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19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
More than just a Java textbook for a class, April 18, 2002
This review is from: Big Java: Programming and Practice (Paperback)
When I bought this book, I was unaware that it was written with the intention of being a class textbook for learning not just Java, but also the basics of computer science. Even so, this is an excellent Java book that will serve the reader well. First, this book is extremely well organized. The table of contents lays out the biggest points of each chapter without cluttering. In turn, each chapter has its own table of contents, outlining more minor points. Things that relate directly to Java and the targeted course are outlined in black, while other topics such as coding suggestions, historical notes and bits of trivia are outlined in blue. This makes navigation through the book very easy and straightforward. As any textbook has, this one has plenty of practice exercises. These exercises are very relevant to the topics covered and offer the reader some practice. If you buy this book and are turned off by the idea of doing a bunch of exercises, well, don't do them. Then again, practice does make perfect... Many people like Java books that plunge right into graphics programming. I don't. This book does cover basic graphics and applet programming fairly early on (chapter 4), and that is not much to my personal preference. But, it's relevant in relation to the information in surrounding chapters. The book even comes with a style guide, which is very nice when you would like some idea of coding standards. Perhaps you will adopt the author's suggestions, perhaps not. Either way, it's an excellent place to start. This book covers some advanced topics, including XML, JSP, servlets, and relational database interfacing. The coverage is clear and occurs later in the book after the building blocks are out of the way. There are some errors in the book. HOWEVER, there is an errata page, at the author's web site, that addresses the problems and gives very clear corrections. Most programming books seem to have errors in them, and this one is no exception. The fact that there is a very easily accessible path to get the updates (at no extra cost) is a big plus. Before I got this book, I was using "Thinking in Java" (Eckel) as my primary book for learning Java. Big Java has taken TIJ's place. I heartily recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn the Java language.
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13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great for College Course, January 13, 2002
This review is from: Big Java: Programming and Practice (Paperback)
I'm a Java instructor at a state university, and I recently received a copy of this book. I think it addresses the needs of a classroom far better than many of the other Java books I've seen so far. We used Core Java for a while, but it lacked the pacing, visual aids, and examples that were needed for our students. I think it will be perfect for our 2nd-semester students who have had a semester of C++ and now need to explore inheritance, polymorphism, and recursion. I particularly like the fact that Big Java introduces container classes and elementary data structures, providing a smooth path from this level into a full-blown data structures course in the following semester. Another plus: Horstmann introduces graphics at a very early point in the book, making this topic easily accessible and providing motivation for the students to explore graphical programming at a deeper level later on in the course.
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20 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This is an excellent book..., February 24, 2003
This review is from: Big Java: Programming and Practice (Paperback)
First, Big Java is a college level, introductory object oriented programming book. It is an in-depth book designed to take you from a programming novice to an advanced intermediate programmer (I don't like to throw around the term "expert"). This book focuses on the important aspect of computer science, and is not simply a Java book. Second, the book is well organized and clearly transitions among parts. Each chapter (and most sections within the chapter) have areas devoted entirely to common errors, quality tips, productivity hints, advanced topics, random facts, and a howto guide. These separate sections may not be necessary depending on the readers interest level, but you can tell immediately if you want to skip something. However, I believe that the "unnecessary" sections (such as random facts) keep the book interesting and fresh. Third, in response to other reviewers: This book is good for beginners and intermediate programmers. It does not require that you know calculus. It does not ask you to calculate integrals or differentials. It does however, require the reader to know slightly more than basic algebra. Since this is a college level book, and because algebra is the basis for any computer language, it is not shocking that it makes the reader practice those skills. The only part of the book that assumes that you know "nothing" about computers is chapter 1 (gasp). In any book, there are going to be exercises that you think are pointless. The solution is amazingly simple(pun intended): don't do the problems! If you have a teacher that makes you do the problems, then complain to your teacher. There are always a few mistakes in code examples. This is even less surprising in this book because it is very rich with code examples. In addition, the web resources (which is great all around) contain a section for typos in the book that is easily accessed. A final note. Please don't bash a book that you obviously haven't read much of, and don't make claims such as "requires calculus" when it is obvious that you haven't taken calculus. This book has 25 chapters and over 1100 pages of good information on Java programming and computer science concepts.
If your smart you'll buy it, if you aren't, you'll buy Java for Dummies.
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