Customer Reviews

Java 2 From Scratch

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is one of the best books I have seen which covers the basics of Object Oriented development, program design and actual Java coding in such an easy to read style. I read the first five chapters from a hospital bed but did not feel lost by not having my PC to try out the examples as they were so well documented. Using a single example program throughout the book provides excellent continuity of purpose as the chapters unfurl but may put some people off buying the book if the end product (a stock market tracker) is of no interest to them - I would say that the techniques are more important than the program - I don't really want a tracker but I couldn't put the book down once I had started to read it. Many of the techniques shout out for further examples but these are freely available from numerous sites on the web - the book is large enough as it is. I would recommend this book to anyone "starting from scratch" as a good all-round primer.

This is a great book for what it is. It is definitely not a beginner-level, just getting into java book, but more for experienced OO programmers who want to learn how to develop applications in Java. I have been looking for an intermediate book like this for a while. This book walks you through the process of how to develop a real application (a stock market tracker/analyzer), and ties it all together nicely from analysis and design, through implementation. The author gives good insight on his thought processes each step of the way. I like the fact that he uses the internet from which to pull off the stock quotes. Hopefully, more authors will follow this lead and give us some example applications that we can use in the real world, instead of a bunch of toy code snippets. The only drawback that I can see to this book is that it stops short as far as using JDBC in a Swing application. I wish the author would have added an extra chapter or two that covered binding Swing components to the database. Can somebody please write a book on this?

I disagree with those who say this is not good for beginners. I'm the type that I can't learn by just reading and doing aimless examples. This book holds my interest because everything is in the context of "We need to know this because it'll be in our application later..."

It's really easy reading because it's written sorta like this really cool professor I used to have used to speak.

I've gone through a couple of different Java books. This one is the most helpful because there is CONSTANT reinforcement of the basics throughout the whole book. There are better, more realistic explanations of where things are derived from, and architecture and design concepts.

I think this book is TOTALLY for beginners. Even though you are writing a swing app, as a beginner, you still need to know loops, datatypes, exception handling, etc., no matter what you end up doing with Java, and this book takes you through all of it. I think it's best for beginners who are willing to do it 'cover to cover'. I don't think it's wonderful as a reference, 'cos it's not laid out that way.

Java 2 from Scratch is an excellent book. It begins at the beginning, taking you through analysis, design, learning Java, then actually writing the app. I think it's better than one of my previous favorites, The Tao of Objects. I've searched a long time for a book that shows the whole picture of creating software. There are plenty of books on languages, plenty on OO methodologies, etc., but this is the first that integrates the various disciplines. This is not a ...for Dummies book. It does seem to assume some experience, although I think a determined beginner could digest all the things presented. I would recommend it to anyone. If you should get stuck, you can post a message to the newsgroup comp.lang.java.programmer for clarification.

I am consultant who is getting ready to take the Java Developer Exam and this is an excellent Java book that does a fine job at teaching object-oriented analysis, design and implementation, which is by itself far more valuable than Java. Yes, I do agree that it might not be the best book for a beginner, but that fact alone doesn't make it a "bad" book. Please, remember that Java is growing by leaps and bounds, and you are as likely to buy snake oil that will cure all your problems as you are to find the Holly Grail of Java books that will teach you everything--including the basics. I have learned OO and Java on my own and these are a few recommendations: Sorry, you have to read a 'few' books like Thinking in Java (watch for the 2nd Edition,) use an excellent reference like Java Class Libraries (3 books that come close to the Java Holy Grail,) or Java in a Nutshell before you become familiar with the subject and move on to the intermediate level.

Lastly, p.l.e.a.s.e avoid taking the geeky road to success, learn UML (Applying UML and Patterns), the whole life cycle, and the business for which you are going to be developing these applications-we tend to forget that this is the hand that feeds us.

This is the first Java book that I've been able to see through. It seems like too many books just throw snippets of code at me, along with the technical jargon, which I soon find boring, (think college textbooks(snore). But this one is lively, the author makes jokes, and he actually shows you how to program an entire application in Java. Try getting that experience anywhere.

Thank you Steven Haines.

This is an excellent book for getting started in Java programming, and I highly recommend it.

For those new to the language and not familiar with Object Orientated programming, this book is the best I have seen on introducing the use of OOP and Java to programming real world examples.

It is especially useful for programmers of other languages that want to migrate to Java. The technique of showing you how to use the language to develop a real world example is very suited to showing programmers of other languages how to use Java - you can leverage what you know about programming in your existing languages as you go and say to yourself, "So that is how Java does it!".

