Customer Reviews

Graphic Java 1.2, Volume 1: AWT, Third Edition

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Unfortunately, unlike other Java topics like language fundamentals, I/O, or programmer certification, there are very few books which cover the AWT adequitely. This book is the exception. What makes this book really special is that it presents all the basic information you need to know about what components are available and how to use them. But it also teaches you two more things on the way: (a) fundamental graphics operations such as rubberbanding, double buffering, and sprite animation which you will need to know for any programming language (b) how design patterns figure prominently in the AWT API (don't know what design patterns are? check out the BIBLE by the 'gang of four':Design Patterns : Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software (Addison-Wesley Professional Computing) ) Here are some of the tidbits I found most helpful: *limitations associated with peers *overriding deprecated java 1.0 methods *prevent excessive flashing by overriding update *avoiding race conditions with modal dialogs *using font metrics and validate intelligently to force text to resize with components *using the built-in image filters in java.awt.image Some things with the AWT can drive you nuts because they don't work as advertised, and this book should include, but doesn't, a discussion of: *ScrollPane displays excessive flashing when scrollling images- even his example code- this is an AWT bug which should be mentioned *the toFront method does work reliably - another huge bug *using anonymous inner classes can make some of your windows unreachable by the GC and lead to memory leaks Anyway, I practically lived with this book for two months while working on a project and would have to say this is THE reference for the AWT.

There is a sad sparsity of good Java books, especially when it comes to the AWT. I am really impressed with this book and I highly suggest it to anyone that really wants to learn the JFC APIs. It would be really nice if the JDK documentation had something like this, but they left the examples and explinations out so they can sell more Java books. Well, I guess Sun needs to make some money on Java somehow, right?

Excellent and clearly written, but you better know the difference between "extends" and "implements" or forget it. I appreciated the six versions of the ThreeDButton listener in chapter 9, and now have a much clearer understanding of event handling.

Excellent book. Covers everything you'd want to know about how AWT works.. After you've got a decent grasp of Java & GUI development (read Core Java or Just Java), this book will complete your knowledge of AWT.

The book assumes you know Java, and are somewhat familiar with the GUI's in general: I'm glad about this - I came looking for an intermediate technical book, and that's what I got.

I'm really looking forward to volumes 2 & 3 of this series. (Vol 2. should be out any day, Vol 3 in early 99)

The two Core Java books by Hortsmann and Cornell have set the standard for Java reference works. This book is, to some extent, an extension of that series, specialising in the Java API.

Although it is perfectly feasible to get by in Java using just the information available in the Core Java series, there is a wealth of extra knowledge avaible in this book regarding the AWT. I've found that the extra information on Layout Managers alone has made the book worth its price for me. If your interest is in development or maintenance of AWT components then I'd recommend this as an essential reference book.

The only thing (admittedly minor) I could critisize about the book is the use of Booch notation rather than UML. It shows that the book is overdue for a second edition.

I had trouble reconstructing the history of inheritance vs. delegation models (I think he assumed we lived through all the wars).

Apparently an improved version of the inheritance model came as a sideshow with the delegation model. Though the new inheritance model is an improvement over the old one, the docs discourage its use.

This is a "must have" reference book for any serious Java developer. The examples are clear and understandable. It works in concert with Geary's Swing Vol II.

There is a great effort to explain Layout Managing,in particular the complex GridBag Layout.Attention is also paid to custom layouts. The Delegation Event Model is covered deeply with an interesting example on how to build custom Events. Double-buffering is very clear thanks to a powerful example. The other parts are like all the other Java graphic books.

After about a month of ownership, I discovered that 33 pages were missing. That's right, pages 547-578, gone. Page 546 is in Chapter 15, ending in the middle of a class listing, and the facing page is page 579 in Chapter 16, picking up in the middle of an entirely different conversation. That's assumedly the publisher's fault, so I still give this great book 5 stars. It's more of a reference work, so its still eminently useful, but caveat emptor...

"Graphic Java: Mastering the JFC: Volume 1: AWT" is readable, understandable (with the prerequisite understanding of basic Java). It's the best so far that I've seen, and I'm buying the next volume in the series. However, it could be improved. The diagramming language is Booch, rather than today's standard UML. Some chapters seem poorly organized at a coarse level. There are a few mistakes here and there, such as: * Use of 'l' (lowercase L) as a variable name. This is generally-recognized-as-unreadable. It took me some time to realize it wasn't a one. * On p. 321, a use in code of "implements" for a class, rather than "extends", and in English, a use of "extends" where "implements" is intended ("cannot _extend_ an adapter class"). * a suggestion that inner classes "provide a mechanism similar to callbacks (function pointers) in C." It would better be stated that _interfaces_ can provide a mechanism similar to function pointers, and one use of inner classes, iff they implement an interface accepted as a callback, is to _define_ the callback.