REST is all the rage now (not without a reason), and in the Java world the standard API for that is JAX-RS (under the JEE umbrella). “RESTful Java with JAX-RS 2.0” is the second edition of Bill Burke’s book on the JAX-RS API. Bill Burke is the creator of RESTEasy and a member of the committee that designed JAX-RS.

The book is divided into two parts, over a dozen short chapters in each. The first part includes a very nice introduction to REST, has a great systematic reference over the API and finally a few words on integration with various frameworks, security, caching etc. The second chapter is basically a workbook – there is downloadable code with a few examples for each chapter, and these chapters basically are a detailed walk through.

The author is careful not to get ahead of himself and starts quite slow, introducing the more advanced, automated and magical features step by step. As a result, the book is a great introduction for complete newcomers. But it doesn’t stop there – it discusses all the more advanced features as well (later), with the same depth and clarity. That makes it a great reference and a cookbook that you’re likely to get back to as use the API in your work.

Everything is well thought out and executed. It’s a very easy read, with each chapter stating the problem that it’s trying to solve, following up with presentation of the relevant part of the API and a number of practical examples. If for some reason you need more, you’re free to explore the workbook or complete running code.

Highly recommended.

Note on edition: I read it on Kindle, no issues at all.