CISC474, 05S, Textbook Info

(updated 2/6/2005)

Q: I didn't find a textbook listed for CISC474 yet at any of the bookstores yet (UD Bookstore, Liebermanns, Book Exchange). What gives?

A: Thanks for asking. As it turns out, the textbook I had planned to use went out of print.

I found a great replacement text, but very late in the textbook adoption process, so there may be some delay in getting it delivered to the bookstore. Don't worry; I won't require any reading in the book until it had actually been available in one or more weeks. I'm currently evaluating a possible replacement text. In the meantime, we'll use online materials and handouts as references for the first couple of weeks of the semester until that gets squared away.

So don't blame the bookstore: it's not their fault. I think in the end, we ended up with a much better book anyway.

Q: Will we really need the textbook in this course?

A: Yes, you certainly will. Because of the PBL format of the course, there will be less "spoon-feeding" of factual material in lectures. You'll be responsible for acquiring a lot of the details of Servlet and JSP technology on your own. And it will be helpful if we are all reading off the same page.

Besides, I think you'll actually enjoy this textbook a lot. I chose it for two main reasons:

1. It emphasized the right things, in particular, the "Model-View-Controller" pattern, rather than syntax details and language nits
2. Just as significant, it looked like a lot of fun to read. That may sound nuts, but once you take a look at it, I think you'll understand—it is not your usual Computer Science textbook. There aren't any sample chapters of the book online that I found, but here's an excerpt from a book on Design Patterns by the same authors. At first you might think "yeah right, a 'dummies' book". But look closer. It has a zany style, but its not a 'dummies' book at all. I think you'll see what I mean.

Q: So what is the textbook already?

A: See the syllabus page for full details.