Customer Reviews

Core Java 2 , Volume 2: Advanced Features (4th Edition)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This book is great for it's intended purpose, but some seem to have confused what that purpose is. Some feel that because the subtitle is "Advanced Features", this book would unravel the mysteries of the most advanced features of Java 2. Not so! You have to understand that this is nothing but a volume 2 of the Core Java 2 duo! The volume 1 has the fundamentals and this volume 2 goes to MORE advanced topics, compared to the first volume. This talks about JDBC, Corba, Swing, etc, but not very deeply, just advanced for those who have just finished volume 1.

I think the two books are the best option if you don't already have other similar books. If you have the previous 1.1 edition, or other very similar books like Just Java or Thinking in Java, then you'd probably get very little for your money from this one.

After finishing both Core Java 2 vols 1 & 2 you have a very good basic knowledge of using Java 2 for different purposes and then you can buy a more indepth book on some aspect that you especially need (JDBC, Beans...).

A Very good book when combined with volume 1.

I am a professional developer, recently switched from C++ and VB to Java. For my purposes, as an experienced OO programmer this book, and its companion volume could not be bettered. Every subject is covered sufficiently for me to write code, at a professional level. I cannot recommend this book highly enough as a reference. I would not suggest that anyone try and learn Java (much less OO) from it - that is not its purpose.

I am now using this book for the second semester in an Advanced Java course I teach at the local community college. The purpose of this book is not an in-depth discussion of each topic, but rather a look at the essential features of many advanced features in Java. I like the authors' stlye of starting with the simplest possible program that illustrates some concept. For example, in the RMI chapter a simple console application is used to present a complete RMI client-server application. A similar application is then written using CORBA. The database chapter is similar. Simple programs illustrate basic concepts.

So the book is not intended for say the JDBC specialist or the CORBA specialist who needs to understand every facet of the technology. Instead this book is for those who need to know the major features of the advanced Java technologies. The book is not for Java beginners. This volume assumes you know the Java language, with knowledge equivalent to having passed the Sun Certified Java Programmer exam. Those who have difficulty with the text and with the examples may be blaming the authors when the fault actually rests with the reader.

I have found the examples to work although the configuration of your system must be precise. All in all a 5 star book. I'm looking forward to the 5th edition, since I admit the binding on my book is broken and pages are falling out - a tribute to the fact that I refer to this book daily.

I bought this book thinking that there will be a lot of new stuff as compared to the previous version - Core Java 1.1 Advanced features. Although a couple of new chapters have been added, the book basically presents the material and examples from the previous edition wrapped with "Swing" wherever applicable. If you already have a copy of Core Java 1.1 advanced edition and you been curious to visit the Sun's Java tutorial Web site for Swing and Java 2D examples, it is really not worthwhile buying this "Swing" wrapped edition.

Plus, with books available in today's market that exclusively cover each of the topics presented in this book, I wonder what is it that is "advanced" one would learn from this book.

The authors make this book appear as an extension to Java tutorial available on the web. The depth of coverage is just enough to understand the basic concepts of the "advanced" topics.

But as a whole, it is a good book to understand the fundamentals of topics like JDBC, RMI, (a little bit of CORBA-idl), and Java 2 security.

Covers all advanced Java topics but the coverage is preliminary.Wasted two chapters trying to cover Advanced swing and Advanced AWT. Graphic Java 2 does a much better job.A bit dissapointed when compared to Vol I . Vol II doesnt have the VB code snippets and C++ analogies which was an irritating feature of Vol I. But as the book is available on great discounts at most online stores its worth the money spent.

I have read both the Volume one and Volume two of this series and I must say that this book lacked some of the excitement of the first book. The first book did a great job of getting one involved in JAVA and provided clear examples for those that have written C and VB. Gone are the VB/C++ user tips. Some sections are just very unclear like JDBC where I had to resort to other materials to figure out driver configurations and how to actually get a driver for the database I am using.

The book is still otherwise well written and does retain some of the magic of it's first volume. The networking chapter in particular was very good as was the coverage of Advanced Swing concepts.

I am professor of Java technologies at University of Palermo Buenos Aires. I found this book a very complete guide to professional developement. Many cross-reference tips included for those people who already write code in another OO-language. Clear examples and notes about what happen behind the scenes below the underlaying platform. Very good for experienced programmers. Not for beginners.

In the three months I've been programming Java I've gotten a decent handle on the basics, and even on some more advanced concepts (inner classes, design patterns, etc.). So if you're at that level, I think that like me you will find this book to be helpful.

For instance, it took me just an hour or two going over this book's section on Advanced Swing, and I was creating a tree view of files/folders for my current work project. Like Flanagan's "Java Examples in a Nutshell", it's a good intermediate book with lots of code, but with more explanations.

I purchased this book in Feb. 1999. The first time through, the book seemed like a decent read, but now it sits undisturbed on my bookshelf. I cannot recommend that anybody spend their money on this book. "Java 2, The Complete Reference" by Naughton and Schildt is a much better book than this one. That book covers all topics spread between vol 1 and vol 2 and does so in a much more complete and readable manner.

Some of my issues with this book: * Many basics of Java programming are omitted from this volume (example, most of the collection classes are pushed into the "advanced" volume). * The example based approach leaves many topics covered incompletely. * The coverage of Swing in this volume is too incomplete to be useful (half is in vol 1 and half is in vol 2). Most of this material should be removed, as Swing is a large enough topic that is should (and is) covered by separate books. * The thick stock makes this 700 page book thicker than other 1100 to 1200 page books I own. * In general, the format of this book makes it very difficult to locate information. The bold VB, C++, Note and Warning blocks distract the reader from the real content.

At one time I was mad about the delay in releasing the vol 2 version. I had read somewhere that the "advanced" volume would be released within a couple months of the "fundamentals" volume. This did not happen. In retrospect, I am glad that I had the time to evaluate this volume before wasting any more money.

Note that I own the 1.2 version of this book. Things may have changed significantly between this and the latest version, but I doubt it.