Customer Reviews

Core Java 2, Volume 1: Fundamentals (The Sun Microsystems Press Java Series)

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

If you have a background in either C++ or even Visual Basic and need to learn JAVA, this book is for you!

I have a background in both and needed to add JAVA to my skillset for work. I bought Ivor's Beginner JAVA from Wrox (usually my favorite publisher) but found the book full of errors and typos. To top it off all the examples were very math related and didn't give me a "real-world" sense for what JAVA could do for me.

This book is just the opposite. With great insight and tips for people with VB and C++ backgrounds, easy (and fun) reading, and in-depth coverage of the language, this book was the answer to my cries.

The Authors are very adept with the language and have excellent writing skills. Volume I game me what I needed to begin my path towards the interpreted dark side :), but Volume II is definately needed for Client-Server coding, and more advanced topics.

I would definately recommend this book to anyone with prior OOP experience (even a little) who need to learn the JAVA langugage.

I was also very impressed by the non-hype, and the lack of Microsoft bashing. Core JAVA 2 is a must read.

I learned JAVA with the 2 CORE JAVA books (1 & 2)

The reader form PA who rated it a 1 star book is nuts.

>First off, does it have to be so fat? I don't think so. I am tired of the bloated technical books. Our time is too valuable.

Its comprehensive, well written, full of examples, and actually FUN to read. Very rare for a technical work.

>Second, the examples are bad and explanations are horrible.

No the examples are comprehensive and excellent. Very helpful for some of the Swing/AWT classes.

>Note how the authors explain how local anonymous inner classes should be avoided and then use them in every example afterwards.

In general Anonymous inner classes should be avoided, but small ones are ok, and the authors give an example. If you dont want to make the class anonymos then dont. Its just an example, and they explain all you need.

>Notice how OO principles are disregarded in the first big example.

No I didnt notice, they do an excellent job explaining OO principles.

> Notice how the chapter on inheritance talks extensively about reflectivity which has only tangential bearing. Also, there is a lot of "This doesn't work here, but don't worry about that now" and "I know we didn't bring this up yet, but you will see this 5 chapters on". It's called forethought - try it!

No its called complesity. Rather than assuming the readers have extensive OO experience they provide some background. To throw in everything would be too complex at the start.

>Third, too much time spent on GUI topics.

I disagree. Its an important subject and complex. To spend less time would be worthless. I found the GUI coverage to be good, and bought the 4 volume set to get complete coverage.

>This takes up nearly half the book. I have to buy the equally bloated Volume 2 to learn enterprise programming.

The combined books are 1500 pages. GUI takes up a chunk, several hundered pages. Skip it if you dont care.

>Forth, no diagrams. Perhaps a sprinkling of UML would help understand what is going on.

I had no problem understanting what was going on. Well written, lots of examples, and screen shots. Far more useful than some diagrams. Not everyone knows UML either. Spend a few minutes reading the code examples and its easy to follow.

>Fifth, the authors do not concentrate on the basics.

Sure they do. After reading the book I had an indepth understanding of many aspects of Java. They cover all the Basics, but in depth.

> The authors rather give you some code so you can say "Look what I can do!". In a book so large, I would expect to gather a sound understanding of how everything fits together. Where are the examples of Linked Lists, Stacks, and Queues?

They cant give examples of everything, use some of the classes they give you, don't reinvent the wheel. Look at Suns website for examples of code.

>Juxtapose this with a typical C++ book.

This is more interesting and fun.

>Sixth, there should be a reference to programming style.

Just observe how the authors code. The book cant cover everything. They do explain about writing good code. The dont mention indenting with spaces rather than tabs, who cares.

>Instead I have to get the official short document from Sun's site. An excellent source.

>I expected a lot more from a book from Sun.

This guy must work for Microsoft. Its one of the best technical books Ive read. Anything I need to do is covered.

This is a great book but there is a new edition. Go to ISBN number 0130471771.

The book says it's geared towards more experienced programmers, and this is quite true. The authors don't really spend time going over the basics but instead directly dive into the meat of Java programming.

As the cover claims, the authors use more "practical" examples in their code. For example, instead of using trees and animals to demonstrate object hierarchies and inheritance, they use an employee class (although that is actually quite common).

The concepts are explained clearly with little junk or excess information. That's what makes this book a gem. Every sentence is helpful.

While some people did not enjoy them, I particularly liked the "C/C++" and "VB" notes since I have background in both langauges. They illustrate key differences between these languages and Java. For example, one C++ note mentioned that you can only call constructors using the new keyword, and another mentioned that there is no destructor method in Java due to automatic garbage collection.

Although this book is titled Volum I--Fundamentals, it covers quite a lot. There is extensive coverage of using Swing to build UI's and other things like also streams.

In sum, this is a great book to learn Java with, particularly for those with prior programming experience and only want to know the useful stuff about Java.

I have read and browsed through quite some Java books and I found this one particularly impressive. The style is a bit academic but very clear, concise but understandable. It just makes you feel that the authors should relax a bit, their only defect is they fail to convey the idea that Java is a beautiful language and programming can be fun.(Somehow you get the imprssion that they don't really like Java..). Anyways the material presented is great, the examples are solid but simple enough for you not get lost, and it is full of interesting complex points like reflection and inner classes that get finally explained in a clear and non pretentious way. It also has a lot of examples on Swing components, applets and file I/O. The second volume seems to be even better! This is one of the TWO best Java book. The other one is Beginning Java Programming by Ivor Horton. Buy Core Java if your priority is on style. Buy Ivor's book for a more pleasurable and more "tutorial-like" (but still solid) experience. If possible, buy them both!

This book is not for the advanced programmer, nor is for the rank beginner. But, if you've got some general programming experience and want to really learn java this is the way to go. This book especially gave me a solid footing on object oriented java. I still have it around as a reference. Good book.

This was exactly what I needed for diving into Java. I'm a VB programmer and project manager. A friend highly recommended this book as one written for programmers (not novices), so I took his advice -- and he was right. Core Java 2 assumes I know the essentials already, and that I simply need to learn the language. If you're already a programmer with a language or two under your belt, and want to learn Java, I think you'll find this book to be what you're looking for.

I call my Core Java 2 book, The Java Bible, and recommend it as one of the best introductions to the language. Although I have found other books on the subject are more concise, I appreciate the verbosity - expecially when using concepts that I have not used for a while. I also find the examples to be rock solid.

I'm taking a Java course now using Deitel & Deitel's book and I'm finding that I need more from it so I went out and purchased this one. It's a great beginner's book for Java, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who is completly new to programming.

If you just start to learn Java, this is one of the best books you can find. It provides many detailed examples on all the basic stuff you need to know in Java, especially for beginners. Although some people think it's wordy, the explanation is comprehensive. I don't know whether this book is good for studying for certication exam, but I'm sure you can learn Java using this book. Some other books may help you study for the exam, but this book is one that really teach you "how to write real Java programs."

It's also great to use as a course textbook for students with no background in java or programming. Highly recommended.