At first glance, my initial instinct was to wonder, "why am I reading yet another book on web development?" After all, I've been in the business for so long that I've learned to say, when asked how many years of experience, over 30. What more is there to learn, right? Wrong! First of all, I'm sure deep down in your gut you'll agree that no matter how long you've been in the business, there is always something new to be learned. This is where our friend Andrew Caya comes in.
Andrew is and has been my best student. He's the only one to have attended all the courses I teach for Zend, and also to have purchased all the books and videos I've done for O'Reilly and Packt. Okay, Okay, I can almost hear you muttering to yourself that maybe the guy's crazy, has no control over his spending habits. Well not to worry: his wife has things firmly under control, and his credit cards are currently under house arrest.
So ... What about Andrew? Aside from the fact that he not only has a deep understanding of new and existing technologies, he's thorough and tries things out, which is a refreshing departure from many authors who "talk the talk," but do not "walk the walk."
What deeply impressed me about this book, however, and made me realize that it contains essential information for any web developer, no matter how experienced, is how Andrew has taken a deep dive not only into new technologies, but very cleverly brought to light aspects of the existing technologies as well. After reading just the first few chapters, I learned things about PHP and benchmarking that I did not realize existed, even having used such tools since their inception. Another example is found in his last chapter, Beyond Performance. Here, Andrew offers masterful insights such as pointing out that the traditional way of viewing performance itself might be an issue, which then leads into a discussion of UI design and user perception.
In this book, Andrew presents the concepts clearly and concisely. He also shows you how to install, configure, and then put to use the various tools and techniques which, combined, will result in better web performance, that is, the Faster Web. There are plenty of screenshots where the various controls, settings, and expected outcomes are meticulously highlighted. I won't bore you with the extensive list of technologies, tools, and techniques Andrew covers, but let me tell you that there's some really exciting stuff here that will ultimately put you in charge of your website and its development.
Be honest with yourself: do you experience a pang of dread whenever the phone rings, hoping against hope that it's not another customer complaint? Do you find yourself running ragged chasing down bugs? Are you really looking forward to spending yet another weekend at the office eating cold pizza? Andrew's book will turn your life around and "put you back in the driver's seat," as the saying goes. If you apply the concepts and use the tools he describes, you might even start enjoying your job and be able to use all the unused paid leave you've accumulated. Treat yourself to this book and enjoy your day in the sun!
Doug Bierer
unlikelysource.com
P.S. If you're like me and like to poke fun at the hard-core "Test Driven Development" nerds, have a look at Andrew's chapter entitled Javascript and "Danger-Driven Development".