Better, Faster, Lighter Java

I was hoping this would be a great reference with good examples for Spring and Hibernate. I am a bit disappointed as I was looking for a good instruction book.

I recommend the first set of chapters in this book for EVERYONE. While it helps to know J2EE/EJB to step through the examples, the author provides a wonderful, thought-provoking and inspiring coverage of software design in general.

They work on five basic principles which, as another reviewer hints, makes it read a little like Covey and that is bad. Covey is a snakeoil salesman who reinvents his time management systems every three years to sell a new book.