Book “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 |
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
|
5
3
|
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” http://cloudtv.cloudapp.net/ViewWebcast.aspx?webcastid=2521553277324634479. It is just the up-to-date version of this Chapter.
Conclusion
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