43 of 43 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
the fastest way for a programmer to pick up java, February 17, 2003
If you're already a programmer, then Java Precisely is the fastest way for you to pick up Java. Finally, after spending embarrasing amounts of money on other books, I found the ONE book on Java that I like:
- This is a no-nonsense, no-frills book. Very precise, very concise.
- The book assumes the reader knows how to program, and perhaps even knows how to program in an object oriented language. If you know CLOS, C++ or Smalltalk, or if you've played with object-oriented "extensions" of other languages, then this books is THE shortcut to programming in Java now. Not tomorrow, not in 16 lessons, NOW.
- This book will not teach you computer science. It will not teach you programming. It will not teach you object orientated programming. You get straight to the point of learning the syntax and semantics of Java, and you get A TASTE of the class libraries (IO, collections, and more).
- Most Java books fall into the following categories: (A) Intro programming -- nice if that's what you want, but very boring if you already know how to program; Also very heavy! (B) "Web programming in N days"-type of books. These aren't as precise, aren't complete, cover GUI, and typically the older and faster AWT rather than Swing, and cover a host of other issues that are not really related to the Java langauge. (C) Complete References -- These are great dust collectors on your shelf. Impossibly heavy, prohibitively expensive, outdated as soon as you buy them. They're not the way to learn an object oriented language ANYWAY: Use Java Precisely to learn the syntax, semantics and basic paradigms of the language (threads, exceptions, etc), with a few very specific excursions into the class library, and THEN get a good IDE (my preference is IntelliJ's IDEA) and learn to use the online Java documentation to find your way through the immense class library. You don't want to own a printed version of the class library any more than you want to own a phone book for the entire US -- You want tools to find what you need online!
- The book is dirt cheap.
Use the book as follows:
- Buy it, admire it, show it to your friends, try to get it back
- Just start programming. Follow the examples in the book, page by page, and bug people for help when you're stuck. A good IDE will work wonders in how fast you can pick up a new language!
- Speed-read it over a weekend, just to get an idea of what the language offers
- Start working on your project, referring to language issues every time you need something -- the book is actually small enough to find things in it, and the index is great. Use the IDE to browse the online documentation for the class library, to find the classes you need and their documentation. Use Sun's online search engine to find examples, tutorials, FAQs and other documentation.
- This book is small enough to take anywhere -- take it everywhere.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
For that Essential Language Tidbit You Need Right Now, August 19, 2005
This review is from: Java Precisely (Paperback)
Can't remember (or never knew) whether you use '&&' or '&' for a bitwise 'and'? Want to use the 'switch' statement, but haven't used it in some time (or never learned it)? This is the book that lets you **quickly** check (or learn) an essential Java tidbit.
Most other books on Java are intended to **teach** the clueless, in which case your essential tidbit is lost among all the words required for context-rich explanation. But, you are not clueless. You need something without the fluff. This is the book.
When I was looking for a book for fast look-ups, I tried several including O'Reilly's Java Language Reference and Gosling et al's The Java Language Specification. I stopped looking when I found this book. This book is better organized, more understandable, and as complete(for the purpose).
Most surprisingly, the author achieves brevity without ever seeming to be rushed. Somehow he even finds space to include a large number of very helpful examples.
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