Java 2 Bible (Bible (Wiley)) [Paperback]

Aaron E. Walsh (Author), Justin Couch (Author), Daniel H. Steinberg (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1999 | ISBN-10: 0764546325 | ISBN-13: 978-0764546327 | Edition: 1

-- Java continues to win adherents in academia and industry: IDC predicts 1 million Java programmers by the year 2000.
-- Thoroughly updated to cover Java JDK 2.0 features: Every section and code example has been tested for compliance with new Release 2.0 guidelines.
-- New emphasis on fundamental Java programming skills: Greatly expanded core language chapters with ample code examples.
-- JavaWorld Authorized Edition: Reviewed by JavaWorld editors and columnists and will be co-marketed by JavaWorld and at major Java conferences.
-- New chapters on the Java Foundation Classes and Swing and continuing coverage of AWT.<
-- On-line: The book will include a "living" chapter, "The Future of Java", which will be updated quarterly at the IDG and JavaWorld websites. All source code will be available for down-loading from the IDG web site. The book will be cross-promoted by JavaWorld magazine to its more than 200,000 subscribers.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

While there are plenty of good introductory texts on the subject, IDG's Java 2 Bible distinguishes itself with an easy-to-understand yet thorough tour of today's Java. Newly revised for the latest standards from Sun, this book can help virtually any reader who has some previous programming experience learn Java efficiently.

This book does a good job of maintaining an informal and engaging writing style as it presents Java's essentials. Early on, it introduces key object-oriented design techniques, making Java accessible even if you don't have a background in C/C++ (although it certainly helps). The discussion on the foundation of Java syntax covers basic keywords, variables, data types, and flow control. Both the old and the new in Java are covered, with chapters on the collection classes that are available in both JDK 1.1 and 1.2, and the simpler AWT component library alongside the newer Swing standard. Short code samples are the rule here, with excerpts demonstrating important programming concepts. Readers will appreciate also the nuts-and-bolts explanation of compiling and running Java programs by using Sun's JDK command-line tools. (This title, therefore, will meet the needs of both Windows and Unix users.)

Sections on designing interfaces that work on multiple platforms (including Windows and Unix) will help you create more flexible software that runs successfully even on slower Internet connections. The Java 2 Bible offers practical tips for deploying Java applets and applications, including how to use the Java 2 plug-in and JAR files for distributing your finished software. Chock full of examples and never dull, the new Java 2 Bible can help virtually anyone get started with Java. --Richard Dragan

Topics covered:

• Overview and history of Java
• The Java Virtual Machine (JVM)
• Applets and applications
• Java tools
• Java and C/C++ compared
• Designing with Java objects (abstraction, encapsulation, interfaces, modularity, composition, and polymorphism)
• Object-oriented analysis and design
• Designing cross-platform applications in Java (bandwidth, network, and designing images for fast downloads)
• Source-code conventions in Java
• Tour of Java syntax (keywords, tokens, data types, expressions, operators, control flow, arrays, and strings)
• Java interfaces
• Packages
• Exception handling
• JDK 1.1 and 1.2 collection classes
• Tour of Java stream classes (including console, file I/O, filtered streams, reader, and writers)
• Multithreading
• Networking basics in Java (IP addresses, TCP/IP, sockets, URLs, and RMI basics)
• JDBC for database programming (queries, updates, prepared statements, stored procedures, and transactions)
• UI design and component programming by using AWT and Swing
• Event handling and inner classes
• Java graphics
• Deploying applets and applications (including JAR files and digital signing)
• Installing and running the Sun JDK

From the Publisher

Inside you'll find complete coverage of Java 2:

Learn your way around the Java 2 environment

Integrate frequently used Java class methods

Customize pre-made classes to fit your needs

Build sophisticated applications with primitive data types

Master error and exception handling

Create cross-platform plug-and-play GUIs

Implement Java handlers in your Web-based programs

Employ code to generate automatic documentation

Product Details

• Paperback: 1000 pages
• Publisher: Wiley Publishing; 1 edition (October 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764546325
• ISBN-13: 978-0764546327
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,699,554 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars a fairly useless book replete with errors, January 11, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Java 2 Bible (Bible (Wiley)) (Paperback)

As a programmer I found this book to be fairly useless in comparison to the O'Reilly line of books. There are countless instances where the plainly obvious is spelled out in long tedious paragraphs, but other obscure parts of the code are left unexplained. For a book that claims to be the "bible" there were also many notes indicating that a given topic was outside the scope of the book. I'd have to agree with the writer who said that this book doesn't explain how to put the various building blocks together to make a functional program. I think the tutorial on Sun's website is at least as useful and certainly a lot cheaper.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not For Beginners, December 29, 2000

By 

Bruce (Kansas City) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Java 2 Bible (Bible (Wiley)) (Paperback)

I am an experienced programmer, but I found this book difficult. By Page 120, you have been given the Hello World example and by page 323 you have been given the basic syntax. However, alot of the code examples continually use stuff that the reader has not yet been exposed to. Also, no where up to page 323 does the book really explain how you write a basic java class. The chapters cover individual topics, but nothing links the chapters together. The book gives the reader separate building blocks, but little guidance on how to construct a usable program with those blocks. I learned much more at the Sun tutorial site than I did from reading this book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Yikes is right!, March 10, 2001

By 

Blaine T. Jones "seismo" (Dahlonega, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Java 2 Bible (Bible (Wiley)) (Paperback)

I don't really know what to make of this book. It started out great. I devoured the first 5 chapters (~170 pages) in a weekend. Then, inexplicably, the authors depart from their tutoring role and go into lecture mode. After the obligatory HelloWorld example and a few sample applications and applets in the first part of the book, we are subjected to reading the next 200 pages before another interactive exercise appears. It's a shame, too, because I really like the authors' writing style. They definitely kept me interested but I just felt that I wasn't learning anything with the meager offering of hands-on exercises. I'll give the book 2 stars for the excellent Part I of the book. The rest is all down hill. What a letdown.