revolution in the opening paragraph of the Introduction. Using a powerful comparison of JXTA with no less than the French Revolution, he shows the profound meaning of the departure from Web Services, multi-tier and client-server technologies.

Chapter 1, What is P2P?, introduces concepts of peer-to-peer programming and gives an overview of related technologies and possible applications. It may be of a significant interest for readers both inside and outside the software development community. It will help a programmer to grasp the fundamentals of server-free distributed computing, it will enable a computer science historian to place P2P in the context of IT evolution.

The remaining 10 chapters are aimed at programmers who have prior knowledge of Java and intend to build useful applications with JXTA. The coverage includes the JXTA conceptual apparatus, an overview of JXTA protocols and APIs, and application development using JXTA. All code snippets in the book are excerpts from non-trivial programs, free from annoying reductionism typical for beginner level publications. The book is a true delight for a seasoned programmer who wants to learn how to use JXTA and the J2SE JXTA reference platform in applications as simple as shell and as advanced as a PDA organizer or a chess game.