The step from your existing language to Java is thus accomplished easily, and I can say that you will never look back!

I have programmed extensively in various large corporations for the last five years, mainly in languages suited to business applications (like SAP ABAP). When I first looked at Java I just did not have the time to learn all the techniques and investigate the language and classes in it to use Java to develop a business application that is usable and functional in a large environment. I must admit that I was sceptical about the development time a project would take in Java in an industry where deadlines are tight and critical.

The other books on Java provided a lot of information but I needed an explanation of how the pieces fit together, and I needed it quick.

This book provided the explanation I needed to use Java in the real world, not in the "Hello world". It provided a quick and rapid walk through of all the steps in developing an application and how to use Java implement it.

Within a week of reading the book I was developing real-world applications using Java and happily navigating through the classes to find what I needed to fulfill the requirements. I am now well on my way to RMI client-server distributed solutions and database programming with Java.

I can now see how beautiful, practicle and simply easy the Java language really is. I now know how it fits into the "software technique" that we are all used to using in the business world - first designing the application and then applying the necessary Java classes to implementing it.

The book not only teaches you Java, but excellent design and programming techniques that are the true basis of a good software implementation.

The From Scratch concept is just what I needed to move from other languages to Java quickly and easily. I can highly recommend this book for people starting out in Java and programmers of other languages moving to the Java platform.

Having now fallen in love with this language, I can say that this book does the language a good service!

Congratulations to the From Scratch team - I will certainly be looking out for other books in this series.

And congratulations to Sun and the Java development team on an excellent and beautiful product.

When I first saw the proposal for this book, I was skeptical about the premise. Using the development of a stock market tracker to teach readers how to design and construct large projects involving a GUI interface appeared to me to be a bit too grandiose. This seemed particularly true when the assumptions were that the reader had minimal experience in either the Java GUI classes or constructing GUI interfaces. In fact, the proposal included the statement, "No previous experience required." However, as I received the chapters for examination, I slowly became sold on the authors vision of the learning project. Finally, as the last chapters arrived, I was moved to include a note in my comments that he should consider including a standard disclaimer about assuming no liability for the use of the software. All examples and the final product are included on the companion CD.
The author assumes no previous reader background in using the classes of both the Abstract Window Toolkit (AWT) or the Swing library. Both are covered in detail using small stand-alone examples. Event handling is also covered in depth. While these are good, the real strength of the book is in the description of the overall project. Use cases are used to construct the design model, which shows quite clearly how to begin with an idea and move it through all the stages until the end product of working code is complete.
Furthermore, the stock market data is downloaded live from the Internet, so the coverage also includes how to web-enable a program so that it will automatically download and display data from web sites. Certainly a skill not to be underestimated in the modern world. Combined with the other features that are developed, this project is the most realistic example of a major software development project that I have ever seen used in a book. The fact that the author pulls it off as an educational experience is even more remarkable.
Books that include large programs for development often fall short in that the projects seem contrived and not truly meant for the real world. That is not the case with this book and there is something here for everyone, from developers to experienced Java coders.

Disclaimer: The author of this review served as the technical editor for the book.

Teaching How to program in Java is just one aspect of this book. There is much more to it. For anyone wishing to pursue software programming career and wish to know the complete software development life cycle from design to implementation, This is the best book to start with. From the design phase, Author Discusses the various design methodologies and converts the design into the technical requirements and then prepartion of USE CASES in a very crystal clear fashion. The confidence of the reader builds up as each chapter progresses. Each Chapter builds on the previous one and the running example of STOCK TRACKER APPLICATION continues throughout the book. Each Java Programming concept is discussed and incorporated as the need arises depending on the functionality of the application being built along the way. I liked the analysis of the problems and the logic with which the application is being built. The book also discusses the best practices of coding and naming variables too including the structured way of writing the source code. One excellent aspect of this book is, it does discuss the syntax and semantics in the relevant context as the features are being added to the application rather than first discussing the capabilities and features of Java. This is the good book to start learning and gaining confidence in the Object Oriented Programming and Java. The book is very neatly organized for reference. The Author Holds the attention of reader throughout the book. Curiosity builds chapter after chapter. It really gives a solid base as far as the fundamentals are concerned. Recommended both for novice and expert programmer.

I think the best way to learn any language is to get a expert sit next to you and guide through all your problems in your learning process,the book accomplishes the same, It further goes ahead to guide you through a project in java, which would give you sufficient confidence in your real world projects.