Customer Reviews

Java How to Program (4th Edition)

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

If you are buying a book you need to ensure you choose the appropriate one. This is not a Java reference book. This is not a learn java in 24 hours or 21 days type [thing].

If you are an experienced programmer, and want to learn Java, or have hacked around with Java and want to get a really good introduction to lots of the core aspects of java then this book is really good.

The book teaches not just the syntax of Java instructions, it does more. It introduces the reader to OO style programming from a Java perspective. It encourages the reader to understand UML and the common notation used by OO designers. It also encourages readers to take advantage of experienced people by referring to Patterns.

The bad. It is not a reference book. Don't buy this if you want to look up a snippet of code around a specific instruction or Java concept. There are better books for reference use.

Overall this is an excellent book for learning to program with Java and doing so with an OO perspective and using common OO design notation.

All the exercises run without bugs, and are meaningful for what they are trying to demonstrate.

I've worked my way through the 3rd Edition and am working on the Advanced volume and the new material in this volume. I like the level of detail provided! After finishing a chapter I feel as though I have a very good start on each topic and (between the two volumes) just about every important topic is covered. I find this book to be clearly written but challenging. The exercises at the end of each chapter help me to find out if I've really learned the material. I like the way that each file is explained in detail in a very structured and systematic way. Everyone should document code as well as the Dietels do! I like the way that this version focuses on Design Patterns and clearly explains the Archetecture of each program using the UML. Another good thing I can say about these books is that I haven't found any code that dosen't compile and run in Windows, Linux, Mac OS and Mac OS/X! The tools that come with the book are useful, but the Advanced volume required me to download most of the APIs from the SUN.com web site.I've asked several questions via e-mail and have gotten a great response from P.D. himself! Yes, they cost more than the others and can require an investment of time to complete! However, I have found them to be extremely helpful!!!!!

I think "Java - How to Program" by Deitel & Deitel is an excellent book for learning Java programming. The book starts with a short introduction to computers, the Internet and the World Wide Web, and then focuses on Java applications and Java applets. It also gives an introduction to object-based and object-oriented programming, multithreading, servlets, networking and JavaBeans.

Deitel & Deitel teach by live-code examples. They first show you the code of an example, then a screen dump of what it will look like on your computer, and finally explain the code. Every chapter includes tips on good programming practices and warnings for common programming errors. Each chapter ends with a summary, terminology, and performance, testing and debugging tips, software engineering observations, as well as a large number of exercises. On the CD included, you will find Internet links to various sites with Java resources, software, as well as an Internet link to the code of the examples.

For me as a computer layman, I am a chemist by profession; the book has been extremely useful as an introduction to Java programming. I read the 3rd edition of the book, but now a later version is available.

Deitel and Deitel have written two books on Java that are intended for serious Java students: this one plus "Advanced Java2 Platform." You will not be able to wade through these two tomes in 21 days. I really consider these two books to be references that are also excellent teaching tools.

This book, "Java How to Program Fourth Edition" is very comprehensive since it covers all the necessary Java subjects plus some subjects not normally covered in introductory Java books, for example networking. A rather thorough introduction to many aspects of UML is included as supplementary material at the end of each chapter. There are lots of examples sprinkled throughout the book. The enclosed CD -ROM includes the examples and the JDK so that the student can execute the programs.

The color graphics used extensively throughout the book improves understandability greatly.

This is a serious Java book for serious Java students. Don't expect to breeze through it, but you will really know Java by its end.

The format of the book is excellent. Written from a point of view that assumes very little, the usefulness of this book in my programming career has been great. I am new to Java, but not new to programming. So, I really appreciate all of the code samples on the CD as well as the easy-to-understand examples. They compile and run just as expected. Also, the color-coded source code examples are a great improvement over the 3rd edition. If you are learning Java, like me, you must have this book!

I have some experience programming in Java for real world solutions. I decided to take a junior college course in Java to solidify my understanding of the concepts. This book was the required text for the course and I found it to be a complete waste of money. It seems that the authors spend much of their time asking the reader to mimic code and saying that they'll explain later in another chapter. Then when you come to the so called "detailed explanations" they seem to talk in circles. The exercises at the end of the chapters are often related to topics which they've dedicated around 3 lines of text and no code samples - this greatly decreases the entry level Java student's chance of succeeding. This book is an expensive waste of money.

The book is improved over the prior edition. Currently, I use the book to teach introductory Java and it works for most students. However, the introduction of Swing components from the 2nd chapter is a mistake for two reasons. First, it leads many students to miss core concepts while focusing blindly on copying Swing logic into sample programs. Second, Swing should follow AWT not lead it so the dependencies of Swing on AWT can be clearly understood. In short, the topic sequencing can be improved.

The audience for this book should have a basic understanding of program logic, control structures and a solid introduction to object-oriented design otherwise it may confuse the reader. This is not a beginners book, especially if used for independent study of Java.

As a caveat to what I say here, I have only read the first three chapters so far, but have a feel for the presentation and am determined to stick it through to the end.

I have to agree with the comment from another user that this book is very wordy - excessive chunks of the first chapter are devoted to how they intend to teach Java, and how the way that they teach it is great. I'm into Chapter 3 and they are still going through the same repeated descriptions of how // means something is a comment, and making the same point in three different box-outs on the same page. If you require things to be drummed in this much, maybe programming is beyond you?

I like the fact that they have jumped into Swing early on - the GUI elements are essential for writing programs that can be used by other people and it is quite depressing to hack through 15 chapters of a programming book and still only be able to produce command line applications.

Overall, what has been covered so far is covered very comprehensively and explained well, and I feel I am learning, but the book could do with an editor condensing the material to make it more concise. A job for Reader's Digest's Condensed Book division?!

This book is a double-edged blade.

On one hand, it's geared toward beginners. It's terrible as a reference, but pretty good for stepping people through the beginnings of programming with java.

However, it extensively uses UML, and I think it's a safe assumption that most people who don't know Java, also don't know UML. Looking at UML diagrams can prove to be extremely frustrating for a beginner.

I think if the UML were not there, I would recommend this book to any beginner. If you know UML, or if you're willing to skip the UML parts, then you can still learn fairly well from this book.

Do not buy it as a reference book though, you'll be very disapointed.

The included CD comes with a neat IDE though, so that's nice.

I'm taking a Java class at the local college & using this as a text. (I'm 20+ years in development, so am not a newbie) Book is VERY readable and easy to understand as opposed to some other Intro Java books out there. Presumes nothing, so there are sections you can skip if you have any programming experience. You can't use this as a reference book though. I recommend this book for anyone who wants to learn Java, especially if you don't have any OOP.