Rating: 

It covers a broad range of material even if it lacks depth. I wish it had gone into more depth (detail) in many areas, but to fair, that might have made the book 50% larger.

My main complaint is that it is now 2 months shy of being 4 years old. 4 YEARS OLD! I generally don't buy books that are more than 2 years old. If this book weren't so useful, I would not recommend it. If you can wait until the next edition is published, I suggest that you do so (note: O'Reilly has not yet even indicated that another edition has been planned). If you can't wait, buy it -- you're still getting an very good book, but it covers the Java Servlet Spec. 2.2 and only covers "2.3 Draft" in a superficial way. It doesn't cover 2.4 at all! This book is in dire need of an update.

Servlet Spec. Release Dates:

2.2 Dec. 17, 1999

2.3 Nov. 25, 2001

2.4 Nov. 24, 2003