( 5 reviews )
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( 4 of 4 found this review helpful ) Posted: Jul 15 2006
Professional BlackBerry by Craig James Johnston & Richard Evers covers sundry facets of the BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES), deployment of BlackBerry devices as well as BlackBerry-application development. As such it is targeted at system administrators and developers. Having been published in 2005, Professional BlackBerry is of course only current up to version 4.0 of the enterprise software. After describing the BES system architecture, the authors go into planning the first installation and deployment of the desktop software. Monitoring the BlackBerry environment and user management are followed by an interesting overview of desaster-recovery planning. Part II is for developers and describes the MDS and its simulators. Pushing content to BlackBerrys is then followed by developing Java applications and The Plazmic Media Engine. All in all, the book is valuable for the systems administrator or the developers planning to deploy a BlackBerry Enterprise Server, although I found the book is a bit "thin"; I'd have expected more in-depth information on the data flow between a BES and the device itself, as well as some insight to the internal structure of a BES server (configuration, databases, etc.). There is very little information about the myriad settings which can be deployed to devices, and the administration topics are a bit lacking as well. Be it coincidental or not, the WML examples in the development chapter look familiar to the ones in the BlackBerry Developer Journal and are by the same author. Are there no other examples to build upon?
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( 2 of 2 found this review helpful ) Posted: Nov 28 2005
One of few Blackberry books available, "Professional Blackberry" has much of its content aimed at hosting BES servers and integrating handhelds while the other offerings concentrate on the heldhelds themselves and largely treat the server as a black box. There is still a little time taken to cover features on the handheld such as developing Java applications and using the Plazmic Media Engine for enhanced content, but these are provided as the last two chapters. While they are fine as an introduction, you will need to look for other sources for developing your own content for the Blackberries. There is a lot to know, and setting up any server is a complicated business, so I have to admit I was a little surprised by the size of the book. At around 300 pages with a third dedicated to appendices, it lacked the depth I was expecting in many areas. The coverage of the combinations of backend possibilities had plenty of useful information, but they were all mixed together and would be difficult to refer to if you were only interested in a single set up. Overall this isn't a bad effort and a useful book for the task, but I'm hoping later versions will be fleshed out a little more.
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( 1 of 2 found this review helpful ) Posted: Nov 21 2005
Finally, a roadmap for BlackBerry application developers. I would have saved countless hours if I had this book 2 years ago. I suggest this book for those of you who are about to step into the area of developing BlackBerry applications. The book is primarily targeting two types of audience, administrators and developers. The first part being administration related, covers planning and installation, including upgrades. If you are a developer, the first part gives you the big picture. A good understanding of the architecture and the platform goes a long way in taking advantage of the capabilities unique to the BlackBerry. This part also provides you with good understanding on how you could deploy your application to your users. The second part is where most developers would find valuable. It runs the gamut of technologies you can use in the BlackBerry platform, including the use of web portal, BlackBerry Channel, Java Applications and the Plazmic Media Engine, just to name a few. These technologies are described here with necessary steps and samples, giving you a jump start into writing your application. This book is also a good reference for experienced BlackBerry application developers. You can discover other aspects of application development or other features of the device which may not be that obvious at first glance. The appendix also has good coding tips. I found some of the tips a timesaver. For a BlackBerry user book, check out BlackBerry for Dummies.
