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And although Apache isn't the fastest or maximally customizable web server, its popularity comes from the fact that it provides a very good balance of these things bundled with maximum portability and reliability.This balance in Apache's features is reflected in this book, which is written by one of Apache's major contributors (mod_rewrite, mod_ssl, Dynamic Shared Object facility, and APACI).
The Apache Desktop Reference has not replaced the other two Apache books on my desktop, Apache: The Definitive Guide by Ben Laurie and Peter Laurie, and Writing Apache Modules with Perl and C by Lincoln Stein and Doug MacEachern. The former is a tutorial to get you up to speed. The latter is for extending Apache (most of Apache's functionality is actually in the modules). However, this book remains near the top of my list. I use it for the routine performance tweaks and configuration of new modules as my Web server takes on additional chores. It is my first choice for everyday use.
Reading this book had a curiously integrative effect on my Apache knowledge. Maybe I had already encountered the major pieces reading the other two books that I mentioned. However, I think it is due to the book's size and organization. The smaller size means that related topics are closer together. Module descriptions are grouped by function -- access, authentication, request logging, and so on. Even related groups are grouped together: authentication is right after access. Configuration directives are grouped by module and presented in the order you typically encounter them. References point back and forth between the module and the directive descriptions. While reading the module descriptions I realized, "Oh, that's what that does -- I can disable it." and, "I wondered how X was different from Y" (many authentication modules differ only in the file format of the user/password data).
I liked this book. By the time I finished it, there were a bunch of paper clips marking features I wanted to try out as soon as I got back to my computer. This isn't a "must have" book -- there are other excellent books and none is truly definitive. Such a book would weigh more than I could lift with one hand -- a major strike against real, everyday use. It is a "glad I have" book. I give it 3 1/2 stars.
-- Jeffrey Taylor (jeff.taylor@ieee.org)