Customer Reviews

Java: How to Program, 8th Edition

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Background: I am a PhD student in computer science, but I do theoretical research that rarely requires coding, so I haven't programmed in years. Recently I decided to pick up java, which I last used in 2000; rather than taking a class, I decided to spend some time this summer working through this book. I have programmed in several languages in the past (most notably C++) so I am familiar with the basics of programming (OOP, control structures, etc) but as I have not used java in close to a decade, much of the language is totally new to me.

The book is easy to read and has been well-proofed. The topics are covered in depth without assuming that the reader is either an expert or stupid: everything that you need to know is covered, but not repeated over and over. A summary and quiz at the end of each chapter makes it simple to check that you understood all of the important points, and the optional GUI case studies allow the reader to immediately jump in to graphical programming, which is often much more interesting than just causing words to appear on the screen! Chapters are a reasonable length as well; time to complete will vary depending on whether you're typing out and compiling the listed programs (you should) and doing the sample problems at the back of each chapter, but I've been spending 1-3 hours on each. Having just finished Chapter 10, I've learned quite a bit, particularly about features of the language which hadn't yet been added the last time I used the language; the enhanced for loop, for example, is pretty cool! The book comes with a companion website that offers downloads of every program in the book, as well as an additional ten appendices that didn't fit into this approximately 1500-page book.

This is actually a 4.5 star review, as there is one editing error that annoys me and makes the book a little harder to use. As each chapter involves writing a program and then modifying it, code is necessarily repeated; changes are highlighted in yellow to make it easier to find the places that need to be changed in your code. However, there are several places where the highlighting is incorrect (code that has changed is not highlighted, or code is highlighted without having been changed). It's a minor issue and only takes a few minutes to figure out, so I've gone ahead and rounded my rating up to a five. The book is definitely not perfect, but it's the best programming book I've read so far.

I love this book, actually more of a system since it comes with additional appendix, video, ebook format and additional resources.

At first I did not want to buy this book. I had bought other books that were pretty good and I thought that was enough. But I wanted to take a class in Java and the book was required by the school. It cost me more to buy it at the campus bookstore but I needed within two days so I paid the extra to have it now.

Then the day the class was to start it got canceled. So here I was with this $100.00 book that I didn't want. The bookstore wouldn't take it back because I had already registered the book. (There is a scratch-off access code that lets you access the website for the code files and other resources I mentioned earlier.)

Because I paid for it and I had no class, I started working through it on my own.

It is just such a wonderful book. I'm a technical writer and I have also been a trainer so I really noticed the care and attention given to the book's structure. It has advanced organizers, objective previews, sub TOCs and indexes and lots and lots of exercises. The paper is very good quality and the book has lots of color and white space so your eyes don't get tired as quickly. This is the book/manual structure I would love to write myself if the company I'm working with had the staff and time resources to make a near perfect product.

Then online it has an ebook format that I particularly like using. I can increase and decrease the text size at will and it's a lot lighter to have my laptop in bed than the book. There are also video indicators on some of the code examples that explain what is going on even better than the text (or maybe it's just the way I learn best).

This was a book that I didn't want to have to buy and now I think it's the best investment I could have made for learning Java. I'd still like to take a class but as I work my way through the book, I wonder if I will need to.

Seasoned object-oriented programmers looking for a comprehensive Java manual should be satisfied with this selection.

I was COMPLETELY NEW to object-oriented programming, however, and this book hindered my initial progress more than it helped. This book was required for an Intro to Object-Oriented Programming course. Unfortunately for the professor, the entire class was horribly confused by Chapter 3. The only students who had any clue were a few, experienced C++ programmers.

To borrow a well-coined phrase, this book "reads like stereo instructions."

Deitel & Deitel try to do too much with such a complex topic. They spend a couple of chapters laying a great introductory background by explaining the history of programming and the internet, but then proceed with cramped, dictionary-like pages filled with non-intuitive code examples. Definitions are delivered in a "drive-by" manner: bolded terms with only a few words or context as an explanation. EACH of the first several chapters has in excess of SEVENTY (70) highlighted definitions, so this quickly becomes VERY cumbersome. The chapter introducing objects and their components left me more confused than before I read the text. Finally, and my biggest beef: error-trapping techniques and debugger use is sequestered in the appendices and not taught as a routine part of programming.

