[Zope-Annce] Belated Book Blurb

[jerry]

(this is a copy, the address got mangled the first time)

Greetings Zope Fans,

At long last we are officially posting notice that:

 "The New Zope Book is here!"

In mid-December 2001 a book with a ridiculously long title, 
and author names to match, turned up in the Web section 
of bookstores here and abroad. Though no known group 
claimed responsibility at that time, the alleged authors hereby 
acknowledge paternity. Since our names are on the cover, 
it seems rather pointless to remain in denial.

"Zope: Web Application Development and Content Management"
(ISBN # 0735711100) has been released by New Riders, 
publishers of the hard copy version of "The Zope Book".

The authors were convinced that many Zope hopefuls, not unlike 
ourselves, had wished for supplementary examples beyond those 
covered in "The Zope Book". We all agreed it would be ideal 
to have a series of extended explanations of how and why one 
puts Zope to practical use. So, we went ahead and wrote it.

Z:WAD&CM is designed to step the reader through a sequence 
of progressively more complex "real world" exercises. After a 
brief overview, the reader is advised to take advantage of 
the wealth of existing modules by downloading packages and
constructing a dynamic, sophisticated web site in short order. 
Next, the reader is immersed in user and site administration, 
content management with CMF and Page Templates, indexes 
and searching via ZCatalog, and external database access 
using ZopeDAs and ZSQLmethods.

Topics covered in the latter chapters will be most relevant to those 
facing more challenging needs for robust development standards 
required by mission critical systems. There you will find examples 
of load balancing and redundancy using ZEO, multi-developer 
version control with ZCVS, and ZPatterns based application 
integration techniques.

The authors realize that despite the best intentions to present 
the current "state of the (Zope) art", our book is merely a set 
of snapshots from scattered quadrants of the rapidly expanding 
Zope universe. Still, we hope the finished work is useful, helpful, 
and may even see a second edition one day. Regarding the pace 
of Zope development, primary author Steve Spicklemire says:

 "Writing a book about Zope is like making 
   an ice sculpture of rush-hour traffic." 

Accordingly, errata, updates, and timely tips have already begun 
to accumulate at the companion web site:

 http://webdev.zopeonarope.com

Our thanks goes out to all the Zope folks around the globe, 
and at Zope.com. Your dedication and enthusiasm have made Zope 
an Object Publishing Environment that sets the bar just a bit higher 
for everything else. Also, many thanks to New Riders for "taking us on", 
and for jumping into Zope with both feet!

Sincerely,
Jerry Spicklemire, 
(also for Steve Spicklemire, Kevin Friedly, and Kim Brand)