On to Java (3rd Edition) [Paperback]

Patrick Henry Winston (Author), Sundar Narasimhan (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0201725932 | ISBN-13: 978-0201725933 | Publication Date: June 11, 2001 | Edition: 3

This book is written in the clear and concise style that has made Winston's C, C++, and Smalltalk books of the "On To" series so popular. To illuminate the key concepts of Java, the authors add various capabilities to a short yet representative Java program which demonstrates how Java is used for building both stand-alone programs and web applets. Using this book, readers learn Java quickly and effectively, and learn why Java is the language of choice for writing programs for the World Wide Web. On to Java 1.3 offers a clear and concise introduction to the Java programming language. In this third edition, the authors increase coverage of advanced material, explaining how to ensure good programming practice using interfaces, build complex systems using the model-view approach to system design, add sophistication to graphical interfaces with complex tables, define new layout managers for special situations, increase program flexibility using factories, package applications into JAR files, enable program interaction via remote method invocation, and create network services using servlets. This book is designed for programmers familiar with other programming language who need or want to learn the Java language.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

A clear, concise, no-nonsense book on Java that would appeal most to serious programmers. Authored by an MIT CS prof and a real-world Java expert. Written in a terse, slide-show style that presents each essential idea in a brief paragraph without unnecessary verbiage. Much like this review. --This text refers to the Textbook Binding edition.

From the Back Cover

Learn the exciting language of the World Wide Web

On To Java provides you with the knowledge that you need to learn the Java programming language and improve your programming practices. It is written in the clear and concise style that makes all Winston's books popular with programmers.

The knowledge you need

Each chapter responds to a question you naturally ask when you want to learn a new language: What's special about the language? How do I define a method? How do I implement a loop? How do I open a file? How do I build a graphical user interface? What are the idioms of the language? How do I program effectively?

You learn the answers from a to-the-point, slidelike presentation. First, you learn answers that enable you to write complete, functional programs immediately. Then, you learn how to improve and extend those programs as you learn to design class hierarchies, practice data and procedure abstraction with getters and setters, impose requirements using interfaces, follow the model-view approach to system design, access applets from network viewers, use threads to implement dynamic applets, access files via resources, construct graphical user interfaces using swing classes, and much, much more.

Winston's proven approach

• Based on extensive teaching experience
• Explains ideas in fast-paced, concept-centered unit
• Illustrates ideas via short, yet complete programs
• Answers your natural questions in a natural order
• Stresses principles of good-programming practice
• Reinforces key concepts with targeted exercises
• Recapitulates key points as if-then rules

About the authors

Well-known author Patrick Henry Winston teaches artificial intelligence and computer science and develops computational theories of human intelligence at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is the author of On To C, On To C++, and Artificial Intelligence.

Java expert Sundar Narasimhan develops complex situation assessment and resource allocation systems at Ascent Technology Inc.

Added in this edition

New material on how to:

• Connect models to views
• Develop your own layout managers
• Implement dynamic tables
• Collect information using servlets
• Invoke remote methods using RMI
• Construct JAR files for program distribution

On-line version:
This book is available, in an on-line version, via http://www.aw.com/onto

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: Addison Wesley; 3 edition (June 11, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0201725932
• ISBN-13: 978-0201725933
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #241,136 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unique, Concise, Thorough, June 6, 2000

By 

David A. Seruyange "sophtwarez" (Sioux Falls, SD USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: On to Java 1.2 (2nd Edition) (Paperback)

This is quite simply an amazing book. As a programmer I have encountered many technical books and even more in the way of documentation and I have never found anything quite like this. The author has a unique style that is quite possibly the most forthcoming and concise presenation format one could find on the topic. In honor of this I shall write my review in the same style of the book:

1. My first book was Core Java 2 (Fundamentals). As a VB developer trying to learn Java, this was

the most elementary book offered by Sun. While the book promises much depth, lack of organization and clarity impeded my ability to work through it. In the second chapter one is already importing classes and fiddling with CLASSPATH variables.

2. In extreme contrast to this, On To Java focuses on syntax in a step by step format that thoroughly covers even the most basic Java "Hello World" type application. Upon this the author builds concepts such as data types, methods, classes and so on in a very methodical step-by-step format.

3. Although this material is more of a drawn out tutorial that focuses on a single application and develops it throughout, it's concise and deliberate format is something that I've found to be lacking in *all* other Java documentation I've perused, including the excellent material from the O'Reilly people.

4. Therefore this is a book for a person who wants a quick but thorough start on Java, who wants to be advised of even the most straight forward syntax before they begin importing classes and looking at sample applications and who wants to focus on the language rather than a specific vendor's product.

5. The limitation of this book is that it is *not* a reference by any means. After one has been through the material they will not draw on this book for supplementary input. However, the authors intention I'm quite sure is that this material is a primer- a preliminary step whereas the complete references are meant to augment one who is already versed in the basics, structure and syntax of Java. Moreover the JDK includes such documentation.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is the best book available for learning Java. (1.2), February 8, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: On to Java 1.2 (2nd Edition) (Paperback)

1999 Edition, Java 1.2: If you want to learn Java, get this book and get it now. I wasted my money on 10 other Java books before I bought this one and not ONE of them even came close to getting me to understand the Java language like this book did. It's easy and exciting to read as you learn more and more in each subsequent "how-to" section. If you want a book full of Java applets then buy one of the other 10,000 books out there, or visit a web site. If you want to learn Java, do yourself a favor and go buy this book.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just want t add my 5 stars to all the others, August 13, 2000

By 

Anna's Mama (Jamaica Plain, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: On to Java 1.2 (2nd Edition) (Paperback)

I agree with all the reviewers who gave this book 5 stars. And want to add that this book is a good, quick read. I started looking into Java with the O'Reilly books (Java in a Nutshell and Java Examples in a Nutshell), and while those are also good and more in-depth I would recommend this book first. It is simply more intuitively organized and a breeze to read. I can't explain the presence of the one star reviews, except to say that this is not a book for people completely new to programming. This is the best book if you are adding Java to OO languages you alread know.