Product Description

Version 5.0 of the Java 2 Standard Edition SDK is the most important upgrade since Java first appeared a decade ago. With Java 5.0, you'll not only find substantial changes in the platform, but to the language itself-something that developers of Java took five years to complete. The main goal of Java 5.0 is to make it easier for you to develop safe, powerful code, but none of these improvements makes Java any easier to learn, even if you've programmed with Java for years. And that means our bestselling hands-on tutorial takes on even greater significance. Learning Java is the most widely sought introduction to the programming language that's changed the way we think about computing. Our updated third edition takes an objective, no-nonsense approach to the new features in Java 5.0, some of which are drastically different from the way things were done in any previous versions. The most essential change is the addition of "generics", a feature that allows developers to write, test, and deploy code once, and then reuse the code again and again for different data types. The beauty of generics is that more problems will be caught during development, and Learning Java will show you exactly how it's done. Java 5.0 also adds more than 1,000 new classes to the Java library. That means 1,000 new things you can do without having to program it in yourself. That's a huge change. With our book's practical examples, you'll come up to speed quickly on this and other new features such as loops and threads. The new edition also includes an introduction to Eclipse, the open source IDE that is growing in popularity. Learning Java, 3rd Edition addresses all of the important uses of Java, such as web applications, servlets, and XML that are increasingly driving enterprise applications. The accompanying CD includes the Java 5.0 SDK for Windows, Linux and Solaris, plus the Eclipse IDE, the NetBeans IDE, and the many example programs from the book.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #120096 in Books
• Published on: 2005-05-20
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 976 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Java is the language de jour and there's a stream of books covering it, but with so many books available new offerings have to be something special. Learning Java starts at the beginning with a "hello world" style program to demonstrate using Sun's Java tools, and it continues to introduce features with examples. These are all thoroughly discussed and explained in as straightforward and jargon-free manner as practicable.

A tricky aspect of Java is the way classes are related, so it's great to see a whole chapter devoted to the subject early on. Even more opaque is the explicit use of threads in Java. Again, this is covered in an accessible way, especially the discussion on thread synchronisation. The authors cover basic graphics, video handling and other media in Java before moving on to Beans and the builder environment, stopping short of JavaBeans. The book finishes with a section on applets, the Java plugin and digital signatures. There is, though, no feeling of working toward a goal--perhaps this would have been a better book with a project as a theme. Another odd decision is ignoring the several--some free--Java IDEs generally used to program Java. (Neimeyer makes a point of saying he hasn't discussed them but without saying why. Even beginners find Java more accessible in a programming environment.)

Still, Learning Java, which uses Java2 v1.3, does a competent job of introducing Java to beginners. As with most O'Reilly books, it's authoritative, lucid and well edited, though it may fail to inspire in the reader the presumed enthusiasm for Java felt by the authors. You won't go wrong with this one, and its coverage of object oriented programming issues is particularly good --Steve Patient

From the Publisher
This new edition of Learning Java has been expanded and updated for Java 2 Standard Edition SDK 1.4. It comprehensively addresses important topics such as web applications, servlets, and XML that are increasingly driving enterprise applications. This edition provides full coverage of all Java 1.4 language features including assertions and exception chaining as well as new APIs such as regular expressions and NIO, the new I/O package. New Swing features and components are described along with updated coverage of the JavaBeans component architecture using the open source NetBeans IDE the latest information about Applets and the Java Plug-in for all major web browsers.

About the Author
(pat@pat.net) became involved with Oak (Java's predecessor) while working at Southwestern Bell Technology Resources. He is an independent consultant and author in the areas of networking and distributed applications. Pat is the author of BeanShell, a popular Java scripting language, as well as various other free goodies on the Net. Most recently, Pat has been developing enterprise architecture for A.G. Edwards. He currently lives in the Central West End area of St. Louis with various creatures.

Jonathan Knudsen is an author at O'Reilly & Associates. His books include The Unofficial Guide to Lego Mindstorms Robots, Java 2D Graphics, and Java Cryptography. He is the Courseware Writer for LearningPatterns.com.

Customer Reviews

One of the best books for learning Java
This is one seriously good book.

One of the pitfalls of many Java books is that they assume a level of familiarity with programming (especially C or C++) and that you will come across sentences such as "java does not have pointers" with no explanation of what a pointer is. A good book will give you directions to find out this missing information but a great book will explain everything for you. While not perfect in its coverage of these essentials, this is where this book really scores highly. It takes you through the basics of object orientated programming starting with simple examples and working up to more advanced ones which demonstrate the power and flexibility of Java.

For people with some experience of programming (no matter how small) this is the best book to learn Java from. For those coming to programming for the first time, you might be better served by "Teach Yourself Java 2 in 21 Days" from Sams which deals with the basics with a little more depth. As an experienced developer, these are the 2 books I would recommend for those looking to learn Java.

Which ever book you decide to buy, you should also consider getting the superb "Java Cookbook" from O'Reilly where you see how Java code can be used in various situations (especially if you are the type who learns from seeing how things are really done).

Good, but not perfect
Coming from a C++ background I needed a decent book on Java. After hours of searching and looking at reviews I decided upon this one. Thankfully I was not disappointed, as many programming books have failed to live upto their grandesque titles. The introduction was clear and informative and the book continued to provide useful information throughout. The only major let down was the CD which I felt could have been made much better. Although I thought this book assumed a bit of computing knowledge and as such wouldnt recommend it to the beginner. However I would definately suggest a purchase if like me you are interested in getting to know Java a bit better. After all most of the things we need for reference nowadays are on the internet. This provides a good back up to that.

The best book by far to learn from a programming background
I had an urgent need to learn Java quickly and bought several books: SAMS Java 2, Deitel&Deitel's How to Program Java to name but two, but this book is the best by far.

Pretty much all basic principles are demonstrated in the first few chapters, and backed up with some great examples. Also, the first chapters resist from telling you everything about a principle or class which avoids confusion and allow you to build a complete picture of the language in your head.

Later chapters concrete over your knowledge and fill in the gaps - it's much easier to understand than the other books that I started to read because you have all the basic principles from a very early stage.

In combination with the JAVA and JAVA ENTERPRISE IN A NUTSHELL books, this makes an excellent resource.