Customer Reviews

Big Java: Programming and Practice

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

Big Java (2nd Ed.) is not really for someone who's never seen a loop, array, or method call before. In fact the book's unstated presupposition is that the learner has a certain degree of mathematical sophistication (at the precalculus level - at least) if only so that he is prepared to follow abstract concepts - object oriented concepts, multidimensional arrays, simple algorithms, and so on. The book's greatest strength is in applying fundamental programming principles (using Java) towards Java's class libraries. The ability to use other people's code for your own programs is one fundamental element of OOP. Understanding how to utilize the Java API's is the next step after an abstract understanding of OOP. This then is the book's true worth: It prepares you for the world beyond the classroom.

If you find a book which teaches only syntax of java,
this is not for you.
But if you want to have a book which tells not only syntax but also principles and secrets of Java API, Big Java is for you.

This book arranged contents using Quality Tip, Advanced Topic, Random Fact. If these coners makes you detour the learning path,
you can skip some of those. But these will be definitely helpful, if you look for some of them in the future when you need it.

I recommend this for you!
Good luck~!

I "had" to buy this textbook for a Java 2 class that I am just finishing up. For Java 1, I had to buy Deitel's "Java(tm) How to Program
Sixth Edition" book. I found Deitel's book much more thorough with lots of examples. "Big Java" is very brief on the material in every chapter. There are some examples, but not enough to really learn Java well. Also, the material is just not explained very well and in detail. I "always" read Deitel's equivalent chapter first before reading "Big Java's" version. For the XML chapter, Deitel didn't have an equivalent chapter and I ended up having to look at several other books I had on XML and also asked several people online to complete my assignment. There was not enough information in the chapter to complete the assignment, even though the assignment came directly out of the book, at the end of the chapter! I am not totally trashing "Big Java", because it did have another perspective and some material that was not in Deitel's book, but I cannot recommend this book to anyone. Deitel's books are thorough, though they can be a little overwhelming with information, but I think they should be the standard for programming classes. D.S. Malik also does a good and thorough job in his programming books.

Big Java is designed to get the reader up and programming with essential objects by Chapter 3. If you genuinely want to be a legitimate Java programmer, this is the book for you. It is well written, examples are carefully thought out and very helpful.

This book is different from the other popular Core Java books by the same author. It has many mathematics examples. Some examples are useful in business. I trained Java and Advanced Java in many firms in the New York area. This book is too much for one Java course, and not enough Advanced topics for two courses. But it is a valuable reference for someone who knows Java.

This book just confuses matters by trying to mix the teaching of introductory computer science principles with learning the Java programming language all the way from simple "System.out.println" statements, through object orientation, to XML and server side programming. All of this is attempted in roughly 1250 pages, and the attempt is unsuccessful.

I cannot figure out why the author tried such an ambitious undertaking in just one book, especially when he has co-authored the excellent "Core Java" series of books on programming in the Java language, and that series has always been split into two volumes that are each approximately the same size as this book. "Core Java" is an excellent series from which to learn the Java language, but even that series does not try to tackle the issues of XML, server side programming, and JavaServer Faces which the author does in this book. Many details are missing from the text, and the student is just going to end up having to buy the "Core Java" books, or the "Head First Java" book, or something like them, in order to learn enough details about Java programming that he or she can do the exercises in this book. As it is, only enough detail is presented as to be both dangerous and annoying. I do not recommend this book for learning computer science, programming principles, or Java.

This book is excellent for anyone wanting to learn Java. It has great examples that actually work, and it teaches in an easy to learn manner. It covers a wide range of topics which would take you from beginner to about the high edge of intermediate. I have read many Java books before this, this book is very well rounded compred to most, and in my opinion has offered the most knowledge thus far.