Java 2: The Complete Reference, Fourth Edition [Paperback]

Herbert Schildt (Author), Herb Schildt (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0072130849 | ISBN-13: 978-0072130843 | Publication Date: December 12, 2000 | Edition: 4th

Java - a core programming language - enables programmers to develop secure, robust, platform-independent programmes to be delivered across networks and run on a variety of computers and devices. This work provides coverage of the Java language, demonstrating all the skills needed to develop, compile, debug and run Java applications and applets.

Editorial Reviews

Review

First developed in 1991, Java is an excellent first language for the aspiring programmer because of its growing popularity in the development community; seasoned pros will find it easy to learn. Primary among this revised edition's offerings is information on the recently released Java 1.3, known as the 2.0 in the techie world becuase it represents such a major upgrade. Schildt, a renowned programming author, skillfully combines code, theory, and reference matter. Libraries that already own the third edition (1999) should purchase, as Java 1.3 is the only version that Sun Microsystems now supports. (Library Journal )

From the Back Cover

The definitive guide to Java!

Master Java, the pre-eminent language of the Internet, and begin reaping the benefits of this secure, platform-independent programming language. Let #1 programming author Herb Schildt show you everything you need to develop, compile, debug, and run Java applications and applets. Covering all of Java 2, including features added by the latest Java Developers Kit, JDK 1.3, this comprehensive reference is ideal for every Java programmer. Inside you'll get complete details on the Java language, its class libraries, and its development environment. With clear descriptions, hundreds of practical examples, and expert techniques, this is a book that no Java programmer should be without.

• Master the Java language and its core libraries
• Build portable applets and applications
• Fully utilize the Abstract Windows toolkit (AWT)
• Supercharge your programs using multithreading
• Learn about Java's new Timer class and other enhancements added by JDK 1.3
• Discover the power of the Collections Framework
• Apply Java's networking classes
• Migrate code from C++ to Java
• Explore Swing and JavaBeans

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 1077 pages
• Publisher: Mcgraw-Hill Osborne Media; 4th edition (December 12, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0072130849
• ISBN-13: 978-0072130843
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.4 x 2.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (72 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,111,509 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

68 of 69 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A hopefully useful review of this book, August 21, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Java 2: The Complete Reference, Third Edition (Paperback)

I have waited to write this review until I had finished the book cover-to-cover in order to give a fair review. I bought this book because of the author Herbert Schildt. I have read several of his books and found them all to be informative, easy to understand and well written. While I was disappointed in some aspects of this book, overall I liked it. I think, however, everyone should know what this book has to offer prior to buying it. It may not suit the needs of some potential buyers.

This book is broken up into four sections: The Java Language, The Java Library, Software Development Using Java, and Applying Java.

The first section was the best and most detailed section of the book. It goes from page 4 to page 340 and is an excellent tutorial for learning the Java language. It doesn't talk about the AWT, applets, or any graphical programming for that matter, but gives the reader a firm foundation with which to move into those more interesting Java programming areas. This section alone was worth the price of the book. (while I agree with another reviewer that Bruce Eckel's Thinking in Java was a great book, I like this one better because it doesn't keep referring back to C/C++ all the time).

From the start of the second section through the end of the book, this book takes on a different approach. Instead of detailed descriptions as offered in the first section of the book, it begins to be an overview. Many topics are touched upon and many examples are given, but the reader is not given enough information or depth in these chapters to make them very useful.

The bottom line is, this book provides a firm understanding of Java's syntax and object oriented programming. After that it provides brief glimpses of the many kinds of programming you can do with Java.

If you don't know where you want to go with Java, this book is, in my opinion, the best way to sample Java enough to make your decision. If your purpose in wanting this book is to be an applet programmer (or do any graphical programming for that matter), I think you would do better to read the first section of this book (to page 340) and then read the Graphic Java books, volumes I, II and III, which cover the AWT, Swing and 2D API respectively.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Reference for Novice & Experienced Programmers Alike, October 13, 2003

By 

M. Hart "Sci-Fi Fan" (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Java 2: The Complete Reference, Fifth Edition (Paperback)

When I needed to learn the Java programming language very quickly for work, I read many reviews and narrowed down my search to handful of few books. I looked at copies of my final possible choices in a local bookstore and finally purchased Herbert Schildt's "Java 2: A Beginner's Guide, Second Edition" and have absolutely no regrets. Along with this book, I realized that I would also need a more comprehensive reference book detailing the multitude of Java classes designed for many purposes. To this end, I chose Herbert Schildt's "Java 2: The Complete Reference, Fifth Edition" not only for its extensive library, but also because of Herbert Schildt's wonderful writing that is easy to read and understand quickly.

Herbert Schildt subdivided "Java 2: The Complete Reference, Fifth Edition" into four parts: tutorial, library, software development and applications. Part I (the first 346 pages) is a Java tutorial, organized similarly to Herbert Schildt's other book that I purchased, "Java 2: A Beginner's Guide, Second Edition". However, the tutorial in this book is more condensed than in the guide, which has over 500 pages. Some readers may find the condensed approach in this book sufficient to learn the language, but if you want more comprehensive tutorial explanations, the guide is good companion.

Part II (the next 539 pages) is an extensive library detailing most of Java's built-in classes dealing with everything from string handling, collections, utility classes, console I/O, file I/O, networking, applets, event handling (mouse movements, button use, and other interactive GUI objects), the AWT (Abstract Window Toolkit), images and other I/O types including Regular Expressions. Part III (the next 128 pages) provides some information about Java Beans, Swing, Servlets and a helpful guide for migrating from C++ to Java. Part IV (the next 123 pages) shows Java in action with four example applications.

Overall, I rate Herbert Schildt's "Java 2: The Complete Reference, Fifth Edition" with 5 out of 5 stars. It has become a constant companion as I learn and work with Java.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars oversimplistic for most parts of java, September 8, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Java 2: The Complete Reference, Third Edition (Paperback)

Though the writing of Mr. Schildt is very clear, the treatments of many of important java features are oversimplistic. For example,when I had a question on using "this" in a constructor to call another constructor,there is no answer in this book;the multithreading part gives only very impractical examples and you still don't know how to write multithreading programs after reading the whole chapter;the introduction of Swing is only a brief mention,to list a few.

I think "Thinking in Java" is a good book,which tells you what is happening behind the scene. However, it is understandable that no book could be titled "complete reference".