W. J. M. Strien said
A bit disappointing, not very much BTS 2009, and no real architectural viewpoints on SOA + BTS
Leonid Ganeline said
"SOA Patterns with BizTalk Server 2009" by Richard Seroter, review
Questions:
Who is the reader of this book? What is the level of the reader? How good is the book structure?
I think reader should be a seasoned BizTalk developer. It should not be an entry level developer; they must read BizTalk documentation first.
This book is for architects, but for architects with wealthy knowledge of the BizTalk. I suggest it should be a senior level of BizTalk developer, which is equal to an Integration Architect title.
First three and last four chapters of this book you can read only for quick review your knowledge.
I am highly recommending chapters 4 to 7. They are from Richards's wealthy experience. They are the heart and soul of the book. I'd like to see much more such interesting things, maybe in next version of this book?
Is it about BizTalk 2009 or about BizTalk?
Chapters 9 to 12 are about BizTalk 2009 features and tools. Other chapters are not depending on the last version. They are more than that, better than that.
Is it about SOA Patterns?
Yes.
Is it the "recipe" book?
There are several good recipes. But this book is not a recipe book.
Is it the button-to-button book?
No, luckily it isn't.
How is the book covering the material?
Chapter Audience Level (1-5) Grade (1-5)
Chapter 1: Building BizTalk Server 2009 Applications Architect
Developer 3 1
Chapter 2: Windows Communication Foundation Primer Developer 1 1
Chapter 3: Using WCF Services in BizTalk Server 2009 Developer 3 3
Chapter 4: Planning Service-Oriented BizTalk Architect 3 4
Chapter 5: Schema and Endpoint Patterns Developer, Architect 3 5
Chapter 6: Asynchronous Communication Patterns Developer 4 5
Chapter 7: Orchestration Patterns Developer, Architect 4 4
Chapter 8: Versioning Developer 3 3
Chapter 9: New SOA Capabilities in BizTalk Server 2009: WCF SQL Server Adapter Developer 3 3
Chapter 10: New SOA Capabilities in BizTalk Server 2009: UDDI Services Developer 3 2
Chapter 11: New SOA Capabilities in BizTalk Server 2009: ESB Guidance 2 Developer 3 3
Chapter 12: What's Next
Where Level:
1 - developers with entry level knowledge of BizTalk and no working experience
2 - developers with entry level knowledge of BizTalk and small working experience
3 - developers with fair level knowledge of BizTalk and fair working experience
4 - developers with expert level knowledge of BizTalk and fair working experience
5 - developers with expert level knowledge of BizTalk and expert working experience
I have to say, that several parts of this book "must be read" by each BizTalk developer. I insist these parts MUST be the part of the BizTalk Documentation from the early start and it is shame for Microsoft they are not in BizTalk Documentation. For example, the Schema Patterns, Chapter 5, how could developers work with Web-services without main knowledge about basic principles of serializing schemas to .NET classes?
Sometimes author jumps from really interesting discussions about patterns to show how to implement it on "too much details" fashion.
When I have marked the chapters with 2 or 1 grade, I was thinking in this way "I didn't find any reasons to include this chapter in the book. Author presented the common information and nothing from his experience. Common description and common examples, but I want to read the expert opinion, expert arguments, expert view, expert pros and cons." I understand why these chapters are in the book, but I just don't like this. If I cannot see the author opinion in the text, why should I choose the book?
For Chapter 11 about ESB I would highly recommend the webcast by Richard Seroter "A look at the ESB Toolkit 2.0 in BizTalk Server 2009" [...]. It is just the up-to-date version of this Chapter.
Pros:
"SOA Patterns with BizTalk Server 2009" book includes very interesting material.
Book includes unique material.
Book is covering several useful SOA patterns implemented in/with BizTalk Server.
Book is not only about "how" but about "why". And this is the best part of it.
Cons:
Several chapters in this book are just "stuff" for volume. But this part is only about half of the book and this is good proportion. Yes, it is a good proportion. Usually this kind of books has smaller "performance index".
Conclusion
This book is very helpful for the Integration Architects and BizTalk Developers.
It was written by one of the most respectful BizTalk expert in the world.
It obviously must be on the table of each BizTalk Developer.
Highly Recommended
Leonid Ganeline [BizTalk MVP]
Johan Hedberg said
I would say that the main audience for this book is developers with understanding of BizTalk and preferably WCF. Those will get the most value out of it. Administrators, looks elsewhere. Beginners, read another book first, like Professional BizTalk Server 2006, that explains the concepts. Then read this one to learn how to put them together in the most efficient, loosely coupled and change resistent way. Even seasoned BizTalk developers will pick up a thing or two, and get valuable reminders of others.
Most of the knowledge you get from this book is applicable to BizTalk Server 2006 R2 as well, and is valid even though you are not "doing SOA".
Richard has a style of writing that's... entertaining and easy to read. Some books have a tendency to go on and on without really saying too much. Let me assure you, that's not the case here.
Preetham Reddy said
By far, the best book I've read on BizTalk 2009... This is one of the first books to have come out on BizTalk 2009 and has indepth coverage of advanced topics...
Agreed, this book is not for beginners... It doesn't walk you through creating artifacts but if you already have a knowledge of the biztalk, then this book will help you solidify your concepts and you will learn much more...
This book ain't for beginners!!!
Hernan de Lahitte said
Over the last weeks after finishing my collaboration with the ESB Toolkit project, I had the chance to read a great book on Biztalk called SOA Patterns with BizTalk Server 2009 by Richard Seroter, an authority on BizTalk topics.
The book discusses in a very comprehensive and well structured way the core principles of SOA and how to get a great synergy with WCF Adapters with samples on implementation of synchronous and asynchronous communication patterns. In particular I was more biased to focus on chapter 11 where it is described the ESB Toolkit[...].
The first thing I noticed was that the chapter was based on the CTP2 version of the toolkit. Nevertheless, the overall structure and samples are pretty good and follow basically the general approach. Naturally some details and parts had changed since that version of the toolkit and in particular the licensing area where now it DOES have official Microsoft support as a product (Biztalk Server 2009).
After that I also found that Richard also posted in his blog some comments and samples regarding the final version like the presentation of the latest ESB Toolkit version or this great sample about executing multiple maps in sequence (Notice that this sample shows some screenshots of the new Itinerary Designer). [...]
I recommend this book to all Biztalk audiences in particular if you want to build maintainable mission critical based solutions.
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