This book includes a printed version of Sun's online JNDI tutorial that is bundled with a comprehensive guide to JNDI classes. First, the authors show you how to get and up and running with JNDI and how to handle basic look-ups in directories. (A practical note is that this title is excellent when describing the actual error messages and "common problems" that you might face in your code, and how to resolve them.) While many programmers will use this book to learn how to search, read, and write directory entries, they'll find it good at explaining how JNDI fits in with other directory standards, too (such as LDAP). The authors also cover how to access multiple "federations" of directories, as well as hooking into directory "events" or notifications. For experts, more advanced sections look at the ins and outs of creating your own directory servers. The last 300 pages provide a worthy reference to every JNDI class (with over 80 classes) and every property and method, along with links to the examples in the first tutorial section that illustrate each class in action.

Whether you're someone who just wants to get started with directory programming, or if you'll be designing JNDI servers from the ground up, you'll find the JNDI API Tutorial and Reference to be a solid resource for effective directory programming for Java developers of all levels. --Richard Dragan

Topics covered: Basic and advanced tutorial for the Java Naming and Directory Interface (JNDI), naming conventions using strings and URLs, directory basics: attributes, directory services, and searches; directory and object stores, JNDI overview: architecture, context, names, bindings, and references; LDAP support, federations, basic JNDI programming examples, common problems and solutions, tutorial for simple naming and directory operations, storing and retrieving Java objects in directories, state and object factories, tips for combining JNDI and LDAP directory programming, creating a JNDI-enabled service provider, and reference to all JNDI classes.