Core Java 2, Volume I: Fundamentals (6th Edition) [Paperback]

Cay Horstmann (Author), Gary Cornell (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0130471771 | ISBN-13: 978-0130471772 | Publication Date: August 22, 2002 | Edition: 6

Appropriate for intermediate to advanced courses in Java programming. Cay Horstmann has thoroughly updated his legendary Core Java to reflect Java 2, Standard Edition, Version 1.4. The book's new coverage includes these and many other significant enhancements: regular expressions; the high-performance New I/O API; chained exceptions, logging, and other techniques for building more reliable code; and the Preference Class, Java's new cross-platform repository for configuration information. Horstmann presents state-of-the-art discussions of object-oriented Java development, reflection and proxies, updated coverage of Swing user interface development, definitive introductions to inner classes and the Java event model, thorough explanations of stream I/O and object serialization, and much more. This edition contains new review questions and practice exercises, along with even more of the robust, real-world programs previous editions are famous for-all fully updated to reflect the latest JDK features and improvements.

Editorial Reviews

Review

From the Back Cover The best-selling guide for serious programmers of Java technology fully updated for the Java 1.4 SDK! The experienced developer's guide to the Java program environment-now fully updated for the Java(tm) 1.4 SDK. New coverage: regular expressions, New I/O, assertions, Preferences, Swing enhancements, logging, and more Even more of the robust code examples professional programmers need Ask any experienced Java technology programmer: Core Java delivers the real-world guidance you need to accomplish even the most challenging tasks. That's why it's been an international best seller for seven straight years. Core Java II, Volume 1 covers the fundamentals of Java 2, Standard Edition, Version 1.4, including major enhancements ranging from regular expressions to high-performance I/O. You'll find state-of-the-art discussions of object-oriented Java platform development, updated coverage of Swing user interface development, and much more. Best of all, this new Sixth Edition delivers even more of the robust, real-world programs previous editions are famous for updated to reflect the latest SDK features and improvements! --Smith Colin (Site Resources)

I had a chance to review the book Core Java 2 - Volume 1 - Fundamentals (7th Edition) by Cay S. Horstmann and Gary Cornell (Prentice Hall). This is a very good choice for experienced programmers who want to learn Java and have a good reference book to continue to use over time... Chapter List: An Introduction to Java; The Java Programming Environment; Fundamental Programming Structures in Java; Objects and Classes; Inheritance; Interfaces and Inner Classes; Graphics Programming; Event Handling; User Interface Components with Swing; Deploying Applets and Applications; Exceptions and Debugging; Streams and Files; Generic Programming; Java Keywords; Retrofitting JDK 5.0 Code; Index When a book survives into its seventh edition, you know it must be good. Core Java 2 is that. It's a solid, serious treatment of the Java language with plenty of examples and in-depth explanations as to how things work. And while no single book can cover the complete Java API, this book does a good job of documenting each area they cover so that you can refer back to the work as you start to use Java on a regular basis. There are not a lot of good Java learning books that also adequately serve as a reference book. The authors should be commended for this. Because the authors target "serious" developers, there's less emphasis on Hello World type applications and more focus on the types of routines you might find yourself writing in a business environment. There's also coverage of the newest features in Java 1.5, so you can buy this particular edition with fear of having it be obsolete in a month. This is a volume that I'll happily keep on my shelf and refer to as I get into some of the newer features of Java... --99

Swing GUI development including input validation and other enhancements Building reliable code including chained exceptions, stack frames, assertions, and logging The high-performance New I/O API: memory-mapped files, file locking, and character set encoders/decoders Regular expressions using the powerful new java.util.regex package Java 1.4 platform Preference Class: the new cross-platform repository for configuration information Dynamic proxy classes, inner classes, the Java platform event model, streams, file management, and more. --By John Atkingson (Site Resourcs)

Swing GUI development including input validation and other enhancements Building reliable code including chained exceptions, stack frames, assertions, and logging The high-performance New I/O API: memory-mapped files, file locking, and character set encoders/decoders Regular expressions using the powerful new java.util.regex package Java 1.4 platform Preference Class: the new cross-platform repository for configuration information Dynamic proxy classes, inner classes, the Java platform event model, streams, file management, and more. --By John Atkingson (Site Resourcs)

I had a chance to review the book Core Java 2 - Volume 1 - Fundamentals (7th Edition) by Cay S. Horstmann and Gary Cornell (Prentice Hall). This is a very good choice for experienced programmers who want to learn Java and have a good reference book to continue to use over time... Chapter List: An Introduction to Java; The Java Programming Environment; Fundamental Programming Structures in Java; Objects and Classes; Inheritance; Interfaces and Inner Classes; Graphics Programming; Event Handling; User Interface Components with Swing; Deploying Applets and Applications; Exceptions and Debugging; Streams and Files; Generic Programming; Java Keywords; Retrofitting JDK 5.0 Code; Index When a book survives into its seventh edition, you know it must be good. Core Java 2 is that. It's a solid, serious treatment of the Java language with plenty of examples and in-depth explanations as to how things work. And while no single book can cover the complete Java API, this book does a good job of documenting each area they cover so that you can refer back to the work as you start to use Java on a regular basis. There are not a lot of good Java learning books that also adequately serve as a reference book. The authors should be commended for this. Because the authors target "serious" developers, there's less emphasis on Hello World type applications and more focus on the types of routines you might find yourself writing in a business environment. There's also coverage of the newest features in Java 1.5, so you can buy this particular edition with fear of having it be obsolete in a month. This is a volume that I'll happily keep on my shelf and refer to as I get into some of the newer features of Java... --99 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Back Cover

The best-selling guide for serious programmers of Java technology—fully updated for the Java 1.4 SDK!

