Java 5.0 Tiger: A Developer's Notebook [Paperback]

David Flanagan (Author), Brett McLaughlin (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0596007388 | ISBN-13: 978-0596007386 | Publication Date: July 2, 2004

Java 5.0, code-named "Tiger", promises to be the most significant new version of Java since the introduction of the language. With over a hundred substantial changes to the core language, as well as numerous library and API additions, developers have a variety of new features, facilities, and techniques available.

But with so many changes, where do you start? You could read through the lengthy, often boring language specification; you could wait for the latest 500 page tome on concepts and theory; you could even play around with the new JDK, hoping you figure things out--or you can get straight to work with Java 5.0 Tiger: A Developer's Notebook.

This no-nonsense, down-and-dirty guide by bestselling Java authors Brett McLaughlin and David Flanagan skips all the boring prose and lecture, and jumps right into Tiger. You'll have a handle on the important new features of the language by the end of the first chapter, and be neck-deep in code before you hit the halfway point. Using the task-oriented format of this new series, you'll get complete practical coverage of generics, learn how boxing and unboxing affects your type conversions, understand the power of varargs, learn how to write enumerated types and annotations, master Java's new formatting methods and the for/in loop, and even get a grip on concurrency in the JVM.

Light on theory and long on practical application, Java 5.0 Tiger: A Developer's Notebook allows you to cut to the chase, getting straight to work with Tiger's new features. The new Developer's Notebooks series from O'Reilly covers important new tools for software developers. Emphasizing example over explanation and practice over theory, they focus on learning by doing--you'll get the goods straight from the masters, in an informal and code-intensive style that suits developers. If you've been curious about Tiger, but haven't known where to start, this no-fluff, lab-style guide is the solution.

Editorial Reviews

Review

In all, this book does a good job of introducing Tiger in all of its glory. For a fast but effective introduction to this new generation of Java, this is highly recommended.? ? Pan Pantziarka, Application Development Advisor, Jan 05

About the Author

Brett McLaughlin is a bestselling and award-winning non-fiction author. His books on computer programming, home theater, and analysis and design have sold in excess of 100,000 copies. He has been writing, editing, and producing technical books for nearly a decade, and is as comfortable in front of a word processor as he is behind a guitar, chasing his two sons and his daughter around the house, or laughing at reruns of Arrested Development with his wife.

Brett spends most of his time these days on cognitive theory, codifying and expanding on the learning principles that shaped the Head First series into a bestselling phenomenon. He's curious about how humans best learn, why Star Wars was so formulaic and still so successful, and is adamant that a good video game is the most effective learning paradigm we have.

David Flanagan is a computer programmer who spends most of his time writing about JavaScript and Java. His books with O'Reilly include Java in a Nutshell, Java Examples in a Nutshell, Java Foundation Classes in a Nutshell, JavaScript: The Definitive Guide, and JavaScript Pocket Reference. David has a degree in computer science and engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He lives with his wife and children in the U.S. Pacific Northwest bewteen the cities of Seattle, Washington and Vancouver, British Columbia. David has a blog at www.davidflanagan.com.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media (July 2, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0596007388
• ISBN-13: 978-0596007386
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 6.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,086,613 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Brett D. McLaughlin is a bestselling and award-winning non-fiction author. His books on computer programming, home theater, and analysis and design have sold in excess of 100,000 copies. He has been writing, editing, and producing technical books for nearly a decade, and is as comfortable in front of a word processor as he is behind a guitar, chasing his two sons around the house, or marveling at Damages with his wife.

Miracle is Brett's first fiction novel, but his short stories and writing skills have been garnering lots of attention in 2007. He is a book reviewer for Infuze Magazine, and a regular guest lecturer in First Baptist Academy, Dallas's creative writing course. He's been asked to teach a concentrated course in Professional Writing for students intending to major in writing-related degrees. His short story 'Change of Heart' was published online at the Relief Writer's Network, and is set for inclusion in the second issue of Coach's Midnight Diner, a genre publication of Christian-influenced short stories.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating but flawed, January 25, 2005

By 

Ernest Friedman-Hill "JavaRanch Sheriff" (Gaithersburg, MD United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Java 5.0 Tiger: A Developer's Notebook (Paperback)

The foreword to this new O'Reilly series explains that a "Developer's Notebook" is the raw scribbling of an "Alpha Geek" as he or she examines some exciting new technology. That pretty much describes "Java 1.5 Tiger." It's raw, it's scribbling, and it's exciting nonetheless.

At a slim 177 pages, this is one of the shorter general Java books you're ever likely to see. There isn't a lot of fat between these covers. Over the faint blue graph-paper lines and the cute faux coffee stains, the concise text covers just the biggest new features in JDK 1.5: generics, varargs, autoboxing, annotations, printf, enumerations. Many of the plentiful code examples are sensible and give you a realistic idea of how to use a feature. Some of them, unfortunately, are rather contrived and don't make much sense.

My main brickbat for "Java 1.5 Tiger" is the very high incidence of typos, more in the text than in the code. Raw scribbling is one thing, but accuracy is important, too; a programming book demands it. My main bouquet is that I learned a lot from reading it, and honestly, you can't do much better than that.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 1.5 for java developers, August 28, 2004

By 

Jeanne Boyarsky (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Java 5.0 Tiger: A Developer's Notebook (Paperback)

"Java 1.5 Tiger - A Developer's Notebook" has all the information and quality we have come to expect from O'Reilly. However, the developer's notebook series has a very different style than the animal books. The book was a true page-turner and I read all 171 pages in two days.

This book really looks like a notebook complete with notes in the margins, graph paper and coffee cup stains! There is also plenty of room in the margins for the reader to add notes. This book is informative, useful and looks really cool!

A guru narrates the book. He tells you about Java 1.5 and answers your questions. Each chapter discusses several labs in a task/how to I do that?/what about ... format. It is like the author walks you through doing the labs. It really does read like a conversation. As the authors put it - "All lab, no lecture."

The code examples begin on page two and are prevalent throughout the book. The authors give warnings about common pitfalls and tasks that you cannot do - just like you would expect a guru to do. The authors also give opinions and recommendations.

The book assumes a working knowledge of java 1.4 (or earlier.) This is especially important in the conncurrency section. There is excellent cross-referencing so the chapters and tasks can be read in almost any order. This was an amazing book!

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Clear, no BS presentation of the new C++ in Java ;), December 9, 2004

By 

Riccardo Audano (Chiavari, Italy) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Java 5.0 Tiger: A Developer's Notebook (Paperback)

This notebook series is a very good aid for the experienced developer who wants to play with some new feauture in the company of an even more experienced fellow who has done most of the research for him. Stay far from this one if you need to learn Java from scratch. (Go for one of the many excellent intro books by Ivor Horton or Cay Horstmann). Not surprisingly this book is one of the best in the series, being mostly the effort of Brett McLaughlin who, besides being a talented coder and writer is also the man behind the O'Reilly "developer notebook idea". In about 150 pages you will get plenty of working examples and clear, concise explanations on the new features of "Tiger": generics (templates), varargs, annotations, autoboxing etc .. If you are a serious Java developer you cannot miss on these new features, and have no excuse for doing it since now you can bridge this gap with just a few hours of reading on a train. And if you are an old school C coder who grudgingly had to pass to Java for "marketing reasons".. I have great news for you.. believe it or not, we got printf back! ;)