SOA Books

This is a great place to recommend and post comments about the various SOA and related topics books that are out there.  Please provide a link to any online content from the book or authors, etc. if available.  

Enterprise Integration Patterns by Gregor Hohpe and Bobby Wolfe

Reviewed by Debbie Moynihan: I have to say this book is one of my favorite books.  Of course, I don't usually bring this up at cocktail parties, but I figured I could admit that in this forum.  All I can say is if you are reading this site and you don't have a copy of this book - you really need to go order it immediately from Gregor's link above.  It is simple, clear, an easy read, and a great reference book.  And Gregor is a totally cool guy, too.  I met him in Barcelona at the Server Side Symposium last year at dinner over some yummy vegetarian paella and I got the chance to tell him how much I love his book.  Our FUSE Mediation Router is based on Apache Camel which enables simple implementation of the Enterprise Integration Patterns approach.  Debbie Moynihan

Service-Oriented Architecture by Thomas Erl

Reviewed by Debbie Moynihan:  This book is a well-read reference book on SOA.  I like it because it is very comprehensive, including history, case studies, and concepts on all of the key parts of SOA.  On the other hand, it can be a bit daunting because it is very comprehensive, i.e. I haven't read every single page of it because it is a very deep read.  If you want to buy a single book about SOA, this would be a good one.  You may not read it cover to cover, but the table of contents is quite good and you can read about specific topics as you need them.  This book covers SOA fundamentals, the key technologies that enable SOA, and the business side and implementation strategies required for SOA as well.  The only problem is it is bigger than most of my college textbooks so don't plan to read it on a flight.  If you are looking for an easy, quick read on SOA for just such a flight then check out Understanding SOA with Web Services by Eric Newcomer and Greg Lomow which explains SOA and web services in a very easy to understand style and a lightweight paperback format.  

More Reviews Coming....