• The experienced developer's guide to the Java program environment-now fully updated for the Java(tm) 1.4 SDK.
• New coverage: regular expressions, New I/O, assertions, Preferences, Swing enhancements, logging, and more
• Even more of the robust code examples professional programmers need

Ask any experienced Java technology programmer: Core Java delivers the real-world guidance you need to accomplish even the most challenging tasks. That's why it's been an international best seller for seven straight years. Core Java II, Volume 1 covers the fundamentals of Java 2, Standard Edition, Version 1.4, including major enhancements ranging from regular expressions to high-performance I/O. You'll find state-of-the-art discussions of object-oriented Java platform development, updated coverage of Swing user interface development, and much more. Best of all, this new Sixth Edition delivers even more of the robust, real-world programs previous editions are famous for—updated to reflect the latest SDK features and improvements!

State-of-the-art information for Java platform developers, including:

• Swing GUI development—including input validation and other enhancements
• Building reliable code—including chained exceptions, stack frames, assertions, and logging
• The high-performance New I/O API: memory-mapped files, file locking, and character set encoders/decoders
• Regular expressions using the powerful new java.util.regex package
• Java 1.4 platform Preference Class: the new cross-platform repository for configuration information
• Dynamic proxy classes, inner classes, the Java platform event model, streams, file management, and more

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 752 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall PTR; 6 edition (August 22, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0130471771
• ISBN-13: 978-0130471772
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (56 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,598,002 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Cay S. Horstmann is also coauthor of Core JavaServer Faces, Second Edition (Prentice Hall, 2007). Cay is a professor of computer science at San Jose State University, a Java Champion, and a frequent speaker at computer industry conferences.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best general reference, March 21, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Core Java 2, Volume I: Fundamentals (6th Edition) (Paperback)

My department is changing from teaching C++ to Java in the intro CS courses. I have been learning Java over the past few years and have amassed quite a large library of Java texts and references. As with other areas of CS, in which I accumulate many texts, I find that I eventually gravitate toward a select few, key, references.

With C++, it was the Lippman text. For Java, I frequently find myself returning to Core Java, Vol 1 after giving up on other texts. I've even used this book as one of the two course texts in a topics course (Design Patterns with Java). My students seem to agree with me in that this book serves as a good in-depth reference for core Java questions.

It's not a tutorial, not a textbook full of exercises and testing material, and not a GUI reference (but does include swing and AWT material). It's just the best general reference I've found. I have two copies - one for home and one at the office.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book... Enough to get you up to speed !!, June 26, 2003

By 

Eduardo Aguirre "eaguirre3" (White Rock , British Columbia Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Core Java 2, Volume I: Fundamentals (6th Edition) (Paperback)

I was a bit reluctant to buying the book, principally because I had bought many Java books already with very little success. After reading all the reviews for its new edition and the previous edition I was even more confused, specially when you read very positive reviews and a few practically destroying the book, so you really don't know what to expect. Anyways I finally made the decision to buy it and all I can say is that I am pleased I made that decision, I finally got the main concepts of Java and I can code, maybe not as well as a Java programmer, but being a newcomer in the Java world I feel very happy that I was able to overcome the frustration of feeling that I was in the middle of nowhere without understanding what I was supposed to code.

This book is very well written and its examples are of a great help, moreover the explanation of the examples are simply outstanding. Some other books are great and they might be great for other readers, example Thinking in Java, but in my particular case it was hard to get up to speed as quickly as I am doing it with Core Java 2, I am sure that later on I will be using more advanced books, but for now Core Java 2 is doing a great job teaching me the basics. I look forward to buying Volume II, even though I have read some negative comments about it.

As a final point I think I should say that although the book specified that it is aimed at a more advanced audience, it certainly provides the information in a way that beginners can benefit from the book by understanding the concepts quickly without struggling with advanced technical jargon and complex explanations that can take a long time to digest.

Cay Hortsmann did an excellent job with this book, I say Core Java 2 should be a "should have" for anyone that wants to become familiar with Java, for other advanced users it might not be sufficient, but for people struggling with getting a solid understanding of the language this book is definitely the way to go.

Bottom line, I was finally able to like, enjoy and particularly overcome the frustration from reading other titles that were killing me to point that I was totally disliking Java.

! Great Book !

36 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good language introduction, uneven after that, January 5, 2005

By 

Jack D. Herrington "engineer and author" (Silicon Valley, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Core Java(TM) 2, Volume I--Fundamentals (7th Edition) (Core Series) (Core Series) (Paperback)

The first section of this book, which explores the Java language and object orientation in depth is excellent. After that the book goes into Swing, applets (is anyone doing them anymore?), and then into debugging and file I/O. Funny, I would have thought that both of the final chapters would have been pushed forward. Certainly file I/O should go before Swing, right?

Frankly, I think too much time was spent on Swing. The book turned into a reasonably in-depth introduction to Swing and event oriented programming. When it probably should have gone into threading, regular expressions, file I/O and other fundamentals. The quality of the language discussion saved this book for me.