Start Your Semantic Web Journey Here 2010-03-30

Reviewer: Tom Provenzano

Semantic Web for Dummies is a wide-ranging look at the Semantic Web (also known as Web 3.0) that will open your mind to the potential of this new era in web development. Mr. Pollock's book is an intelligent and informative explanation of this software technology. Although not an in-depth programming book - it provides an excellent overview of the salient features of Web 3.0. First off, while I, too, am an Oracle employee, as is Mr. Pollock, I have never met him or communicated with him in any way.

I had previously read a couple of articles on the subject but didn't really see the big picture and felt pretty clueless as to what it exactly is and why it matters (definition of a "dummy", I guess); so l was looking for a single source to stitch it all together and get me started on the semantic web journey. This book fits the bill nicely. Pollock arms you with a solid understanding of what core technologies make up the Semantic Web.
As Pollock explains, key to understanding what differentiates the Semantic Web from previous web development is that it creates a "data web"; i.e., webs of data that are interconnected, accessible and logically analyzable and, thus, of benefit to users. That's really the "why" of the semantic web.
Semantic Web for Dummies includes chapters on the core "languages", RDF (Resource Description Framework) and OWL (Web Ontology Language); other chapters explain metadata and ontologies. Part IV, entitled, "Putting the Semantic Web to Work" brings the Semantic Web's utility into the business world touching on enterprise and software development issues including the key aspect of building a knowledge-base incorporating both system management and security issues. Proving he understands the implementation risks facing any implementer using new technology, Pollock also provides a chapter outlining the limitations of the Semantic Web for business development. The book points you to both open source and proprietary semantic tools and current web sites using semantic technologies.

I'd say that after reading this book, I'm not a Semantic Web expert, but I'm no longer a dummy.

I feel like a Dummy for buying this book 2010-01-27

Reviewer: Chris Williams

I should have known this book would suck. I have never had great luck with the "For Dummies," but I was itching to get a Semantic Web book while I was in a Borders brick and mortar store so I rolled the dice. Big mistake. The author managed to pump enough BS into the book that it takes until half-way-in before you see your first RDF triple. He repeats himself incessantly. This sort of writing really pisses me off because it comes off like the author is just trying to fill pages... well guess what, it wastes my time! His explanations of relational databases and object oriented programming (a) don't belong in the book, (b) long, and (c) are poor. He comes off like a total academic with no real-world experience. This guy sounds like the type of professor I really really hate.

I have only ever reviewed one other product, but I am trying to shop for a real tech book and couldn't pass up the opportunity to review this as I'm thumbing through amazon's pages.

A must-read for anybody interested in the Future of the Web 2009-03-28

Reviewer: Joel Natividad

The Semantic Web is the logical next step in the evolution of the ENTIRE Web, and this book makes a strong case why its not all hype and a pipe-dream as some detractors would put it.

And Jeff Pollock knows what he's talking about. A well-known figure in Semantic Web circles, he also manages Fusion - Oracle's middleware solution for the enterprise.

In it, he clearly explains what's wrong with the current state of the Web, and how we manage and produce data in general. He shows how Semantic technologies can clear the way for computers and systems not only in helping us produce (and drown ourselves) in a sea of data, but actually help us consume and find information in it.

Despite the "for Dummies" pejorative, the text is actually quite useful even for veteran Semantic Web followers. It gives a grand (though necessarily abbreviated) tour of all the foundation standards and technologies in the context of their applications in everyday life and behind the corporate firewall.

For a corporate practitioner like myself that has long struggled with abstract, academic examples, the book is a long-awaited addition that will help me evangelize the promise of "the grand database in the sky".