If you are new to object-oriented programming, my recommendation to you is: "Objects First with Java: A Practical Introduction Using BlueJ" by Barnes and Kolling (Pearson: Prentice Hall), 3rd or 4th edition. Definitions are spare and well-highlighted, examples begin visually and simply, and exercises use code on the included CD Rom. You will be building simple programs immediately and debugging by Chapter 6. You should be able to pick it up used for a song, and BlueJ -- a simple, fairly typical code-editing application -- is free for download on-line.

Once you have a command of the basics, THEN go get the Deitel book. It's a great reference for users with background. Good luck.

I would say 5 starts for how well it is written but I am giving it 1 stars because it is an example of a junk publishers shove out claiming it is a new edition and costing students a lot of money. I own both the 7th and the 8th edition because I had 2 java classes that came in between 2 editions. The difference between the 2, next to nothing. They moved around where pages would fall a little and mess questions in the back of each chapter.
Oh and in the 8th editions they no longer include all their examples on the CD that came with the book. In the 7th edition ever single example in the book is on the CD so if you want to run the code from the examples or modify it a little to see how it works you have to type it all out your self.

If anything I think the 7th edition is a heck of a lot better and what you get with it is better. I know at the end of the semester I will be selling my 8th edition and keeping my 7th. My 8th edition sits at home and I only use it for HW question. My 7th edition is marked up and shows like it is well used but I am not going to destroy resale value on something that I think is a complete rip off.

So get the 7th edition. You will save your self up to $75 dollars

31 chapters, 1500 pages, covering everything from OOP through Ajax and Web Services. This book is good for two semesters at the college level.

If you read any Deitel book, you know it is the best book to train programmers. Because the book is written step by step, just like a self-taught book. Once you have the compiler up and running, you will have no problem executing the programs in this book.

Do you need a pre-requisite for Java? The answer is no. If you have C++ or C#, of course, it is better. But it is not necessary. I have taught Java for 10 years, in colleges/universities, corporate training centers, and industrial firms. It is still one of the most useful programming languages.

Dice.com lists about 1200+ Java jobs in NYC daily. Java rules!

I think this is the best Java book I've ever seen. When I bought it I thought 'Ummmh, maybe is a little expensive', but it's an excellent resource to learn, and his quality (design, paper, contents, web add-ons) makes it the best book to learn Java.

I am a long time student/reader of Deitel Java how to program series. I am a cs graduate and used this series since their first edition Java 1.0 back in 1996/97 and have been buying every edition ever since. I current have all the Java editions...including J++ :-). I even have the C++, VB, C how to program. I just love how easy they explain the topics. Once you get use to reading Deitel books, you will see what I mean.

I would like to tell the Deitels that my career was shaped by your books and the way you made new cs students learn (step by step). Everyone can write a book, but I have not seen ANY one explain these topics the way you do. And I have over 200 books.

Thank you for being the great minds that you are.

Yassin

Columbus OH

I was looking for study material for a long time that would allow me to do self study which is always my preferred method of studying. The good news is that my search has ended as I found that "Java how to program" fits the bill perfectly. The material is very well outlined with clear objectives. The self review exercises and online videos and quizzes are a great asset.

I suppose that a 2-start rating would be just as fair, but I'm grading harshly because the book is so expensive.

This is yet another programming book that just throws out a bunch of examples rather than presenting explanations. And the discussions of most of the examples do little but point out the obvious (many are not much more than "line 77 uses the read method of the file object to read the file"). To find out how to use any of the Java-supplied objects, I end up having to go on to the Internet because this book does not actually discuss the usage, syntax, and arguments of any of the important Java objects.

All in all, a waste of money.

This is my 1st Java programming book, but I have others on the C++ language. This is great book for beginners. From the fundamentals of Java such as
controls structures and basic console output/input all the way to concurrent programming and GUI creation this book covers many programming subjects and paradigms. This book is currently my only official book resource for Java, but has provided me with great experience for learning the Java as a platform(language) for development.