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WebLogic Books Reviewed

Looking at learning more about WebLogic? In this article I will give my opinions on the books I have encountered throughout my career.

If you're considering buying any of these books, then use the amazon links to support this site (and probably get the best available price).
BEA WebLogic Server 8.1: Unleashed

About four years ago I decided on a career change, and made the switch from Java developer to WebLogic Admin. On my first day on the job I was told that this book would be my bible, and to this day I still think it is the best WebLogic book available for learning WebLogic 8.1. In fact it is the only book I truly recommend, unless you wanting something updated for WebLogic 9 and later.



WebLogic: The Definitive Guide

I know this book gets reasonable reviews, but for a beginner or even every-day-admin I really wouldn't bother. There are definitely topics that are well covered and if its the topic you're after, you're in luck... The problem with this book is it doesn't cover the right topics for someone who has to look after WebLogic environments on a daily basis.

If you're looking at developing for WebLogic or becoming a hardcore WebLogic admin then you should consider this book. Otherwise spend your money on the BEA WebLogic 8.1 Unleashed.



Mastering BEA WebLogic Server

Mastering BEA WebLogic Server is aimed mostly at developers, but does contain some useful information for administrators. If you're interested in getting inside WebLogic then this is a good book. It teaches you to develop good WebLogic applications and then to build good WebLogic environments. The clustering and load-balancing topics would be informative to those new to an WebLogic admin role.

Unfortunately only the last 100 pages or so deal with admin topics, so you'd need to get it fairly cheap if you're not interested in the developer topics. If you pick up a cheap second-hand copy from Amazon, those last 100 pages are worth reading.



Professional Oracle WebLogic Server
Its been quite a while since a book on WebLogic has been published, so this soon to be released title is one I'm looking forward to getting my hands on. According to Amazon, this book will cover WebLogic 11g (I.e. WebLogic Server 10.3).

I'll update the article as soon as I get my hands on it.
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