LDAP Programming with Java (Paperback)

From centralized corporate phone books to the localized storage of user preferences, Internet directories have many useful features. LDAP Programming with Java offers an excellent tutorial on Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP), a popular standard, and the Directory SDK for Java, which lets you program with LDAP efficiently. Written for the working developer, this book demonstrates not only the elements of this Java toolkit but also the strategies and techniques for creating good Internet directories.

There's a nice balance in this text among the background and theory of Internet directories and the many useful sample programs that show LDAP and Java in action. After outlining the development of the LDAP standard, this text gives you concise examples of using Internet directories for such applications as phone books, organizational charts, storing photo IDs centrally, and even providing "location transparency" for user preferences. (This capability allows users to access personalized settings from anywhere on a network.) Other standout material includes security and authentication, including some good detail on signing JAR files for both Netscape and Internet Explorer Web browsers.

This book also provides working sample code for combining LDAP with a variety of Java and Internet APIs such as applets, JavaScript, JavaBeans, and servlets. The working source code is clearly explained, and the authors do a fine job of describing essential programming strategies like authentication and LDAP searching. Filled with practical Java source code and tips, LDAP Programming with Java is an up-to-the-minute resource on using Internet directories to improve software in the enterprise. --Richard Dragan

Topics covered: Introduction to the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP); history and advantages of Internet directories; the X.500 standard; installing and using the Directory SDK for Java; command-line LDAP; LDAP Data Interchange Format (LDIF); Distinguished Names (DNs); LDAP searching options; filters and attributes; LDAP authentication techniques; adding, updating, and deleting directory entries; groups; access control lists; using the Simple Authentication and Security Layer (SASL); using LDAP with applets and JavaScript; JAR signing; LDAP and JavaBeans; location transparency with LDAP; storing organizational structures; pictures and user preferences; LDAP and servlets; options and constraints; LDAP URLs; managing schemas; LDAP controls and referrals; extended operations.